Philippine Land Reform Needs You
Written on Saturday, April 26th, 2008 at 9:12 pm | by Lester CavestanyThe extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program will soon be discussed and debated on the floor of the Philippine Congress. This was guaranteed to the Filipino people on Thursday when the House Committee on Agrarian Reform (chaired by Rep Elias Bulut Jr) approved the bill proposing a 5-year extension and allocating a budget of P100B.
Since the beginning of the Philippine nationhood in the early 1900s, the government has been unsuccessful in its attempts to implement genuine agrarian reform. Social analysts have been quick to blame the lawmaking body for this failure - It’s common knowledge that our Congress is made up of legislators who have direct ties with the landowning families of the country. Another reason why land reform has been weak is because the media is focused on news and affairs that happen in the capital of Metro Manila. I wish they would have a 5-10 minute segment in the nightly news that would focus on news in the agricultural regions of the country.
This is only the beginning of a long process. A process that could include amendments that could either be pro-farmer or pro-landowner. I hope that pro-poor congressmen and NGOs will continue to push for more progressive proposals such as those written in Rep Crispin Beltran’s House Bill 3059. I call on all Filipinos to do their share in giving a voice to the millions of poor Filipino farmers who have suffered long enough in the hands of wealthy hacienderos.
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