PHNO-HL; PALACE DENIES DAR SECRETARY IS RESIGNING / AQUINO-AKBAYAN PLOT

PALACE DENIES DAR SECRETARY IS RESIGNING / AQUINO-AKBAYAN
PLOT

MANILA, JUNE 15, 2012 (ABS-CBN) Malacañang
said President Aquino reiterated his commitment to agrarian reform when he met
with farmer groups led by Task Force Mapalad in Malacañang on Thursday.
Presidential spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said the following agreements were
affirmed:
· "Between now and June 2014, all agricultural lands shall be covered and
distributed to qualified beneficiaries. Priority shall be given to land holdings
25 hectares and above and notices of coverage will be issued on or before
December 2012. This will include peaceful and orderly installation of farmer
beneficiaries of all lands under the program. The PNP, AFP, DILG shall be
mobilized for this purpose;
· "To put all land holdings under the program. Notices of coverage (NOCs)
of lands 10 hectares and above shall be issued on or before December 2012. For
land holdings under 10 hectares, notices of coverage shall be issued not later
than July 2013;
· "RA 9700 has allocated at least P150 billion for the program, which will
be utilized to complete the successful implementation of agrarian reform
program;
· "The Department of Budget and Management has committed the immediate
release of P1-billion to be allocated for support services;
· "The Land Bank of the Philippines shall review its policies, rules and
regulations in providing credit to farmers to make it more accessible to
agrarian reform beneficiaries;
· "The Department of Agrarian Reform, Department of Agriculture, with
assistance from DBM, will develop a socialized credit program solely for ARBs or
agrarian reform beneficiaries that is mutually acceptable to both parties. The
socialized credit program shall enable the farmers to maximize the productivity
of their land and utilize their resources available to them;
· "Both sides have agreed to set up the multi-stakeholders mechanism. A
multi-stakeholders mechanism convened by the President and composed by
representatives of DAR and other CARP-implementing agencies of the government,
the Church, NGOs, people organizations, and other farmer groups and federations
shall be immediately established to monitor the implementation of the CARP,
especially on the following:
a. coverage and distribution of agricultural lands;
b. movement and
performance of DAR personnel;
c. delivery of support services to the
beneficiaries;
d. budget allocation and utilization.
There will be continuing consultations on administrative orders;
· "There will be a fast-tracking of resolution of pending cases on stock
distribution options and lease-back arrangements before the Presidential
Agrarian Reform Council (PARC).
Robredo's commitments on CARP implementation
During the meeting of DILG Secretary Jesse Robredo with the farmers last June
12, the DILG made the following commitments:
· "Work on the list areas where there are law enforcement issues; ·
"review the tasking of the PNP and refer to the Department of Justice the
proposed changes in 2009 guidelines as it applies to DAR orders; · "Establish
PNP outposts in critical areas where installed farmers are being harassed; ·
"Establish a direct line of communication with the DILG."
During the meeting, farmers also narrated their difficult experiences, and
Lacierda said the President vowed to look into cases of farmers who were slain.

Accompanying the farmers in the Palace were members of the Church and
agrarian reform advocates such as Christian Monsod and former Senator Nene
Pimentel.
De los Reyes not resigning from DAR
Meantime, Malacañang said it is not true that Agrarian Reform Secretary Gil
delos Reyes will be replaced nor is he resigning. "The confidence of the
President on Secretary Gil delos Reyes remains steadfast," Lacierda told
reporters.
The Palace is confident that the commitments made during the President's
meeting with the farmers would be carried out.
Lacierda also said that an investigation is being conducted on provincial and
municipal agrarian reform officers who have resisted the orders issued by delos
Reyes on the coverage of certain lands.
Meantime, Lacierda said there is no official information yet as to whether
Emmanuel Bonoan would indeed replace Energy Secretary Jose Rene Almendras who
would supposedly be appointed as head of the Presidential Management Staff.
BLOG WATCH
NEWS RELEASE June 14, 2012 FROM KILUSANG MAMBUBUKID NG PILIPINAS
(kmp)
DAR exec 'collateral damage' of Aquino-Akbayan plot to evade
Luisita distribution
Militant farmers slam "grand zarzuela" to place Akbayan solon as
DAR chief
The militant peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP)
today described the reported resignation of Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR)
secretary Virgilio de los Reyes as a 'collateral damage' of the "evil conspiracy
between President Aquino and his allies in Akbayan to once again evade the
distribution of Hacienda Luisita."
The KMP issued the statement after reports said that a cabinet revamp is on
and DAR secretary de los Reyes, who is now implementing the Supreme Court
decision for the distribution of Hacienda Luisita, would be replaced by Akbayan
Rep. Kaka Bag-ao.
"We believe there is strong pressure on Sec. De Los Reyes to resign. He is a
collateral damage of the Aquino-Akbayan conspiracy to circumvent the Supreme
Court decision on Hacienda Luisita," says KMP deputy secretary general Willy
Marbella.
"Aquino and Akbayan are ganging up against Hacienda Luisita farmers. They are
out to turn Hacienda Luisita into a so-called agrarian reform community (ARC)
under the sham CARP," he said.
He said "ARC's only has a hairline difference from the notorious stock
distribution option (SDO) since control over the land does not belong to farmer
beneficiaries."
Marbella pointed out that "the grand zarzuela staged by Aquino's yellow gang
that demanded for the so-called fast-tracked implementation of the bogus CARP is
obviously designed at placing Akbayan Rep. Kaka Bag-ao to the DAR."
"At the same time, the Cojuangco-Aquinos are clapping behind the farmers'
marches and so-called hunger strikes. Aquino and his rabid allies in Akbayan
exploits the legitimacy of the farmers' demand for land while giving false hopes
on Carper or the very same sham land reform program that was used by the
President's family to evade land distribution. This grand deception must be
exposed and opposed," Marbella stressed. "May we remind the people that the
bogus Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) was originally designed by
the then landlord-President Cory Aquino to evade Hacienda Luisita's
distribution. CARP and the notorious SDO is not a glowing legacy but the biggest
embarrassment of the former President," Marbella said.
"Now, who's in with an unholy alliance with the biggest and most powerful
haciendero in the country?" asked Marbella adding: "The Filipino peasantry will
frustrate the Aquino-Akbayan conspiracy against Hacienda Luisita farmers."
# – KMP National Secretariat 25-B Matiyaga Street, Barangay Central,
Quezon City Philippines Telefax: 632-4352383 Email: kmp@kilusangmagbubukid.org Web: www.kilusangmagbubukid.org
LAST YEARS NEWS
Noynoy: Hacienda Luisita distributed to farmers by 2014
February 9, 2010 4:10pm
NOYNOY'S PROMISE IN 2010
TARLAC- With the ghost of Hacienda Luisita haunting his bid for the
presidency, Senator Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III vowed Tuesday to ensure the
distribution of the 4,500-hectare plantation to farmer-beneficiaries by June
2014.
Aquino made the promise at a press conference in his family's ancestral home
in Concepcion town, which he chose to be the venue of his electoral campaign's
kick-off. [See: Noynoy seeks God's help at campaign kick-off in Tarlac]
Aquino said he has already asked his extended family - relatives of his
mother, the late former President Corazon Cojuangco Aquino - to find ways to
distribute the land to 10,000 farmer-beneficiaries before the end of the
government's five-year agrarian reform program.
Aquino's spokesperson Edwin Lacierda said Noynoy is committed to ensuring the
distribution of Hacienda Luisita land even if he loses in the May elections.

"It's not just a campaign promise, it's a matter of principle," Lacierda told
GMANews.TV over the phone.
CARP
The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), a flagship program
instituted in 1988 during his mother's administration, was extended until June
30, 2014 to allot more time for the distribution of agricultural lands. [See:
Arroyo signs CARP extension bill into law]
"Kinausap ko yung pamilya ko, ang habol namin yung kapakanan ng aming mga
kasamahan po dun at ilipat yung mga asset sa kanila (I have already talked to my
relatives, we are concerned about the welfare of the farmers there and we want
to transfer the assets to the farmers)," said Aquino.
"Ang problema lang po kung paano ililipat ng wala na pong utang dun sa mga
aming kasamahan dun (The only problem is how we will transfer the assets without
passing on the debts that have been incurred)," he added.
Aquino said that based on his understanding of Hacienda Luisita Inc.'s (HLI)
current situation, the corporation's financial obligations surpassed its income,
thus incurring debts.
Debts
Aquino said the Cojuangcos could have easily availed of the voluntary offer
to sell option under the agrarian reform program to get rid of allegations that
they intend to retain ownership of the land. But they chose not to do so because
they first want to clear HLI's debts to avoid burdening the farmer-beneficiaries
who stand to share the land, he said.
"Ang kalaban ng mga magsasaka diyan, hindi si Noynoy at yung kanyang pamilya
(The enemy of the farmers is not Noynoy and his family," said Aquino's
runningmate Senator Mar Roxas II. "Ang kalaban ang mga bangko dahil yung lupain
ay...nakasanla sa mga bangko (The banks are the enemies, because the land is
mortgaged to the banks)."
Aquino, by his own estimate, owns only about 1/32 of the plantation. Ever
since he launched his candidacy, however, the senator has been repeatedly urged
to ensure that the land is distributed to farmers as provided for under the new
agrarian reform law. [See: Ghosts
of Hacienda Luisita back to haunt Noynoy candidacy] - Johanna Camille Sisante/RSJ/KBK, GMANews.TV


Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
© Copyright, 2012 by PHILIPPINE HEADLINE NEWS ONLINE
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rights reserved




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