10,000 farmers here may lose chance to own land

CEBU – Given that 50 percent of the total balance for land distribution in Cebu province is covered by land acquired through Compulsory Acquisition, around 10,000 farmers stand to lose their chance to own a land once the joint resolution of the House of Representatives and the Senate is approved providing a six-month extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program without CA.

This according to Stephen Leonidas of the Cebu Provincial Agrarian Reform Office, citing the impact of the non-extension of CARP to hoping landless farmers in the province.

The PARO so far has a balance of 16,523 hectares of land to be distributed to 20,653 farmer beneficiaries in Cebu.

Of the total balance, 8,218 hectares belong to land type acquired by CA which is 50 percent. The remaining portion comprise of Untitled Private Agricultural Lands which is 29 percent or 4,719 hectares; Voluntary Land Transfer at nine percent or 1,564 hectares; government-owned lands at seven percent or 1, 078 hectares; and others acquired through voluntary offer to sell, awards, etc.

The joint resolution passed by both houses proposed that CARP will be extended by half a year but scrapping the CA type of land acquisition which occupies a large portion of the coverage of CARP.

Agrarian officials said that scrapping the CA would lessen their coverage which would mean less number of farmers to be responded to with their clamor to own a land to till.

Once the government stops funding the Land Acquisition and Distribution component of CARP, half of DAR-Cebu target will not be covered, acquired, and distributed.

That is why the office is submitting its position paper to the central office and eventually to both Houses appealing for extension of CARP for the benefit of Cebuano landless farmers.

Department of Agrarian Reform-Central Visayas regional director Rodolfo Inson said that if there is no CA, no landowners would offer its land. Most landowners think that CARP is a confiscatory program that pays not in time.

Landowners also frown with the valuation process of the government bank partnering with DAR. Usually, landowners’ investments are much greater than what would come back to them in the form of what the CARP called “just compensation for private lands acquired for public use.”

In the region, the balance for land distribution is still 53,000 hectares. Inson said a large portion of it is also occupied by hectares of land compulsorily acquired. The department has already distributed 114,000 hectares of land for the last 20 years of CARP. It has benefited 153,000 farmer beneficiaries throughout the region.

Leonidas said the resolution is useless and only a preparation for the total abolishment of CARP. DAR constituents and beneficiaries will be greatly affected because once the CARP terminates, support services might also be stopped.

“We have no more reason to source out funds from our supporter organizations local and abroad to finance services for our farmer beneficiaries. How can we ask assistance if the program does not exist anymore,” Leonidas said.

Leonidas also said that there is a tendency that DAR will be abolished since CARP termination means death of land acquisition and distribution.

Distribution is the main function of DAR. Other functions such as support service delivery and legal assistance can be done by other agencies.

Taking out the CARP gives DAR no job and dilutes the essence of agrarian reform which is always the combination of land distribution, delivery of support service and legal assistance where land distribution is the most important.

Meanwhile, Leonidas said that his office has accomplished 100 percent of its target for land distribution this year. Cebu-DAR has distributed 3,000 hectares to seven Agrarian Reform Communities with 1,207 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries. There are now 30 ARCs in Cebu.

Leonidas said that next year, they will focus on support service delivery since the debate on the extension of CARP is still ongoing. The office has been appropriated a P16.1-billion budget for next year which will go to the preparation for the agrarian reform program, salary of DAR employees, and other land tenure improvements. — Jessica Ann Pareja/MEEV (THE FREEMAN)