RESTRICTIVE provisions in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) law should be amended if the farm sector is to become a top contributor to the country’s economy, Manny V. Pangilinan, chairman of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), said.

“Our laws affecting agricultural development are not investor-friendly. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, or CARP, restricts the size of landholdings and stifles the development of a land market by making transfers of title illegal,” said Pangilinan in a recent speech.

The PLDT chief called for a revision to Section 27 of the CARP law by amending it to allow landholders to sell or otherwise dispose of their landholdings to  allow consolidation of land and achieve economies of scale.

“This will require a change in attitude as well, away from the romantic notion that the tiller must be landowner, or that producer-cooperatives are the only viable form of large-scale agriculture,” he said.

Pangilinan said the country must learn from the examples of Indonesia, Malaysia and Thailand, which have managed to feed its people and reduce rural poverty.

The PLDT chief noted the government’s excessive involvement in the agricultural market, which stunts farm-sector growth and prevents it from contributing to the country’s economy.

“The poor performance of Philippine agriculture can be traced to weaknesses in government policies and the distortions and inefficiencies caused by expensive government intervention in the market,” he said.

Pangilinan noted that while the agrarian program has been around for decades, it has yet to realize its objectives, which is principally to dislodge agrarian-reform beneficiaries from poverty.

“CARP in its various incarnations has been around for 50 years and has yet to show its desired benefits. Without abandoning CARP’s noble intent of helping our rural poor, I propose that the more appropriate approach is the one that is not prejudiced against commercial farming,” he said.

Earlier, poultry raisers and agribusinesses have also called on the government to amend the CARP law to allow large-scale farming and encourage the production of more crops like corn.

Pangilinan said that while agriculture is a key factor in the country’s economy, it is only being accorded with a “step-child attention.” He said the agriculture sector accounts for two-thirds of the total labor force and 40 percent of the country’s gross domestic product.

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RESTRICTIVE provisions in the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) law should be amended if the farm sector is to become a top contributor to the country’s economy, Manny V. Pangilinan, chairman of the Philippine Long Distance Telephone Co. (PLDT), said.