RPH

• Pre-Spanish Period


  • Filipinos already lived in villages and barangays
  • Settlements were ruled by chieftains or datus who comprised the nobility
  • There were Maharlikas (freemen), Aliping Mamamahay (serfs), and Aliping Saguiguilid (slaves)
  • Everyone had access to the fruits of the soil
  • Rice was the medium of exchange as money was yet unknown
• Encomienda


  A system of giving lands (Royal Land Grants) to the Spanish conquerors who were loyal to the Spanish monarch
• Encomienda system


  • Encomienderos must defend their encomienda from external attack, maintain peace and order within, and support the missionaries
  • Encomienderos were given the right to collect taxes (tribute) from the indios (natives)
  • Encomienderos started to abuse their power by renting their lands to a few powerful landlords, and the native who once freely cultivated the land became share tenants
• Agrarian Uprising of 1745-1746

  1. Taxation and agrarian unrest were reasons for the revolts

  2. Revolt happened in Batangas, Laguna, Cavite, and Bulacan

  3. Native landowners demanded their lands be returned based on ancestral domain

  4. Spanish priest refused, resulting in riots and looting

  5. Troops were sent from Manila to quell the disturbance
• First Philippine Republic


  • Malolos Constitution intended to confiscate Friar lands and other large estates
  • Republic was short-lived so the plan to confiscate lands was never executed
• American Period

  1. Philippine Bill of 1902 set ceilings on hectarage of private individuals and corporations

  2. Land Registration Act of 1902 provided for registration of land titles under Torrens system

  3. Public Land Act of 1903 introduced homestead system

  4. Tenancy Act of 1933 regulated relationships between landowners and tenants
• Land Registration Act of 1902 did not completely solve the problem of land registration under the Torrens system because land owners might not have been aware of the law or could not pay the survey cost and other fees
• Commonwealth Period

  • President Quezon advocated Social Justice program to block increasing social unrest in Central Luzon
  • 1935 Constitution promoted social justice and economic security
  • Commonwealth Act No. 178 provided controls in landlord-tenant relationships
  • NARIC established price of rice and corn to help poor tenants and consumers
  • Commonwealth Act No. 461 specified reasons for dismissal of tenants
  • Rural Program Administration provided purchase and lease of haciendas to tenants
  • Commonwealth Act No. 441 created National Settlement Administration
• Japanese Occupation

  • HUKBALAHAP (peasants and workers) controlled Central Luzon areas and took up arms against Japanese
  • Peasants who supported HUKBALAHAP earned fixed rentals, while landowners who supported Japanese lost their lands to peasants
  • This was short-lived and ended with end of WWII