Ang Pilipinas, may mahigit pitong libong isla. Maraming beach (at, oo, pati bitch). Pero ang mas inaasahan at pinagkakakitaan, mga lupang sakahan at mga dagat na pangisdaan.
Dalawa sa bawat limang manggagawang Pilipino, nasa agrikultura. Dalawang piso sa bawat sampung piso ng Gross Domestic Product, mula sa sektor na ito.
Kung isasama pa ang mga industriyang upstream at downstream, halos 50% ng GDP ang sagot ng agrikultura. Pero 75% ng mga nakatira sa rural areas, nananatiling mahirap. Mismong pamahalaan ang naglabas ng datos: sa bawat sampung magsasaka at mangingisda, hindi bababa sa apat ang naghihikahos. Bakit kaya?
Walang sapat na irigasyon ang humigit-kumulang 142,125 ektarya ng sakahan. Walang sapat na ani. Walang sapat na kita. Walang sapat na pera. Walang sapat na pagkain. Walang sapat na pampaaral. Walang sapat na pambili ng damit.
Sa madaling sabi, hindi makapamuhay nang marangal.
Heto pang malala. Halos kalahating milyong magsasaka pa ang dapat tumanggap ng sariling lupa. Japan, South Korea, Malaysia at iba’t ibang bansa sa Europa — nagtagumpay sila sa pamamahagi ng lupa at pagsuporta sa agrikultura. Anong tawag sa kanila? First World. Newly industrialized countries.
Pero ang Pilipinas, dalawa’t kalahating dekada nang may Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), hindi pa rin nasosolusyunan ang problema.
Hanggang 2011, may 981,351 na ektarya pa ng sakahan ang hindi pa naipapamahagi.
Bakit nga ba hindi? Ayon sa Department of Agrarian Reform:
“Before the present DAR leadership took over, the systems and processes that were then in place (and in some cases, the competencies and inclination of field personnel as well), were either inadequate or unsuited for the acquisition and distribution of the remaining undistributed lands: large private agricultural land a bulk of which will have to be covered through compulsory acquisition.”
Sino ba kasi ang may-ari ng lupa? Marami sa kanila, sila ring nasa pamahalaan. Nagtaka ka pa na sa kabila ng pagdating ng H & M, Cotton On, Zara, Aeropostale, Forever21 at iba pang bagong brands, third world pa rin ang Pilipinas.
Armas sana ng pamahalaan laban sa malawakang kahirapan ang Agricultural Fisheries Modernization Act of 1997. Narinig niyo na ba ‘to? Malamang hindi. May nangyari ba? Ewan. Pero parang wala. Nakakalungkot? Hindi. Nakakaawa? Lalong hindi. Nakakayamot. Nakakagalit!
[Entry 8, The SubSelfie Blog]
Editor’s Note: This article came from the author’s research paper for the UP Asian Center last March 2013. June 30, 2014 is the deadline for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER). Sources: BAS, DA, DAR, FAO, GMA News, NAFC, NSCB, Official Gazette & PDI.
About the Author:
Toni Tiemsin is the Editor-in-Chief of SubSelfie.com. Presently, he is a Media and Communications Officer of international NGO Save the Children. Before his work in the development sector, Toni was an Executive Producer for GMA News hourly and breaking news spot, News Producer for primetime newscast 24 Oras, and the Supervising and Associate Producer of GMA News investigative and features unit Special Assignments Team. Journalism 2009, UP Diliman. Read more of his articles here.
SubSelfie.com 
The Department of Agrarian Reform said in statement today:
Land Distribution to Continue Even After June 30, 2014
DAR’s management reiterated that it will be business as usual for the agrarian reform agency come July 1, 2014. The agency’s officials clarified that DAR can still distribute land even after June 30, 2014 because of Section 30 of RA 9700 or CARPER.
“Section 30 permits DAR to complete the acquisition and distribution of landholdings for which there are pending cases or proceedings. And since a Notice of Coverage initiates land distribution proceedings for lands subject to compulsory acquisition, then all landholdings with NOCs can still be distributed after June 2014”, said DAR Undersecretary for Legal Affairs Anthony Parungao.
Parungao added that the Department of Justice, through DOJ Opinions No. 59 and 60, Series of 2013 concurs with this position. Furthermore, Special Provision No. 2 of the 2014 General Appropriations Act (GAA) explicitly states that “all lands which have been issued notices of coverage and with pending cases and/or proceedings as of June 30, 2014 shall continue to be processed until issuance of the duly registered certificate of land ownership award to the individual agrarian reform beneficiaries in accordance with Section 30 of R.A. No. 9700 and Item IV (A.1) of DAR A.O. No. 2, Series of 2009, as amended.”
Parungao also clarified that the proposed bills pending at the House of Representatives and at the Senate are for the extension of the power of DAR to issue Notices of Coverage and to accept Voluntary Offers to Sell, not for the extension to distribute land since DAR can still distribute land after June 2014 which does not need any amendatory law.
“The DAR wishes to reassure the farmers that there is no need to panic. Even if the NOC [Notice of Coverage] Extension Bill was not passed last Wednesday, DAR can still distribute land. What DAR cannot do after June 2014 is to issue Notices of Coverage and accept Voluntary Offers to Sell unless its power to do so is extended”, Parungao said.
In a related matter, DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations, Jose Z. Grageda, denied that as many as 200,000 hectares will not be issued NOCs and thus will be left undistributed after June 2014 as claimed by Representative Teddy Baguilat in a news reports.
“As of May 20, 2014, only 14,085 landholdings covering 88,962 hectares are left for NOC issuance and service or publication. And DAR has continually been issuing NOCs since then. The balance of Notices of Coverage to be served today is definitely a lot lower than that as of May 20. We are consolidating these figures as we speak”, Grageda said.
Grageda also said that from 2012 to 2013, the DAR was able to issue 67,577 NOCs for 628,745 hectares of land subject to compulsory acquisition adding that from January to May 20, 2014, NOCs for 11,178 landholdings covering 108,216 hectares were issued and served/published.
Source: https://m2.facebook.com/gov.ph.dar/posts/724609517595989?refsrc=http%3A%2F%2Ft.co%2FPXizsfftfv&_rdr
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