UNIT IV.

SOCIO-ECONOMIC AND POLITICAL ISSUES IN THE

PHILIPPINES
PHILIPPINE AGRARIAN REFORM

Overview

This chapter discusses the agrarian reform of the Philippines from pre-Spanish
colonization to the present, including the agricultural reform agenda of each Philippine
President.

Learning Objectives

At the end of the unit, I am able to:

1. Identify the different agrarian reform policies of the Philippines.
2. Determine the difference between land reform and agrarian reform.
3. Know the effect of agrarian policies in the present economy of the Philippines.
4. Make a solution to the problems encountered in different agrarian reform policies.
5. Create my idea for land cultivation.

Lesson Proper

• The agrarian policies are centered on the relationship between the production and
distribution of land among farmers.
• Land reform is concerned with land rights and their character, strength, and
distribution. At the same time, agrarian reform focuses not only on these but also on
a broader set of issues, such as the class character of the relations of production and
distribution in farming and related enterprises, and how these connect to the
immense class structure. Thus, it is concerned with economic and political power
and the relations between them (Cousins, 2007).

World bank’s five dimensions of agrarian reform

1. Stocks and liberalization

2. Land reform and development of land markets
3. Agro-processing and input supply channels
4. Urban finance
5. Market institutions

A fundamental precondition for land reform to be feasible and effective in improving the
beneficiaries' livelihood is that such programs fit into a broader policy aimed at
reducing poverty and establishing a favorable environment for the development of
productive smallholder agriculture by the beneficiaries (world bank, 2003)

Pre-Spanish Period
"This land is Our God gave this land to us."

Before the colonization of the country, Filipinos have their lives already, and every village
has a chieftain that governs the community, which comprised the nobility, then came
the maharlikas, which considered as freemen followed by slaves composed by aliping
namamahay and aliping saguiguilid.
 With these different social classes, there is no existence of money, but rice has served as a medium of
exchange.

During Spanish colonization

Before colonization, Filipinos has communal ownership of land. Filipinos have been
scattered to all the areas in the country, so the Spanish conquest decided to put Filipinos in
one place called "poblacion."

Under the Spanish government, Filipinos did not have the right to own land. Still, they were
only allowed to work in them and pay colonial tributes to Spanish authorities through
agricultural products.

Pueblo system of agriculture because of the scattered nature of the rural communities,
the Spaniards organized them into pueblo where they were given land to cultivate.

? Laws of the indies

o Spain awarded tracts of lands to:

o Religious orders. This became the primary source of abuse and exploitation
(e.g., the friars would increase land rent on a whim);
o Repayments of Spanish soldiers, as a reward for their service land.
o Spanish encomenderos, or those mandated to manage an encomienda

? Encomienda system

o The Spanish government developed the hacienda system as a new form of

land ownership.
o In the 1860s, Spain ordered landowners to register their landholdings. This
led to many peasants either getting forced out of their "assigned" lands in
the earlier days of colonization or working for the people who claimed to
have the area's rights. By the end of the Philippine revolution, the
revolutionary government would declare all large landed estates as
government property, including confiscated friar's lands.

Land ownership during the American colonization

o To address landlessness, which was the leading cause of social unrest at the
time, the Americans passed several land policies to distribute land ownership to
a more significant number of Filipinos.
o The Philippine bill of 1902 provided regulations on the disposal of public lands,
where a private individual may own up to 16 hectares of land, and corporate
landholders may have 1,024 hectares.
o The Philippine commission act no. 496, or the land registration act, addressed
the absence of records of land titles and conducted accurate land surveys
through the Torrens system.
o The homestead program was a program introduced by the Americans where a
tenant could enter into an agricultural business once the individual had acquired
16 hectares of farmland.
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 o Land ownership during this time worsened because of the limitlessness of the
size of landholdings of people could acquire, while the acquisition wan only
limited to those who could afford to purchase and register fixed property titles.
o The lands acquired from friars were not necessarily given to the peasant
farmers. Peasant farmers who were given land almost did not have the means to
maintain and cultivate it and were forced to return tenancy to wealthy
hacienderos because of debt. As a result, most of the lands ended up in the
hands of wealthy Filipino hacienderos. This caused widespread uprisings.

? President Manuel L. Quezon espoused the "Social Justice" program to arrest the
increasing social unrest in Central Luzon.

o Significant legislation enacted during the Commonwealth Period:

o 1935 Constitution – "The promotion of social justice to ensure the well-
being and economic security of all people should be the concern of the
State."
o Commonwealth Act No. 178 (An Amendment to Rice Tenancy Act No. 4045),
November 13, 1936 – Provided specific controls in the landlord-tenant
relationships
o National Rice and Corn Corporation (NARIC), 1936, established the price of
rice and corn, thereby helping the poor tenants and consumers.
o Commonwealth Act. No. 461, 1937 – Specified reasons for the dismissal of
tenants and only with the approval of the Tenancy Division of the
Department of Justice.
o Rural Program Administration, created March 2, 1939 – Provided the
purchase and lease of haciendas and their sale and lease to the tenants.
o Commonwealth Act No. 441 enacted on June 3, 1939 – Created the National
Settlement Administration with a capital stock of P20,000,000.

Agrarian Reform Pre-World War I

o The sakdal uprising was a peasant rebellion brought about by the social
inequality in land ownership and tenancy. Sakdal means "to accuse." Benigno
Ramos established the Partido sakdalista in 1933, and the group demanded the
abolition of taxes and equality in land ownership.
o Hukbalahap controlled whole areas of Central Luzon; landlords who supported
the Japanese lost their lands to peasants while those who supported the Huks
earned fixed rentals in favor of the tenants.
o In 1935, and attempt at uprising was organized, but the government quickly
crushed it. Benigno Ramos filed to Tokyo, and the Partido eventually collapsed.
o The peasant uprisings continued as the situation in the country’s landownership
worsened. During the commonwealth government, President Quezon started a
social justice program that focused on the purchase of haciendas to be divided
and sold to tenants.
o The administration also created NARIC, or the National Rice and Corn
Corporation , to defend and assist the peasants in court battles for their rights.
o Additionally, the Court of Industrial Relations was Established to exercise
jurisdiction over disagreements involving land rights and the landowner-tenant
relationship.

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 o However, because of the continuous uprisings and the lack of budget allocation,
the Commonwealth's efforts in agrarian reform failed. Eventually, all
interventions being done were pull to stop when World War II broke out, and the
Japanese occupied the Philippines.

Agrarian reform after World War II

o After the war, the administration focused on rehabilitating and rebuilding the
nation. It attempted to solve the previous issues in land ownership. Hacienda lands
were distributed, but the attempt at agrarian reform still failed since there was little-
to-no support given to the small farmers.
o After the establishment of the Philippine Independence in 1946, the problems of
land tenure remained. These became worst in certain areas. Thus the Congress of
the Philippines revised the tenancy law.

? President Manuel A. Roxas (1946-1948) enacted the following laws:

o Republic Act No. 34 -- Established the 70-30 sharing arrangements and regulating
share-tenancy contracts.
o Republic Act No. 55 -- Provided for a more effective safeguard against arbitrary
ejectment of tenants.

? Elpidio R. Quirino (1948-1953) enacted the following law:

o Executive Order No. 355 issued on October 23, 1950 -- Replaced the National Land
Settlement Administration with Land Settlement Development Corporation
(LASEDECO), which takes over the responsibilities of the Agricultural Machinery
Equipment Corporation and the Rice and Corn Production Administration.

? Ramon Magsaysay (1953-1957) enacted the following laws:

o Republic Act No. 1160 of 1954 -- Abolished the LASEDECO and established the
National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration (NARRA) to resettle
dissidents and landless farmers. It was mainly aimed at rebel returnees providing
home lots and farmlands in Palawan and Mindanao.
o Republic Act No. 1199 (Agricultural Tenancy Act of 1954) -- governed the
relationship between landowners and tenant farmers by organizing share-tenancy
and leasehold system. The law provided the security of tenure of tenants. It also
created the Court of Agrarian Relations.
o Republic Act No. 1400 (Land Reform Act of 1955) -- Created the Land Tenure
Administration (LTA), which was responsible for the acquisition and distribution of
large tenanted rice and corn lands over 200 hectares for individuals and 600
hectares for corporations.
o Republic Act No. 821 (Creation of Agricultural Credit Cooperative Financing
Administration) -- Provided small farmers and share tenants loans with low-interest
rates of six to eight percent.

? President Carlos P. Garcia (1957-1961)

o Continued the program of President Ramon Magsaysay. No new legislation passed.

? President Diosdado P. Macapagal (1961-1965) enacted the following law:

o Republic Act No. 3844 of August 8, 1963 (Agricultural Land Reform Code) --
Abolished share tenancy, institutionalized leasehold, set retention limit at 75
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 hectares, invested rights of preemption and redemption for tenant farmers,
provided for administrative machinery for implementation, institutionalized a
judicial system of agrarian cases, incorporated extension, marketing and supervised
credit system of services of farmer-beneficiaries.
o The R.A. was hailed as one that would emancipate Filipino farmers from the
bondage of tenancy.

Agrarian reform during the Marcos regime

o After the declaration of martial law in 1972, president Marcos was able to start a
"fundamental restructuring" of government. He wiped out the landlord-dominated
congress in an attempt to address the structural problems in the countryside.
o Masagana 99 was a rice self-sufficiency program in which farmers could borrow
from banks and purchase three-hectare plots of land. This lead to the country to
consume our rice and not importing to other countries.
o Operation land transfer granted land to tenants occupying seven hectares of rice
and corn. However, because rice was the only focus of this program, the landed elite
circumvented the law by changing their crops, to be exempted from the program.
They also evicted tenants and hired exempted from the program. They even evicted
tenants and hired workers instead, because the lands worked by wage labor were
also exempted from this program.
o As a result, landlessness increased because of the elite's methods to exert power and
dominance, especially Marcos's cronies, who were also involved in the agricultural
sector.
These are some agrarian reform policies passed during the Marcos regime:
o Republic Act No. 6389, (Code of Agrarian Reform) and R.A. No. 6390 of 1971 --
Created the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Agrarian Reform Special
Account Fund. It strengthened the position of farmers and expanded the scope of
agrarian reform.
o Presidential Decree No. 2, September 26, 1972 -- Declared the country under the
land reform program. It urged all agencies and offices of the government to extend
full cooperation and assistance to the DAR. It also activated the Agrarian Reform
Coordinating Council.
o Presidential Decree No. 27, October 21, 1972 -- Restricted land reform scope to
tenanted rice and corn lands and set the retention limit at 7 hectares.

Post agrarian reform

o The Constitution ratified by the Filipino people during the administration of

President Corazon C. Aquino provides under Section 21 under Article II that “The
State shall promote comprehensive rural development and agrarian reform.”
o On June 10, 1988, former President Corazon C. Aquino signed into law Republic Act
No. 6657 or otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL).
The law became effective on June 15, 1988.
o In 1988, the republic act no. 6657, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law,
introduced the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
o CARP enabled the distribution of agricultural lands to tenant-farmers. Landowners
were compensated and were allowed to retain ownership of no more than five
hectares of land. Instead of turning their area to the government, they were legally

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 allowed to distribute a portion of their capital stock, equity, or participation in favor
of the farmers.
o However, congress, which was mainly dominated by the landed elites, was unwilling
to fund the program's costs. Thus it accomplished only 22.5 percent of the land
distribution in 6 years.

? President Corazon Aquino also allowed the option for stock redistribution.
Eventually, Hacienda Luisita turned into a corporation and mainly distributed stock
among its farmers instead of land.

? When President Fidel V. Ramos formally took over in 1992, his administration came
face to face with the public who have lost confidence in the agrarian reform
program. His administration committed to the vision "Fairer, faster and more
meaningful implementation of the Agrarian Reform Program.
o During the Ramos Administration, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) was
able to distribute 58.25 percent of the total area covered by CARP. Despite the lack
of funding, time constraints, and lack of participation, CARP was expedited to meet
the ten-year time frame.
o President Ramos signed the Republic Act no. 8532 in 1998 to amend CARP. The
program was extended to another ten years.

? “ERAP PARA SA MAHIRAP’. This was the battle cry that endeared President Joseph
Estrada and made him very popular during the 1998 presidential election.
o President Joseph E. Estrada initiated the enactment of the following law:
o Executive Order N0. 151, September 1999 (Farmer's Trust Fund) – Allowed the
voluntary consolidation of small farm operations into medium and large-scale
integrated enterprises that can access long-term capital.
o During his administration, President Estrada launched the Magkabalikat Para sa
Kaunlarang Agraryo or MAGKASAKA. The DAR forged into joint ventures with
private investors into the agrarian sector to make F.B.s competitive.
o However, the Estrada administration was short-lived. The masses who put him into
office demanded his ouster.

Agrarian reform in the present time

o In 2008, the deadline for the extended CARP came to pass.

o Despite this, 1.6 million hectares of agricultural land remained undistributed to the
1.2 million farmers.
o The agrarian reform program under the Arroyo administration is anchored on the
vision “To make the countryside economically viable for the Filipino family by
building partnership and promoting social equity and new economic opportunities
towards lasting peace and sustainable rural development.”
o President Gloria Arroyo signed the Republic Act no. 9700, or the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program Extension with reforms (CARPER), extended the deadline
to five more years, from 2009 to 2014.
o Agrarian Justice - To help clear the backlog of agrarian cases, DAR will hire more
paralegal officers to support understaffed adjudicatory boards and introduce a
quota system to compel adjudicators to work faster agricultural reform cases. DAR
will respect the rights of both farmers and landowners.

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o During this Period, CARPER was able to distribute a total of 1 million hectares of
land to 900,000 farmer-beneficiaries.
o Five hundred thousand hectares of land remain to be undistributed.
? President Benigno Aquino III vowed during his 2012 State of the Nation Address
that he would complete the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program
(CARP), the centerpiece program of the administration of his mother,
President Corazon Aquino.
o Agrarian Production Credit Program (APCP) provided credit support for crop
production to newly organized and existing agrarian reform
beneficiaries’ organizations (ARBOs) and farmers’ organizations not qualified
to avail themselves of loans under the regular credit windows of banks.
o Aside from these initiatives, Aquino also enacted Executive Order No. 26, Series of
2011. to mandate the Department of Agriculture-Department of
Environment and Natural Resources-Department of Agrarian Reform
Convergence Initiative to develop a National Greening Program in
cooperation with other government agencies.
? Under President Rodrigo Duterte, the President wants to pursue an "aggressive"
land reform program that would help alleviate the lives of poor Filipino
farmers by prioritizing the provision of support services alongside land
distribution.
o The President directed the DAR to launch the 2nd phase of agrarian reform where
landless farmers would be awarded undistributed lands under the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
o Duterte plans to place almost all public lands, including military reserves, under
agrarian reform.
o The President also placed 400 hectares of agricultural land in Boracay under CARP.
o Under his administration, the DAR created an anti-corruption task force to
investigate and handle reports on alleged anomalous activities by
officials and employees of the department.