AGRARIAN REFORM IN THE

PHILIPPINES

Prepared by:
Prof. Jonah C. Pardillo
Agrarian reform Defined
The transfer of control and ownership of agricultural land
to the actual tillers.

LAND REFORM vs. AGRARIAN REFORM

Land Reform
Improvement of the farmers relationship to the land that
they cultivate

Agrarian Reform
Concerned is the total development of farmers on
economic, social and political transformation
 HISTORY OF AGRARIAN REFORM IN THE
PHILIPPINES
By the Spanish
Land during the Spanish Era were owned and controlled
by the friars. The land distribution was done in the form of
rewards to the peasants because of their loyalty and
faithful to the Spanish officials.

By the Americans

Land that owned by the Friars were sold to those families

who can afford to buy big tracts of lands which later on
became haciendas.
Macapagal Administration
Agricultural Land Reform Code (RA 3844)  was a major
advancement of land reform in the Philippines and was
enacted in 1963 under President Diosdado Macapagal. It
abolished tenancy and established a leasehold system in
which farmers paid fixed rentals to landlords, rather than a
percentage of harvest. It also established the Land Bank of
the Philippines to help with land reform, particularly the
purchase of agricultural estates for division and resale to
small landholders, and the purchase of land by the
agricultural lessee.
Marcos Administration

The Agricultural Land Reform Code becomes Code of

Agrarian Reform under RA.6389 in 1971

C. Aquino Administration
Implementation of Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program as stated in RA.6657
COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM
PROGRAM
 It is the redistribution of lands, regardless of crops or
fruits produced, to farmers and regular farm workers
who are landless, irrespective of tenurial arrangement,
to include to totality of factors and support services
designed to lift the economic status of the beneficiaries
and all other arrangements alternative to the physical
redistribution of lands, such as production or profit-
sharing, labor administration, and the distribution of
shares of stock which will allow beneficiaries to receive
a just share of the fruits of the lands they work.
 RA>6657 – Comprehensive Agrarian law serves as the
basis of CARP
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law
Republic Act No.6657, called Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law was signed by Corazon Aquino on June 10,
1988.
The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law is responsible
for the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program (CARP).

Scope of Agrarian Reform

All public and private agricultural lands as provided in
proclamation No.131 (Instituting a Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program) and executive order No.229
(Implementation of CARP), including other lands of the
public domain suitable for agriculture.
Schedule of Implementation
The distribution of all lands covered by this Act shall be
implemented immediately and completed within ten (10)
years from the effectivity.
Salient or noticeable featured of CARP
 Coverage
 Retention limits
 Schedule or priorities
 Beneficiaries
 Exclusion – exemption and deferment
 Administrative and financial requirements of the program
 Retention limit
 Set a five hectares plus three hectares for each qualified
child of the landlord
 Qualified child – means that he/she must be at least 15
years old as of June 15, 1988 and directly involved in
tilling or “managing” the farm in question
 The right to choose the area to be retained, which shall
be compact or contiguous, shall pertain, to the
landowner: Provided, however, that is case the area
selected for retention by the landowner is tenanted, the
tenant shall have the option to choose whether to remain
therein or be a beneficiary in the same or another
agricultural land with similar or comparable features.
THE PROGRAM IS DEVIDED INTO THREE
PHASES:

PHASE 1
Covers around 1.45 million hectares was to be devoted to the
completion of the Marcos land reform, the reform of idle and
abandoned lands, and lands voluntarily offered for sale the
owners, and the reform of states foreclosed by government
financial institutions and those acquired by the Presidential
Commission on Good Government(PCGG).
PHASE 2
Covers about 7.4 million hectares was to be devoted to
reforming all public agricultural lands to be opened for
new development and resettlement, as well as private land
50 hectares and above.

PHASE 3
 Divided into two –sub phases and has a combines

coverage of 1.35 million hectares

 Phase 3-A was supposed to cover private agricultural

lands of 24 to 50 hectares
 Phase 3-B is supposed to cover private farmlands of

areas above the retention limit up to 24 hectares

The program has different modes of land acquisition and
redistribution
 For public lands, which comprise more than half of the
target land reform, distribution is done through either
Free Patents for Alienable and Disposable (A & D) lands,
Certificates od Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs)
 For resettlement sites, or stewardship contracts for public
lands covered by the integrated Social Forestry program
(ISFP)
FOR PRIVATE LANDS
 Compulsory acquisition (CA) is the main mode to be used

in expropriating land whose owners did not voluntary

offer them for land reform
 CARP was originally conceived to need around p221

billion which covers both the land acquisition cost and the
package of support infrastructure, both physical and
social
 CARP defers land redistribution of commercial farms,

defined as private lands over five hectares devoted to

livestock, poultry, aquaculture including salt beds.
Fishponds are prawn farms, fruit farms, orchards,
vegetable and cut-flower farms, and cacao, coffee and
rubber plantations. These will be subject to expropriation
only after 10 years from June 15, 1988
Exemptions and Exclusions

Lands actually, directly and exclusively used for parks,

wildlife, forest reserves, reforestation, fish sanctuaries and
breeding grounds, watersheds and mangroves shall be
exempt from coverage of this Act.

Distribution Limit
No qualifies beneficiary may own more than three (3)
hectares of agricultural land.
Transferability of Awarded Lands
Lands acquired by beneficiaries under this act may
not be sold, transferred or conveyed except through
hereditary succession, or to the government, or to the
LBP, or to other qualifies beneficiaries for a period of
ten (10) years: provided, however, that the children
or the spouse of the transfer shall have a right to
repurchase the land from the government or LBP
within a period of two (2) years. Due notice of the
availability of the land shall be given by LBP to the
Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC) of the
barangay where the land is situated. The provincial
Agrarian Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM), as
herein provided, shall, in turn, be given due notice
thereof by the BARC.
The Presidential Agrarian Reform Council
The Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) shall be
composed of the President of the Philippines as Chairman,
the Secretary of Agrarian Reform as Vice-Chairman and the
following as members: Secretaries of the Departments of
Agriculture; Environment and Natural Resources; Budget
and Management; Local Government; Public Works and
Highways; Trade and industry; Finance; Labor and
Employment; Director-General of the National Economic
and Development Authority; President, Land Bank of the
Philippines; Administrator, National Irrigation
Administration; and three (3) representative of affected
landowners to represent Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao:
Provided, that one of them shall be from the cultural
communities.
COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM
TODAY
 Lands are still need to be distributed and at present, the
government is still implementing its program by the
implementation on CARPER
 According to CARPER or Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program with Extension Reform (RA 9700), the welfare of the
landless farmers and farmworkers will receive the highest
consideration to promote social justice and to move the nation
toward sound rural development and industrialization, and
the establishment of owner cultivator ship of economic-size
farms as the basis of Philippine agriculture.
TERMINOLOGIES
Farmers – it refers to a natural person whose primary concern
or livelihood is cultivation of land or the production of
agricultural crops, either by himself, or primarily with the
assistance of his immediate farm household, whether the land is
owned by him, or by another person under leasehold or shared
tenancy agreement or arrangement with the owner thereof.
Farm Worker – a natural person who renders service for value
as an employee or labor in agricultural land enterprise or farm
regardless of whether his compensation is paid on a daily,
weekly, monthly or pakyaw basis.
Regular Farm worker – also a natural person who is
employed on a permanent basis by an agricultural
enterprise or farm.

Seasonal Farm worker – a natural person who is employed

on recurrent, periodic, or intermittent basis by and
agricultural enterprise.
Other Farm worker – is a farm worker who does not fall
under any farm workers mentioned above.