Has The Government Done Anything?: CARP and DAR

By: Jasmine Rose C. Martinez 


Since injustices have been happening and farmers are being exploited a question that has been always asked is “Has the govt done something?” Well of course the government has done something and that something is CARP, CARPER and DAR.

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) or RA 6657 is basically a law thats say the government would redistribute public and private agricultural lands to the farmers. It’s vision is to “have an equitable land ownership with empowered agrarian reform beneficiaries who can effectively manage their economic and social development to have a better quality of life.” That seemed to be enough to give justice to farmers and give them the land that they deserve but of course it’s not. That’s why they created a specific government unit that actually implements the whole program which is called the Department of Agrarian Reform.

Now if you’re a bit confused about the different agricultural departments here in the country let’s differentiate all of them but if you already know their differences then you can skip this part. First, we have the Department of Agriculture which help and motivates the agriculture sector to produce and have a decent income. Second, we have the Department of Agrarian Reform which was said earlier that implements the CARP. Lastly, we have the Department of Environment and Natural Resources which is for the conservation and proper use of natural resources in the Philippines.

Now one must think that the creation of CARP and DAR would be sufficient enough to handle the issue of landlessness but wait there’s more. Since the problems haven’t been solved by the CARP or DAR completely they chose to make CARPER or Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms which basically extends and strengthens the CARP to continue.

But there is one giant flaw that should have been noticed from the start. Yes giving land to the landless is good and just but when you give someone land but they don’t have the necessary funds to tend to those lands then it would be pointless for them to have lands in the first place. After CARP, DAR and CARPER have done their job which is give land to the landless is immediately stops there. There is no service to support the farmer’s land to become productive and flourish which could lead the farmer trying to find another farm to tend to that’s not his just to get money.

That’s why farmers still go back to their tenants or whoever they work for and till there because they don’t have the funds to get the agricultural land given to them to make it a source of profit and livelihood (that’s only if the CARP gives them land) or just need a source of profit.

Sources:
- http://www.dar.gov.ph/index.php/opportunities/bids-and-awards/notices-to-proceed/186-19-units-of-4wd-35hp-tractors-with-implements-for-agrarian-reform-community-connectivity-and-economic-support-services-arccess-project
- http://newsinfo.inquirer.net/678101/carp-total-failure-say-negros-lawmakers-industry-execs
- http://www.dar.gov.ph/ra-6657-what-is-carp-comprehensive-agrarian-reform-program


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Aryendo System: Modalities of Exploitation and Abuse

Image
by Andrea Paula M. Brioso The Aryendo System When the Comprehensive Agrarian  Reform Program (CARP) was implemented, a redistribution of land took place and impoverished farmers were reawrded land of their own. Along with this, the size of land is also now limited, and in most cases people are no longer allowed to possess massive portions of land, thus the emergence of the aryendo system.   An ayrendo system is an under the table transaction between a farmer-beneficiary who owns land, and another individual who offers them money in exchange of the rights to the said land. An aryendador is the  person who offers money to desperate farmers in order to gain rights over their land. In most cases, aryendadors are able to persuade desperate farmers in giving up their land over a certain amount of time and it has resulted to loss of rights and failure of the policies that are meant to protect these farmers in the first place. The aryendo system prevails because of t...
Read more

Is the Banana Business Bananas?

By: Isabel Bautista It isn’t too surprising to hear that Philippines is a huge exporter of bananas, especially in Asian regions (Japan loves our bananas!!), and it just makes sense that the country has to have a lot of banana plantations to be able to produce the delicious yellow thing you peel before you eat. But before you peel that banana, let’s think about something. What is the cost of making the fruit and what are effects? Is it good we are profiting from the suffrage of others or is it bad that we forget that bright side of all these?? Is the this business insane??? Don’t think too hard about it as there is a simple table of pros and cons about banana plantations for you to read about. PROS CONS Lands For Banana Production - by having lands for plantation, there would be more room for goods to produce and to export to places like Japan and all the way to Middle East. More products to sell, more profit to earn. Livelihood Opportunities for Workers - businesse...
Read more