Land distribution should be completed regardless of peace talks: Braganza

MANILA- The government should complete land distribution regardless of the peace talks with the communists, government peace panel member Hernani Braganza said on Thursday.

Braganza, who served as a former agrarian reform secretary during the Arroyo administration, said the problem with the still unfinished land reform program is not due to disagreements with the National Democratic Front (NDF) but on how to go about the program.

"With or without the peace talks we have to complete land reform. In our constitution, it’s there, social justice," Braganza said on ANC's 'Early Edition."

"Sad to say, on the issue of land distribution which is the core of agrarian reform, may mga balanse na ipamimigay pa na lupa," he added.

(There are still lands that are yet to be distributed.)

Braganza said he has been told that it would cost the Philippine government about P98 billion to complete the distribution of over 1 million hectares of land for free, which could possibly affect the success of talks.

The NDF is demanding free land distribution.

"Can we do it immediately? Do we have the money to do it? How fast can we do it?" he asked.

He also highlighted the need for agricultural modernization to help address poverty which he says is the root cause of armed conflict.

"We have to modernize agriculture. We have to improve the cost in terms of producing our agricultural products. We must be able to add value to our agricultural products," he said.

Braganza also floated the idea of passing a law that would address problems in the land reform program, which has been criticized for failing to bring progress and prosperity in the countryside.

"It is possible that government can initiate the passage of a new law that will address the issue of agrarian reform and of course rural development," he said.

The government panel and the National Democratic Front of the Philippines (NDFP) are set to return to the negotiating table on April 2 to 6 for their fourth round of talks in the town of Noordwijk in the Netherlands.