Course No.

: GE 216
Course Description : Readings in Philippine History
Name of Faculty : Mary Jane C. Ningas

Section : 2STV
Clock # & Surnames : Clock –
Date of Submission : May 23, 2023
Group Dynamics 7 :

Agrarian Reform Policies

Introduction:

In order to lead the country in an effort towards development, one sector that must not be
overlooked is the development of agriculture. Thus, various administrations had passed on
legislations so as to alleviate poverty and address agrarian reform.

Learning Outcomes
At the end of this module students should be able to:
 Effectively communicate, using various techniques and genres, historical analysis of a particular
event or issue that could help others understand the chosen topic; and
 Propose recommendations or solutions to present day problems based on your understanding of
root causes, and your anticipation of future scenarios.

ACTIVITY
Examine the lines provided below about history. Write phrases, which you can associate with it.
A. Land reform
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B. Agrarian reform
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C. Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)

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ANALYSIS

1. How important agrarian reform is in our country?

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2. What constitute an agrarian reform?

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3. Differentiate agrarian reform from land reform.

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 4. What recommendations can you make to attain a successful agrarian reform?

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ABSTRACTION

Reading Sources:

Candelaria, J.L & V. Alporha. (2018). Readings in Philippine History. Rex Book Store.

Policies on Agrarian Reform

-It is essentially the rectification of the whole system of agriculture, an important aspect of the
Philippine economy.
-It is centered on the relationship between production and distribution of land among farmers.
-It is also focused on the political and economic class character of the relations of production and
distribution in farming and related enterprises, and how these connect to the wider class structure.

Landownership in the Philippines under Spain

-When the Spaniards colonized the country, they brought with them a system of pueblo
agriculture.
-Rural communities, often dispersed and scattered in nature, were organized into a pueblo and
given land to cultivate.
-Filipinos were assigned to these lands to cultivate them, and paid their colonial tributes to the
Spanish authorities in the form of agricultural products.

Law of Indies
-The Spanish crown awarded tracts of land to:
1. Religious orders
2. Repartamientos for Spanish military as reward for their service.
3. Spanish encomenderos, those mandated to manage the encomienda or the lands given to
them, where Filipinos workers and paid tributes to the encomendero.

Encomienda System
-An unfair and abusive system, where the “compras y vandalas” became the norm for the Filipino
farmers working the land.
-Farmers must sell their products at a very low price or surrender their products to the
encomenderos, who resold this at a profit.
-And also Filipinos in the encomienda are required to render services to their encomenderos that
are unrelated to farming.

Hacienda System
-Developed in the beginning of 19 th Century as the Spanish government implemented policies that
would fast track the entry of the colony into the capitalist world.
-The economy was tied to the world market as the Philippines became an exporter of raw
materials and importer of goods.
-Agricultural exports were demanded and the hacienda system was developed as a new form of
ownership.
-In the 1860’s, Spain enacted a law ordering landholders to register their landholdings, and only
those who knew benefitted from this. Lands were claimed and registered in other people’s names,
and many peasant families who were “assigned” to the land in the earlier days of colonization
were driven out or forced to come under the power of these people who claimed rights to the land
because they held a title.
-This is the primary reason why revolts in the Philippines were often agrarian in nature.
Before the colonization, Filipinos had communal ownership of land.
Landownership in the Philippines under the Americans

The Philippine Bill of 1902

-Provide regulations on the disposal of public lands.
-A private individual may own 16 hectares of land while corporate landholders may have 1,024
hectares.
-Americans were also given rights to own agricultural lands in the country.

Land Registration Act or Act No. 496

of the Philippine Commission
-Introduced the Torrens system to address the absence of earlier records of issued land titles and
conduct accurate land surveys.

Homestead Program
-In 1903, the Homestead program was introduced, allowing a tenant to enter into an agricultural
business by acquiring a farm of at least 16 hectares.
-It was limited in Northern Luzon and Mindanao, where colonial penetration was difficult for
Americans, a problem they inherited from the Spaniards.

The Sakdal (or Sakdalista) Uprising

-“Sakdal” a Filipino word means “to accuse”, which is the title of the newspaper helmed by
Benigno Ramos.
-It was a peasant rebellion in Central Luzon that lasted for two days, May 2-3, 1935.
-It was easily crushed by government forces.
-Ramos rallied support from Manila and nearby provinces through the publication, leading to the
establishment of the Partido Sakdalista in 1933.

National Rice and Corn Corporation (NARIC)

-Under Commonwealth Gov’t, President Quezon established the NARIC, to assign public
defenders to assist peasants in court battles for their rights to the land, and the;
-Court of Industrial Relations to exercise jurisdiction over disagreements arising from
landowner-tenant relationship.
-The Homestead program also continued through the National Land Settlement Administration
(NLSA).
-Post-War Interventions toward Agrarian Reform

Republic Act No. 34

-The administration of President Roxas passed the R.A. No. 34 to establish a 70-30 sharing
arrangement between tenant and landlord, respectively, that reduced the interest of landowners’
loans to tenants at 6% or less.

Land Settlement Development Corporation (LASEDECO)

-Under the term of President Elpidio Quirino, the LASEDECO was established to accelerate and
expand the resettlement program for peasants.
-This later on became the National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration (NARRA)
under the administration of President Ramon Magsaysay.

Republic Act No. 1199 or “Agricultural Tenancy Act”

-It was passed to govern the relationship between landholders and tenant farmers, protecting the
tenurial rights of tenants and enforced tenancy practices.
-Through this law, the Court of Agricultural Relations was created in 1955, to improve the
tenancy security, fix land rentals of tenanted farms, and resolve land disputes filed by the
landowners and peasant organizations.

Agricultural Credit and Cooperative Financing Administration (ACCFA)

-It was created mainly to provide warehouse facilities and assist farmers in marketing their
products.
-The administration spearheaded the establishment of the Agricultural and Industrial Bank to
provide easier terms in applying for homestead and other farmlands.

R.A. No. 3844 or “Agricultural Land Reform Code” by Pres. Diosdado Macapagal
Section 2: Declaration of Policy – It is the policy of the State:
(1) To establish owner-cultivatorship and the economic family-size farm as the basis of
Philippine agriculture and, and as a consequence, divert landlord capital in agriculture to
industrial development;
(2) To achieve a dignified existence for the small farmers free from pernicious institutional
restraints and practices;
(3) (3) To create a truly viable social and economic structure in agriculture conducive to greater
productivity and higher farm incomes;
(4) (4) To apply all labor laws equally and without discrimination to both industrial and
agricultural wage earners;
(5) (5) To provide a more vigorous and systematic land resettlement program and public land
distribution; and
(6) (6) To make the small farmers more independent. Self-reliant and responsible citizens, and
a source of genuine strength in our democratic society.
(7) Despite being one of the most comprehensive pieces of land reform legislation,
Congress did not make any effort to fund for its implementation, despite the fact of
how beneficial it was to the provinces it was pilot tested.

Agrarian Reform Efforts under Marcos

-1972 - President Marcos declared Martial Law
Through his “technocrats” he was able to expand executive power to start a “fundamental
restructuring” of government, include its efforts in solving the deep structural problems of the
countryside.

October 21, 1972 - Primary Sources: Presidential Decree No. 27

-This shall apply to tenant farmers of private agricultural lands primarily devoted to rice and corn
under a system of share crop or lease-tenancy, whether classified as landed estate or not:
 • 5 hectares if not irrigated
• 3 hectares if irrigated and
• 7 hectares if such land owner is cultivating such area or will now cultivate it.

Post- 1986 Agrarian Reform

The Center for Agrarian Reform and Rural Development (CARRD) has been involved in
major agrarian reform campaigns staged after the 1986 EDSA Revolution. Together with other
organizations and farmer groups, they made a stand against the oppression experienced by
landless farmers all over the country.
• the overthrow of Marcos an the 1987 constitution resulted in a renewed interest and
attention to agrarian reform as President Corazon Aquino
• July 22, 1987 - President Corazon Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation
131 and Executive Order 229 which outlined her land reform program.
• 1988 - Congress passed the RA no. 6657 or the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), which introduced the same name Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
• under the term of President Ramos, CARP implementation was speeded in order to meet
the ten-year time frame despite limitations and constraints in funding, logistics, and
participation of involved sectors.
• 1996 - Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) distributed only 58.25% of the total area
target to be covered by the program.
• RA No. 8532 - Pres. Ramos signed to amend CARL and extend the program to another
ten years in 1998.

CARPER and the Future of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines

• 2008 - The new deadline of CARP was expired, leaving 1.2M farmer beneficiaries and 1.6M
hectares of agricultural land to be distributed to farmers
• 2009 - President Arroyo signed RA No. 9700 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program Extension, which was the amendatory law that extended the deadline to five more
years.
• 2009 to 2014 – CARPER has distributed a total of 1M hectares of land to 900,000 farmer
beneficiaries. After 27 years of land reform and two Aquino administration, 500,000
hectares of land s remain undistributed.

APPLICATION
1. Reflect on the passage and the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Program.
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2. Research on a particular event or issue. Trace the roots of the issue and propose certain solutions
to such issue. Present your output through a powerpoint presentation. Please note that this is
LE3.
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Closure
My applause to you! You are through with Lesson 3 of Module 4.