Chapter 11:

Agrarian Reform Policies

“The land is the only thing in the world working for, worth fighting for,
worth dying for, because it’s the only thing that lasts..” – Margaret
Mitchell
Learning Outcomes
At the end of this chapter, the students is expected to:
 Effectively communicate, using various techniques and genres,
historical analysis of a particular event that could help others
understand the chosen topic;
 Propose recommendation or solutions to present day problems
based on their understanding of root causes, and their anticipation
of future scenarios;
 Display the ability to work in a multi-disciplinary team and
contribute to a group endeavor.
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program (CARP)
 CARP is a Philippine state policy that ensures and promotes
welfare of landless farmers and farm workers, as well as
elevation of social justice and equity among rural areas
 Aimed for a nation with equitable land ownership and
empowered agrarian reform beneficiaries while, at least,
improving social lives
 CARP was established by the Republic Act No. 6657 or
known as Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL)
 It is enacted by the 8th Congress of the Philippines and signed
by Corazon Aquino on June 10, 1988.
Components of CARP
LandTenure Improvement
Seeks to hasten distribution of lands to landless farmers
Program Beneficiaries Development
Agrarian Justice Delivery
Seeks to facilitate, resolve cases and deliver Agrarian
Justice
CARP
 A government initiative that aims to grant landless farmers
and farm workers ownership of agricultural lands.
 Signed into a law by president Corazon C. Aquino in 1988
and scheduled to be completed in 1998.
 On the year of its deadline, Congress enacted a law (Republic
Act No. 8532) appropriating additional funds for the
program and pretending the automatic appropriation of ill-
gotten wealth recovered by the PCGG for CARP until 2008.
CARPER
• Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with
Reforms is the amendatory law that yet again the deadline of
distributing agricultural lands to farmers for five years
• Was signed into law on August 7, 2009 (Republic Act No.
9700)
Objectives of CARP
 To successfully devise the land reform in the Philippines
 To improve the economic and social status of the
beneficiaries of land reform in the Philippines

In Social Aspect
 Bringing about equality in terms of opportunities, income as
well as health
Objectives of CARP
In Economic Aspect
 Enhancing agricultural production and productivity
 Bettering capital formation
 Providing employment to more agricultural workers
 Enhancing demand for raw materials and services
 Improving balance of payments by facilitating export
activities
 Trying to increase production at home so that imports do not
have to be relied upon
 Enhancing cooperation as well as regulation between
agricultural sector and the non agricultural sector
Who are the beneficiaries of CARP?
Landless farmers, agricultural lessees, tenants, as well as
regular, seasonal and other farm workers.

What are the qualifications to be a beneficiary of CARP?

a. Be landless, or own no more than 3 hectares of agricultural
land.
b. Be at least 15 years old at the time the property was
transferred in the name of the Republic of the Philippines.
c. Must be a resident of the barangay where the land holding
is located.
d. Have the willingness, ability and aptitude to cultivate the
land and make it as productive as possible (Sec. 23, RA
6657).
What are the government offices involved in the
program?
 Department of Agriculture (DAR)
 Department of Natural Resources (DENR)
They are in charge of the identification and distribution of
coveted land, commonly referred as CARPable land.

How much land is subjected to land reforms?

An estimated 7.8 million hectares of land is covered by
CARP.
How much land has been acquired and distributed so
far?
As of December 31, 2013, the government has acquired
and distributed 6.9 million hectares of land, equivalent to 88%
of the total land subject to CARP.
How much land was distributed to beneficiaries under
this administration?
From July 2010 to December 2013, the administration
has distributed a total of 751,514 hectares, or 45% of the total
landholdings to be distributed to the farmer beneficiaries left
under this administration.
From this DAR has distributed 412,782 hectares the
DENR has already distributed 338,732 hectares.
How much land does the government still need to
acquire for distribution from 2014 to 2016?
DAR still needs to acquire 771,795 hectares, while the
DENR still needs to acquire 134,857 hectares-a total of
906,652.
How will the government acquire the landholdings?
There are different modes of acquiring and distributing
public and private agricultural lands. For private lands under
compulsory acquisition, the DAR will issue notices of
coverage to the original owners of the landholdings. Notices
of coverage will be issued to most of the landholdings by
June 30,2014.
What is a notice of coverage?
A Notice of Coverage (NOC) is a letter informing that
his/her land is covered by CARP, and is subject to
acquisition and distribution to beneficiaries. It likewise
informs the landowner of his/her rights under the law,
including the right to retain 5 hectares.
After the period of the time allotted for CARPER by
law is passed, how will the remaining landholdings,
which are subject to compulsory acquisition, be
distributed to beneficiaries?
As long as NOC are issued on or before June 30, 2014,
land distribution to beneficiaries shall continue until
completion (Sec 30, R.A. No. 9700). Meaning, even after
CARPER’s deadline, the law itself mandates the concerned
agencies to finish distributing lands to the beneficiaries up to
the very last hectare. This assures to the farmers that the
process for receiving their land will continue.
How does DAR intend to deal with the remaining
landholdings (771,795 hectares) to be distributed?
DAR projects that it will be distributing 187, 686 hectares
in 2014; 198, 631 hectares in 2015, and 385,448 hectares in
2016.
Of the remaining CARPable landholdings to be
distributed, 551,275 hectares are workable,, while 220,520
hectares are tagged as problematic. Solutions for problematic
landholdings will be worked out.
What were the challenges encountered in the course
of acquiring and distributing private lands?
 Technical descriptions in the land titles (w/c determine the
boundaries of a land) were found to be erroneous and had to
be corrected
 Some titles were destroyed, therefore, it had to be reissued
by undergoing a court process
 Potential beneficiaries argued among themselves on who
should or shouldn’t be qualified as beneficiaries
 In other cases, landowners may petition that their lands to be
exempted or excluded from CARP coverage, and some of
these petitions have gone up to the Supreme Court
 Smaller parcels of land (5 to 10 hectares) were only
processed in the last year of implementation of CARPER
(July 1, 2013 to June 30, 2014). Past efforts focused on
bigger parcels of land, which involved more paperwork to
process.
Now that efforts are focused on smaller but more
numerous cuts of land, there are more claim folders to
process and distribute

(From the Presidential Communications Development and Strategic Planning

Office and the Department of Agrarian Reform)