The city agriculture department office assessed its gains and growth related to the implmentation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) during its yearend assessment and directive setting conference.
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) office caretaker and Chief Agrarian Reform Officer (CARPO) Arturo Soria said the activity was held last Jan. 14-15 in Fontana Leisure Park, Angeles, Pampanga.
All executive and management committee members, regional and assistant regional directors, regional and provincial AR adjudicators, regional chiefs of the legal and regional CARPOs of the Planning Division attended the event.
OIC PARO II Glenn Sabijon and PARA Jessica Tilos–Agagon attended the said activity with DAR-IX Dir. Julita Ragandang, Ramon Madroñal and Agnes Maata, Cesar Ebol, Tettywangsa Husin and Roger Flores.
The said event likewise agreed on DAR’s gaps and balances, thrusts and priorities.
Sabijon said that conference participants adopted a joint resolution extending the coverage of CARP for six months or until June 30, 2009 for lands offered under the Voluntary Offer to Sell and the Voluntary Land Transfer, but excluded the compulsory land acquisition scheme.
Sabijon added that AR Sec. Nasser Pangandaman then recommended to President Gloria Arroyo not to sign the resolution, as farmers and cause-oriented groups have branded it as “watered-down” for it excluded compulsory land acquisition provision.
“This (signing) may not sit well with some bishops, farmers, and non-government organizations (NGOs) advocating the extension of CARP in its present status, including compulsory land acquisition,” Sabijon quoted Pangandaman as saying.
Meanwhile, Reps. Edcel Lagman and Rissa Hontiveros, authors of House Bill No. 4077, which sought for a five-year extension of CARP both said that since the program itself was not extended at the end of 2008, the joint resolution was useless.
“Even if the President allows the joint resolution to ‘lapse into law’ by Jan. 22, 2009 or 30 days after the enrolled copy of the joint resolution was officially received by the Office of the President on Dec. 23, 2008, there is no more LAD (land acquisition and distribution) to extend because it had already expired. Once the deadline sought to be extended has expired, no belated extension could be effected,” Lagman said in a statement. PRESS RELEASE