“We must reform agrarian reform so it can transform beneficiaries into agribusinessmen.”

This was the call of President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo in her State of the Nation Address yesterday, where she announced the transfer of the Department of Agrarian Reform office to Davao.

“Done right, reform will democratize success, as (former presidents) Ramon Magsaysay and Diosdado Macapagal envisioned,” the president said, citing the success of farmers who won the Gawad Saka awards.

However, Felipe Levy Gelle, Bayan Negros secretary general, said the president’s stand indicates that she is yielding to the demand of Negros landlords to stop actual distribution of land and focus instead on delivery of projects to existing beneficiaries.

Gov. Joseph Marañon and the mayors of Negros Occidental are conducting an audit and evaluation of the implementation of the CARP in the province to determine whether it should be continued or not.

The CARP law expires next year and how it will be continued is up for deliberation in Congress.

The governor said he hopes to submit a report on the audit findings to the President before November or December.

Marañon stressed that he is not against CARP, but believes further distribution of land is not the answer to helping farmer beneficiaries but the provision of adequate support services.

Meanwhile, there were reports yesterday that Task Force Mapalad beneficiaries would be installed at the controversial Hacienda Velez-Malaga in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, starting today after the DAR sought police assistance.

Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman said what they sought was police assistance to secure the 53 hectares already given to 57 TFM beneficiaries.

There will be no new installation, he said.

But a local DAR source said no activity at Malaga will take place this week after it was agreed at a meeting yesterday that preparations were needed to prevent another break out of violence.

The DAR, however, will conduct carding of Velez Malaga agrarian reform beneficiaries today at the La Castellana municipal building to determine if those included in Certificates of Land Ownership Awards still reside in the farm.

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