The Task Force Mapalad yesterday said agrarian reform beneficiaries affiliated with their group will hold a picket in front of the Department of Land Reform office in Bacolod City at 10 a.m. today.

The group said in a statement they will seek a dialog with DLR officials to urge them to fast track the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

It said their representatives will demand compliance with commitments made by DLR officials during their dialog on December 21 in Iloilo City, also with officials of Land Bank of the Philippines and Department of Environment and Natural Resources.

These include Administrative Order 7, which calls for the relisting of beneficiaries, and Joint Memorandum Circular 9 and AO2- 2005, which calls for the revalidation of claim folders, supposedly to correct "mistakes" committed by the DLR and LBP, Task Force Mapalad said in the press release.

The group added that during the dialog, it was agreed that the distribution of 40 landholdings covering more than 3,600 hectares already earmarked for TFM members would be fast tracked, with the folders forwarded to the LBP as old claims and not be subjected any longer to revalidation.

However, after more than two weeks of follow-up with the municipal and provincial DLR offices, they said, nothing has been done to comply with the agreement.

TFM president Rodito Angeles said in the statement that DLR's inaction on the December 21 agreement is "the latest instance of what is emerging to be a deliberate campaign by the Arroyo government, in connivance with recalcitrant landlords, to derail if not actually kill CARP before 2008" when the program is scheduled to end.*

back to top