4 Neg. Occ. solons voted no to Carp extension
BACOLOD CITY -- Four Negros Occidental congressmen voted against the extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp) for another five years while three voted “yes”.
Those who voted “no” were: Rep. Jose Carlos Lacson (Neg. Occ., 3rd District), Rep. Genaro Alvarez (Neg. Occ., 6th District), Rep. Alfredo Marañon III (Neg. Occ., 2nd District) and Rep. Jeffrey Ferrer (Neg. Occ., 4th District).
On the other hand, Rep. Julio Ledesma IV (Neg. Occ., 1st District), Rep. Ignacio Arroyo Jr. (Neg. Occ., 5th District) and Rep. Monico Puentevella (Bacolod) voted in favor of Carp extension.
In their press statement, Marañon and Ferrer said they voted “no” to be consistent with his statement that there should be no compulsory acquisition and that all funds should be spent for support services.
Arroyo voted “yes” since amendments introduced to the approved House Bill 4077 provides that compulsory acquisition cannot be implemented if pending cases in court are not resolved and landowners are not paid for their property.
The House of Representatives by a vote of 211-13 with two abstaining late last Wednesday night approved the extension of the Carp for five more years.
The chamber also gave in P100 billion in funding for land acquisition and distribution, support services, agrarian justice delivery, and other funding requirements during the five-year extension period.
It covers all public and private agricultural lands as provided in Proclamation 131 and Executive Order No. 229, including other lands of the public domain suitable for agriculture.
“Prioritization of coverage is not necessary," and that after June 30, 2009, the modes of acquisition will be limited to voluntary offer to sell and compulsory acquisition”, the bill stated.
It also creates a joint congressional oversight committee that would be composed of three members each from the Senate and the House.
HB 4077 is one of the priority measures that the House leadership wants to act upon before the adjournment of Congress session on June 6.