The document discusses landownership issues in the Philippines under American colonial rule, emphasizing efforts to address landlessness among tenant farmers through policies like the Philippine Bill of 1902 and the Homestead Program. Despite these initiatives, many farmers remained landless and returned to tenancy, leading to uprisings such as the Sakdalista rebellion, highlighting ongoing social inequality. Efforts for reform continued into the Commonwealth period but faced challenges due to budget constraints and the impact of World War II.

1. Landownership in the
Philippines under the
Americans
BY : ALDEN K. DULO
KENT KANETE

2. The American were aware that the main
cause of social unrest in the Philippines was
landlessness, they attempted to put an end
to the deplorable conditions of the tenant
farmers by passing serval land policies to
increase the small landholders and
distribute ownership to a bigger regulations
on the disposal of public lands.

3. LANDLESSNESS IS THE VERY REASON
OF THE SOCIAL UNREST OF
FILIPINOS.
• Poor farmers were asked to pay taxes for the
land they were living in.
• Tenancy was practiced during this time

4. The Land Policies were proposed to distribute
ownership among the Filipinos.
• Philippine Bill of 1902
• Land Registration Act (Act No. 496)
- Torrens System
• Homestead Program

5. Philippine Bill of 1902
• provided regulations on the disposal of public lands
• states that a private individual could own 16 hectares of land while
corporate landholders could own 1,024 hectares
• Americans can own agricultural lands
Land Registration Act (Act no. 496)
• Introduced the TORRENS SYSTEM where people will register
their names as land owners
• This is expected to provide a more organized system within land
ownership

6. Homestead Program (1903)
• States that a tenant (poor farmer) could start an
agricultural business by acquiring a 16-hectare farm
land
• Limited to northern Luzon and Mindanao because
the Americans find it hard to colonize these parts

7. Also, not all the friar lands (public government lands) were given
to poor farmers, instead these lands were sold to Americans and
Filipino businessmen. Besides those, this land reform lacked
support mechanisms, wherein if a farmer receives a land, he only
receives a land and nothing more. Because of that, many
Filipinos were forced to settle back to tenancy. Filipino
hacienderos buy the lands and some forcefully take over lands of
tenants who cannot pay their taxes and debts.
Due to this, the number of tenants increased resulting to peasant
uprisings:
- Colorum Uprising
- Sakdal Uprising in Luzon SAKDAL UPRISING

8. The Sukdal (or Sakdalista) Uprising
• A peasant rebellion in Central Luzon that lasted for two days, May
2-3, 1935. It was easily crushed by government forces then, but this
historical event tells of the social inequality about by issues in land
ownership and tenancy in the country.
• The Filipino word sakdal means “to accuse” (nasasakdal).
• Title of the newspaper made by Benigno Ramos.
- This newspaper led to establishment of of Partido Sakdalita in 1933.

9. Partido Sakdalista
• wanted reforms such as abolition of taxes, equal ownership of land
• opposed the Nacionalista Party's acceptance of gradual
independence from US because they wanted immediate cutting of
ties with the Americans.
In the 1934 elections, they garnered three seats in the House of
Representatives. They started an uprising in 1935 but did not
succeed. Due to this loss, Ramos left the country and Partida
Sakdalista collapsed.

10. 1935: Commonwealth Period
• Tenant uprisings and issues about landlord-tenant relationships increased.
That is why Quezon proposed social justice programs to resolve the
problems. These programs include:
• National Rice and Corn Corporation (NARIC)
- public defenders for peasants or tenants in court battles
• Court of Industrial Relations
- makes legal judgments regarding the disagreements between landowner-
tenant relationships
• National Land Settlement Administration (NLSA)
- continuation of homestead program

11. Many programs proposed and applied to the
country by Commonwealth in order to resolve
the land problem. But all these efforts failed
due to budget allocations. The interventions
and attempts to solve the land problems were
put to a stop due to World War II when we were
colonized by the Japanese.

12. Thank You!