An inter-agency committee created by President Aquino will ensure another extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), minus the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

In a statement, peasant group Kilusang Magbubukid ng Pilipinas expressed opposition to what it dubs as an “agrarian reform superbody,” which it fears would exacerbate existing landlessness under the government’s “sham” land reform program, which is set to expire on June 30, 2014.

On November 22 last year, Aquino issued Administrative Order No. 34 on “Creating an Inter-Agency Committee on Institutional Arrangements and Rural Development.” AO 34 aims to “ensure that the gains of CARP are sustained” through a committee headed by the National Economic Development Authority (NEDA).

The committee is tasked “to conduct a study on the continuity of land distribution and management as well as provision of support services for the agriculture and fisheries sectors.”

Under AO 34, DAR’s functions will be transferred to the Department of Agriculture, who will become part of the committee. Other member agencies include the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, Department of Justice, Department of Budget and Management, and the Land Registration Authority.

“With the NEDA at the helm of this superbody, Philippine agrarian reform will be in tune with Aquino’s Private-Public Partnership scheme and the full-scale liberalization of agriculture,” said Antonio Flores, KMP spokesperson.

NEDA, the country’s economic development and planning agency, pushes for liberalization policies and oversees privatization schemes across different sectors.

Flores added that under a “landlord president,” referring to Aquino whose family owns Hacienda Luisita, the superbody will only cause the “acceleration of land-use conversions, proliferation of land lease deals, and massive displacement of farmers.”

He said that Aquino cannot afford to completely abandon CARP, and would rather extend it and “exploit its provisions to evade the distribution of Hacienda Luisita and other vast landholdings in the country.”

AO 34 also stresses upon the role of the local government in providing agricultural extension services.

The peasant leader, however, said that “the Local Government Code is among the main culprits in the rampant conversion of agricultural lands.”

Flores further noted that AO 34 is the realization of the “long-planned convergence” of the departments of agrarian reform, agriculture, and environment and natural resources offices.

“It will make the government’s agrarian reform program far more brutal and anti-peasant,” he said.

KMP is calling for the junking of CARP, which has been used by landlords for several decades to evade land distribution. It is instead pushing for the enactment of the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB), which seeks the free distribution of lands to the tillers. GARB or House Bill 374 is authored by KMP chairperson and Anakpawis Rep. Rafael Mariano.