This document discusses the history of agrarian reform in the Philippines from the Spanish period to present. It covers the various land tenure systems over time, including under Spanish rule where the encomienda system arose and friar lands were established. Under American rule, tenant farming increased and acts were passed to regulate labor organizations and protect tenants. The Japanese occupation saw the rise of resistance groups. Post-war, various agrarian reform laws and programs have been implemented, including the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988. The objectives, components, and beneficiaries of agrarian reform are also summarized.

1. Agrarian Reform in the
Philippines
• The Philippine Agrarian Problem:
• 1. Two important dimensions:
• land & the people; agricultural & social;
• productivity & human rights;
• 2. A basic problem of society
• 3. Basically a question of land distribution
• & utilization

2. The Agrarian Problem
• 3. Basically, a question of land distribution &
utilization
• The right to own property, universal but limited
• Land is necessary for all human beings &
everybody has the right to use land for his
survival
• The right to use is given to all individuals but the
matter to be used is limited & the number of
users unlimited

3. Historico-Political Survey of the
Agrarian Problems
• 1. Pre-Spanish land situation
• a. Land patterns:
• 1. tribal hunters & gatherers
• 2. shifting cultivators
• 3. those with sedentary culture
• 4. Muslims
• b. Social classes

4. Spanish Period Land Situation
• 2. Land tenancy under Spain:
• a. Encomienda system
• b. Rise of the cacique class
• c. Early rebellions
• d. Conflicts over land tenureship
• e. Friar lands
• f. Philippine revolution

5. Land Tenure Situation Under
the American Regime
• a. Actual increase in tenancy rate
• b. Purchase of friar lands
• c. Homesteading
• d. Peasant rebellions &
• opposition
• e. Rice Share Tenancy Act
• ( Act No. 4050)
• f. Sugar Cane Tenancy contracts
• Act (Act No. 4113)

6. Commonwealth Period
• a. Commonwealth Act No. 103 – created
the Court of Industrial Relations
• b. Commonwealth Act no. 213 – regulated
legitimate labor organizations
• c. Commonwealth Acts.178,461,& 608-
gave more protection to tenants.
• Orderly settlement of virgin
• agricultural lands begun by
• the National Land Settlement
Administration

7. Effects of Japanese Occupation
• The Japanese occupation of the
Philippines from 1941 to 1945 had a
tremendous impact on the agrarian issue
• From the ranks of the peasant & labor
organizations & from the merger of the
Communist Party of the Philippines &
Socialist Party rose the Hukbong
Magpapalaya sa Bayan
• ( HUKBALAHAP)

8. Post War Attempts at Agrarian
Reform
• a. Agricultural Tenancy Act of 1954 ( Ra No.
1199
• b. Land Reform Act of 1955 (Ra No. 1400)
• c. Land resettlement as a solution
• d. The Agricultural Land Reform Code of 1963
( RA No. 3844)
• e. Amendments to the Agricultural
• Land Reform Code ( R.A. 6389)
• f. Agrarian Reform Special Fund
• Act ( RA 6369)

9. Under Martial Law & 1973
Constitution
• 1. Presidential Decree No. 2- declaring the
entire Philippines as land reform area
• 2. Presidential Decree No. 27 –
“emancipating the tenant-farmers from the
bondage of the soil”

10. Under the 1987
Constitution
• 1. President Aquino signed Proclamation
No. 131 instituting a Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (Carp) & EO
No. 229 providing for the mechanisms
• 2. She issued EO No. 129-A :Department
• of Agrarian Reform
• The primary governing law on agrarian
reform at present is Republic Act 6657,
the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law
of 1988

11. Imperatives of Agrarian Reform
• 1. Land reform would increase production
• 2. It would provide for the capital needed
to industrialize
• 3. Land reform is the answer to the
communist challenge
• 4. It would correct the present imbalance
in our society
• 5. It would make democracy truly
meaningful to our people

12. Objections to Agrarian Reform
• 1. Fragmentation of farm-holdings
• 2. Small farms uneconomic
• 3. Small landholdings included
• 4. Agrarian reform failed in the past

13. Components of Agrarian
Reform
• 1. Land distribution – most effective way
of providing security of tenure to tillers of
the soil
• 2. Companion measures: Credit & modern
& better methods of production
• Creation & development of new social
institutions to assist the farmers

14. The Code of Agrarian Reforms
(RA No. 3844 as amended)
• Beneficiaries under the Code:
• 1. Tenanted farmers
• 2. Agricultural wage earners or farm
workers
• 3. Settlers including migrant workers
• 4. Owner-cultivators of less than family
sized farms

15. The Code of Agrarian Reform
Code
• Lands covered by the Code:
• 1. Tenanted areas
• 2. Landed estates
• 3. Old settlements
• 4. Proposed settlements

16. The Tenants Emancipation
Decree (PD No. 27)
• Under this decree there is no more leasehold in
tenanted rice & corn lands , the tiller becomes
automatically the amortizing owner of the land
• Beneficiaries are the bona fide tenant-farmers of
private agricultural lands primarily devoted to
rice & corn under the lease tenancy system
• Every family should own an economic family-
sized farm
• Retention limit- 7 hectares

17. Bill of Rights for Agricultural
Labor
• 1. Right to self-organization
• 2. Right to engage in concerted activities like
strike, picketing, boycott
• 3. Right to minimum wage
• 4. Right to work for not more than 8 hours
• 5. Right to claim damages for death or injuries
sustained while at work
• 6. Right to compensation for
• personal injuries, death or
• illness
• 7. Right against suspension,