AMENDMENTS TO CARP BILL OKAYED

     With the amendments to the bill on the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program nearly finished, the Senate is expected to approve the Malacanang-certified measure on second and third reading during its session today.

     Minority Leader Aquilino Pimentel, Jr. (PDP-Laban) assured that the Senate will fulfill its commitment to pass the bill extending the CARP for five more years despite the unresolved dispute between the majority and minority over the ethics complaint against Sen. Manuel Villar.

     "I am confident that the CARP bill, a social justice legislation much-awaited by our marginalized farmers, will not be a casualty of the ongoing internal conflict in the Senate," he said.

     Pimentel said that Sen. Gregorio Honasan, sponsor of the measure, is now in the process of refining the committee amendments already adopted by the chamber.

     He said the bill has entered the period of individual amendments, and he is glad that Honasan, also chairman of the committee on agrarian reform, has accepted the amendments he has proposed on behalf of the agrarian reform beneficiaries which are intended to make sure that the CARP is not watered down so that their rights are not prejudiced.

     "In fairness to Greg, I can see that he is very serious about this matter. He is working hard to see to it that the CARP bill hurdles the legislative mill," the minority leader said.

     Pimentel said he checked with Majority Leader Juan Miguel Zubiri and learned that the CARP bill is the first item in the Senate agenda today.

     He said other senators like Mar Roxas and Joker Arroyo are expected to present their own amendments.

     Pimentel said the problem is the House of Representatives has dragged its feet in deliberating on the urgent bill.

     "But if the Senate approves the bill ahead of the House, the solution to the problem will be simplified if the House will adopt in full the House version, as suggested by certain House leaders. That will foreclose the need for a bicameral conference committee to reconcile any conflicting provisions of the Senate and House versions," he said.

     He also called on the House leadership to muster the political will and crack its whip on congressmen who may try to attempt the insertion of so-called "killer amendments" that will dilute the CARP by exempting certain agricultural lands from the coverage of land acquisition and distribution

     Pimentel stressed that the final version of the CARP bill should be finalized and ratified by both chambers of Congress before the sine die adjournment on June 5. Otherwise, he said this may spell the death of the program considering that the six-month extension granted under Joint Resolution will expire on June 30.

     "We cannot allow a situation wherein Congress will adjourn without approving the extension of CARP which is intended to benefit more than a million landless farmers. We should avoid an unfavorable and dangerous situation where farmers feel frustrated and neglected by the government that may force them to take drastic measures and spark violence and chaos in the countryside," he said.