Archbishop Ledesma,peasant groups file petition for notices of coverage for 271,000 Ha. or CARP land

Cagayan de Oro Archbishop Antonio Ledesma together with Task Force Mapalad (TFM) and eight other groups have petitioned today, June 4, Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes to issue notices of coverage (NOCs) for 35,204 landholdings with an aggregate area of 271,031.32 ha.

Bishop Ledesma said “the DAR should fast track the issuance of NOCs to ensure that all those areas are covered by the agrarian reform law, which is a social justice measure, and will be processed for distribution beyond June 30, 2014.”

The petition includes 7,750 landholdings covering 32,362 hectares in Yolanda-stricken Leyte and Eastern Samar provinces.

TFM President Alberto Jayme said “The issuance of NOC will ensure that the landholding will be subject to Section 30 or Republic Act 9700 or the CARPER Law.”

“The said section of the law provides that the DAR can continue the acquisition and distribution of landholdings even beyond 2014, the ending year for the extended CARP funding period,” Jayme stressed.

Supporting the plea for the issuance of NOCs are Romeo M. Briosos Sr., Chairperson of the Alliance of Land Rights Movement-Mindanao (Alarm-Mindanao), Roger Amurao of the Farmworkers Agrarian Reform Movement (FARM), Danilo Carranza of the Kilusan Para sa Repormang Agraryo at Katarungang Panlipunan, Romeo Clavo of the Ugnayan ng Magsasaka sa Gitnang Quezon; Melchor Rosco and Maribel Muza of the Kilusang Magbubukid ng Bondoc Peninsula, Leonardo Montemayor, President of the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF), Nanette Pascual, President of the Department of Agrarian Reform Employees Association (DAREA), and Fr. Marlon Lacal of the Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP). Signing on behalf of the TFM were leader Alberto Jayme and national coordinator Atty. Armando Jarilla.

The petition includes TFM areas of 13,559 landholdings covering 137,840.32 hectares in 12 provinces where it operates and non-TFM areas includes 21,645 landholdings covering 133,191 hectares in 10 provinces.

TFM President Alberto Jayme said the TFM areas not yet served with NOCs are as follows: Negros Occidental (North), 3,661 landholdings covering 45,265.13 ha; Negros Occidental (South), 3,663 landholdings with 38,768.20 ha; Negros Oriental, 662 landholdings with 6,868.80 ha; Iloilo, 616 landholdings with 3,964.54 ha; Capiz, 1,351 landholdings with 13.334.10 ha; Agusan del Sur, 1,062 landholdings with 11,593.59 ha; Bukidnon (North), 1,225 landholdings with 9,684.68 ha; Bukidnon (South), 113 landholdings with 680.78 ha; Davao Oriental, 33 landholdings with 309.30 ha; Batangas, 258 landholdings with 922.10 ha; Davao del Sur, 80 landholdings with 729.74 ha; Misamis Oriental, 355 landholdings with 1,590.37 ha; Cagayan, 125 landholdings with 1,382.30 ha, and; 405 landholdings in Eastern Samar with 2,746.69 ha.

In the non-TFM areas, the breakdown is as follows: Albay, 612 landholdings with 2,979.76 ha; Camarines Sur-A, 994 landholdings with 8,836.66 ha; Camarines Sur-B, 1,401 landholdings with 11,257.07 ha; Isabela, 3,540 landholdings with 30,286.85 ha; Leyte, 7,345 landholdings with 29,615.89 ha; Masbate, 2,506 landholdings with 14,920.65 ha; North Cotabato, 1,621 landholdings with 10,642.73 ha; South Cotabato, 269 landholdings with 7,339.63 ha; Quezon I, 325 landholdings with 1,123.84 ha; Quezon II, 570 landholdings with 5,351.67 ha; Sorsogon, 2,520 landholdings and 10,512.25 ha, and; Zamboanga del Sur, with 42 landholdings and 324 ha.

Jayme added “that if an NOC is not issued, a landholding can never be processed for acquisition and distribution to its farmer-beneficiaries and thus will remain under the control of its present landowner, thereby defeating the CARPER’s land-to-the-tiller objective.”

TFM is an alliance of farmers and agrarian reform advocates engaged in securing land for landless peasants consistent with the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), otherwise known as Republic Act No. 6657, and its successor-law, CARP Extension with Reforms or RA 9700.

For more information, visit: http://taskforcemapalad.org

TFM Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/task.mapalad?fref=ts