CITY OF SAN FERNANDO – Central Luzon farmers are set to mark the 25th year of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) on June 10 by seeking its “death” as they slated rallies stretching from Angeles City to Mendiola Bridge near Malacanang starting Sunday.
The Alyansa ng mga Magbubukid sa Gitnang Luson (AMGL) said that since CARP was implemented in 1988 under the administration of then-Pres. Corazon Aquino, most farmers in Central Luzon have remained landless.
He noted that the situation even worsened when the law was amended through Republic Act 9700 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with “Reforms” (CARPER).
“We will push for the dismantling of CARPER and land monopoly during our protest starting June 9,” AMGL chairperson Joseph Canlas said,
Canlas said “the Aquino government has only extended the suffering of poor farmers in the region, as well in the whole country.” This, even as he lamented the “conversions of productive agricultural lands and selling them to big foreign and local capitalists.”
In a statement, AMGL debunked the claim of DAR that it is about to reach its land-distribution target. It noted that in Nueva Ecija, dubbed as the country’s rice granary, “farmers are facing threats of displacement, cancellation of certificate of land ownership awards (CLOA), certificate of land transfer (CLT) and emancipation patents (EP).”
Productive agricultural lands in Nueva Ecija are also being converted into industrial and commercial zones.
“CARP’s working scope in the region is 434,000 hectares, where almost half or 41 per cent is located in Nueva Ecija,” AMGL said.
Canlas warned that “Aquino is not only displacing farmers but also putting the whole country at grave risk by destroying our food security.”
AMGL said that “government projects such as the Metro-Luzon Urban Beltway (MLUB), a component of the Central Luzon Regional Development Plan (CLRDP) has planned to construct the Central Luzon Expressway (CLEx) and North Luzon East Expressway (NLEx East), piercing through sizeable productive farms in many towns.”
AMGL said that the 30.7-kilometer Phase 1 of CLEx was already displacing farmers in Zaragosa, Aliaga towns and Cabanatuan City amid estimates the project would convert about 332 hectares of the agricultural lands in Nueva Ecija.
AMGL also lamented that “the military is keeping its hold on 3,100-hectares of agricultural lands in Fort Magsaysay Military Reservation (FMMR) that were already ordered by former Pres. Corazon Aquino to be covered by CARP.”
“In Guimba, also in Nueva Ecija, speculators conniving with local agrarian reform officials are grabbing CARP-covered lands and ejecting poor farmers,” AMGL also said.
AMGL also reported “farmers in many other areas in Central Luzon are also either being displaced or remain landless, such as in Tarlac city adjacent to Hacienda Luisita and other towns in Tarlac province; in Casiguran town and central part of Aurora province; in many towns of Pampanga, Bulacan and Bataan; in mining-stricken towns of Zambales; and in former Camp Gregg Military Reservation and Mangabul Lake in Bayambang, Pangasinan.”
The group said that in Casiguran town in Aurora, about 13,000 hectares of land is covered by the Republic Act 100083 or Aurora Pacific Economiz Zone and Freeport (Apeco). It covered five barangays, where farmers, fisherfolk and indigenous people reside and source their livelihood.
It also noted that in Pampanga, “CARP is worthless as land use conversion (LUC) has proliferated, ejecting farmers from their lands.”
In the case of the City of San Fernando, agricultural land areas went down from 6,367 hectares or 94 percent of the city’s land area in 1970, to only 3,657 hectares or 54 percent in 2003.
AMGL noted that estimates this year indicated that the city’s agricultural lands would further shrink to 40 percent or only 2,700 hectares.
“Farmers in Clark lands are now being ejected by the government, particularly the Clark Development Corp., in Mexico town, farmers are being displaced by big real estate companies such as Ayala land for their Amaia project, while in Magalang town, landlords are expanding their control by grabbing lands from poor farmers,” Canlas said.
AMGL said that farmers in Bulacan are also facing serious threat of displacement as the Aquino government is planning to convert the province as a large-scale special economic zone, using the Shenzen, China economic model.
“Already, farmers near the NLEx Bocaue interchange are being displaced by landlords and real estate developers while farmers in Tungkong Mangga in San Jose Del Monte are also threatened by the construction of the MRT 7 inter-modal station in Bulacan,” AMGL added.
“The Manila Bay reclamation project and the Pampanga Delta Development Project are major threats to farmers and fisherfolk in Bulacan and Pampanga provinces. It is clear the CARP is toothless against these government programs,” Canlas said.
During the protest rallies slated on June 9 and 10, the farmers will also “demand the repeal of CARPER and the enactment of House Bill 374 or the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill.
The farmers from various parts of Central Luzon are set to converge in Angeles City for a protest rally on June 9, a day before CARP’s anniversary.
“Early morning of the following day, they would protest in front of the DAR Region III office in the City of San Fernando, and then on to DAR central office in Quezon city before marching towards Mendiola Bridge in Manila,” Canlas said.
