UNFULFILLED PROMISES Farmers and agrarian reform advocates hold a protest outside the Department of Agrarian Reform office in Quezon City on June 10, calling for the completion of land
distribution under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. —PHOTO COURTESY OF KATARUNGAN
LUCENA CITY, QUEZON, Philippines — Thirty-eight years after the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp) took effect in June 1988, a national peasant group said the promise of comprehensive land reform remains largely unfulfilled for millions of Filipino farmers.
“After 38 years, the message from farmers remains clear: Agrarian reform is not yet finished. The promises of Carp must finally be completed, not merely commemorated,” the Kilusan para sa Repormang Agraryo at Katarungang Panlipunan (Katarungan) said in a statement sent to the Inquirer on June 13.
The roots of Carp trace back to July 22, 1987, when the late President Corazon Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation No. 131 and Executive Order No. 229, laying the groundwork for a comprehensive agrarian reform program.
