Kudos to GMA

No doubt about it. The new Iloilo airport today is the most modern and beautiful airport in the country. But President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo did not just bask in the credit for it yesterday. She also went out of her way to praise former Senate President Franklin Drilon and Iloilo Governor Niel Tupas for their help in pushing through with the project. But she also acknowledged the key role played by Rep. Arthur Defensor, now congressman of the Third District of Iloilo as prime mover of the project.

That, I think, showed that GMA has not lost her nose for politics. She must have swallowed hard to be able to credit the two Liberal Party stalwarts for their contribution to the realization of the P8.7 billion project funded partly by the Japan Bank for International Cooperation.

That explains the presence at the inaugural of Japan's Ambassador to the Philippines Ryuichiro Yamazaki.

And she had the good sense to defer the inauguration of the new Bacolod Airport in Silay City to a later date. She had originally been expected to do it just at the time of the Iloilo airport inaugural.

But common sense dictates otherwise. First, there is the question of it as the topic of a major media hype. But with the access roads still under question, it would not only distract from the importance of either but will also bring about comments regarding the access arteries.

But GMA also spiced up her brief visit to Iloilo by also attending the Petron-funded library and the elementary school building. There was also the signing of the memorandum of agreement between Petron and the Southeast Asian Fisheries Development Dener (SEAFDEC) for the establishment of a mariculture livelihood program.

That gesture for Drilon and Tupas virtually erased the deep wounds of Drilon's sudden call for her resignation and Tupas resisting the efforts by the Philippine National Police and Department of Interior and Local Government for the Iloilo governor to vacate his position.

Also on hand at the inaugural was Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas. The new airport will definitely prove a boon to the Western Visayas's regional capital. And that means that the new airport could presage an avalanche of foregoing tourists visiting Iloilo and other Western Visayas provinces.

She flew back to Manila shortly after coming back from Guimaras. It was a brief excursion from Malacañang. But GMA proved that within the span of a few hours, one can accomplish so much. And gain (or regain) friends in the process.

And all it takes is to be able to forget past hurts and extend the hand of friendship to those one has conflicts with.

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I agree with Governor Joseph Maranon for the province to undertake an audit on the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform program in the province. This will provide the basis for the review by Congress of CARP and its implementation.

The governor made it clear. He is not against CARP. He also stressed the need to implement the CARP support program. In short, provide the agrarian reform beneficiaries the support for them to maximize the productivity of lands turned over to them so it could really lift their standard of living.

The failure of the agrarian reform department to provide the support services in terms of infrastructure, transfer of technology, and funds for planting as well as post-harvest facilities have combined to discourage agrarian reform beneficiaries from going though with the land reform program. Many of them had leased back their lands instead of farming them by themselves.

The audit should be able to show how much percentage-wise are there of the original CLOA holders still tilling their farm lots. And, of course, how many of them have ended up abandoning their farms or simply reverting to the status of workers of leases.

Of course, that is prohibited by law. But the problem is that the buy-back arrangement or rental by the original landowner is considered valid by DAR despite its obvious contravention of the original intent of CARP.

But what can you do? A hungry man or family does not accept the legal argument that what he is doing contravenes the intent of the law. And this is where some wise guys have taken undue advantage of the ARBs.

That's why Gov. Marañon is determined to make sure that the program remains on stream, that it has not contributed to the further impoverishment of those it originally intended to help.

And, worse, many local government officials had been complaining for a longtime now of gargantuan collectibles from agrarian reform beneficiaries interns of land taxes unpaid by them.

This amounts now to hundreds of millions of pesos. And the bonus of the funding that normally should have been borne by the land taxes must now be shouldered by the IRA of LGUs. That translates into poorer services to their local constituents.*

We hope that Task Force Mapalad could come up with proposals on how these unpaid land taxes can be recovered from the beneficiaries. That, I think, is the best way by which TFM cold disabuse local government units but CARP and its intent. So far, all that has been demanded is installation of the beneficiaries, but nothing has been said about how to ensure that they (the beneficiaries themselves) can be helped by local government untie if they paid their taxes on time and meticulously.

The problems plaguing CARP here had long been discussed in public. But we still have to see some positive solutions to them. Instead, as pointed out earlier by Maranon, what has been happening has just been the acceleration of violence in the CARPed lands.

That's why the governor is calling for a temporary' moratorium only and distribution and the need to truly implement the support services badly needed by the beneficiaries already awarded their lots.

Amen to that.*

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