Kabataan Kontra Cha-Cha Petition

We are today’s generation of Filipino youth, young, vibrant and spirited, transcending professions, cultures and boundaries, and to whom the hopes and aspirations for the nation’s future is bequeathed.

Together, we vehemently oppose all attempts by the ruling Arroyo clique and its cronies in Congress to tamper with the Constitution and perpetuate itself in power. We denounce in the strongest possible terms the blatant abuse of power and treachery that have come to characterize this regime.

The shameless display of arrogance and callousness of the Arroyo government sends for all patriotic and freedom-loving young Filipinos to dissent. The signs of times are rallying us to lives of involvement and action.

The youth have always played a pivotal role in ushering in significant changes and junctures in history. We have always been at the forefront of uprisings and revolutions every time the social, political and economic conditions in society become too intolerable for Filipinos to endure.

Today, we have a moral and sacred duty to perform. We cannot remain silent or with our arms crossed. We cannot remain indifferent while our own future as a people and a nation are being compromised for selfish political ambitions. The stakes are too high for us to take a pass.

The Filipino youth are awake and are answering the urgent call of our time. Once again, we reaffirm the youth’s historic role as catalyst of change and renew our resolve to put an end to the tyranny of the Arroyo regime.

We express our solidarity with various church groups, the business sector, people’s organizations and concerned Filipino citizens who have similarly expressed opposition against any attempts of the Arroyo administration to extend her term.

We believe that national leaders should be accountable to the people and that government officials should portray the highest standards of morality and integrity to be able to propel the nation towards genuine progress, justice and peace.

We oppose the convening of a constituent assembly and Arroyo’s charter change on the following grounds:

• Any attempt at charter change by the Arroyo administration would only serve to extend President Arroyo’s regime. With her term expiration nearing, she and her allies in Congress, led by her son Pampanga Rep. Juan Miguel Arroyo, are left to resort to whatever “legal” means are possible to make sure she stays in power after 2010. Arroyo is desperate because she will inevitably have to answer to all the cases filed against her once she is removed from position;
• Charter change can be used by Arroyo to perpetuate herself in power through Martial Law. No different to what Ferdinand Marcos did, charter change can be used by Arroyo to remove the 60-day limit covering the President’s declaration of martial rule and to suspend the privilege of the writ of habeas corpus thus allowing the State to arrest anybody without a warrant. Alternately, the power of Congress to revoke the President’s declaration of martial law or the power of the Supreme Court to review the bases of a declaration of martial law can be removed;
• Charter Change will worsen the economic and social crises plaguing the country. All past attempts of charter change have pushed to amend economic provisions barring 100 percent foreign ownership of lands, social institutions, and basic services, industries and infrastructures in the country. This recent attempt through HR 1109 is no different as it explicitly aims to allow foreign interests and entities to dominate the country under the guise of ‘international competitiveness.’ Such a revision will only give way to further foreign exploitation and plunder of our natural resources, indigenous knowledge systems, and domestic human resources;
• Charter change will aggravate the colonial, corrupt and commercial characteristics of Philippine culture, education and mass media; and
• Charter change can allow further foreign intervention and exploitation by allowing one-sided treaties detrimental to national development and progress.

We call on all democracy-loving youth and citizens to stop efforts to change the Constitution before the 2010 elections. The government’s desperate efforts to continuously cling to power have sown deep social discontent and division among the people.

We strongly believe in the sovereign right that rests on the people to change a morally bankrupt and corrupt regime with a conscientious leadership that can genuinely unite the nation and can bring forth meaningful social change.

SIGN THE ONLINE PETITION AT www.kabataanpartylist.com

FYI. List of CONGRESSMEN WHO APPROVED THE CON ASS

LET THEM REMEMBER THE DAY THEY COMMITTED POLITICAL SUICIDE!

FORWARD TO ALL YOUR FRIENDS.

CONGRESSMEN WHO APPROVED THE CON ASS

ABANTE, BIENVENIDO M. “BENNY” 6TH District Pandacan

ABLAN, ROQUE R. JR, Ilocos Norte, 1st District

AGBAYANI, VICTOR AGUEDO E.. Pangasinan, 2nd District

AGYAO, MANUEL, S Kalinga Province

ALBANO (III), RODOLFO T. Isabela, 1st District

ALFELOR, FELIX R. JR. 4th District, Camarines Sur

ALMARIO, THELMA Z. Davao Oriental, 2nd District

ALVAREZ, ANTONIO C. Palawan 1st District

ALVAREZ, GENARO RAFAEL M. JR. Negros Occidental, 6th District

AMANTE, EDELMIRO A. Agusan Del Norte, 2nd District

AMATONG, ROMMEL C. Compostela Valley, 2nd District

ANGPING, MARIA ZENAIDA B. Manila, 3rd District

ANTONINO, RODOLFO W. Nueva Ecija, 4th District

APOSTOL, TRINIDAD G. Leyte, 2nd District

AQUINO, JOSE S. (II) 1st District Agusan del Norte

ARAGO, MARIA EVITA R. 3rd district, Laguna

ARBISON, A MUNIR M. Sulu 2nd District

ARENAS, MA. RACHEL J. Pangasinan, 3rd District

ARROYO, DIOSDADO M. Camarines Sur, 1st District

ARROYO, IGNACIO T. 5th district Negros Occidental

ARROYO, JUAN MIGUEL M. 2nd District of Pampanga

BAGATSING, AMADO S. Manila 5th district

BALINDONG, PANGALIAN M. Lanao del Sur, 2nd District

BARZAGA, ELPIDIO F. JR. Cavite, 2nd District

BAUTISTA, FRANKLIN P. Davao Del Sur, 2nd District

BELMONTE, VICENTE F. JR. Lanao del Norte, 1st District

BICHARA, AL FRANCIS C. Albay, 2nd District

BIRON, FERJENEL G. Iloilo, 4th District

BONDOC, ANNA YORK P. Pampanga 4th District

BONOAN-DAVID, MA. THERESA B. Manila, 4th District

BRAVO, NARCISO R. JR. Masbate, 1st District

BRIONES, NICANOR M.. AGAP Party list

BUHAIN, EILEEN ERMITA Batangas, 1st District

BULUT, ELIAS C. JR. Apayao Lone District

CAGAS (IV), MARC DOUGLAS C. Davao Del Sur, 1st District

CAJAYON, MARY MITZI L. Caloocan, 2nd District

CAJES, ROBERTO C. Bohol, 2nd District

CARI, CARMEN L. Leyte, 5th District

CASTRO, FREDENIL H. Capiz, 2nd District

CELESTE, ARTHUR F. Pangasinan, 1st District

CERILLES, ANTONIO H. Zamboanga Del Sur, 2nd District

CHATTO, EDGARDO M. Bohol, 1st District

CHONG, GLENN A. Biliran, Lone District

CHUNG-LAO, SOLOMON R. Ifugao, Lone District

CLARETE, MARINA C. Misamis Occidental, 1st District

CODILLA, EUFROCINO M. SR. Leyte, 4th District

COJUANCO, MARK O. Pangasinan, 5th District

COQUILA, TEODULO M. Eastern Samar, Lone District

CRISOLOGO, VINCENT P. Quezon City, 1st District

CUA, JUNIE E. Quirino, Lone District

CUENCO, ANTONIO V. Cebu City, 2nd District

DANGWA, SAMUEL M. Benguet, Lone District

DATUMANONG, SIMEON A. Maguindanao, Lone District

Dayanghirang, Nelson L. Davao Oriental, 1st District

DAZA, NANETTE C. Quezon City, 4th District

DAZA, PAUL R. Northern Samar, 1st District

DE GUZMAN, DEL R. Marikina City, 2nd District

DEFENSOR, ARTHUR D. SR. Iloilo, 3rd District

DEFENSOR, MATIAS V. JR. Quezon City, 3rd District

DEL MAR, RAUL V. Cebu City, 1st District

DIASNES, CARLO OLIVER D. (MD) Batanes, Lone District

DIMAPORO, ABDULLAH D. Lanao Del Norte, 2nd District

DOMOGAN, MAURICIO G. Baguio, Lone District

DUAVIT, MICHAEL JOHN R. Rizal, 1st District

DUENAS, HENRY M. JR. Taguig, 2nd District (2nd Councilor District)

DUMARPA, FAYSAH MRP. Lanao del Sur, 1st District

DUMPIT, THOMAS L. JR. La Union, 2nd District

DURANO (IV), RAMON H. 5th District, Cebu

ECLEO, GLENDA B. Dinagat Islands, Lone District

EMANO, YEVGENY VICENTE B. Misamis Oriental, 2nd District

ENVERGA, WILFRIDO MARK M. Quezon, 1st District

ESTRELLA, CONRADO M. (III) Pangasinan, 6th District

ESTRELLA, ROBERT RAYMUND M. ABONO Party List

FERRER, JEFFREY P. Negros Occidental, 4th District

GARAY, FLORENCIO C. Surigao Del Sur, 2nd District

GARCIA, ALBERT S. Bataan, 2nd District.

GARCIA, PABLO JOHN F. Cebu, 3rd District

GARCIA, PABLO P. Cebu, 2nd District

GARCIA, VINCENT J. Davao City, 2nd District

GARIN, JANETTE L. Iloilo, 1st District

GATCHALIAN, REXLON T. Valenzuela City, 1st District

GATLABAYAN, ANGELITO C. Antipolo City, 2nd District

GO, ARNULFO F. Sultan Kudarat, 2nd District

GONZALES, AURELIO D. JR. Pampanga 3rd District

GONZALES, RAUL T. JR. Ilo ilo City

GULLAS, EDUARDO R. Cebu, 1st District

GUNIGUNDO, MAGTANGGOL T. Valenzuela City 2nd District

HOFER, DULCE ANN K. Zamboanga Sibugay, 2nd District

JAAFAR, NUR G. Tawi-Tawi, Lone District

JALA, ADAM RELSON L. Bohol, 3rd District

JALOSJOS, CESAR G. Zamboanga del Norte, 3rd District

JALOSJOS-CARREON, CECILIA G. Zamboanga del Norte, 1st District

JIKIRI, YUSOP H. Sulu, 1st District

KHO, ANTONIO T. Masbate, 2nd District

LABADLABAD, ROSENDO S. Zamboanga del Norte, 2nd District

LACSON, JOSE CARLOS V. Negros Occidental, 3rd District

LAGDAMEO, ANTONIO F. JR. Davao del Norte, 2nd District

LAPUS, JECI A. Tarlac, 3rd District

LAZATIN, CARMELO F. Pampanga, 1st District

LIM, RENO G. Albay, 3rd District

LOPEZ, JAIME C. Manila, 2nd District

MADRONA, ELEANORA JESUS F. Romblon, Lone District

MAGSAYSAY, MARIA MILAGROS H. Zambales, 1st District

MALAPITAN, OSCAR G. Caloocan, 1st District

MAMBA, MANUEL N. Cagayan, 3rd District

MANGUDADATU, DATU PAKUNG S. Sultan Kudarat,

MARANON, ALFREDO D. III Negros Occidental, 2nd District

MATUGAS, FRANCISCO T. Surigao del Norte, 1st District

MENDOZA, MARK LEANDRO L. Batangas, 4th District

MERCADO, ROGER G. Southern Leyte, Lone District

MIRAFLORES, FLORENCIO T. Aklan, Lone District

NAVA, JOAQUIN CARLOS RAHMAN A. (MD) Guimaras, Lone District

NICOLAS, REYLINA G. Bulacan, 4th District

NOGRALES, PROSPERO C. Davao City, 1st District

OLAñO, ARREL R. Davao Del Norte, 1st District

ONG, EMIL L. Northern Samar, 2nd District

ORTEGA, VICTOR FRANCISCO C. La Union, 1st District

PABLO, ERNESTO C. APEC Party List

PANCHO, PEDRO M. Bulacan, 2nd District

PANCRUDO, CANDIDO P. JR. Bukidnon, 1st District

PICHAY, PHILIP A. Surigao Del Sur, 1st District

PIñOL, BERNARDO F. JR. North Cotabato, 2nd District

PUNO, ROBERTO V. Antipolo City, 1st District

RAMIRO, HERMINIA M. Misamis Occidental, 2nd District

REMULLA, JESUS CRISPIN C. Cavite, 3rd District

REYES, CARMELITA O. Marinduque, Lone District

REYES, VICTORIA H. Batangas, 3rd District

ROBES, ARTURO G. San Jose Del Monte City, Lone District

Rodriguez-Zaldarria ga, Adelina Rizal, 2nd District

ROMAN, HERMINIA B. Bataan, 1st District

ROMARATE, GUILLERMO A. JR. Surigao del Norte, 2nd District

ROMUALDEZ, FERDINAND MARTIN G. Leyte, 1st District

ROMUALDO, PEDRO Camiguin, Lone District

ROMULO, ROMAN T. Pasig City, Lone District

ROXAS, JOSE ANTONIO F. Pasay City

SALIMBANGON, BENHUR L. Cebu, 4th District

SALVACION JR., ANDRES D. Leyte, 3rd District

SAN LUIS, EDGAR S. Laguna, 4th District

SANDOVAL, ALVIN S. Malabon-Navotas, Lone District

SANTIAGO, JOSEPH A. Catanduanes, Lone District

SANTIAGO, NARCISO D. (III) ARC Party List

SEACHON-LANETE, RIZALINA L. 3rd district of Masbate

SEARES-LUNA, CECILIA M. Abra, Lone District

SILVERIO, LORNA C. Bulacan, 3rd District

SINGSON, ERIC D. Ilocos Sur, 2nd District

SINGSON, RONALD V. Ilocos Sur, 1st District

SOLIS, JOSE G. Sorsogon, 2nd District

SOON-RUIZ, NERISSA CORAZON Cebu, 6th District

SUAREZ, DANILO E. Quezon, 3rd District

SUSANO, MARY ANN L. Quezon City, 2nd District

SY-ALVARADO, MA. VICTORIA R. Bulacan, 1st District

SYJUCO, JUDY J. 2nd Dsitrict, Iloilo

TALINO-MENDOZA, EMMYLOU J. North Cotabato, 1st District

TAN, SHAREE ANN T. Samar, 2nd District

TEODORO, MARCELINO R. Marikina City, 1st District

TEODORO, MONICA LOUISSE PRIETO Tarlac, 1st District

TEVES, PRYDE HENRY A. Negros Oriental, 3rd District

TUPAS, NEIL C. JR. Iloilo, 5th District

UNGAB, ISIDRO T. Davao City, 3rd District

UY, EDWIN C. Isabela, 2nd District

UY, REYNALDO S. Samar, 1st District

UY, ROLANDO A. Cagayan De Oro City, Lone District

VALDEZ, EDGAR L. APEC Party List

VALENCIA, RODOLFO G. Oriental Mindoro, 1st District

VARGAS, FLORENCIO L. Cagayan, 2nd District

VILLAFUERTE, LUIS R. Camarines Sur, 2nd District

VILLAROSA, MA. AMELITA C. Occidental Mindoro, Lone District

VIOLAGO, JOSEPH GILBERT F. Nueva Ecija, 2nd District

YAP, JOSE V.. Tarlac, 2nd District

YU, VICTOR J. Zamboanga Del Sur, 1st District

ZAMORA, MANUEL E. 1st District, Compostela Valley

ZIALCITA, EDUARDO C. Parañaque, 1st District

Kabataan Partylist News Release on Right of Reply Bill

Not for media only

Right of Reply will affect bloggers, texters, iPod users, says solon

Kabataan Party-list Rep. Mong Palatino today raised the alarm on how the Right of Reply Bill would not only affect stifle freedom but could lead to Internet censorship and affect freedom of speech and expression of bloggers, texters, and even iPod users.

In his interpellation of the Right of Reply Bill, Palatino got sponsor Cong. Bienvenido Abante to admit that HB 3306 would also cover websites, emails, Internet social networking sites and other electronic devices in its scope.

Section 1 of HB 3306 (Right of Reply) states, “All persons natural or judicial who are accused directly or indirectly of committing, having committed, or are criticized by innuendo, suggestion or rumor for any lapse in behavior in public or private life shall have the right to reply to charges or criticisms published in newspapers, magazines, newsletters or publications circulated commercially or for free, or aired or broadcast over radio, television, websites or through any electronic device.”

“The bill, therefore, would not only affect media outfits and journalists but also all website owners, website masters, email account holders and other netizens who are not necessarily media practitioners,” Palatino said.

He added, “This would affect the more than five million bloggers and millions more of Internet users in the country. My fear is that when this bill comes to law, it will be used to regulate the content of the Internet. When we are checking our emails, when we open our Friendster or Facebook accounts, we are checking our websites. Does this mean that we will be compelled to moderate, modify or edit our personal websites? Is this not Internet censorship and suppression of freedom of speech and expression?”

“Does this mean that whenever a criticism is published in these venues a person can use the Right of Reply to compel a blogger or moderator of a social networking site to publish a space or a reply for that person? Or when an individual decides to copy or re-post an article from a news website in his or her personal blog, and in the future the said article becomes a subject of this Right of Reply, will he or she be sanctioned or fined also?”

Palatino also questioned the inclusion of ‘any electronic device’ in the bill. “Again, this would affect more than 60 million mobile phone users and iPod owners in the country. This is totally out of bounds and not to mention virtually impossible to apply. Kung may ka-text ako at nagreklamo siya sa text ko, will I be compelled to publish his reply in my mobile phone? I simply find it incredible and idiotic.”

Same principle applies, Palatino said, to iPod users and other owners of electronic devices.

Palatino said that he would oppose the Right of Reply Bill on grounds that it subdues freedom of the press and the general public’s freedom of speech and expression. He also said that he is not amenable even to a ‘watered down’ version of the bill because it merely ‘renders the Right of Reply pointless.’

He also encouraged bloggers, netizens, texters and concerned youth to register their opposition to the ‘apparent railroading of the bill in Congress.’ ###

Kabataan Partylist Reresentative votes no to CARP Extension

Below is the Explanation of Vote of Kabataan Party-list Rep. Mong Palatino against HB 1257 An Act Accelerating the Completion of the Land Acquisition and Distribution Component of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), By Providing Automatic Appropriation Thereof, and Addressing Major Implementation Problems of the Program, Amending for the Purpose Republic Act No. 6657, As Amended, Otherwise Known as “The CARP Law of 1988” and Executive Order 129, As Amended :

I vote “NO” to HB 1257, I vote “NO” to extending the present Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

I vote NO because CARP extension would only create more opportunities for land owners and agribusiness firms to further consolidate their control over agricultural lands.

HB 1257 specifically provides for a “farmland as collateral,” an essential element of market-oriented land reform. Farmers who would avail of this provision may just find their lands foreclosed, thus resulting in the return of already-redistribut ed agricultural lands to the ownership of landlords and big agribusinesses.

I vote NO HB CARP extension because the present CARP has failed to stop bankrupt farmers from selling or transferring distributed lands despite so-called prohibitions on such transfers.

CARP failed to fulfill the constitutional mandate on agrarian reform program, as clarified by the Supreme Court by stating that “through the agrarian reform, the farmer at last will be released not only from want but also from the exploitation and disdain of the past and from feelings of inadequacy and helplessness; the farm will be his/her portion of Mother Earth that will give not only the staff of life but also the joy of living”.

I vote NO to HB 1257as it could be used by landlords, big agribusinesses and those with personal motives and interests to push for initiatives to develop corporate farms and facilitate foreign and local agricultural investments through the concept of a so-called Agrarian Reform Community (ARC). The ARC, I believe, would only increase the insecurity and loss of land tenure in the countryside.

Finally, I vote NO to CARP extension because it is clearly only meant to perpetuate the present flawed and bogus CARP in order to suit the needs of big landlords and agribusinesses. To pass this legislation would prove detrimental especially to small and landless farmers since introducing reforms to the present flawed CARP undermines the historical and rightful claim of farmers to own the land they till for free.

I vote NO because I firmly believe that requiring farmers to pay for the land they till is the biggest flaw of the present CARP – merely making it a real estate transaction between landlords and farmers with the government acting the role of broker.

Instead of extending the flawed CARP, Kabataan Party-list calls for a genuine land reform program that upholds land distribution as key to its success and completion. ###

Another ‘Travesty’ as Congress Votes to Extend Life of Failed CARP

Even landlords voted ‘yes’. Katanggap-tanggap sa kanila ang CARP extension (CARPER) dahil hindi nito binabasag ang konsentrasyon ng lupa sa malalaking landlords tulad ng mga Arroyo at iba pang Kongresista sa Mababang Kapulungan. They, not the farmers, will ultimately benefit from this bogus land reform.

http://www.bulatlat .com/main/ 2009/06/04/ another-travesty -as-congress- votes-to- extend-life- of-failed- carp/

The landlord-dominated Congress, led by the relatives of President Arroyo, voted Wednesday night to add five more years to the implementation of a 20-year-old agrarian-reform program that has failed to uplift the lives of peasants and farmers in the Philippines. And critics say the new proposed law is even worse than the original.

By MAO HERMITANIO and JANESS ANN J.ELLAO
Bulatlat

MANILA – A day after members of the House of Representatives approved a resolution that would pave the way for the possible extension of President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s rule, they passed on third and final reading a controversial bill extending the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program – a bill that progressive partylist legislators had rejected for being anti-farmer, pro-landlord and worse than the original.

Led by the four relatives of President Arroyo (her two sons, her brother-in-law and sister-in-law) , 211 legislators voted “yes” to House Resolution 4077, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER), 13 voted “no,” and only two abstained.

The bill intends to extend by five years the original Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). However, critics say CARPER is worse than CARP because it only reinforces the pro-landlord orientation of the original law.

Peasants, farmers and activists protesting in Congress Wednesday night. (Photo by Janess Ann J. Ellao/ bulatlat.com)

Among those who defended the bill and voted for its passage were principal authors Rep. Edcel Lagman of Albay and Rep. Risa Hontiveros-Baraquel of the party-list group Akbayan. Rep. Jun Alcover of the partylist and anti-communist group ANAD praised the CARPER bill, calling its passage a “victory for farmers and democracy.”

The CARPER’s approval is sure to stoke the anti-Arroyo fire created by the approval Tuesday night of the resolution that would convene Congress into a constituent assembly so it can amend the Constitution.

Already, farmers’ groups have lined up protest actions against CARPER, with one protest march scheduled today, Thursday, from the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City to Mendiola, where farmers calling for a genuine agrarian-reform program had been shot and killed.

Arroyo Lands

“If CARP is extended, would it distribute the lands of the Arroyos to farmers?” Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano asked his colleagues shortly before the bill was approved through nominal voting before midnight Wednesday. Some members of the Arroyo clan had been resisting the implementation of CARP for years, as do many of the country’s landowners.

Peasants, farmers and activists protesting in Congress Wednesday night. (Photo by Janess Ann J. Ellao / bulatlat.com)

CARP, Mariano added, “was used only to reconcentrate the land of a few landed families,” referring to loopholes in the original law that allow landowners to circumvent the program, for instance by turning their farmlands into non-agricultural property.

Kabataan Rep. Raymond Palatino said CARP “failed our farmers.” He said — by way of explaining his “no” vote — that he could find no “just and righteous reason to extend a bogus land program.”

Bayan Muna Teddy Casiño called CARP “heartless and soul-less.” He pointed out that even Lagman, the principal author of CARPER, had admitted that the proposed new law “will not correct the congenital defects” of CARP. “By extending the life of a zombie agrarian-reform program, we are repeating the sin of the 8th congress,” Casiño said.

Failed Program

CARP, passed in 1988 as part of President Corazon Aquino’s so-called social-justice program, has largely been a failure. The extensions it has been given, including the one under CARPER, only underscores this.

According to a study by the economic think-tank Ibon Foundation, full land ownership in the Philippines has actually been declining since 1972, when the dictator Ferdinand Marcos passed Presidential Decree No. 27 that created the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). Fully owned farms during that period accounted for 63 percent of total farm area, but this decreased to around 50 percent in 2002.

“Although there was a decrease in the share of completely tenanted and leased lands, this did not translate into full ownership but only part ownership,” Ibon Foundation’s research head, Sonny Africa, wrote in 2006. This implies, he said, “a continuation of tenancy and lease arrangements.”

In fact, Africa pointed out, the Annual Poverty Indicators Survey (APIS) of 2002 reported that “only 11 percent of all families owning land other than their residence had obtained land through CARP.”

Africa explained that CARP’s failure is rooted in its pro-landlord orientation. “CARP is not about free land distribution to the tiller, which is the core of a genuine land reform program. Instead, CARP seeks to provide landlord compensation and require peasant beneficiaries to pay for land that they have been tilling for generations. Land reform under CARP is essentially a land transaction between landlords and peasants with the government acting as the middleman.”

CARP, Africa said, “cannot address peasant poverty and landlessness because it was never meant to.”

In a statement released today, Ibon said CARPER “strengthens the pro-landlord provisions of the failed CARP.” For one, it said, the bill “promotes the creation of more agrarian-reform communities (ARCs), further increasing the insecurity of land tenure in the countryside. The House version, in fact, seems to target the fine-tuning of the bankrupt ARC program to continue restructuring local agriculture in order to suit the needs of big land owners and agro-corporations.”

A protester denounces Akbayan and Rep. Riza Hontiveros-Baraquel for pushing a “bogus” bill. (Photo by Janess Ann J. Ellao / bulatlat.com)

Far from developing farming communities, as the name implies, ARCs have actually been used by landowners and big business to circumvent CARP. Among the ventures these communities go into are contract-growing schemes that favor companies and essentially turn the peasants into farm workers, not farm owners.

CARPER, as well as the agrarian-reform extension bill in the Senate, “reinforces the pro-landlord orientation of the original CARP, which was why it failed to make a dent in peasant landlessness in the first place,” Ibon Foundation said.

Additional Loopholes

Outside Congress hours before the voting, peasants and farmers have congregated to protest the impending passage of CARPER.

“CARPER creates additional loopholes to the already punctured CARP,” said Imelda Lacandazo, spokesperson of Kasama-TK, a peasant group from Southern Tagalog. “Twenty years of CARP is enough to conclude that it has and will never benefit our poor farmers.” CARPER is even worse than CARP, she said, especially after amendments were introduced that would further “reconcentrate lands in the hands of big landlords and big business.”

The progressive bloc in Congress led by partylist legislators from Bayan Muna, Anakpawis, Gabriela and Kabataan tried to introduce amendments to CARPER but were prevented every step of the way.

Among the rejected amendments was the one scrapping the stock-distribution option in the original law, which has been blamed partly for CARP’s failure. This option allows landowners to give shares of stocks of a farm venture to farmers, instead of actually subdividing and distributing the land, which should be the intent of a genuine agrarian reform program.

Despite the rain on Wednesday, hundreds of farmers and activists lit their torches at the south gate of the Congress, with some banging on the doors of the gate. A firetruck was brought by House security to be used in case a dispersal was needed.

“We are not here to create trouble,” said Danilo Ramos, secretary-general of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP, or Peasant Movement of the Philippines) . “We are here to express our sentiments about this law.”Ramos and his groups tried to enter the gallery to watch the plenary session but were prevented by House security, which even barred employees from entering the hall at some point during the day.

Lacandazo of Kasama-TK decried the prioritization of CARPER over the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB). Authored by the late Anakpawis Rep. Crispin Beltran, GARB or House Bill 3059 seeks to distribute land to landless farmers for free. Filed in November 2007, GARB is still pending with the House committee on agrarian reform.

“A genuine land reform law is impossible to attain in a Congress dominated by landlords, greedy politicians and their cohorts,” Lacandazo said. “The true interest of the House leadership is clear – it is to perpetuate the Arroyo ruling clique in power, and not to serve the poor farmers, which make up the majority of this country.”

Rep. Dato Arroyo from Camarines Sur, the president’s son, defended his “yes” vote by saying that “what we need is an extension of CARP that may be seen faulty or flawed by many of our colleagues, but that extension is better than having nothing at all.”

(Photo by Janess Ann J. Ellao / bulatlat.com)

The House leadership conducted the nominal voting in an unusual way – it called on each legislator using the reverse alphabet, seemingly so that the Arroyos in Congress, all four of them, would not be among the first to vote “yes” one after the other.

And for some reason, many of those who voted for CARPER could not say their votes out loud and were using signs to communicate their “yes” votes. (Bulatlat.com) ^[1]