The Coalition of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries and Initiatives for Negros Empowerment yesterday tagged congressmen Monico Puentevella (Bacolod City), Jeffrey Ferrer (Neg. Occ., 4 th District), and Ignacio Arroyo Jr. (Neg. Occ., 5 th District) as men with “black hearts” for their anti-CARP stance.

In a press conference, Enrique Tayo of CARBINE said the three solons from Negros Occidental are actively opposing the extension of the agrarian reform program and they have been creating a lot of noise in the House of Representatives against CARP implementation.

The group said the three congressmen, who are members of the House Committee on Agrarian Reform, are favoring the oppressive intentions of conservative landlords instead of sympathizing with the marginalized farmers.

Joel Alapar of Genuine Agrarian Reform Advocates for Negros Development said the three are campaigning with their fellow congressmen to abolish CARP.

Instead of pushing for its abolition, Puentevella, Ferrer and Arroyo should take the lead in proposing for reforms that will democratize land ownership in the country, especially in Negros Occidental, Alapar said.

He added that there will be no real rural development and peace in the countryside unless an agrarian reform program exists.

CARBINE and GARAND along with the other farmers' groups pushing for CARP extension also pointed out that despite some defects in the implementation, DAR was able to distribute 158,231 hectares of land in Negros Occidental as of June 2007 or 64.20 percent of the 246,465 target.

Thousands of agrarian reform beneficiaries benefited from CARP despite the lack of support services from the government, the farmers' groups said.

Meanwhile, Puentevella said that he proposed bills and resolutions last year in congress intended to extend CARP but with a bigger budget for more support services.

However, he was prompted to withdraw his bills after farmers' group started to malign him instead of expressing appreciation for what he has done.

Puentevella said he is now joining the camp of partylist representatives Satur Ocampo, Liza Masa, Ted Casino , and Crispin Beltran who all want to scrap CARP because they feel it is useless.

On the other hand, the farmers' groups said that, instead of abolishing the program, a new agrarian reform law should be created that will put a stop to voluntary land transfer and farmland as collateral schemes.

The groups also said that cleansing the ranks of DAR and other government agencies from corruption is another prerequisite in extending CARP implementation.*NAB

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