CARP: 18 years of continued landlessness, hunger and poverty for farmers

Press Release
By SAGUPA-SB
June 14, 2006

TACLOBAN CITY, Leyte   –  After 18 years of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), landlessness remains to be the top most pressing problem for farmers in the region. This was highlighted by Lito Gacusana, Secretary General of the peasant group, Samahan han Gudti nga Parag-uma ha Sinirangan Bisayas (SAGUPA-SB) in the light of the annual celebration of the CARP anniversary.

“For 18 years, CARP has never answered the demands of farmers for their own land to till. After so much budget have been poured into the program, the region’s productive lands remain in the hands of a few,” said Gacusana.

Gacusana stressed that up until this time, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has accomplished only 38.45% of their regional target of 322,029 hectares of agricultural land to be distributed to landless farmers in Eastern Visayas. For SAGUPA-SB, it is such a dismay that 93.96% of the DAR’s ‘accomplishments’ involved public and government-owned lands like declared resettlement areas, based on DAR’s report on Land Acquisition and Distribution (LAD).

“CARP has not abolished land monopoly in region and in the country, as a whole. Still, 7 out of 10 farmers still hope for their own land to till. Through this, the feudal mode that has come to exploit the peasantry for so long remains to preserved and even reinforced. Farmers continue to bear the brunt of land rent, deducting 25% or more from the farmer’s gross produce, high production costs shouldered by the farmers, usury, among others,” stressed Gacusana.

“To add insult to injury, less than one-hectare farms have been noted to increase to 335% – a glaring indication of the failure of CARP to address the problem of land. Instead of facilitating the distribution of lands to farmer-beneficiaries, we see the facilitation of land grabbing from farmers and the concentration of lands to haciendas and landlords,” said Gacusana.

According to him, this situation further aggravates hunger and lack of job opportunities in the countrysides. Gacusana pointed out that more and more farmers cannot afford their own supply of food due to the rise in prices of commodities following the RVAT implementation. There have been a noted 11.32% increase in the prices of basic food products and that include sardines, noodles and rice – a farmer’s staple food.

“With a meager income of P23.80 per day, how could one farmer afford a kilo of rice costing him P25? Farmers account for 4 out of 10 people in the region who cannot have a decent meal in a day. Furthermore, due to the lack of support from the government in terms of capital and inputs for production and the pressing decapitalization of farmers, agriculture does not generate jobs for the growing populace depending on it,” the farmer-leader said.

For their part, the peasant group will launch a series of education-fora-discussions among farmers, officials of local government units, academe, church and government agencies. They also vow to petition the government for genuine support services for agriculture.