Wanted: rights-based asset reform

The distribution of more than 400 hectares of agricultural land in Mulanay, Quezon, last Feb. 6 is a face-saving move for the Department of Agrarian Reform. In the midst of calls from various groups for Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes to resign—supposedly because of his inability to implement his agency’s mandate—he scored a trey at this recent development. In an effort to dispel doubts on his capacity to carry out his agency’s functions, De los Reyes pointed out that his office is silently working to distribute private landholdings with notices of coverage, especially in the most contentious areas of agrarian reform struggle, as in the Bondoc Peninsula.

With over one million hectares left undistributed, 400 hectares are just a drop in the bucket. But let us give credit where it is due.

The event was also graced by the presence of Agriculture Secretary Proceso Alcala, National Anti-Poverty Commission Lead Convenor Joel Rocamora, and Commission on Human Rights Chair Etta Rosales. I think their presence articulated very well all that are needed to be addressed if we are to elevate the quality of life of our people. At the center of all our efforts to alleviate poverty lies the need for rights-based asset reform, founded on the idea of social justice.

The crux of the issue here is: In order to bring some real sense to the constitutional pronouncement on social justice, it is imperative for the government to have an effective mechanism for the distribution of wealth and resources, land in particular. The heaviness of the phrase “social justice” demands the ability to overcome the recalcitrance of so many powerful interests that bar the majority of our people from becoming self-reliant. Time and again, we have seen that the long and crooked road to justice is indeed long and crooked. Those who control the vast majority of private landholdings covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (what are called “CARP-able” lands) will not put up an easy fight. They will utilize all of their resources, legal and otherwise, to cripple the distribution process. It is a competition of classes and all the conflicting interests they pursue.

In the final analysis, any effort to advance political reforms, no matter how eloquently stated, will become pure lip service in the absence of an effective asset reform program. Why? History has always indicated that the economic situation of our people is the basis of their politicization for, as Marx put it, “it is not the consciousness of men that determines their being, but on the contrary, it is their social being that determines their consciousness.” Therefore, if we continue to preserve this old mode of economic relations, the poor can never really advance. By necessary implication, we will keep encouraging feudal relations to thrive.

The poor remain powerless. They remain beholden to those who control the economic base. They will continue to look up to them on matters of politics and the other affairs of society. Political matters become familial matters and the entire system becomes susceptible to corruption. In the end, no real reforms are instituted.

This kind of situation seeks from government leaders nothing less than the exercise of some degree of political will in order to override the elite’s resistance to change. Recent improvements in macroeconomic management have quite significantly boosted the confidence of many in President Aquino’s administration. He should be able to use the popular support that he enjoys to boost the distribution of land to the landless peasants and become a propoor President.

The fact that he comes from the ruling class makes it very difficult for the President to address this issue. But it’s not entirely infeasible. History has always produced individuals who manage to overcome the constraints of their inherited hierarchies and advance the agenda of the greater majority of our people. For all we know, P-Noy is one of them.

Don’t miss the boat, Mr. President. The clock is ticking against the hopes of our peasants.

June 2014. The time to act is now.

Joseph Jadway “JJ” Marasigan chairs the Quezon Association for Rural Development and Democratization Services Inc.