Concepcion, Earl Justin B.

AGL Sat 1-3 Midterm paper

Atty.Duka

Extent of Implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program To fully grasp the extent of the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program it must be first establish the lands that are covered of the said program. The scope of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program are the following: (a) All alienable and disposable lands of the public domain devoted to or suitable for agriculture. No reclassification of forest or mineral lands to agricultural lands shall be undertaken after the approval of this Act until Congress, taking into account ecological, developmental and equity considerations, shall have determined by law, the specific limits of the public domain. (b) All lands of the public domain in excess of the specific limits as determined by Congress in the preceding paragraph; (c) All other lands owned by the Government devoted to or suitable for agriculture; and (d) All private lands devoted to or suitable for agriculture regardless of the agricultural products raised or that can be raised thereon. (e) Lease, management, grower or service contracts covering such lands covering an aggregate area in excess of 1,000 hectares, leased or held by foreign individuals in excess of 500 hectares are deemed amended to conform with the limits set forth in Section 3 of Article XII of the Constitution. (f) Contracts covering areas not in excess of 1,000 hectares in the case of such corporations and associations, and 500 hectares, in the case of such individuals, shall be allowed to continue under their original terms and conditions but not beyond August 29, 1992, or their valid termination, whichever comes sooner, after which, such agreements shall continue only when confirmed by the appropriate government agency. Such contracts shall likewise continue even after the lands has been transferred to beneficiaries or awardees thereof, which transfer shall be immediately commenced and implemented and completed within the period of three (3) years mentioned in the first paragraph hereof. There are some exceptions in the coverage subject to the following conditions: (a) Lands actually, directly and exclusively used and found to be necessary for parks, wildlife, forest reserves, reforestation, fish sanctuaries and breeding grounds, watersheds, and mangroves,

national defense, school sites and campuses including experimental farm stations operated by public or private schools for educational purposes, seeds and seedlings research and pilot production centers, church sites and convents appurtenant thereto, mosque sites and Islamic centers appurtenant thereto, communal burial grounds and cemeteries, penal colonies and penal farms actually worked by the inmates, government and private research and quarantine centers (b) all lands with eighteen percent (18%) slope and over, except those already developed (c) The land owner of the private agricultural land, generally shall have no more than five hectares subject to exception that Three hectares can be awarded to each child of the land owner that is at least 15 years old and he is actually tilling the land or directly managing the farm At the beginning of its implementation, CARP expected to cover about 9.8 million hectares. Subsequent re-assessments of potential areas led to a downward revision of program scope to 8.2 million hectares. (World Bank 2009)1 CARP Scope and Accomplishment, 20072 Land Type/Mode of Acquisition DARa Private Agricultural Land Operational land transfer Government Financing Institutions Voluntary Offer to sell Compulsory Acquisition Voluntary Land Transfer Non-Private Agricultural Land Settlements Land Estates Government Owned lands DENRb Public Alienable Disposable Land Integrated Social Foresty/ Community Based Forest Management Total Scope (ha) 4,428,357 3,093,251 616,233 243,434 437,970 1,507,122 288,492 133,106 604,116 70,173 660,817 3,771,441 2,502,000 1,269,411 8,199,768 % Accomplishment 89.4 72.5 91.9 66.7 133.4 18.4 225.6 128.8 120.8 115.2 137.5 81.0 68.7 105.2 85.6

Note: aScope pertains to 2006 figures. DAR recently revised this to 2007, though breakdown by program type is not available. b Accomplishment is as of 2006.

Computing the total accomplishment approximately 6,969,802.8 hectares have already been distributed to the farmers by 2007. This means there are only 1,229,966.8 hectares to be distributed.

1 2

According to the file it is not for quotation/ distribution. Work in progress World Bank. 2009. Land Reform, Rural Development, and Poverty Reduction in the Philippines: Revisiting the Agenda

According to the report of the Department of Agrarian Reform which was published by the Official Gazette. As of January 1, 2013, there are 879,526 hectare (gross area) that is left for acquisition. From that gross are there are still areas that will be deducted because they are non-CARPABLE portions such as roads, easements, creeks, undeveloped portions of more than 18 slope, and the retention area for private agricultural lands. It is estimated that 175,000 hectares will go the landowners leaving a 704,526 hectares of distributable land. With the 704,526 hectares it is estimated that 182,121 are problematic, such as those with pending cases, technical problems, etc. Comparing Laos agrarian reform to Philippines agrarian reform Laos Laos is a communist state and all lands belong to the nation as a whole and managed by the government. Beginning in the 1990s, Lao PDR began to formalize individual land-use rights and strengthen tenure security through land titling and land allocation programs. A land title is evidence of permanent land-use rights, which can be bought and sold, mortgaged or bequeathed (Lastarria-Cornhiel 2007). In rural areas, the state distributed temporary land-use certificates (TLUCs) for agricultural and forest land. TLUCs are valid for three years, and the use rights evidenced by a TLUC can be bequeathed and inherited but cannot be sold, leased or used as collateral. Rural families may also request a Land Survey Certificate (LSC) to prove permanent land-use rights. Rights evidenced by LSCs can be bought, sold, mortgaged and bequeathed. (GTZ 2009). Local authorities may also issue a Land Tax Declaration or a Land Tax Receipt. In rural areas, land users sometimes use these documents as proof of land-use rights or to assert compensation claims when land concessions occur. However, these documents cannot be used to transfer land rights. (GTZ 2009). Communal tenure, under which local communities control common property such as upland areas, grazing land, village-use forests and sacred forests, is prevalent in rural areas, although the state does not yet formally recognize such tenure. Rural families may also hold informal rights to agricultural land allocated by traditional authorities under informal or customary rules. A Land Tax Declaration, issued by the District Land Tax Division, allows the holder to use the land, and may be used to record transfer of the right by inheritance. Local authorities also issue Land Tax Receipts for tax payments. Although Land Tax Receipts are not transferable by law, villagers do use them as evidence of their rights, including for the purpose of selling or leasing out the land. Most rural land users have at least a Land Tax Receipt showing that they have paid tax on the land they claim. Citizens can use Land Tax Declarations and Receipts as evidence of land use when applying for an LSC (GTZ 2009; Ngaosrivathana and Rock 2007).

Under the 2003 Land Law, the state may only expropriate land for public interest use or public purposes. Compensation must be paid prior to commencement of project construction and may include voluntary contribution, an exchange for another piece of land and/or cash payments. The criteria establishing who is eligible for compensation are unclear; some decrees include all affected persons, while others require compensation only for those with land-use rights (GOL Land Law 2003b; Ngaosrivathana and Rock 2007). Philippines Land distribution is skewed. In the rural sector, there are an estimated 2.9 million small farms that average 2 hectares and 13,681 large private landholdings of up to 20,000 hectares. There are 10.2 million marginal farmers and farm workers, 70% of whom are landless. Since the 1930s, the State has instituted various land reforms, the latest of which is the 1988 Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law. While considerable swaths of land have been redistributed, the most contentious private agricultural lands, which are also the most productive and fertile, remain with wealthy private landowners (FAO 1997; Borras and Franco 2007). In the Philippines, lands are either public domain (State-owned) or privately owned. Under the 1987 Constitution, only public agricultural lands may be leased up to 1000 hectares to private corporations, and leased up to 500 hectares or acquired by purchase, homestead or grant of up to 12 hectares by individual citizens (GOP Constitution 1987a, Art. 12, Sec. 3). The major land reform laws are the 1988 Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) and the 1992 Urban Development and Housing Act (UDHA). The CARL broadened the scope of rural land reform by including private and public agricultural lands regardless of crops and tenure arrangements, and providing for support services to agrarian reform beneficiaries, including infrastructure, capability-building and credit/marketing assistance. Lands were to be distributed to landless farmers and farm workers within a period of 10 years, but when this was not achieved, the law was extended for another 10 years, and then again extended until 2014. The CARL provides retention limit on ownership by a landowner which shall not exceed five (5) hectares. Three (3) hectares may be awarded to each child of the landowner, subject to the following qualifications: (1) that he is at least fifteen (15) years of age; and (2) that he is actually tilling the land or directly managing the farm. The lands that will be taken are also subject to fair market value. There are still lands that are exempt from the agrarian reform these are lands actually, directly and exclusively used and found to be necessary for parks, wildlife, forest reserves, reforestation, fish sanctuaries and breeding grounds, watersheds, and mangroves, national defense, school sites and campuses including experimental farm stations operated by public or private schools for educational purposes, seeds and seedlings research and pilot production centers, church sites and convents appurtenant thereto, mosque sites and Islamic centers appurtenant thereto, communal burial grounds and cemeteries, penal colonies and penal farms actually worked by the inmates, government and private research and quarantine centers and all lands with eighteen percent (18%) slope and over, except those already developed shall be exempt.

Conclusion As to a clear program regarding land reform. The Philippines has a better program compared to Laos. The Philippines has a clear law as to its land reform which is manifested in R.A 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law which provides the guidelines in implementing land reform. The Philippines also transfers ownership of the land to the qualified beneficiaries. In Laos there is no clear program or a specific special law that governs the agrarian reform. The farmers are only given temporary use of agricultural lands which after three years will expire. What happen is that the farmers only have informal use of the lands which are owned the state. It follows, that the farmers do not have security over their crops anytime the government can take their land as long as it is used for public purpose. As to recognition of communal ownership. In the Philippines the ownership of the communal property is formally recognized through the Indigenous People Rights Act and the cooperative ownership of farmers to parcels of land. In Laos the existence of such communal tenure is recognized since they are not given such rights as to its ownership or tenure.

Sources: R.A 6657 Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law USAID. 2013. Land Tenure Profile Laos. Available <http://usaidlandtenure.net/sites/default/files/country-profiles/fullreports/USAID_Land_Tenure_Laos_Profile.pdf> Accessed August 18, 2013 at

USAID. 2011. Land Tenure Profile Philippines. Available at <http://usaidlandtenure.net/sites/default/files/country-profiles/fullreports/USAID_Land_Tenure_Philippines_Profile.pdf> Accessed August 18, 2013 World Bank. 2009. Land Reform, Rural Development, and Poverty Reduction in the Philippines: Revisiting the Agenda Available at<http://www.fig.net/pub/fig_wb_2009/papers/acc/acc_2_bresciani.pdf> Accessed August 18, 2013 Report on the Land Acquisition and Distribution Aspect of Agrarian Reform, January 13, 2013. 2013. Available at <http://www.gov.ph/2013/02/04/for-the-record-report-onthe-state-of-agrarian-reform-january-2013/> Accessed August 18, 2013