Land reform an uphill struggle for Aquino

Church leaders in the Philippines say the resistance of landlords to land reform is a “big problem” for the government’s 22-year-old agrarian reform program in 2010.

Critics, including Church leaders, have doubted that the government would fast-track the implementation of the program ever since last May’s election of President Benigno Aquino III, a scion of a landed family.

In July, Church and civil society groups expressed disappointment over the president’s failure to mention in his first state of the nation address agrarian reform as a priority.

Father Joe Dizon, an anti-corruption activist, said Aquino could have spoken more about land reform than about infrastructure. He said the president’s speech was “uninspiring” for those who have dreamed of owning the farms they have been working for decades.

Aquino has been bombarded with calls to have his family’s 6,435-hectare sugarcane plantation redistributed to farmers. The president, however, took a “hands-off policy” over the row.

Read full report at ucanews.com