Press Release
November 16, 2008

Senate panel urged to look deeper into questionable release
of CARP fund to ARMM

Minority Leader Aquilino Q. Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) today urged the Senate Committee on Agrarian Reform to look deeper into the questionable release of P200 million worth of funds from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) to the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao and determine how it was spent.

Pimentel requested Sen. Gregorio Honasan, committee chairman, to invite ARMM Governor Zaldy Ampatuan and the agrarian reform officials in the autonomous region to shed light on the allegation that the amount had been illegally diverted because the ARMM is not covered by CARP under existing law.

He said Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman had confirmed that the P200 million in CARP money had been turned over to the ARMM during last week's hearing of the committee.

"They should be made to explain what was the legal basis for the release of the fund and how they utilized it. Let us be transparent about the transaction," the minority leader said.

Pimentel said that since the ARMM was not among the areas for which CARP funding was intended, the amount that it received should be returned to the DAR.

The senator from Mindanao had earlier demanded that the DAR and Malacanang should make a full accounting of the billions of pesos spent for the implementation of CARP under the Arroyo government before the Senate can approve the bill extending the program. Of the P38 billion in ill-gotten wealth recovered by the government from Marcos bank deposits in Switzerland, P30 billion went to the CARP.

In response to Pimentel's request, Honasan conducted a hearing of his committee last week in which Pangandaman presented a report on how CARP funds had been spent and the accomplishments of the program, particularly in terms of lands that have been awarded to legitimate agrarian reform beneficiaries.

At the same time, Pimentel said he is in favor of extending the CARP for at least l0 years more, as embodied in an administration-backed bill reported out by the committee on agrarian reform.

However, he asked the government how it would raise the Pl50 billion to finance the land acquisition and distribution of farm lands covered by the extended program.

He commended Sen. Honasan for his zeal and diligence in working for the extension of CARP. However, he said it is sad to know that some of their colleagues in the Senate are opposing the extension.

Pimentel said their lukewarm support for the CARP extension was seemingly reflected in the fact that most of the senators had left the session hall when he and Honasan lengthily deliberated on the bill on the floor Wednesday evening.

He expressed relief that the DAR had finally installed last week the 30 tenant-farmers in the 33-hectare hacienda of former Rep. Herminio Teves in Negros Oriental about l0 years after they were awarded the parcels of lands under the program.

"I am glad that after a long and difficult struggle, the farmers were finally able to take over the lands which they are legally entitled to own under CARP," Pimentel.

He also commended the police contingent sent by Philippine National Police Director General Jesus Verzosa to the hacienda for helping in the peaceful turnover of the property to the farmers, instead of allowing themselves to be unwittingly used in driving away the farmers and frustrating the implementation of the CARP law and the judicial ruling on the case.

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