AGRARIAN

REFORM
WHAT IS AGRARIAN REFORM?
Agrarian reform can refer either, narrowly,
to government-initiated or government-backed
redistribution of agricultural land (see land
reform) or, broadly, to an overall redirection of
the agrarian system of the country, which often
includes land reform measures.
 AGRARIAN
REFORM ON
DIFFERENT ERA
AMERICAN ERA
“Long live America”
Significant legislation enacted during
the American Period:
• Philippine Bill of 1902 – Set the ceilings on the hectarage of
private individuals and corporations may acquire: 16 has. for
private individuals and 1,024 has. for corporations.
• Land Registration Act of 1902 (Act No. 496) – Provided for
a comprehensive registration of land titles under the Torrens
system.
• Public Land Act of 1903 – introduced the homestead system in
the Philippines.
• Tenancy Act of 1933 (Act No. 4054 and 4113) – regulated
relationships between landowners and tenants of rice (50-50
sharing) and sugar cane lands.
The Torrens system, which the Americans instituted
for the registration of lands, did not solve the problem
completely. Either they were not aware of the law or if
they did, they could not pay the survey cost and other
fees required in applying for a Torrens title.
COMMONWEALTH
ERA
“Government for Filipinos”
President Manuel
L. Quezon espoused
the "Social Justice"
program to arrest the
increasing social
unrest in Central
Luzon.
Significant legislation enacted during
Commonwealth Period:
• 1935 Constitution – "The promotion of social justice to
ensure the well-being and economic security of all people
should be the concern of the State"

• Commonwealth Act No. 178 (An Amendment to Rice

Tenancy Act No. 4045), Nov. 13, 1936 – Provided for certain
controls in the landlord-tenant relationships
• National Rice and Corn Corporation (NARIC), 1936 –
Established the price of rice and corn thereby help the poor
tenants as well as consumers.
• Commonwealth Act. No. 461, 1937 – Specified reasons for
the dismissal of tenants and only with the approval of the
Tenancy Division of the Department of Justice.
• Rural Program Administration, created March 2, 1939 –
Provided the purchase and lease of haciendas and their sale
and lease to the tenants. Commonwealth Act No. 441
enacted on June 3, 1939 – Created the National Settlement
Administration with a capital stock of P20,000,000.
JAPANESE
ERA
“The Era of Hukbalahap”
• Hukbalahap controlled whole areas of Central Luzon; landlords
who supported the Japanese lost their lands to peasants while
those who supported the Huks earned fixed rentals in favor of
the tenants.

• Upon the arrival of the Japanese in the Philippines in 1942,

peasants and workers organizations grew strength. Many
peasants took up arms and identified themselves with the anti-
Japanese group, the HUKBALAHAP (Hukbo ng Bayan Laban
sa Hapon).
PHILIPPINE
REPUBLIC
“The New Republic”
After the establishment of the Philippine
Independence in 1946, the problems of land
tenure remained. These became worst in
certain areas. Thus the Congress of the
Philippines revised the tenancy law.
GUESS
WHO?
President
_ A_ N
M _ _U_E _L _A.
_R O
_ _X _A _S
1946-1948
enacted the following laws:

• Republic Act No. 34 -- Established the 70-30

sharing arrangements and regulating share-
tenancy contracts.
• Republic Act No. 55 -- Provided for a more
effective safeguard against arbitrary
ejectment of tenants.
_L
E _ _P I_ D
_ I_ O_
_U
Q _ _I R_ _I N
_ _O
1948-1953
enacted the following law:

Executive Order No. 355 issued on October 23,

1950 -- Replaced the National Land Settlement
Administration with Land Settlement Development
Corporation (LASEDECO) which takes over the
responsibilities of the Agricultural Machinery
Equipment Corporation and the Rice and Corn
Production Administration.
R_ A
_M_ _O _N
_A
_G_ S_ A_ Y_ S_A_Y_
M 1953-1957
enacted the following laws:

•Republic Act No. 1160 of 1954 -- Abolished the LASEDECO

and established the National Resettlement and Rehabilitation
Administration (NARRA) to resettle dissidents and landless
farmers. It was particularly aimed at rebel returnees providing
home lots and farmlands in Palawan and Mindanao.
•Republic Act No. 1199 (Agricultural Tenancy Act of 1954)
-- governed the relationship between landowners and tenant
farmers by organizing share-tenancy and leasehold system. The
law provided the security of tenure of tenants. It also created
the Court of Agrarian Relations.
•Republic Act No. 1400 (Land Reform Act of
1955) -- Created the Land Tenure Administration
(LTA) which was responsible for the acquisition and
distribution of large tenanted rice and corn lands
over 200 hectares for individuals and 600 hectares
for corporations.
•Republic Act No. 821 (Creation of Agricultural
Credit Cooperative Financing Administration) --
Provided small farmers and share tenants loans with
low interest rates of six to eight percent.
C_ A
_ _R _L O
_ _S P_
G_A_ _R _C _I A_
(1957-1961)
Continued the program of President
Ramon Magsaysay.

No new legislation passed.

_D _I O_ S_ D_ A_ D_ O_
_M _A _C _A _P A_G _A _ L_
(1961-1965)
Republic Act No. 3844 of August 8, 1963 (Agricultural
Land Reform Code) -- Abolished share tenancy,
institutionalized leasehold, set retention limit at 75 hectares,
invested rights of preemption and redemption for tenant
farmers, provided for an administrative machinery for
implementation, institutionalized a judicial system of
agrarian cases, incorporated extension, marketing and
supervised credit system of services of farmer beneficiaries.

The RA was hailed as one that would emancipate Filipino

farmers from the bondage of tenancy.
_
F _ER_D _ _I N_A_N_D_
_ _A _R _C _O _S
M S_ R_
(1965-1986)
Proclamation No. 1081 on September 21, 1972
ushered the Period of the New Society. Five days
after the proclamation of Martial Law, the entire
country was proclaimed a land reform area and
simultaneously the Agrarian Reform Program was
decreed.

President Marcos enacted the following laws:

•Republic Act No. 6389, (Code of Agrarian Reform) and RA No.
6390 of 1971 -- Created the Department of Agrarian Reform and the
Agrarian Reform Special Account Fund. It strengthen the position of
farmers and expanded the scope of agrarian reform.

•Presidential Decree No. 2, September 26, 1972 -- Declared the

country under land reform program. It enjoined all agencies and
offices of the government to extend full cooperation and assistance to
the DAR. It also activated the Agrarian Reform Coordinating Council.

•Presidential Decree No. 27, October 21, 1972 -- Restricted land

reform scope to tenanted rice and corn lands and set the retention
limit at 7 hectares.
_C _O _R _A _Z _O _N _ Q_ U
A _ I_N_ O_
(1986-1992)
The Constitution ratified by the Filipino people during the
administration of President Corazon C. Aquino provides
under Section 21 under Article II that “The State shall
promote comprehensive rural development and agrarian
reform.”

On June 10, 1988, former President Corazon C. Aquino

signed into law Republic Act No. 6657 or otherwise known as
the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL). The law
became effective on June 15, 1988.
Subsequently, four Presidential issuances were released in
July 1987 after 48 nationwide consultations before the actual
law was enacted.

President Corazon C. Aquino enacted the following laws:

•Executive Order No. 228, July 16, 1987 – Declared full
ownership to qualified farmer-beneficiaries covered by PD 27.
It also determined the value remaining 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.
•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.
F_ I_ D
_ _E _L
R_ AMO
_ _ _ _S
(1992-1998)
When President Fidel V. Ramos formally took over in 1992,
his administration came face to face with publics who have
lost confidence in the agrarian reform program. His
administration committed to the vision “Fairer, faster and
more meaningful implementation of the Agrarian Reform
Program.

President Fidel V. Ramos enacted the following laws:

•Republic Act No. 7881, 1995 – Amended certain provisions of
RA 6657 and exempted fishponds and prawns from the coverage
of CARP.
•Republic Act No. 7905, 1995 – Strengthened the implementation
of the CARP.
•Executive Order No. 363, 1997 – Limits the type of lands that
may be converted by setting conditions under which limits the type
of lands that may be converted by setting conditions under which
specific categories of agricultural land are either absolutely non-
negotiable for conversion or highly restricted for conversion.
•Republic Act No. 8435, 1997 (Agriculture and Fisheries
Modernization Act AFMA) – Plugged the legal loopholes in
land use conversion.

•Republic Act 8532, 1998 (Agrarian Reform Fund Bill) –

Provided an additional Php50 billion for CARP and extended
its implementation for another 10 years.
_
JO _ _S _E P_ H
_
_
E S_ T_ R_ A_ D
_ _A

(1998-2000)
“ERAP PARA SA MAHIRAP’.

This was the battle cry that endeared President

Joseph Estrada and made him very popular
during the 1998 presidential election.

President Joseph E. Estrada initiated the

enactment of the following law:
• Executive Order N0. 151, September 1999 (Farmer’s Trust
Fund) – Allowed the voluntary consolidation of small farm
operation into medium and large scale integrated enterprise
that can access long-term capital.

• During his administration, President Estrada launched the

Magkabalikat Para sa Kaunlarang Agraryo or
MAGKASAKA. The DAR forged into joint ventures with
private investors into agrarian sector to make FBs
competitive.
However, the Estrada Administration
was short lived. The masses who put
him into office demanded for his
ouster
_ _L O
G _ _R _I A_
_ _R _R _OY_ O_
A
(2000-2010)
The agrarian reform program under the Arroyo
administration is anchored on the vision “To
make the countryside economically viable for
the Filipino family by building partnership and
promoting social equity and new economic
opportunities towards lasting peace and
sustainable rural development.”
• Land Tenure Improvement - DAR will remain vigorous in
implementing land acquisition and distribution component
of CARP. The DAR will improve land tenure system
through land distribution and leasehold.

• Provision of Support Services - CARP not only involves

the distribution of lands but also included package of
support services which includes: credit assistance,
extension services, irrigation facilities, roads and bridges,
marketing facilities and training and technical support
programs.
• Infrastrucre Projects - DAR will transform the agrarian
reform communities (ARCs), an area focused and
integrated delivery of support services, into rural
economic zones that will help in the creation of job
opportunities in the countryside.

• KALAHI ARZone - The KALAHI Agrarian Reform

(KAR) Zones were also launched. These zones consists of
one or more municipalities with concentration of ARC
population to achieve greater agro-productivity.
Agrarian Justice - To help clear the
backlog of agrarian cases, DAR will hire
more paralegal officers to support
undermanned adjudicatory boards and
introduce quota system to compel
adjudicators to work faster on agrarian
reform cases. DAR will respect the rights of
both farmers and landowners.
B_ E_ N
_ _I G_ NO
__
A_ QU
_ _ I_N_ O_
I_ _I _I
(2010-2016)
• President Benigno Aquino III vowed during his 2012 State of
the Nation Address that he would complete before the end of
his term the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program
(CARP), the centerpiece program of the administration of his
mother, President Corazon Aquino.

• The younger Aquino distributed their family-owned Hacienda

Luisita in Tarlac. Apart from the said farm lots, he also
promised to complete the distribution of privately-owned lands
of productive agricultural estates in the country that have
escaped the coverage of the program.
• Under his administration, the Agrarian Reform Community
Connectivity and Economic Support Services (ARCCESS)
project was created to contribute to the overall goal of rural
poverty reduction especially in agrarian reform areas.

• Agrarian Production Credit Program (APCP) provided

credit support for crop production to newly organized and
existing agrarian reform beneficiaries’ organizations
(ARBOs) and farmers’ organizations not qualified to avail
themselves of loans under the regular credit windows of
banks.
The legal case monitoring system (LCMS), a
web-based legal system for recording and
monitoring various kinds of agrarian cases at
the provincial, regional and central offices of
the DAR to ensure faster resolution and close
monitoring of agrarian-related cases, was also
launched.
Aside from these initiatives, Aquino also
enacted Executive Order No. 26, Series of
2011, to mandate the Department of
Agriculture-Department of Environment and
Natural Resources-Department of Agrarian
Reform Convergence Initiative to develop a
National Greening Program in cooperation
with other government agencies.