Yes

3. AGRARIAN REFORM
- refers to the redistribution of agricultural land
from landowners to landless farmers and tenants. It
includes not only land distribution but also support
services such as credit, infrastructure, training, and
access to markets.
Types of Agrarian Reform:
• Comprehensive Agrarian Reform – Includes land redistribution and
support services.
• Tenurial Reform – Secures rights of tenants and leaseholders.
• Land Reform vs. Agrarian Reform
• Land Reform is primarily about land redistribution.
• Agrarian Reform is broader and includes economic and social
support

4. LAND REFORM
-refers to a set of legal, political, and administrative measures designed
to change the pattern of ownership, control, and use of agricultural land.
Key Features of Land Reform
1. Land Redistribution – Transfer of land from wealthy landowners to
poor farmers or the landless.
2. Tenancy Reform – Improve conditions and rights of tenant farmers.
3. Land Ceiling Laws – Limit the amount of land an individual or family
can legally own.
4. Consolidation of Land Holdings – Combine fragmented plots into
viable farms.
5. Support Mechanisms – May include legal aid, credit, training, and
agricultural inputs.

5. HISTORY OF AGRARIAN REFORM IN THE PHILIPPINES
▪ Pre-Spanish Period
-early Filipino communities had traditional systems of land ownership
and use that were generally communal, fair, and based on mutual respect and
cooperation.
1. Communal Land Ownership
• Land was generally owned by the community or barangay.
2. Customary Use and Stewardship
• Land rights were based on first use and cultivation.
3. Equal Access to Land
• There was no feudal system or landlord-tenant relationship.
4. Role of the Datu
• The datu had administrative and leadership roles, such as settling disputes.

6. There is no denial as to the land patterns that the
Philippines do have, to wit:
a. Those who engaged in shifting cultivation regarded all
land as their public domain, although they did not
choose to cultivate all of the available land.
b. Those who practiced a type of living in an area for a long
period of time follows private ownership. However, no
formalized procedures for recognizing private ownership
was ever introduced.
c. The pre-Spanish classes who lived in the community
determined the land ownership system.

7. ▪Spanish Period (1521-1898)
• The Spaniards introduced a feudal landholding system that
dispossessed native Filipinos of their ancestral lands and
concentrated land ownership in the hands of Spanish officials,
friars, and local elites.
• The discovery of Magellan leading to the expedition of Miguel
Lopez de Legazpi colonizing the country brought changes to
land system in the Philippines.
• Private ownership was introduced.
• Pueblo Agriculture -a system wherein native rural
communities were organized into pueblo and each Christianized
native family is given a four (4) to five (5) hectares of land to
cultivate.

8. The Laws of Indies
- were a comprehensive set of legal codes issued by the Spanish
Crown to regulate the governance, colonization, and social organization
of Spain’s overseas territories—including the Philippines.
1. Land Allocation and Encomienda System
• The laws allowed for the creation of encomiendas—grants of land and
tribute rights to Spanish settlers and officials.
2. Protection on Paper, but Not in Practice
• In reality, Spanish friars and officials ignored these laws, and native
farmers were often exploited and displaced.
3. Formation of Large Estates (Haciendas)
• Over time, friar lands and haciendas were developed under vague or
manipulated legal arrangements.

9. ▪ Philippine Revolutionary Government (1898-
1899)
• Gen. Emilio Aguinaldo declared in the Malolos Constitution his intention
to confiscate large estates, especially the so-called Friar lands.
• Though short-lived and under constant military threat, the revolutionary
government acknowledged the need for agrarian reform and took
symbolic steps toward land justice.
• By the late 1800s, agrarian unrest had become a major social issue due to:
•Widespread landlessness
•Abuses by friar landowners
•Oppression under the encomienda and hacienda systems

10. 1. Abolition of Tribute and Forced Labor
• The revolutionary government abolished the colonial tribute (taxes) and forced
labor (polo y servicio) systems.
2. Seizure of Friar Lands
• Revolutionary leaders planned to confiscate Spanish friar estates and redistribute
them to Filipino farmers.
3. Proposed Agrarian Reforms
• The Malolos Constitution (1899) mentioned protection of property rights, but no
concrete agrarian laws were passed or fully implemented.
4. Symbolic Break from Colonial Landholding
• The revolutionary government's actions reflected a desire to break from the feudal-
colonial land system, even if these changes were not fully institutionalized.

11. ▪ American Rule (1899-1935)
• Land that owned by the Friars were sold to those families who can a ord to buy
ff
big tracts of lands which later on became haciendas.
• Philippine Bill of 1902 -Set the ceilings on the hectarage of private individuals
and corporations may acquire: 16 has. for private individuals and 1,024 has. for
corporations.
• Land Registration Act of 1902 (Act No. 496)– Provided for a comprehensive
registration of land titles under the Torrens system.
• Public Land Act of 1903– introduced the homestead system in the Philippines.
• Tenancy Act of 1933 (Act No. 4054 and 4113)– regulated relationships between
landowners and tenants of rice (50-50 sharing) and sugar cane lands.
❑The Torrens System -the Americans instituted
for the registration of lands, did not solve the
problem completely.

12. ▪Commonwealth Era (1935-1946)
• Rice Tenancy Act of 1933 - regulates share-tenancy contracts by
establishing minimum standards.
Significant legislation enacted during Commonwealth Period:
• 1935 Constitution– "The promotion of social justice to ensure the well-
being and economic security of all people should be the concern of the
State“
• Commonwealth Act No. 178(An Amendment to Rice Tenancy Act
No. 4045), Nov. 13, 1936 – Provided for certain controls in the
landlord- tenant relationships.
• National Rice and Corn Corporation (NARIC), 1936– Established the price of rice and corn thereby help the
poor tenants as well as consumers.
• Commonwealth Act. No. 461, 1937– Specified reasons for the dismissal of tenants and only with the
approval of the Tenancy Division of the Department of Justice.
• Rural Program Administration, created March 2, 1939– Provided the purchase and lease of haciendas and
their sale and lease to the tenants.
• Commonwealth Act No. 441enacted on June 3, 1939 – Created the National Settlement Administration with
a capital stock of P20,000,000.

13. ▪ Second Philippine Republic: Japanese Occupation (1941-
1945)
• 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.
▪ Third to Fifth Philippine
Republic
• Manuel A. Roxas (1946-1948)
-enacted the following laws:
• Republic Act No. 34- Established the 70-30 sharing arrangements and regulating share-tenancy
contracts.
• Republic Act No. 55- Provided for a more effective safeguard against arbitrary ejectment of tenants.
• Elpidio R. Quirino (1948-1953)
-enacted the following law:
• 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.

14. ▪ Ramon Magsaysay (1953-1957)
-enacted the following laws:
• Republic Act No. 1160 of 1954-- Abolished the LASEDECO and established the
National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration (NARRA)to resettle
dissidents and landless farmers.
• Republic Act No. 1199 (Agricultural Tenancy Act of 1954)-- governed the
relationship between landowners and tenant farmers by organizing share-tenancy
and leasehold system.
• 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.
• 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.
▪ Carlos P. Garcia (1957-1961)

15. ▪ Diosdado P. Macapagal (1961-1965)
• Republic Act No. 3844 (1963) – Agricultural Land Reform Code
• Abolished share tenancy.
• Strengthened leasehold arrangements.
• Established the Land Bank of the Philippines to finance land acquisition.
▪ Ferdinand E. Marcos (1965-1986)
• Republic Act No. 6389, (Code of Agrarian Reform) and RA No. 6390 of 1971--
Created the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Agrarian Reform Special Account
Fund. It strengthens the position of farmers and expanded the scope of agrarian
reform.
• Presidential Decree No. 2, September 26, 1972-- Declared the country under land
reform program. It enjoined all agencies and offices of the government to extend full
cooperation and assistance to the DAR. It also activated the Agrarian Reform
Coordinating Council.
• Presidential Decree No. 27, October 21, 1972-- Restricted land reform scope to
tenanted rice and corn lands and set the retention limit at 7 hectares.

16. ▪ Corazon C. Aquino (1986-1992)
• Executive Order No. 228, July 16, 1987– Declared full ownership to qualified farmer-
beneficiaries covered by PD 27.
• Executive Order No. 229, July 22, 1987– Provided mechanism for the implementation of
the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
• Proclamation No. 131, July 22, 1987– Instituted the CARP as a major program of the
government.
• Executive Order No. 129-A, July 26, 1987– streamlined and expanded the power and
operations of the DAR.
• Republic Act No. 6657, June 10, 1988 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law)– An act
which became effective June 15, 1988 and instituted a comprehensive agrarian reform
program to promote social justice and industrialization
• Executive Order No. 405, June 14, 1990– Vested in the Land Bank of the Philippines the
responsibility to determine land valuation and compensation for all lands covered by CARP.
• Executive Order No. 407, June 14, 1990– Accelerated the acquisition and distribution of
agricultural lands, pasture lands, fishponds, agro- forestry lands and other lands of the
public domain suitable for agriculture.

17. CARP Basic Components:
1. Land to the tiller and abolition of "absentee landownership"
2. Full coverage of all types of agricultural lands and all types of direct
producers
3. Progressive and selective compensation for landowners
4. All previous land rentals and uncompensated labor be credited as
advance payments for the land by beneficiaries.
5. Full participation by beneficiaries in the formulation and
implementation of the program.
6. Preferential option for cooperatives and collective farms
7. Equal rights to land ownership for women producers
8. Filipinization of all lands utilized by multinational corporations
9. Preferential rights of small fisherfolk to fishing resources
10.Respect for the rights of indigenous communities over their ancestral
lands and all other natural resources and fishery resources
11.Implementation of just labor relations for farmworkers.

18. ▪ 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 non-negotiable 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.
▪ 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.
• Magkabalikat Para sa Kaunlarang Agraryo or MAGKASAKA - a major component of the
strategy of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in its efforts to complete land acquisition and
distribution (LAD) by the year 2004.

19. ▪Gloria Macapacal-Arroyo (2000-2010)
• Land Tenure Improvement- DAR will remain vigorous in implementing land acquisition and distribution
component of CARP. The DAR will improve land tenure system through land distribution and leasehold.
• Provision of Support Services- CARP not only involves the distribution of lands but also included package
of support services which includes: credit assistance, extension services, irrigation facilities, roads and
bridges, marketing facilities and training and technical support programs.
• Infrastrucre Projects- DAR will transform the agrarian reform communities (ARCs), an area focused and
integrated delivery of support services, into rural economic zones that will help in the creation of job
opportunities in the countryside.
• KALAHI ARZone - The KALAHI Agrarian Reform (KAR) Zoneswere also launched. These zones consists of
one or more municipalities with concentration of ARC population to achieve greater agro-productivity.
• Agrarian Justice- To help clear the backlog of agrarian cases, DAR will hire more paralegal officers to
support undermanned adjudicatory boards and introduce quota system to compel adjudicators to work
faster on agrarian reform cases. DAR will respect the rights of both farmers and landowners.

20. ▪Benigno Aquino III (2010-2016)
• Agrarian Reform Community Connectivity and Economic Support Services
(ARCCESS)project - was created to contribute to the overall goal of rural poverty
reduction especially in agrarian reform areas.
• Agrarian Production Credit Program (APCP) -provided credit support for crop
production to newly organized and existing agrarian reform beneficiaries’
organizations (ARBOs) and farmers’ organizations not qualified to avail themselves of
loans under the regular credit windows of banks.
• The legal case monitoring system (LCMS),a web-based legal system for recording and
monitoring various kinds of agrarian cases
• Executive Order No. 26, Series of 2011 -mandated the DA, DENR and DAR
Convergence Initiative to develop a National Greening Program in cooperation with
other government agencies.

21. ▪Ferdinand Marcos Jr. (2022-Present)
• Republic Act 11953 or New Agrarian Emancipation Act - aims to make the farmer-beneficiaries of the
government’s agrarian reform program debt-free.
▪Rodrigo Duterte (2016 –2022)
• Directed the DAR to launch the 2nd phase of agrarian reform where landless farmers
would be awarded with undistributed lands under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program (CARP).
• Placed 400 hectares of agricultural lands in Boracay under CARP.
• Oplan Zero Backlog -on the resolution of cases in relation to agrarian justice delivery of
the agrarian reform program to fast-track the implementation of CARP.