Addressing poverty from the Ground up

Agrarian Reform

I. INTRODUCTION

-Regalian doctrine
-from Albano book
II. ISSUES:
1.
ANALYSIS

CARP Deceives Peasants, Benefits Landlords

Government repeatedly declares achievements by successive land and agrarian reform programs
including the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). However, an analysis of relevant data
would show that CARP cannot address peasant poverty and landlessness because it was never meant
to.

BY SONNY AFRICA
IBON Features
Posted by Bulatlat

As the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)

marks its 18th anniversary, rural poverty continues to be
widespread and millions of peasants still remain landless.
And this is not just after close to 20 years of CARP, but
nearly half a decade of various agrarian reform programs.

Major land reform legislation in the country started with the

Agricultural Tenancy Act of 1954, the Land Reform Act of
1955 and the Agricultural Land Reform Code of 1963.
Following the Agrarian Reform Code of 1971 and
Presidential Decree No. 27 (PD 27) in 1972 under the regime
of the late President Ferdinand Marcos, agrarian reform took
organizational form with the creation of a Department of
Agrarian Reform (DAR). Most recently, Republic Act (RA)
AGAINST DECEIT: Writings on Gate 1 of the Cojuangco-owned Central 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL)
Azucarera de Tarlac assail CARPs unfulfilled
promises BULATLAT FILE PHOTO of 1988 initiated the CARP.

Yet, according to various Censuses of Agriculture, full land ownership has actually been on the decline since PD 27 was
enacted. In 1971, 58% of all farms were fully owned but this fell to 47.5% in 2002; in terms of land area, fully owned farms
accounted for 62.9% of total farm area in 1971 but fell to 50.6% in 2002.

Although there was a decrease in the share of completely tenanted and leased lands, this did not translate into full ownership
but only part ownership that implies a continuation of tenancy and lease arrangements. In fact, the Annual Poverty Indicators
Survey (APIS) of 2002 reported that only 11% of all families owning land other than their residence had obtained land
through CARP.

Yet the government repeatedly declares achievements by successive land and agrarian reform programs including, most
recently, the CARP. How does this reconcile with decreasing land ownership according to agriculture census data?

Pro-Landlord

The DAR and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) reported a cumulative accomplishment of a
seemingly impressive 6.4 million hectares or 79.4% of the target CARP scope of 8.1 million hectares with 3.8 million
farmer beneficiaries from 1972 to June 2005. These figures seem to indicate that agrarian reform in the Philippines is well
underway, albeit slowly.

However, the current target scope represents a severe downward adjustment from CARP's original scope in 1988. Back then,
the target for distribution was 10.3 million hectares, or some 85% of total agricultural land planted to crops and a third of the
country's total land area. This was adjusted downwards by 21.7% in 1996 to the current scope of 8.1 million hectares
following drastic cuts in coverage of both private and public lands.

The reason behind these cuts may be rooted in CARPs pro-landlord orientation. CARP is not about free land distribution to
the tiller which is the core of a genuine land reform program. Instead, CARP seeks to provide landlord compensation and
require peasant beneficiaries to pay for land that they have been tilling for generations. Land reform under CARP is
essentially a land transaction between landlords and peasants with the government acting as the middleman.
 accommodate CARP exemptions. CARP allows landlords to retain five hectares of land and an additional three hectares for
each of the heirs. PD No. 27 had a retention limit of seven hectares each. Landlords used these as a loophole, hurriedly
subdividing their landholdings and coming out with multiple titles within the limits. Yet the scope of exemptions even
broadened far beyond just retention limits.

At least 60,000 hectares of land in commercial farms and plantations were exempted from 1988 to 1998 and these remain
undistributed even as the deferment period has already expired. The Supreme Court handed down a decision in 1990 sparing
commercial livestock, poultry and swine operations from CARP coverage. Belated land use conversion is also another way
http://bulatlat.com/news/6-19/6-19-carp.htm
out where agricultural lands that have already been distributed are suddenly found to be, according to local land use plans or
zoning ordinances, for residential, commercial or industrial use and hence CARP-exempt.
Ateneo School of Government Master in Public Management Public Governance and the
Further, landlords also had the option to forego land distribution altogether through non-land transfer schemes, such as the
Bureaucracyinfamous stock distribution option (SDO). The SDO adopted corporate stock sharing instead of land distribution to peasants.
Aside from other production and profit-sharing arrangements, the SDOs leasehold arrangements supposedly guaranteed
that, in farms under five hectares, the split of net produce between landlord-tenant would be 25-75.

The Comprehensive
In the end, theAgrarian Reform
revised CARP Program:
scope in 1996 Addressing
only covered poverty
3.0 million hectares from
of private theimplies
land. This Ground up of
that 43.7%
total potential private land for distribution around 5.3 million hectares was exempted outright from CARP. The
reductions in the scope of public land in turn accommodated vast tracts of government land leased or otherwise controlled
by big landlords as cattle ranches, export crop plantations and logging concessions.
Introduction Even before the Spanish colonization of the Philippines in the 1500s, lands in the
Trends in CARP implementation also confirm its pro-landlord bias. Compulsory acquisition (CA) covering the largest
Philippines have
chunk ofalways beenland
privately-owned controlled by a few
(including commercial ofand
farms families.
plantations)The Datus
and the and Sultans
most resistant ruled
landlords has the over
largest balance remaining among all land types. This is both in terms of absolute land area (1.3 million hectares) and as a
massive areas of lands,
percentage as scope
of its target power social
(83.8%). It alsostatus
accountswas
for thedictated by balance
majority of total the size of the
remaining land one owned and
(76%).

the number The

of slaves who worked
"over-performance" onland
of voluntary them. The
transfers arrival
(VLTs) of isthe
by 82.8% Spaniards
alarming. set the
VLTs ostensibly formalization
provide for the direct of a
transfer of land from landlords to the peasant beneficiaries, with the government no longer acting as the buyer (from the
landlord) and the seller
feudalistic management (to the peasant).
of these lands.Instead,
Large government
Haciendas only becomes
were responsible for mediating
established andthecontrol
transfer and
of these
subsequent enforcement of the contract. The use of this particular CARP mode of land redistribution is alarming not only
because the landlord is put in a strong position to dictate the terms of the contract with the peasant. More important, the
lands were given to the Spanish colonizers and the Filipino families who pledged their allegiance
landlord is put in a position to use VLT as a deception where there is only a bogus "contract" and no transfer of land at all.
to
the Spanish.OnUntil the 1980s, the small Filipino farmers barely had any rights to the ownership and
top of all this, landlords have also profited immensely from CARP apart from what they had already accumulated
through generations of land ownership. From 1972 to June 2005, total approved Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP)
control of these lands.to During
compensation the time
83,203 landowners ofmillion
for 1.3 President Corazon
hectares has Aquino,
already reached the Comprehensive
P41.6 billion Agrarian
($783.2 million, based on an
exchange rate of P53.115 per US dollar) in cash and bonds, or an average of P500,463 ($9422.25) per landlord. An
Reform Lawadditional
(CARL) P4.5was
billionpassed through
($84.7 million) Republic
is earmarked for 2006.Act 6657 in 1988. Its primary purpose was the

proper implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), moving the
Deceptive accomplishments

agriculture program
The CARP's away
reported from feudalism
accomplishments towards
are also modern
dubious since industrialization
various forms and bloat
of bogus land distribution at the sameThe
the figures. time
"accomplishments" include lands with registered certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) but these have not been
promoting social justice.
turned over During
to tenants thepaying
who are still timeforoftheir
President
amortization.Gloria Arroyo,
There is double Executive
counting Order
where "mother" 456 was
or collective
CLOAs and the "individual" CLOAs under these are both tallied. In the most brazen cases, there are CLOA holders who still
passed to further expand
do not occupy the
the land Agrarian
because Reform
of outright implementation in order to strengthen the economic
landlord resistance.

and social impact of this

The numbers reform
also include to its target
"encumbered" CLOAsbeneficiaries.
prematurely released 1
to beneficiaries for the sole purpose of padding
reports. These CLOAs are stamped or otherwise annotated as "encumbered" because of unsettled payments and
documentary requirements and do not yet give holders the same rights of ownership as regular CLOAs. Land has also been
reported as distributed but in reality is inalienable or otherwise not suited for agricultural production.
The Problem The implementation of the CARP never went smoothly. The redistribution of the land
Apart from reporting dubious accomplishments, these reports also do not reflect cases of land being awarded but later taken
away from beneficiaries. Landlords and rural elites exploit a legal defect of CLOAs and EPs that limits the security of
and the securing of land rights were the primary problems faced by those implementing the
beneficiaries' claim to the land covered. Torrens Titles have a one-year prescriptive period for bringing up cases against them
as opposed to CLOAs and EPs that have no such limit.
program. The large hacienderos argued that the economic impact of the program would gravely
This gives landlords the legal opening to reclaim land by disputing the redistribution of land. CARP exemptions are used,
affect the existing businesses
albeit belatedly, as the basis within the lands,
for cancellations. making
They also maneuveritdecisions
less viable
favorablefor growth
to them throughand
technicalities
including supposed errors in data entries, in the change of documents from EPs to CLOAs and in the identification of
legitimate farmer beneficiaries.

These defects, loopholes, and outright corruption have resulted in thousands of cancellations through the years. Over 2,000
CLOAs and EPs covering over 380,000 hectares of land and thousands of peasant families had been cancelled by mid-2004,
including EPs distributed over two decades ago. This is likely to be a gross underestimation though because DAR officials
themselves admit that there is no nationwide mechanism in place to monitor reversals happening on the ground. Land
conversion has also caused total farm area to fall to 9.7 million hectares in 2002, or 304,078 hectares less in 1991. This
figure does not include land that has been "converted" only on paper for the landlords expediency.
 Beneficiaries are hard-pressed to make the lands distributed to them productive because there are no support and extension
services available to them. This comes on top of the generally unfavorable economic environment due to rapid agricultural
sector liberalization in the 1990s and the dumping of cheap cereals, spices and vegetables from abroad. Falling farm
incomes and mounting debt drive peasants to stop amortizing "their" land leading either to foreclosure, a sale of the land
back to the landlord (who continues the payments), or out-and-out abandonment.

CARP accomplishment reports then do not reflect the hundreds of thousands of hectares of land that "beneficiaries" are
losing back to landlords, commercial and real estate developers. In any case it seems that not all 2.1 million DAR CARP
beneficiaries hold either EPs or CLOAs since there are only 1.7 million EP and CLOA holders as of December 2004.

Poverty and landlessness

A brief history: Agrarian Condition in Philippines
The clear failure of land reform in the country has severe consequences for a predominantly agricultural country like the
Philippines. The peasants who make up the largest part of the population continue to be exploited by rural land, credit,
For a long period
trading of time,
and marketing the agrarian
monopolies and are kept in system of Philippines
miserable poverty. wasis two-and-a-half
Rural poverty incidence being controlled by
times that in
urban areas and 73% of the country's poor live in agriculture-dependent rural areas.
the large landlords. The small farmers in Philippines were struggling for their rights to
land and other
Land rentnatural resources.
is still common It was
with tenants paying observed
anywhere that
from 30% to, in some about 2.9as much
extreme cases, million
90% ofsmall farms
their produce
to landlords. The tersyuhan arrangement of a two-thirds share to the landlord and one-third to the tenant, which happens in
occupied about halffarms
many coconut of inthe total
the Bicol arable
region, is amongland
the mostof Philippines, whereas the medium and
common.
large farms occupied about 11.5% of the total farmland. The agrarian system in
Farmworkers are doubly burdened with irregular work and even when there is work to be found low wages. Agricultural
Philippinesdaily
followed
minimum wages a feudalistic approach.
ranged from P151-P212 ($2.84-$3.99) nationwide yet farmworker wages were found to go as low as
P20 ($0.38) in Negros, P50 ($0.94) in Samar and P69 ($1.30) in Cagayan Valley. Peasants meanwhile have to contend with
traders charging high prices for agricultural inputs like fertilizers and pesticides, while paying low prices for peasant
Implementation
produce. of Agrarian Reform in Philippines: Drawbacks
With peasant incomes perpetually falling far below their needs, usury's grip is deep with interest rates reaching the
The implementation
equivalent of 20%of
per Agrarian
month, 200% per reforms proceeded
harvest and 400% atprovince
per year. In the a very slowOriental,
of Mindoro pace. This
P1,000 was due
($18.83)
to the lackloans
of political will.
have been charged The
interest redistribution
of four of landto over
(4) sacks of rice, or equivalent was fouralso very
times the slow.
original As a
loan amount.

consequence,CARP a large
cannot amount
address of and
peasant poverty agrarian
landlessnessland
becausein Philippines
it was wastheconverted
never meant to. Thus, to land
only hope for genuine
industrial land.

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law: Philippines

The Republic Act No. 6657, alternatively called the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Law was signed by President Corazon C. Aquino on 10th June, 1988. The
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law is responsible for the implementation of the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in Philippines. The law focussed on
industrialisation in Philippines together with social justice.

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The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law: Objectives

The primary objective of instituting the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform law was to
successfully devise land reform in Philippines. It was President Arroyo, who signed the
Executive Order No. 456 on 23rd August to rename the Department of Land Reform
as Department of Agrarian Reform. This had been done to expand the functional area
of the law. Apart from land reform, the Department of Agrarian Reform began to
supervise other allied activities to improve the economic and social status of the
beneficiaries of land reform in Philippines.

Since the creation of the Philippines department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) office, (Kagawaran ng
Repormang Pansakahan), Republic Act No. 3844 signed into by law late President Ferdinand E.
Marcos, in 1962 all land reforms of the country was its responsibility.

In June 10, 1988 Republic Act No. 6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Law
(CARL) was signed into law by President Conrazon C. Aquino and became the legal basis for the
implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) with the aim of promoting
social justice and industrialization.
But said office was renamed as Department of Land Reform, in September 27, 2004, by President
Gloria Macapagal Arroyo per Executive Order No. 364 broadening the scope of the Department
making it responsible for all land reforms in the country. It also placed the Philippine Commission
on Urban Poor (PCUP) under its supervision and control. Recognition of the ownership on
Ancestral domain by indigenous peoples also became the responsibility of the new department,
under Nation Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) but on August 23, 2005, President Gloria
Macapagal Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 456 and renamed the Department of Land Reform
back to Department of Agrarian Reform, since The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law goes
beyond just land reform but includes the totality of all factors and support services designed to lift
the economic status of the beneficiaries.

Research Work
About Trends and Issues in
Agrarian and Land Reform

Submitted to: Submitted by:

Dean Lourdes Sabile Alejandrino Bantilan

For a long period of time, the agrarian system of Philippines was being controlled by the large
landlords. The small farmers in Philippines were struggling for their rights to land and other natural
resources. The implementation of Agrarian reforms proceeded at a very slow pace. This was due
to the lack of political will. The redistribution of land was also very slow. Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law: Philippines The Republic Act No. 6657, alternatively called the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Law was signed by President Corazon C. Aquino on 10th June, 1988.The
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law is responsible for the implementation of the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) in Philippines. The law focused on industrialization in
Philippines together with social justice. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law: Objectives.
The primary objective of instituting the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform law was to successfully
devise land reform in Philippines. It was President Arroyo, who signed the Executive Order No.
456on 23rd August to rename the Department of Land Reform as Department of Agrarian Reform.
This had been done to expand the functional area of the law. Apart from land reform, the
Department of Agrarian Reform began to supervise other allied activities to improve the economic
and social status of the beneficiaries of land reform in Philippines.
CARP Meaning Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program of 1988, also known as 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. Agrarian reform is a 100-year
history of unfinished reforms after the United States took over the country from the Spaniards.
Before the Hispanic period, there were no owner-cultivators, only communal
**
AGRARIAN REFORM
Agrarian Reform is very significant for the economy of any country because more than half of the
population is employed in the agricultural sector. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood
especially for the developing countries. Reforms are important because they protect the rights of
the farmers.
Definition of Agrarian Reform
Agrarian Reform could be defined as the rectification of the whole system of agriculture. It is
normally done by the government where they redistribute the agricultural land among the farmers
of the country. The agrarian reform is concerned with the relation between production and
distribution of land among the farmers. It also concerns the processing of the raw materials that
are produced by farming the land from the respective industries.
There can be different types of agrarian reform measures like credit measures, integration of land
and training of the farmers. The measures also focus on securing the rights of the farmers, the
rights of the peasants working on leased land and aiding them in availing loans from private
sectors. The government must also offer support services to the farmers which complement the
other measures. They also run campaigns to increase the camaraderie level between the farmers.
**
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program of 1988, also known as 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. CARP was established by the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988 (CARL) which aimed for a nation with equitable land
ownership and empowered agrarian reform beneficiaries while, at least, improving social lives.
The law was outlined by former President Corazon C. Aquino through Presidential Proclamation
131 and Executive Order 229 on June 22, 1987. The law was finally enacted by the 8th Congress
of the Philippines and signed by Aquino on June 10, 1988.
[edit] Spanish and American regimes
During the Spanish regime, Philippines land ownership was ruled by private sectors, generally by
the encomenderos, large landlords and friar feudal haciendas. Small farmers were struggling at
that time for agrarian rights, especially that titular system was not infamous and ancestral
domainship is their only legal basis for ownership.
It was during the American occupation that agrarian reform finally stabilized. Even though there are
some agrarian rights established by the American colonial government, few were only given
initiatives and the rich agrarian families in countryside continue to rule their own lands.
[edit] Presidential Decree 27
In 1972, President Ferdinand Marcos, issued second presidential order after the Martial Law,
stating that the Philippines is a land reform nation. A month later, he issued Presidential Decree no.
27 which detailed the first comprehensive agrarian reform order that was attempted in the country.
According to the law, an individual cannot own more than seven hectares of land. If this may
happen, the remaining area will be parceled out and will be divided into individual tenants. Such
tenant may enjoy a maximum of three hectares of irrigated land, or five hectares of unused land,
where the new owners will...
**
Agrarian reform is very significant for the economy of any country because almost more than half of the populations are employed in the
agriculture sector. Agriculture is the main source of livelihood especially for the developing countries. Reforms are important because they
protect the rights of the farmers. The Government does agrarian reform where they redistribute the agricultural land among the farmers of
the country. The agrarian reform is concerned with the relation between production and distribution of land among the farmers. According
to Handelman, there are four different types of Agrarian Reform. They are:
i. Externally Imposed Reform
ii. Revolutionary Transformation
iii. Moderate Reformism
iv. Limits of Agrarian Reform
Externally Imposed Reform: This reform was successful after World War II in East Asia. According to Handelman, the US occupation
command limited the land ownership in Japan to 10 acres and transferred 41 % of the countrys farmland from landlord to their tenants.
That way the number of landless tenants fell from 28% to 10%. Same pressure was encouraged in Taiwan and South Korea and
ownership of farmland was limited to a very small number. The transformation was successful with a huge agricultural productivity, rural
standard of living and also strengthening the political stability. But later this land reform were not very successful in Southeast Asia and
Central America. The property owners or the landlords refused and used the extensive political power to obstruct rural reform (Handelam,
2009 p 182).
Revolutionary Transformation: The inequality in land ownership is the major cause of revolution. Land reform itself is the central demand of
most agrarian based revolution. According to Handleman, Revolutionary reform is generally considered more far reaching than any of the
other approaches, the way in which the Government implement land reform frequently does not please the peasant recipients. Marxist
regime converted
**
Before going to the main purpose of this report which is to inform the reader on the present state of the Philippine Agrarian Reform
Program for the year 2011, lets tackle first the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform- Birth, Struggle & Future

The Philippine comprehensive agrarian reform program (CARP) was envisioned shortly after the Filipino liberation from martial rule in
1986. It was designed to free the majority of the Filipino poor from the bondage of the soil by making them owners of the land they till. It
also aims to grant economic-size land to the landless. Comprehensive enough, it covers farmers education, skills training and strong
farmers' organization, application of improved technology, and support by the government.

The 1987 Philippine Constitution provides in Article...

**

GRARIAN REFORM
* Agrarian Reform could be defined as the rectification of the whole system of agriculture. It is
normally done by the government where they redistribute the agricultural land among the farmers of
the country. The agrarian reform is concerned with the relation between production and distribution of
land among the farmers. It also concerns the processing of the raw materials that are produced by
farming the land from the respective industries.
DIFFERENCE BETWEEN AGRARIAN REFORM AND LAND REFORM
* Land reform is concerned with rights in land, and their character, strength and distribution, while
Agrarian reform focuses not only on these but also a broader set of issues: the class character of the
relations of production and distribution in farming and related enterprises, and how these connect to
the wider class structure. It is thus concerned economic and political power and the relations between
them. It is considered WIDER than land reform. It does not focus on land reform alone but also reform
and development of complementary institutional framework such as administrative agencies of
national government, rural, educational and social welfare institutions, cooperatives and not simply to
the question of the relationships of the farmers to the land.
COMPONENTS OF AGRARIAN REFORM
* Land Distribution
- most effective way of providing security of tenure to tillers of the soil.
-This is the meat of agrarian reform to make the tillers of the land owners of the land they are tilling
and to insure their right to just share in the fruits of their labor.
* Companion Measures
-credit and modern and better methods of production.
-It is not enough that the tillers become the owners of the land they till. They must also become
successful owners of the land.
EVOLUTION OF AGRARIAN REFORM IN THE PHILIPPINES

After the establishment of the Philippine Independence in 1946,.

**
Struggles in Implementing Agrarian Reform in the Philippines

and-related struggles have been a recurring feature of Philippine history, thus demonstrating the importance accorded by farmers to their
lands. Over the years, there have been many State-sponsored efforts to reform the agrarian structure in the country, but few have had
much success. Nevertheless, the struggle to implement genuine agrarian reform in the country continues. In fact, nongovernment and
peoples organizations (NGOs and POs) have long been involved in this effort.

Source
Nathaniel Don E. Marquez, Maricel A. Tolentino and Ma. Teresa Debuque. Linking Local to Global Initiatives. ANGOC paper. 2001, revised
2006.

E-mail: angoc@angoc.ngo.ph msaangoc@philonline.com teresaldebuque@gmail.com

Agrarian Reform: A Protracted Struggle in the Philippines

The Philippines has seen over 400 uprisings many of them land-related and peasant-led in its long history. The intensity of agrarian
conflict in the country is rooted in a highly skewed land ownership pattern a legacy of colonial rule and not coincidentally, widespread
rural poverty.

Poverty in the Philippines is largely rural. According to the National Statistical Coordinating Board (NSCB) in 2006, farmers and fishermen
are estimated to have the highest poverty incidence among the countrys basic sectors (Development of Poverty Statistics for the Basic
Sectors, NSCB, Feb. 2006). The fact that more than half of all rural households is absolutely landless is no mere happenstance. The
Philippine governments response to the problem is the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), which it has been
implementing since 1988. The CARP was conceived around the land-to-the-tiller principle and at its inception aimed to redistribute 8.1
million hectares to landless farmers and farmworkers. As of 2004, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has distributed a total of 3.45
million hectares to 1.975 million farmer-beneficiaries.
**

1987 Philippine Constitution

Article II, Sec. 21
The State shall promote comprehensive rural development and agrarian reform.
Republic Act No. 6657
- it is the present agrarian reform law implemented nationwide.
- known as The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform.
- signed into law by the former President Corazon C. Aquino on June 10, 1988.
- it was implemented the government program known as Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

HISTORY OF AGRARIAN REFORM

(From precolonial up to the present administration)

Precolonial Times
Barangay
- type of community during the precolonial times.
Datu/Chief
- leader of the barangay.

Back then, the Land Cultivation was done commonly by slash-and-burn (kaingin)
Everyone had access to the fruits of the soil.
Spanish Era
Pueblo agriculture
- a system wherein native rural communities is given certain hectares of land to cultivate.
- this was introduced by the colonial government during the Spanish Era.

Natives were only landholders and landowners. They paid their colonial tribute with whatever they
produced in the land.
Systems of land awarded by the Spanish crown:
Friar land
 for religious order.
Repartimientos
for lands granted to the Spanish military as a reward for their service.
Encomienda
large tract of land that was given to Spaniards, also called as encomienderos to manage and have
the right to receive tribute from the natives tilling it.
During this Era, The natives became mere tillers working for a share of crops.

Compras Y Vandalas
- A system that was practiced wherein tillers were made to compulsory selle at very low price or
surrender their agricultural harvests to Spanish authorities and the encomienderos can resell it for
profit.

American Era
Significant legislation were enacted:
1. Philippine Bill of 1902 provides the regulation on the disposal of public lands
Private individual- can own 16 hectares

It has been the subject of most discussions that the gravamen of the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Law is social justice. According to Dr. Jose P. Laurel in the landmark case of
Calalang vs. Williams, 70 Phil 726, social justice is the humanization of laws and equalization of
social and economic forces by the state so that justice in its rational and objectively secular
conception may at least be approximated. The promotion of the welfare of all the people, the
adoption by the government of measures calculated to ensure economic stability of all the
component elements of society through the maintenance of proper economic and social
equilibrium in the interrelations of the members of the community, constitutionally, through the
adoption of measures legally justifiable, or extra-constitutionally, through the time-honored
principle of salus populi est suprema lex.

The pertinent provision on social justice is found in the Declaration of Principles and Policies,
Section 2, Chapter I of the CARL, which states:

The welfare of the landless farmers and farm workers will receive the highest
consideration to promote social justice and to move the nation towards sound rural
development and industrialization, and the establishment of owner cultivatorship of
economic-sized farms as the basis of Philippine agriculture.

To this end, a more equitable distribution and ownership of land, with due regard to the
rights of landowners to just compensation and to the ecological needs of the nation,
shall be undertaken to provide farmers and farm workers with the opportunity to
enhance their dignity and improve the quality of their lives through greater productivity
of agricultural lands.

This paper aims to

Ultimately, the equilibrium discussed in the definition of social justice primarily lies on the
rights and responsibilities of the landless farmer, on the one hand, and the land owner, on the
other hand. To the former is awarded the highest consideration with the purpose of scooping them
out from the mire of poverty, while to the latter is endowed with the right to just compensation.

How is our Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law doing so far?

 II. BODY

A. In the Eyes of the Farmers

In a June 10, 2013, article of the Philippine Star by Dennis Carcamo, the Kilusang
Magbubukid ng Pilipinas (KMP) allegedly said that the government's comprehensive agrarian
reform program is a shama hoax, a hypocrisy. They claimed that vast tracks of land owned by
rich and influential clans have remained undistributed despite 25 years of the CARLs coming into
existence. They were of the belief that the continuing control and monopoly of affluent land
owners depict the ugly truth that CARL was enacted not to sincerely address the sad plight of
poor farmers, but merely to appease their unrest under the illusion of an agrarian reform that
looked promising on its face but, in truth, an utter failure.

KMP Secretary General Antonio Flores cited the case of Hacienda Luisita owned by the
affluent family of no less than our President Benigno Noynoy Aquino III, commenting that the
Department of Agrarian Reform had earlier avowed to distribute the 6,000-hectare hacienda;
however, said tracks of land remain intact. Flores added that what actually transpired in the 25-
year existence of CARL is the buy-and sell-transaction between the government, the Department
of Agrarian Reform and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources, and the
supposed farmer beneficiary.

On the same date, several Filipino farmers trooped to the DARs office in Quezon City to
protest its alleged failure in the implementation of the CARL.

B. In the Eyes of the Land Owners

 For most land owners, their perception of CARL is no better than the farmers insight of
the same.
Most, even non-land owners, would likely agree that the CARL has, though unintentionally,
spawned a new breed of poor land owners in the teetering pursuit of affording those who have less
in life more in law. Oftentimes, however, this causes an imbalance such that those who have more
are eventually left with less than what is awarded to the farmer. Take, for instance, the concept of
just compensation. In a long line of cases decided by the Supreme Court, one of the most notable
issues land owners assert is the inefficiency of the government to properly and adequately
adjudicate the just compensation that corresponds to the land being appropriated for redistribution.
Often, land owners still need to resort to the hassle (and even agony) of bringing their case to
court for proper determination of the compensation due them. What is just compensation should
not be adjudicated based on arbitrary decisions, but on well researched evidence and careful
scrutiny of the facts and circumstances of the situation. The government, as represented by the
DAR, sadly lacks in this department.

A number of lands subject for land distribution have been converted to purposes other
than agricultural. In one case, the farmer who was awarded the land even went to such extent of
having his neighbors construct their residential homes in said land. In effect, these neighbors paid
their rentals to the supposed farmer beneficiary. Most importantly, the supposed farmer who should
be cultivating the awarded land for agricultural use converted the same to a subdivision.
Considering that there have been many families who have built their homes on the subject land,
what would be the governments remedy? Is it in keeping with social justice to demolish the
houses they painstakingly built and drive them away to revert the land bank to agricultural land?
Still others convert the land covered by their Certificate of Land Owners Award to uses other than
agricultural to pursue more promising money-making ventures, causing depletion of good
agricultural lands that are a necessity to support the expanding needs of a growing populace.
 Hence, in most cases, lands are left with neither farm nor farmers, and that essentially
defeats the very purpose of agrarian reform.

C. In the Eyes of a Third Party

Who are these third party? They are those not principally involved in the CARL, neither as
farmer beneficiary, and owner, nor the government, but are equally affected by the success or
failure of this herein law. Although we are not directly involved, yet we are part of this country just
the same, and we share the plight of the tripartite system. Hence, as necessary component of the
country, we are called not to sit back and watch, but to take an active role in asserting proper
implementation of the law. In this day and age of modern technology, self-expression is within
everyones fingertips. More than that, however, the recommendations should reach the authorities
so that the qualms aired will not be left unheard.

III. CONCLUSION/RECOMMENDATION

Produced by:
Bureau of Agrarian Reform Information and Education (BARIE)
Communications Development Division (CDD)
Government Initiatives on AR

What are the other specific programs of this

administration
to
enhance
CARP
implementation?

Provide

additional income and food security to

farmers and their communities as well as to
come up with globally competitive farm-based
products through the Gulayan Magsasakang
Agraryo.

Usher new educational opportunities to

farmers
children and dependents through the Diosdado
Macapagal Scholar Program.

Sustain support services delivery by doubling the

number of barangays covered by ARCs.
Heighten agrarian case resolution by introducing

a quota system to compel adjudicators to work

faster on agrarian cases and train farmers into
paralegals. The presence of paralegals will
assist DAR in effectively addressing the
challenge of swift and just delivery of agrarian
reform.
Sources:

BATAS: The Paralegals Guidebook on Agrarian

Reform Laws-Volume 2
Manual on Agrarian Reform Modules

33
Government Initiatives on AR

What are the different implementing strategies

of the Bayan-Anihan Framework?

Salin-Lupa : Accelerating land transfer and

improving land tenure

Katarungan : Prompt and fair settlement of

agrarian disputes and delivery of agrarian
reform justice.

Bayanihan : Better delivery by the government

of appropriate support services to ARBs and
the mobilization of the ARBs themselves in the
transformation of the agrarian reform
communities into an agrarian reform zones
and into progressive farming.

Kabayanihan or the Konsehong Bayan Para

sa Anihan : Institutionalization not only of the
system of dialogue and consultation but also
joint problem solving with AR stakeholders,
p a rt i cu l a r l y
peoples
o r g a n i za t io n s ,
cooperatives and NGOs.
Kamalayan : Raising the awareness of DAR
personnel, agrarian reform.