MANILA, February 24, 3009—A group of nuns, brothers, and priests from different theological schools nationwide has urged lawmakers to support the Genuine Agrarian Reform Bill (GARB) before the six-month extension of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) terminates this June.

Saying House Bill 3059 campaigns for the rights of the landless peasants, the Inter-Theological Forum (ITF) called on Congress to seriously study the fundamental defects of CARP and endorse the GARB so as to advance "common good" and "social justice."

"GARB invites us to rethink our concept of land ownership so that it would more fully be in line with the moral principle of the universal destination of goods. As the Compendium of the Social Doctrine of the Church states, 'the right to private property is subordinated to the right to common use, to the fact that goods are meant for everyone,'" the group said in a statement issued last Feb. 18.

Like other peasant groups critical to the short-term extension of CARP, the group likewise urged the government to compromise land reform in an agreement that conforms with the few elite and the oppressive system of bureaucracy in our country.

"If our Church and government leaders are indeed prophetic and true advocates of 'common good and social justice' then it's an imperative to allow their self to be immersed in the real lives of the vast struggling peasants and listen to their long standing plight for genuine land reform," the group said.

"We believe that by true listening to the peasants can we thoroughly examine any bill in the Congress that allows landlords to abuse the law in order to evade land distribution through corporative schemes, land-use conversion, leasehold arrangements, stock distribution options, and contract growing—all of which has already resulted in the gross human rights violations through massive land grabbing and evictions of the poor peasants," it added.

The InterTheological Forum is gathering of nuns, brothers and priest from different theological schools like the Maryhill School of Theology (MST), Inter Congregational Theological Center (ICTC), Saint Vincent School of Theology (SVST), and the Institute of Formation and Religious Studies (IFRS).

It is also a mission partner of Association of Major Religious Superiors in the Philippines (AMRSP) the Task Force on Urban Conscientization (TFUC), and InterFaith Jutice and Peace Network (IFJNet). (Kris Bayos)