SHARE OF LANDS

A welcome development, say Carp beneficiaries

02/08/2009

Former farm workers in Negros Occidental have shown mixed feelings, but are otherwise contented years after they received their shares of lands through the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Carp), something they never thought would ever happen in their lifetime.

All 120 farmer-beneficiaries of the 230-hectare Hacienda Manolita of the Arroyos said they feel more secured now, knowing that food would be served on their table with regularity because the farms they are tilling are theirs.

Donato Geres, 50, said he is lucky to be one of the proud beneficiaries of the land belonging to Jose Maria Arroyo Sr. in Barangay Payao, Binalbagan town because his life and that of his family changed for the better as they now have steady income from the 2.2-hectare lot he planted with sugarcane yearly.

Neli Crespeses, 67, a former clerk of Jose Maria Sr., said she felt both happy for them and sad for her former employers. Crespeses was awarded with 2.2 hectares of land, from which she earns as much as Geres does.

Melcon Du, 42, shared the same bright prospect for his family after he graduated from being a mere P140-daily wage earner from the former sugarcane plantation of First Gentleman Arroyo’s family.

Geres, Crespeses and Du and other Carp beneficiaries in the Arroyo lands, said they couldn’t ask for more except for one: “Easy access to credit.”

DAR Secretary Nasser Pangandaman said restricted access to credit has been a perennial challenged.

“But we are already preparing some measures to address this problem and hopefully these will be accommodating in the soon-to-be-passed CARP extension law,” Pangandaman said.

While these measures are being ironed out, Pangandaman said he is pleased to learn that Carp really made an impact to the lives of its beneficiaries like those in the Arroyo lands.

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