ALVAREZ NAMED ADVISER ON LAND REFORM
MANILA, October 31, 2005 (STAR) By Paolo Romero - Former senator and agrarian reform secretary Heherson Alvarez is now President Arroyo’s adviser for land reform.The President made the appointment on Oct. 28, Alvarez confirmed to The STAR yesterday.
Alvarez, agrarian reform chief during the term of former President Corazon Aquino, was one of the principal authors of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL).
He vowed to finish the awarding of lands to farmer-tenants before Mrs. Arroyo’s term ends.
"I’m happy to serve in a program of government that is vital to the economy and social justice," Alvarez said. "I’m happy that the President has given her full trust and confidence in me, especially that of a post that is closest to my heart."
Alvarez, also a former environment secretary, used to be secretary-general of the ruling Lakas-Christian Muslim Democrats and party vice president for Luzon prior to the May elections last year. He was groomed to be one of the administration senatorial candidates but was dropped in favor of two former opposition re-electionist senators.
Alvarez said Executive Secretary Eduardo Ermita called him up last week informing him of the President’s decision and sent his appointment papers shortly thereafter.
Alvarez’s appointment came as tension remains high in Hacienda Luisita — owned by the family of former President Corazon Aquino — in Tarlac after Ricardo Ramos, a labor union leader who led striking workers in the sugar estate, was shot dead on Tuesday by still unknown assailants.
It also came as the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council, chaired by Mrs. Arroyo, has yet to come up with a final decision on the move last month of Agrarian Reform Secretary Nasser Pangandaman to revoke the stock distribution option (SDO) because of alleged violations in the 1989 agreement between the owners of the 5,000-hectare land and the 5,000 farmers.
The SDO allows landowners, who run their farms as corporations, to distribute shares of stock to farm workers in lieu of a land transfer.
The two developments had political and even security undertones as Mrs. Aquino has been calling on the President to step down.
Alvarez refused to say whether his appointment had something to do with the troubles in Hacienda Luisita, but said he would contribute his best in resolving the matter.
He admitted the situation at Hacienda Luisita is delicate owing to the political and security situation prevailing in the sugar estate. He said he believes that the killing and the land reform issues would be resolved peacefully.
Alvarez refused to comment on Pangandaman’s decision to junk the SDO deal between the Cojuangcos and the farmers.
"In the end, I think the small farmers would benefit from land reform," he said.
Alvarez said there are about four million hectares, mostly in sugar lands, that remain to be distributed to small farmers. He said the agrarian reform program is in line with Mrs. Arroyo’s 10-point agenda, which includes having two million hectares of land for agribusiness.
He said aims to make agrarian reform compliant with the Millennium Development Goals.
Alvarez said he has long been an advocate of countryside development and crafted legislation and policies for small farmers and fisherfolk. He was responsible for imbedding the provision that all ill-gotten wealth of the Marcoses and their cronies should be allotted for the Agrarian Reform Program.
A brief summary of his accomplishments provided by his staff said that Alvarez authored the Cooperative Development Authority (CDA), and co-author of the Cooperative Code, "vital instruments for countryside development.
"Cooperativism has caught fire after six years. There are now more than 65,000 cooperatives in the country that help improve the lives of families of farmers and fisherfolk in the countryside," the accomplishment report said.
Among his other achievements are:
• Amended the charter of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corp. increasing its capitalization from P750 million to P2 billion.
• Authored the Expanded Quedan and Rural Credit Guarantee Corp. which opened credit facilities from P200 million to P20 billion to the countryside to finance post-harvest facilities, grain warehouses, dryer and silos, farm machineries and equipment. The Quedan has become a dynamic micro-finance conduit in the countryside.
• Increased the Agrarian Reform Fund from P50 billion to P100 billion and extending the CARL program from 1998 to 2004.
• Authored the Agrarian Reform Communities (ARC) Program, and
• Increased the members of the DAR Adjudication Board to help expedite the resolution of agrarian disputes.
Chief News Editor: Sol Jose Vanzi
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