Part V Post-Colonial Land Ownership

• Post-War Intervention


  • After the war, the focus of the government is rehabilitation and rebuilding.
  • Republic Act No. 34 was passed during the administration of Pres. Manuel Roxas that established the 70-30 sharing arrangement between tenant and landlord which reduced the interest of landowners' loans to tenants at six percent or less.
  • The government also  attempted to redistribute hacienda lands but it fall prey to the woes of similar attempts since no support was given to small farmers who were given lands.
• LASEDECO, Then NARRA


  • Land Settlement Development Corporation (LASEDECO) was established by Pres. Elpidio Quirino to accelerate and expand the resettlement program for peasants.
  • LASEDECO later became the National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration (NARRA) during the administration of Pres. Ramon Magsaysay.
• LASEDECO, Then NARRA


  NARRA accelerated the government's resettlement program and  distribution of agricultural lands to landless tenants and farmers with the aim of convincing members of the Huks, a movement of rebels in Central  Luzon, to resettle in areas where they could restart their lives as peaceful  citizens.
• Agricultural Tenancy Act


  Agricultural Tenancy Act (Republic Act No. 1199) was passed to:

  • Govern the relationship between  landholders and tenant farmers,
  • Protect the tenurial rights of tenants; and
  • Enforce tenancy practices.

  Pres. Magsaysay saw the importance of pursuing genuine land reform program and convinced the Congress, majority of which were landed elites, to pass legislation to improve the land reform situation.
• CAR & ACCFA


  Court of Agricultural Relations was created in 1955 under the Agricultural Tenancy Act to:

  • Improve tenancy security,
  • Fix land rentals of tenanted farms, and
  • Resolve land disputes filed by the landowners and  peasant organizations.

  The Agricultural  Credit and Cooperative Financing Administration (ACCFA) was also created mainly to provide warehouse facilities and assist farmers in marketing  their products.
• Agricultural Land Reform Code (Republic Act No. 3844)


  • A major stride in land reform during the term of Pres.  Diosdado Macapagal.
  • This Code abolished share tenancy in the Philippines and prescribed a program to convert tenant-farmers to lessees and later on owner-cultivators.
• Agricultural Land Reform Code (Republic Act No. 3844)


  • It also aimed to free tenants from tenancy and emphasize owner cultivatorship and farmer independence, equity, productivity improvement, and public land distribution.
  • Despite being one of the most comprehensive pieces of land reform legislation ever passed in the Philippines, Congress did not make any effort to come up with a separate bill to fund its implementation, despite the fact that it proved beneficial in the provinces where it was pilot tested.
• Agricultural Land Reform Code (Republic Act No. 3844)



  This law, under the declaration of policy, aims to:

  • Establish owner-cultivatorship and the economic family-size  farm as the basis of Philippine agriculture and, as a consequence,  divert landlord capital in agriculture to industrial development;
  • Achieve a dignified existence for the small farmers free from  pernicious institutional restraints and practices.
• Marcos Regime


  • President Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972 enabling him to essentially wipe out the landlord-dominated Congress.
  • Through his "technocrats," he was able to expand executive power to start a "fundamental restructuring” of government, including its efforts in solving the deep structural problems of the countryside.
• Code of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines


  • The core of agrarian reform during Marcos Regime is the Code of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines (Presidential Decree No. 27).

  The Code applies to:

  • Tenant farmers of private agricultural lands;
  • Tenant farmer; and
  • The total cost of the land.
• Code of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines and the Masagana 99


  • In case of default, the amortization due shall be paid by the farmers'  cooperative in which the defaulting tenant-farmer is a member, with  the cooperative having a right of recourse against him.
  • Operation Land Transfer on lands occupied by tenants of more  than seven (7) hectares on rice and corn lands commenced and agrarian reform seemed to be finally achievable.
• Code of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines and the Masagana 99

  Rice  self-sufficiency program where farmers were able to borrow from  banks and purchase three-hectare plots of lands and agricultural inputs although the landlord class still found ways to circumvent the law.
• Post-1986 Agrarian Reform


  • The overthrow of Marcos and the 1987 Constitution resulted in a renewed interest and attention to agrarian reform as Pres. Corazon Aquino envisioned agrarian reform to be the centerpiece of her administration's social legislation, which proved difficult because Aquino background betrayed her—she came from a family of a wealthy and landed clan that owned the Hacienda Luisita.
• Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law

  On 22 July 1987, Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation 131 and Executive Order 229, which outlined her land reform program. In 1988, the Congress passed Republic Act No. 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), which introduced the program with the same name (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program or CARP).

  • It enabled the redistribution of agricultural lands to tenant-farmers from landowners, who were paid in exchange by the government through just compensation and allowed them to retain not more than five hectares.
• Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law


  • Corporate landowners were, however, allowed under law to voluntarily divest a proportion of their capital stock, equity, or participation in favor of their workers or other qualified beneficiaries instead of turning over their land to the government.
  • CARP was limited because it accomplished very little during the administration of Aquino - 22.5% of land distribution in six years owing to the fact that Congress, dominated by the landed elite, was unwilling to fund the high compensation costs of the program.
• Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law

  It was also mired in controversy, since Aquino seemingly bowed down to the pressure of her relatives by allowing the stock redistribution option. Hacienda Luisita reorganized itself into a corporation and distributed stocks to farmers.
• From CARP to CARPER


  • Under the term of Pres. Fidel V. Ramos, CARP implementation was speeded in order to meet the ten-year time frame, despite limitations and constraints in funding, logistics, and participation of involved sectors.
  • The new deadline of CARP expired in 2008, leaving 1.2 million farmer beneficiaries and 1.6 million hectares of agricultural land to be distributed to farmers.
• From CARP to CARPER


  • In 2009, President Arroyo signed Republic Act No. 9700 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER), the amendatory law that extended the deadline to five more years.
  • Section 30 of the law also mandates that any case and/or proceeding involving the implementation of the provisions of CARP, as amended, which may remain pending on 30 June 2014 shall be allowed to proceed to its finality and executed even beyond such date.
• From CARP to CARPER


  • From 2009 to 2014, CARPER has distributed a total of 1 million hectares of land to 900,000 farmer beneficiaries. After 27 years of land reform and two Aquino administrations, 500,000 hectares of lands remain undistributed.
  • The DAR and DENR are the government agencies mandated to fulfill CARP and CARPER, but even the combined effort and resources of the two agencies have proved incapable of fully achieving the goal of agrarian reform in the Philippines.
• Duterte Administration


  • Pursued an “aggressive” land reform program that would help alleviate the life of poor Filipino farmers by prioritizing the provision of support services alongside land distribution.
  • DAR was directed to launch the 2nd phase of agrarian reform where landless farmers would be awarded with undistributed lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
• Duterte Administration


  • The administration planned to place almost all public lands, including military reserves, under agrarian reform; 400 hectares of agricultural lands in Boracay under CARP.
  • DAR created an anti-corruption task force to investigate and handle reports on alleged anomalous activities by officials and employees of the department.
  • “Oplan Zero Backlog” in the resolution of cases in relation to agrarian justice delivery of the agrarian reform program to fast-track the implementation of CARP.
• Bongbong Marcos' Administration


  • Land title distribution to farmers under agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs) increased at 743% from July 2022, distributing 131,113 titles (157,766 hectares) to 133,693 ARBs from 17,640 titles from March 2021 to June 2022; it exceeded the 50,000 titles Congress-instructed target.
• Bongbong Marcos' Administration


  • Started evaluating 56,000 hectares of government-owned lands (GOLs) under Executive Order No. 75; GOLs that are classified as "alienable and disposable land" shall be granted to farmers, agricultural graduates, retired military personnel, overseas Filipino workers, and rebel returnees.
• Bongbong Marcos' Administration


  • New Agrarian Emancipation Act (Republic Act No. 11953) was passed on July 07, 2023 to cover the condonation of P57.557 B principal debt of 610,054 ARBs tilling a total of 1,173,101.57 hectares of agrarian reform lands.
  • The coverage of the New Agrarian Emancipation Act are farmers or farmworkers who were granted lands under Presidential Decree No. 27, Republic Act No. 6657, as amended, and Republic Act No. 9700, and who have outstanding loan balances payable to the LBP and to private landowners as of the effectivity of the Act.