The militant Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) lambasted the Department of Land Reform (DLR) for apparently mishandling the more than P2 billion Marcos ill gotten wealth allotted for farmers. 

According to Ka Willy Marbella, internal deputy secretary general of KMP, “based on DLR figures, as of last year there remains only about 800,000 hectares of land to be distributed to farmers for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) to be completed. Now based on the P2 billion allotment the DLR received from the Marcos ill gotten wealth and the government price for buying land is P3,352 per hectare, it should have bought 894,000 hectares which even exceeded their target,”

“But as our more 1.3 million farmer members could attest there is hardly any land distribution happening in the country sides. The majority of the so-called lands that the DLR supposedly distributed are still locked in court battles and the lands are still under the control of landlords. The triumph of the Canlubang farmers in the Supreme Court ruling, while it is a breath of fresh air, is a droplet on a sea of landlessness,” added the peasant leader.

“Now with this situation where did the money go? The Department of Agriculture (DA) should also be held accountable because it supposedly used P544 million for the Ginintuang Masaganang Ani (GMA) Rice Program but there were no beneficiaries. These unscrupulous government officials, which can be traced all the way to Malacanang, should stop using us as an excuse and a cover for their crimes of plunder,” added Marbella.

“They are thieves twice over, first they stole from the Marcos human rights victims, then they stole from us. Their heads must roll for this atrocity,” ended Marbella. # # #
 

KMP - 14 April 2005