The Rivulet Corporation, which is allegedly owned partly by the family of first gentleman Mike Arroyo, has applied for an exemption of the coverage for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program of its 150-hectare property in Isabela, Negros Occidental, DAR regional director Alexis Arsenal said.

Arsenal said the petitioner has been ordered to submit the needed documents to justify their exemption from CARP coverage.

Task Force Mapalad has been repeatedly calling on DAR to place the Arroyo property in Isabela, Negros Occidental, under CARP, and for a review of the role played by landowners in the implementation of the agrarian reform program.

The reclassification of the 150-hectare property into an agro-industrial area had been approved previously by the Sangguniang Bayan of Isabela, records showed.

Arsenal said they needs at least five years to complete the distribution of more than 200,000 hectares of land in Western Visayas , including the 90,000 hectares in Negros Occidental.

He added that the completion of the distribution of lands covered by CARP will also depend on the availability of funding, considering also other technicalities such as defects and missing of land titles even at the Bureau of Lands.

TFM, which has been also calling for Congress to extend CARP beyond 2008, proposed that DAR revise its policy in issuing notice of coverage to landowner to fast-track program implementation.

Arsenal said DAR and the Land Bank of the Philippines should synchronize their targets, as the documentation takes a long time.

He admitted that majority of the contentious CARP areas in Western Visayas are located in Negros Occidental.*GPB

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