President Arroyo will sign Friday, August 7, the newly-ratified Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) extension bill at ceremonies in Plaridel, Bulacan, Malacañang said.

At Friday’s symbolic launching of agrarian reform projects in Bulacan, the President is set to sign the CARP with extension and reform (CARPer) measure in Plaridel where her father, President Diosdado Macapagal first launched the land reform program in l963.

After the signing ceremony, Mrs. Arroyo, who just came back from her week-long United States trip, will lead the awarding of the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) Gawad Entrepreneur and Gawad Pitak awards and the unveiling of the markers at the Don Jose J. Mariano Park.

In honor of late President Corazon C. Aquino, the Senate ratified the CARP bill seeking to extend the
reform program to five years, which was given a funding of P150 billion until June 30, 2014.

During her ninth and last State of the Nation Address (SONA), President Arroyo called on the Congress to pass at least five of her priority bills, particularly the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) Bill and the Simplified Net Income Taxation Scheme (SNITS) before her eight-year watch ends next year.

She said it is “timely” to pass the CARP extension measure to condone the R42-billion agrarian liabilities because it “will unfreeze the rural property market.”

The Chief Executive said her late father already emancipated the farmers, and now it is her duty to “emancipate the land titles” for them.

According to her, 70,000 indigenous people have benefited from the distribution of several million hectares of land.

Aside from CARP extension bill and SNITS Law, the President certified as urgent the passage of her “unpopular” measures, which include the Transport Security Authority Law, and a bill creating the Department of Information and Communications Technology (DICT) as well as the amendment of the Commonwealth-era Public Service Law.