Review of RA 6657 urged
Iloilo City (5 October) -- Has the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (RA 6657) promoted social justice and industrialization through the distribution of lands with full ownership to qualified farmer beneficiaries? Have the beneficiaries produced more and helped improve the country's economy?
These are some of the questions the Economic Development Committee of the Regional Development Council want known when it sponsored the resolution, which the Regional Development Council unanimously approved, urging both houses of Congress to conduct a review of the implementation of RA 6657.
It will be recalled the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law signed on June 10, 1988 became effective on June 15, l988 which provided for a comprehensive agrarian reform program to promote social justice and industrialization providing the mechanism for its implementation.
According to the EDC, the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law not only involves the distribution of lands but also include a package of support services such as credit assistance, extension services, irrigation facilities, roads and bridges, marketing facilities and training and technical support programs.
Thus the Committee said that prior to the completion of the Law in 2008, it is but proper to review/evaluate the program, especially the utilization of funds from all sources on the aforementioned support services and to inform the people whether the provisions of the law were carried out accordingly.
The present state of land reform in the country show that there are still remaining lands to be distributed that are private and contentious agricultural lands, but most of the government-owned lands were already distributed. The DAR says that the success of the CARP in the long run is to be able to transform the landless farmers into persons with dignity, into productive members of the mainstream society. (PIA 6) [top]
