Urban poor group denies existence of ‘real land reform’ in the country

PRESS RELEASE
23 January 2012


“Until the 6,296 Luisita farmers had the lot title of the Hacienda Luisita lands, there will never be a real land reform in the country.”

This is the statement of urban poor group Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay) in response to the reaction of Malacanang to the claims of the militant that there has been no real land reform in the country, ever since the tragic Mendiola Massacre 25 years ago.

Gloria Arellano, Kadamay national secretary-general, said in a statement that “the swelling urban poor population is a concrete sign of landlessness in the countryside that drives many farmers to seek for livelihood in the cities.”

The rate of urban migration in the country is at record-level, while urban population growth rate is pegged high at 3%, according to an advocacy institution Urban Poor Resource Center in the Philippines (UPRCP). There are approximately 30 million urban poor in the country, according to Kadamay.

"As it was 25 years ago, the landlords have been more empowered than ever, and have preserved the possession of their vast lands, thanks to Cory Aquino's Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and its extension program that exists under the Aquino administration, CARPEr," Arellano added.

"CARP and CARPEr have actually given rise to a new breed of landlords who take advantage of the small farmers’ inability to pay the monthly amortization after the issuance of their Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA)," she added.

The militants strongly believe that Supreme Court’s decision last November to redistribute Luisita lands to the farmers is one of the motives behind the attempt to oust the chief justice.

"Aquino will do everything to keep Luisita lands from the farmers, and it will be the same for all the landlords that sit in the highest positions in the land," Arellano added.

Kadamay reiterated its call for a genuine land reform that, essentially, is free distribution of land to landless Filipinos. Unless this is done, urban and rural poverty is bound to worsen in the years to come, according to the group. ###


Kalipunan ng Damayang Mahihirap (Kadamay)
Militant Center of the Urban Poor in the Philippines
Reference: Gloria Arellano, Kadamay national secretary-general (0921.392.7457)