Pampering the poor

By AMADO P. MACASAET

‘The Lina Law pampers the poor and develops a higher dependency on the state for survival.’

FOR purely political reasons no lawmaker ever saw how the Lina Law pampers the poor and at the same time deprives the hardworking man of the fruits of his labor.

Under the Lina Law, the squatters on a private property may not be ejected unless the owner finds a place to relocate the illegal occupants. The effect is to encourage more squatting and laziness, if not indolence.

Demolitions of squatter colonies can be carried out only upon orders of the courts. Almost always, the Office of the President stops the demolition. This act is defiance of a duly issued court order.

The Lina law is one of many reasons the rural poor troop to Manila. It is also why so-called professional squatters are sprouting in urban centers.

Forgotten by the Lina Law is the hard reality that the owners of the land occupied by the squatters, mostly overnight, worked hard and long to acquire the property. Why should there be a law that requires the landowner to find a relocation site where the squatters can be transferred to enable the landowner to make productive use of the land he bought with the sweat of his brows?

Before long, otherwise productive land which can be used to earn profits and create jobs will be lost to the squatters. The pieces of property that could otherwise be used for productive purposes will be bought by the owner of the property inhabited by the squatters.

The cycle becomes vicious.

The Lina Law pampers the poor and develops a higher dependency on the state for survival. The poor are a burden to society but they can be productive if the state does not pamper them like the Lina Law does.

One good way is to relocate the squatters to millions of hectares of idle government land. As early as now, the government should make soil analysis of the lands so the occupants, former squatters, will know what crops to plant.

The idea may require billions of pesos. But the result is higher agricultural productivity and self-employment. The urban centers will not be blighted by squatter colonies.

The first step should be a long series of seminars for squatters who will be relocated to state lands. They must be taught the basics of planting crops.

These farmer-squatters must be supported with farm implements like small hand tractors and fertilizers, basic tools of agriculture.

We say again what we have been consistently saying. There are thousands of hectares of supposedly pasture leases for cattle. Unfortunately, it has been proven that cattle raising – for meat or dairy – is not suitable for this country.

These lands must be taken back by government for cultivation by the squatter families now starving in urban centers.

Since thousands of them are to be relocated to say, state lands in Mindanao, the government should build schools from primary to high school so that the children can get a chance at education. There should be a school for short courses in agriculture.

The high school graduates who excel should be given scholarship grants by the government.

At the same time, there should be health and maternity clinics in these “colonies.” Initially, they should be provided with money from the “conditional cash transfer” fund. The money is to be used for food. The National Food Authority should provide them with free rice.

Where rice and corn are concerned, it should not take one year for these farmers to produce their own food. The excess of what the family needs should be sold to the NFA at subsidized prices.

The other areas should be planted to permanent crops such as lanzones and durian. Bananas may also be planted on a commercial scale.

The government should always be present to ensure success of farming.

The idea is not exactly a long shot. On the contrary it solves two big problems. One is increasing agricultural productivity. The other is removal of blights in urban areas that also contributes to worsening social and peace and order problems.

There is a theory in sociology about people in concentric circles. The instinct to survive forces people to go to urban areas where they believe they can stay alive longer.. Yes, they do survive. But by what means?:

By squatting on private lands and scavenging, begging, stealing, drug pushing, prostitution? The way out of this mess is to defy the theory of concentric circles. Relocate the squatters to state land which they can cultivate with full financial, technical and other kinds of assistance from the government.

It would not take so long a time for the squatters to contribute to economic growth. If the government does not stop them from being net consumers of scarce resources instead of making them net contributors to agricultural production, this country will have a problem it may never solve if it does not act quickly.

All these are made possible, in fact encouraged by the Lina Law. Why should there be a law that denies a landowner the productive use of his land if it is invaded by squatters?

This law does not have to be amended to solve the squatting problem and increase productivity.

The squatters need a chance at life. The invasion of private property is not that chance. The chance is in giving them opportunity to work so they can feed themselves and, who, knows even make some profits from the efforts of their labor.

The idea is worth trying. And it must be tried now. We do not have the luxury of time considering that people multiply at the rate of two million babies a year.