Republic of the Philippines

Commission on Higher Education

OAS COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Calzada, Oas, Albay

ACTIVITY 7

Subject Code: GE 2 Subject Title: Readings in the Philippine History

with IP Studies
TITLE: “LAND REFORM IN THE PHILIPPINES”

INTEND LEARNING OUTCOMES:

At the end of activity, you must be able to;
A. Review the history of agrarian unrest and reform in the Philippines
B. Identify core issues related to agrarian reform policies and initiatives of every administration
C. Propose possible solutions to the present issue of agrarian crisis; and
D. Identify significance of the issues on agrarian reform to the understanding of the grand
narrative of Philippine history
DIAGNOSTIC
Here are four sectors, the government, Business industry, Landowners, and the Landless farmers.
Each sector will deliberate on how to address the given scenario. If you are one of the members
of the group resolve the issue presented by the scenario.
Government: as government officials, your task is to always consider the welfare of every citizen.
You should be guided by the utilitarian principle: the greatest good for the greatest number.
Business Industry: as business owners, your foremost concern is maintaining a good and
profitable business at all costs. As capitalist, your goal isa to always get the best profit at the least
possible cost.
Scenario:
The faraway town of Nalula is a town that relies on agricultural production for its economy.
One day, a once in a lifetime opportunity dawns the town when a group of business investors
offered to convert all the agricultural land of Nalula to commercial spaces and residential areas.
They claim that by converting the land, Nalula will have its economy improved. However, this will
displace majority of the residents of the town, including the many farmers who have no other
source of livelihood. Given the impasse, the business Investors, landowners and the landless
farmers seek the guidance of the government to shed light on the dilemma.
DISCUSSION
What is Land Reform?
 FILIPINO FARMER

Land reform involves changing or establishing laws, regulations, or customs regarding land ownership.
It also refers to the remedies to improve the relation between the tiller and the owner of the land or
employee and employer in a farm. In other words, it identifies the rights of the one who owns or uses a
particular agricultural land.

Land reform is often used interchangeably with agrarian reform, but the latter is much broader.
Agrarian reform covers the restructuring of tenure and pre-and-post-production support services
structures in the agricultural sector. Problems in the distribution or ownership of agricultural lands in the
Philippines already exist since the pre-colonial era. Prior to the Spanish colonial period, a system of
land ownership was already in place wherein the datu served as the principal owner of the lands while
the Maharlika and the timawa were entitled to have some parts of the land in a certain area. Alipin
(slave) served as the workers of the community. Majority of yields from the land would go to the datu.
Once an alipin was given a piece of land for him or her to own, he or she would no longer be considered
an alipin.
During the Spanish period, colonial Spanish authorities considered all lands as public domain regardless
of cultural customs. The King of Spain was also at liberty to distribute parcel of land as rewards to loyal
Spanish military and civilians. Due to this, private ownership period of land became the trend during the
Spanish colonial period.

.
ACTIVITY

A. Look for the meaning of the following words:

1. Elite
2. Timawa
3. Tenant
4. Landlord
5. Tenure
6. tilled
B. Interview six (6) people ( three from each side) about what they see as problems or hindrances to
the full implementation pf agrarian reform and what solution they can recommend for this. List
down your significant observations and synthesize the interviewees’ remarkable responses.

Side 1: A tenant who cultivates another person’s agricultural land

Side 2: An owner of an agricultural land that is tilled by a tenant

Tenant Landlord
Background Information on the
interviewees (name, place, age,
number of years being a
tenant/landlord)

Major Problems

Possible remedies

C. Consider yourself as a landowner of a ten-hectare agricultural land. Would it be fair for you if
parts of your land were to be distributed to farmers in the implementation of the agrarian reform
law. Using 100-150 wors, justify your stand about this hypothetical scenario.

THANK YOU SO MUCH!

Prepared by:

DOLORES S. OCFEMIA, MAEd

Faculty