The Interfaith Justice Peace and Integrity of Creation Network (IFJPNet) is in solidarity with all people of goodwill sincerely working for the welfare of the millions of landless farmers in our country. We believe that this issue goes beyond political affiliation because, after all, we are united in the conviction that agrarian reform is a "moral obligation" and an imperative of social justice. In line with this, we respectfully invite each one, as part of our prayerful discernment on the issue of agrarian reform, to also give serious consideration to the merits of House Bill #3059, known as the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) as the fruit of the long experience of the struggles of the poor peasants throughout the country.
As early as 1991, the Second Plenary Council of the Philippines (PCP II) has admitted that the government's agrarian reform program has been a "continuing failure" because of "hard opposition to it on the part of the landed class." PCP II thus emphasizes the need for "real reformation in our patterns of use and ownership of land (Art.391)." GARB invites us to rethink our concept of land ownership so that it would more fully be in line with the moral principle of the universal destination of goods. As the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church states, "the right to private property is subordinated to the right to common use, to the fact that goods are meant for everyone (Art.177)."
We appeal to the advocates of the Agrarian Reform to seriously study the fundamental defects of CARP along with the historical experience of the struggles of the poor peasants from the different regions in our country. If our church and sectoral leaders are indeed prophetic and true advocate to the principle of the "common good and social justice" then it's imperative to allow their self to be immersed in the real lives of the vast struggling peasants and listen to their cries. We believe that by true and genuine listening to them it will lead us to thoroughly examine any bill in the congress that will extend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program that allows the Landlords to use the law to evade land distribution through corporative schemes, land-use conversion, leasehold arrangements, stock distribution options, contract growing that already resulted in the gross human rights violations through massive land grabbing and evictions of the poor peasants.
The recent joint resolution No. 19 of the Senate and the House of Representatives extending the CARP for six months without the compulsory acquisition of lands clearly shows that the Congress is filled with many Landlords and control of the Arroyo administration over the congress through her Son Rep. Juan Miguel "Mikey" Arroyo. This is a concrete manifestation of a compromised agreement in conformity to the few elite and to the oppressive system of bureaucracy in our country. Finally, the issue surrounding the agrarian reform is simply not an issue between the Landlords and Landless peasants but the continuing debates around CARP and grounds raised by the advocates of Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) pointed out the chronic problem of unjust structures in our society that should be radically transformed for the realization of long-lasting social justice in our nation.
Bro. Gilbert S. Billena, O.Carm
Spokesperson
Interfaith Justice and Peace Network (IFJPNet)