Empty rhetoric, blatant lies, farmers say on Aquino vow on land distribution; Aquino brags of land distribution while Hacienda Luisita undistributed
NEWS RELEASE
July 24, 2012
Empty rhetoric, blatant lies, farmers say on Aquino vow on land distribution
Aquino brags of land distribution while Hacienda Luisita undistributed
The militant peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) today assailed as “empty rhetoric and blatant lie” President Aquino’s promise during his State of the Nation Address (Sona) that “all lands would be distributed under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (Carper) during his term or beyond the law’s termination in 2014.”
KMP deputy secretary general Randall Echanis said “Aquino can’t even implement genuine land distribution in Hacienda Luisita and, in fact, approves the continuing maneuver of his family to circumvent the Supreme Court decision.”
“Aquino brags of land distribution while Hacienda Luisita remains undistributed and feudal exploitation and injustice persists. The President’s promise on land distribution is as fraudulent as the sham Carper,” Echanis, who is also chair of the party-list group Anakpawis, said.
He said that “the only people happy with Aquino’s empty rhetoric to extend Carper after its termination in 2014 are big landlords who profit from the just compensation and real estate transactions disguised as land distribution.”
“This means that hacienderos like the President can continue to collect just compensation from the government while maintaining control over vast plantations,” says Echanis.
The KMP also said that “obviously, the sham Carper cannot complete the distribution its reduced target of at least 1 million hectares before 2014.”
“Even the so-called accomplishments of the DAR are aimed to deceive farmers. The DAR already listed as accomplishment even those lands that are still locked in agrarian disputes,” Echanis said.
The KMP cited cases of lands previously covered by agrarian reform but were exempted by the CARP itself like Hacienda Looc in Batangas, Saulog Estates and Golden Country Farms in Mindoro, Moldex case in Silang, Cavite, Araneta lands in Tungkong Mangga, Bulacan, Fort Magsaysay and Mambayu case in Nueva Ecija, and the Central Mindanao University land dispute in Bukidnon, among others.
“After 2014, a new and genuine agrarian reform program is in order,” says the KMP who is pushing for the enactment of House Bill 374 or the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB). #
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KMP National Secretariat
25-B Matiyaga Street, Barangay Central, Quezon City
Philippines
Telefax: 632-4352383
Email: kmp@kilusangmagbubukid.org
Web: www.kilusangmagbubukid.org
