Bacolod Bishop Vicente Navarra yesterday appealed to President Benigno Aquino to do a Moses and deliver millions of landless Filipino farmers from bondage.

The bishop issued the call at a mass at the San Sebastian Cathedral in Bacolod City that capped a four-day march of hundreds of Task Force Mapalad farmers from various towns and cities of Negros Occidental.

Navarra urged Aquino to hear the cry of the farmers for the full distribution of 210,232 hectares of land nationwide under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER) by 2014.

God heard the cry of the farmers when the agrarian reform law was enacted but as the years passed, they have become disillusioned, he said.

Navarra noted the poor performance of the Department of Agrarian Reform in acquiring and distributing lands in the province.

Navarra also appealed to Agrarian Reform Secretary Virgilio de los Reyes to act on the farmers’ call to be given land due to them.

The Bishop told the farmers not to lose hope and to only trust in God and His goodwill.

Navarra also offered his prayers for the 120 members of TFM-Negros who are joining the Luzon participants of a national Lakbayan in Quezon City today.

Lanie Factor, TFM assistant deputy coordinator, said the farmers left Bacolod City yesterday to join a camp-out at the DAR office in Quezon City.

The group also called on Aquino to break his silence on the issue and take action to fast track the land distribution. *LTG

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