PIMENTEL CITES STUMBLING BLOCKS TO APPROVAL OF CARP AMENDMENTS
Senate Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel Jr. (PDP-Laban) today said the
amendments to the law on the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)
should be in place before the lapse of its six-month extension period on
June 30.
However, Pimentel said there are stumbling blocks that threaten Congress’
approval of the amendments which are intended to extend the lifetime of CARP
by at least five years, allocate additional funds and institute reforms,
especially in terms of land acquisition and distribution and providing
support services to agrarian reform beneficiaries.
The opposition senator said the fate of the bill is uncertain because of the
lobby from powerful landed interests, the inaction of agrarian reform
authorities and even the problem of quorum in the House of Representatives.
He said Congress should pass the final version of the bill amending CARP
before it adjourns sine die on June 5 so that it will be sent to President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo for signing into law before the expiration of Joint
Congressional Resolution l9 which extended the effectivity of CARP by six
months. Only l2 days of session are left before the mid-year adjournment.
“In other words, the first week of June, we will already be adjourning. And
therefore, obviously the need for a more speedy action on the part of the
Senate would be crucial in order to prod the House of Representatives to do
their thing,” the minority leader said.
Pimentel said the problem in getting the amendments to the CARP approved is
not with the Senate where the bill is now in an advanced stage of
deliberations. In fact, he said Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile and Sen.
Gregorio Honasan, sponsor of the bill, have committed to have the bill
passed possibly this week.
However, he decried that the deliberation of the bill in the Senate was
hampered by the anemic response of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser
Pangandaman to the Senate’s request for data on the implementation of CARP
since 1988, particularly the disbursement and utilization of funds.
“The biggest stumbling block to the amendments of the CARP is Secretary
Pangandaman because he does not seem to care. I believe that the secretary
of agrarian reform should be proactive. He should not neglect his mandated
duty. But he does not seem to mind what happens to the law of which is
department is the primary implementor,” he said.
Pimentel said if Pangandaman could not do his part in expediting the passage
of the measure, it could be that he is “busy playing golf.”
He said on the part of the House, he learned that deliberation on the bill
amending the CARP law suffered a delay due to lack of quorum, which stemmed,
among others, from the absence of a group of congressmen, led by Speaker
Prospero Nograles, who had to be quarantined for a number of days after
arriving from the United States where they watched the Pacquiao-Hatton
boxing match.
Date: May 10, 2009
Ref: Omeng Maglangit / (02) 5526733 |
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