Farmers mark end of Carper with protests

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer (Jun 30): Farmers mark end of Carper with protests



Different militant organizations and farmers march towards Mendiola near Malacanang palace in Manila from Department of Agrarian Reform in Quezon City, Monday, on the last day of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER) law.  NIÑO JESUS ORBETA/INQUIRER
About a thousand farmers marched to Mendiola in Manila on Monday to mark the expiration of what they called “bogus” Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and then called for free distribution of lands to farmers.

Dubbed as the “Lakbayan ng mga Biktima ng CARP para sa Tunay na Reporma sa Lupa (Journey of CARP Victims for True Land Reform),” the march from the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City to Mendiola was participated in by farmers from Ilocos, Cagayan Valley, Central Luzon, Southern Tagalog and Bicol Region.

Led by the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, Peasants Movement of the Philippines), the “lakbayan” also protested how government has handled agrarian disputes like the 6,000-hectare Hacienda Luisita, the 8,650-ha Hacienda Looc in Nasgbu, Batangas, and the 3,500 ha Araneta Estate in San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan.

The marchers, upon arrival at Mendiola, burned a 10-foot effigy of President Aquino who was sporting a US flag as an undershirt.

“We want to send a strong message to the President and the proponents of the CARP extension bill that we have enough lies, deception and violence inflicted by the sham CARP to the peasantry,” said KMP chairman Rafael Mariano.

Mariano slammed House Bill 4296, which would grant a two-year extension to the 26-year-old CARP saying that this action would be “nothing but an exercise in futility.”

Independent labor center Kilusang Mayo Uno (May 1 Movement) noted that the CARP has been the “longest-running” and “most expensive” land reform program in the world. “It has not resulted in the distribution of lands to farmers but has only legalized the concentration of lands in the hands of a few landowning families,” said KMU chairman Elmer Labog.

Mariano added that this march aimed to show all Filipinos that “the peasantry’s collective strength is far more superior than the big landlord-dominated and controlled legislative mill.”

The current conditions in the country, according to Labog, “cry out” for genuine land reform and national industrialization especially now that unemployment continues to increase.

“As workers, we want to give out our all-out support to farmers who are calling for a genuine land reform,” Labog noted.

The KMU chair said the condition of the farmers have been worsened by the surge in price hikes of basic commodities, which have also pushed Filipinos to migrate to other countries to look for better-paying jobs.

 http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/615626/farmers-mark-end-of-carper-with-protests