Policies on

Agrarian Reform

PRESENTED BY GROUP 5
Points of Discussion
Topics to be Covered

Landownership in the Philippines under Spain

Landownership in the Philippines Under the
Ameicans
Post-War Intervention toward Agrarian Reform
Agrarian Reform Efforts under Marcos
Post 1986 Agrarian Reform
CARPER and the Future of Agrarian Reform in the
Philippines
Landownership in When the Spaniards came to the Philippines, the
concept of encomienda (Royal Land Grants) was

the Philippines
introduced. This system grants that Encomienderos
must defend his encomienda from external attack,
maintain peace and order within, and support the
under Spain missionaries. In turn, the encomiendero acquired the
right to collect tribute from the indios (native).

The system, however, degenerated into abuse of power

by the encomienderos The tribute soon became land
rents to a few powerful landlords. And the natives who
once cultivated the lands in freedom were transformed
into mere share tenants.
Landownership in the
Philippines under the
Americans
The Americans were aware that the main cause of
social unrest in the philippines was landlessness.
And they attempted to put end to the deplorable
conditions od the tenant farmers by passing
several land policies to increase the small land
holders and distribute ownership to a bigger
number of Filipino tenants and farmers.
The Philippine Bill of 1902 provided 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.

The Philippine Commision also enacted Act No. 496 or the Land Registration Act which
introduced the Torren system to address the absence of earlier records of issued land titles and
conduct accurate land surveys.

In 1903, the homestead program was introduces allowing a tenant to enter into an agricultural
business by acquiring a farm of atleast 16 hectares. This program,however, was limited to areas
in Northern Luzon and Mindanao, where colonial penetration had been difficult for American.
A problem they inherited from the Spaniards
 Post-War Intervention
toward Agrarian Reform

Restoration and innovation after the war were

engrossed on providing solutions to the problems of
the previous the administration of President Roxas
handed Republic Act No. 34 to establish a 70-30
allocation arrangement between tenant and
landowner, corresponding which reduced the interest
of landowners’ mortgages to tenants at six percent or
less. The government also tried to reallocated hacienda
lands, deteriorating prey to despairs of similar actions
since no provision was given to small agrarians who
were given lands.
The Land Settlement Development Corporation (LASEDECO), under the period of President
Elpidio Quirino, was established to accelerate and expand the resettlement program for
farmers, this agency later on became the National Resettlement andRehabilitation
Administration (NARRA) under the government of President Ramon Magsaysay. Magsaysay
saw the significance of pursuing genuine land reform program and persuaded the Congress,
majority of which were elite owners, to pass legislation to develop the land reform situation.

NARRA improved the government’s relocation program and dissemination of agricultural

lands to landless tenants and agrarians. It also intended to persuade members of the Huks, a
movement of rebels in Central Luzon, to relocate in areas where they could resume their lives
as peaceful citizen. A major pace in land reform arrived during the term of President Diosdado
Macapagal over the Agricultural Land Reform Code (Republic Act No.3844).
 Agrarian
Reform Efforts
under Marcos
Martial Law in 1972 was declared by President Marcos, allowing him to fundamentally wipe out
the landlord-dominated Congress. Over his “technocrats” he was able to develop executive
power to start a “fundamental restructuring” of government, with its exertions in solving the
deep structural problems of the country.

Many other techniques were engaged by the elite to discover a way uphold their power and
power, which were deteriorated by the exploitation if Marcos and his associates who were also
involve in the Agricultural area.

Marcos’ agrarian reform program also falls within an agricultural development strategy that
was initially formulated by scientists and researchers and funded by the Ford and Rockefeller
foundations through the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The program comprised a
high-technology package that included the intensive use of fertilizers and pesticides, the
introduction of new and high-yielding rice varieties, water control and social reengineering
(Cullather 2004, 259)
 Executive Order No. 228, July 16, 1987 – Declared full

Post 1986 ownership to qualified farmer-beneficiaries covered

by PD 27. It also determined the value remaining

Agrarian Reform
unvalued rice and corn lands subject of PD 27 and
provided for the manner of payment by the FBs and
mode of compensation to landowners.

Executive Order No. 229, July 22, 1987 – Provided

mechanism for the implementation of the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Proclamation No. 131, July 22, 1987 – Instituted the
CARP as a major program of the government. It
provided for a special fund known as the Agrarian
Reform Fund (ARF), with an initial amount of Php50
billion to cover the estimated cost of the program
from 1987-1992.
Executive Order No. 129-A, July 26, 1987 – streamlined and expanded the power and operations
of the DAR. Republic Act No. 6657, June 10, 1988 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law) – An act
which became effective June 15, 1988 and instituted a comprehensive agrarian reform program
to promote social justice and industrialization providing the mechanism for its implementation
and for other purposes. This law is still the one being implemented at present. Executive Order
No. 405, June 14, 1990 – Vested in the Land Bank of the Philippines the responsibility to
determine land valuation and compensation for all lands covered by CARP.

Executive Order No. 407, June 14, 1990 – Accelerated the acquisition and distribution of
agricultural lands, pasture lands, fishponds, agro-forestry lands and other lands of the public
domain suitable for agriculture.
CARPER and
the Future of
Agrarian
Reform in the
Philippines
The CARP covered all public and private agricultural lands regardless of the crops planted. It
also included public domain lands that were suitable for agriculture. It sought to redistribute
land not only to farmers and farm workers but also to other landless poor. Guided by the
principle of social justice, it recognized the right of landowners to just compensation and
provided a retention limit of 5 ha. It also recognized the rights of indigenous cultural
communities to their ancestral land.

The CARP extended the amortization period from 20 years (as under President Marcos' Decree
No. 27) to 30 years. On lands not covered by land distribution (those within the retention limit),
the CARP sought to improve tenure arrangements through leasehold. The law mandated the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to lead the implementation of the CARP.

The CARP also provided a comprehensive package of support services. These included: land
surveys and titling; credit; basic rural infrastructure (farm-to-market roads, communal irrigation
systems, and post-harvest facilities); basic social services (potable water supply, education and
health care); extension (including marketing and management assistance); and capability
building (training and organizational development of farmers).