This was the view expressed by the partylist Anakpawis after the fi rst meeting in 10 years of the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) which led to the decision of the President to order a moratorium on conversion of agricultural lands, as well as the condonation of penalties on the arrears of farmer-bene- fi ciaries (FBs) with Land Bank of the Philippines for their land awarded under the agrarian reform program.
“We welcome Pres. Duterte’s pro-farmer directives, and recognize the eff orts of Agrarian Reform Sec. Rafael “Ka Paeng” Mariano, who was instrumental for this development. Ka Paeng and the President are undoubtedly partners for change benefi ting the poor Filipino farmers,” Anakpawis Party-list Rep. Ariel Casilao said in a statement.
Casilao noted that “Anakpawis has long been opposing land use conversion projects, such as the 36,000-hectare Clark Green City project in Tarlac, and the 200-hectare MRT 7 inter-modal station in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.”
“We are hopeful that the President’s order be realized all over the country, to give hope and diff use the anxiety of farmers over displacement,” Casilao said.
“May this development serve as a warning against the landlord oligarchs who scheme of displacing farmers in order to rake up profi ts from land speculation. We urge the various sectors to support this presidential measure, for the protection of farmers’ rights, as well as the country’s food security,” he added.
Anakpawis,the partylist which Mariano used to represent in Congress, has also been lobbying for the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) that pushes for free distribution of lands and prohibits conversion of agricultural lands.
