EVOLUTION OF THE COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM
Commonwealth Period
Manuel L. Quezon ―Government for the Filipinos‖ Agrarian initiatives under Quezon’s regime were profoundly influenced by American land reform policy and focused on resettlement and tenancy regulation. In the Philippines, land settlement was begun in 1939 by then President Quezon as a means of resettling farmers from the heavily populated areas of Luzon and the Bisayas to less populated regions, especially Mindanao (specifically Allah and Koronadal Valley in Cotabato). Although results were definitely limited prior to the outbreak of World War 11, the program has been considered sufficiently important to be continued to the present day. National Land Settlement Administration or Rural Progress Administration Commonwealth Act No. 441 enacted on June 3, 1939 Created to: (a) To facilitate the acquisition, settlement and cultivation of lands whether acquired from the Government or from private parties; (b) To afford opportunity to own farms to tenant farmers and small farmers from congested areas, and to trainees who have completed the prescribed military training. (c) To encourage migration to sparsely populated regions, and facilitate the amalgamation of the people in different sections of the Philippines. (d) To develop new money crops to take the place of the present export crops which may suffer from the loss of preferences which they enjoy in the American market.
Japanese Occupation
―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. The land reform programs were strengthened yet resettlement and distribution was postponed until the end of the World War II.
Philippine Republic
―The New Republic‖ President Manuel Roxas (1946-1948)
Republic Act No. 34 -- Established the 70-30 sharing arrangements and regulating sharetenancy contracts. Republic Act No. 55 -- Provided for a more effective safeguard against arbitrary ejectment of tenants. President Elpidio Quirino (1948-1953)
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.
President Ramon Magsaysay (1953-1957) 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.
o (a) To facilitate the acquisition, settlement and cultivation of lands whether
acquired from the Government or from private parties; (b) To afford opportunity to own farms to tenant farmers and small farmers from congested areas, and to trainees who have completed the prescribed military training. (c) To encourage migration to sparsely populated regions, and facilitate the amalgamation of the people in different sections of the Philippines. (d) To develop new money crops to take the place of the present export crops which may suffer from the loss of preferences which they enjoy in the American market.
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. President Carlos P. Garcia (1957-1961) Continued the program of President Ramon Magsaysay. No new legislation passed. President Diosdado Macapagal (1961-1965)
The real beginning: The idea of initiating land reform programs in Philippines can be traced back to 1963. The enactment of the Republic Act (RA) 3844, Section 49, better known as the Agricultural Land Reform Code emphasized on the foundation of an organization called the Land Authority. Established on 8th August 1963, the Land Authority was endowed with the responsibility of implementing the Republic Act 3844 policies. To hasten up the other activities associated with the land reform programs in Philippines, the Republic Act 3844 offered formal recognition to all the existing agencies involved with similar activities. The functions of these agencies were re-coordinated, with the aim of fulfilling the common objectives of the land reform programs.
CHAPTER III LAND AUTHORITY ARTICLE I Organization and Functions of the Land Authority
Powers and Functions. — It shall be the responsibility of the Authority: (1) To initiate and prosecute expropriation proceedings for the acquisition of private agricultural lands a. all idle or abandoned private agricultural lands, except those held or purchased within one year from the approval of this Code by private individuals or corporations for the purpose of resale and subdivision into economic family-size farm units in accordance with the policies enunciated in this Code
b. all private agricultural lands suitable for subdivision into economic family-size farm units, owned by private individuals or corporations worked by lessees, no substantial portion of whose landholding in relation to the area sought to be expropriated, is planted to permanent crops under labor administration, in excess of seventy-five hectares except all private agricultural lands under labor administration and lands acquired under Section seventy-one of this Code; and c. in expropriating private agricultural lands declared by the National Land Reform Council or by the Land Authority within a land reform district to be necessary for the implementation of the provisions of this Code, the following order of priority shall be observed: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. idle or abandoned lands; those whose area exceeds 1,024 hectares; those whose area exceeds 500 hectares but is not more than 1,024 hectares; those whose area exceeds 144 hectares but is not more than 500 hectares; and those whose area exceeds 75 hectares but is not more than 144 hectares.
(2) To help bona fide farmers without lands or agricultural owner-cultivators of uneconomicsize farms to acquire and own economic family-size farm units; (3) To administer and dispose of agricultural lands of the public domain under the custody and administration of the National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration prior to the approval of this Code and such other public agricultural lands as may hereafter be reserved by the President of the Philippines for resettlement and sale, in accordance with such terms and conditions as are set forth under this Chapter (4) To develop plans and initiate actions for the systematic opening of alienable and disposable lands of the public domain for speedy, distribution to and development by deserving and qualified persons or corporations; (5) To recommend to the President, from time to time after previous consultation with the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, what portion of the alienable or disposable public lands shall be reserved for settlement or disposition under this chapter; (6) To give economic family-size farms to landless citizens of the Philippines who need, deserve, and are capable of cultivating the land personally, through organized resettlement, under the terms and conditions the Authority may prescribe, giving priority to qualified and deserving farmers in the province where such lands are located; (7) To reclaim swamps and marshes, obtain titles thereto whenever feasible and subdivide them into economic family-size farms for distribution to deserving and qualified farmers; (8) To undertake measures which will insure the early issuance of titles to persons or corporations who have actually settled and cultivated disposable alienable lands of the public domain; (9) To survey, subdivide and set aside lands or areas of landholdings under its administration for economic family-size farms, large-scale farm operations, town sites, roads, parks, government
centers and other civic improvements as circumstances may warrant and to submit subdivision survey plans conducted either by the government or private surveyors on parcels of lands under its administration for verification and approval either by the Director of Lands or by the Land Registration Commission; (10) To inform the Agricultural Productivity Commission and the Office of the Agrarian Counsel of the problems of settlers and farmers on lands under its administration; (11) To acquire for agricultural lessees exercising their right of pre-emption under Chapter I of this Code, any landholdings mentioned thereunder; (12) To conduct land capability survey and classification of the entire country and print maps; (13) To make such arrangements with the Land Bank with respect to titles of agricultural lands of the public domain under its administration as will be necessary to carry out the objectives of this Code; (14) To expropriate home lots occupied by agricultural lessees outside their landholdings for resale at cost to said agricultural lessees; and (15) To submit to the President of the Philippines and to both Houses of Congress through their presiding officers, to the Secretary of Finance and to the Auditor General within sixty days of the close of the fiscal year, an annual report showing its accomplishments during the year; the expropriation proceedings it has undertaken; the expenditures it has incurred and other financial transactions undertaken with respect thereto.
President Ferdinand Marcos (1965-1986)
The 1970’s: Republic Act 6389, popularly referred to as the Code of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines proposed the foundation of an autonomous department, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). This independent body was formed to replace the existing Land Authority. The Department of Agrarian Reform was further renamed as the Ministry of Agrarian Reform in 1978, under the then Parliamentary form of government in Philippines.
President Corazon C. Aquino (1986-1992)
1980 onwards: The year 1988 saw the formulation of Republic Act No. 6657, popular as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law or CARL. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law or CARL was enacted to offer lawful basis for the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program or CARP, suggesting the implementation methods as well. In fact, it was the CARL, which empowered the CARP for supporting the activities of the agro-based industries in the country.
President Fidel V. Ramos (1992-1998)
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 nonnegotiable 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. President Joseph E. Estrada (1998-2000)
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. President Gloria Macapacal-Arroyo (2000-present)
The post-2000 era: The Department of Agrarian Reform was further re-named as the Department of Land Reform in this era. The Executive Order 364, signed by the Philippine President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo was enacted to widen the areas of operation of the Department of Land Reform, making it accountable for all land reform activities and programs in Philippines. Further, the Executive Order also made the Department, controller and supervisory body of the Philippine Commission on Urban Poor (PCUP). In addition, recognition of the ownership of the ancestral lands of the native Philippine population also came under the jurisdiction of the Department of Land Reform.
Very recently, Executive Order No. 456 was signed by President Arroyo on 23rd August 2005. This Order commanded the Department of Land Reform to revert back to its original name, Department of Agrarian Reform. The aim of the Executive Order 456 was to do something more other than mere reformation of the agrarian land. This specific order considered all the important factors to promote beneficial activities which can lead to overall economic upliftment of the Philippine agricultural sector and the peasant class.
****NLSA=> LASEDECO=>NARRA= >LTA =>Agricultural Land Reform Code=> Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law or CARL- CARP=> CARPER (with extension and ratification)