Government defends land reform record
Dispute over pace of redistribution heightens as protests head to presidential palace
Farmers call for land reform during a protest in Manila (Photo by Jimmy Domingo)
- ucanews.com reporters, Manila
- Philippines
- June 6, 2012
President Benigno Aquino’s government has defended its policy on land reforms as farmers ready for protests outside the presidential palace in Manila tomorrow.
Aquino’s spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, said yesterday that the government redistributed 111,889 hectares last year, the highest area on record, following criticism from Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo that the present administration had performed poorly on land reform.
Lacierda added that 2009, the last year of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidency, had seen just 59,495 hectares redistributed to landless farmers across the country.
"The figures I am citing right now are known to Bishop Pabillo, so we don’t understand why [he] is making these statements,” he said at a press conference held at the presidential palace.
Amid growing criticism of the government, Lacierda said “there is a serious campaign to distribute land,” adding that Agrarian Reform Secretary Gil de los Reyes had met with stakeholders, lawyers and Task Force Mapalad (TFM), an NGO supporting farmers, to discuss the issue.
However, TFM today accused the government of inflating its figures, adding that for 2011 it had only recorded 88,000 hectares of redistributed land.
In a statement, it accused the government of adding public land, uncontested properties and land that had already been delayed as part of its official data on agrarian reform.
“As far as beneficiaries are concerned, the window-dressed figure was meant for the consumption of the palace, never for the farmers who are still awaiting the land promised to them,” TFM said.
At least 30 bishops have signed a letter calling on Aquino to fast-track land redistribution which protesting farmers say they will submit to the presidential palace tomorrow following a Mass delivered by Bishop Pabillo. They also plan to ask the cabinet for a dialogue on the issue.
Farmers’ groups say there is a backlog of 1.093 million hectares of land that should have been redistributed, and called on the government to complete the agrarian reform program by 2014 instead of 2016, as proposed by Budget Secretary Butch Abad.
Aquino’s spokesman, Edwin Lacierda, said yesterday that the government redistributed 111,889 hectares last year, the highest area on record, following criticism from Manila Auxiliary Bishop Broderick Pabillo that the present administration had performed poorly on land reform.
Lacierda added that 2009, the last year of Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s presidency, had seen just 59,495 hectares redistributed to landless farmers across the country.
"The figures I am citing right now are known to Bishop Pabillo, so we don’t understand why [he] is making these statements,” he said at a press conference held at the presidential palace.
Amid growing criticism of the government, Lacierda said “there is a serious campaign to distribute land,” adding that Agrarian Reform Secretary Gil de los Reyes had met with stakeholders, lawyers and Task Force Mapalad (TFM), an NGO supporting farmers, to discuss the issue.
However, TFM today accused the government of inflating its figures, adding that for 2011 it had only recorded 88,000 hectares of redistributed land.
In a statement, it accused the government of adding public land, uncontested properties and land that had already been delayed as part of its official data on agrarian reform.
“As far as beneficiaries are concerned, the window-dressed figure was meant for the consumption of the palace, never for the farmers who are still awaiting the land promised to them,” TFM said.
At least 30 bishops have signed a letter calling on Aquino to fast-track land redistribution which protesting farmers say they will submit to the presidential palace tomorrow following a Mass delivered by Bishop Pabillo. They also plan to ask the cabinet for a dialogue on the issue.
Farmers’ groups say there is a backlog of 1.093 million hectares of land that should have been redistributed, and called on the government to complete the agrarian reform program by 2014 instead of 2016, as proposed by Budget Secretary Butch Abad.
