AGRARIAN LAND REFORM

What is land reform?

Land reform has been the main policy response of government to correct the sharp inequalities in the
distribution of land ownership in the Philippines. The historical records show that the process of disposal of
State lands has heavily favored households with economic and political power. These households had undue
advantage over the common populace in acquiring property rights through the Spanish system of royal grants
and the American system of land cadaster. The result has been the ownership of big landholdings by few
families and the rise of haciendas or family estates comprising several hundreds and thousands of hectares.
Land reform efforts to correct these inequalities have been traced back to the Commonwealth period.
The main motivation of the earlier reforms was the break-up of monopoly ownership and control of land
resources. Starting the 1960s, major advances in the implementation of land reform program in the country
took place. In 1963, the Agrarian Reform Code was enacted which introduced the concept of owner cultivator
ship and leasehold tenure. Owner-cultivator ship provided tenants the opportunity to own land while
leasehold tenancy afforded tenants permanent use rights over the land. The 1963 Code paved way to a
“modern” concept of land reform, which envisioned a broad-based human and economic development for the
agriculture sector. This concept broach the idea of an agrarian reform program instead of merely land reform
to emphasize the concern not only with the acquisition and distribution of land but also of uplifting the
political and socioeconomic status of beneficiaries. It is in this light that the 1972 and 1988 land reform
programs have been instituted. In particular, Presidential Decree 27 (PD 27) of 1972 resulted in the following
changes in the program;
(1) coverage of the reform was not limited to pilot areas but applied comprehensively;
(2) acquisition of private lands was made compulsory;
(3) land ownership ceiling was substantially lowered from 75 to 7 hectares; and
(4) the inclusion of support services to assist beneficiaries attain economic efficiency in production. 3
Additional reforms were instituted under Republic Act (RA) 6657 of 1988 or the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law (CARL). CARL has all the basic design of the 1972 program but coverage was expanded to all
agricultural lands while ownership ceiling was further reduced to 5 hectares. Despite the shortcomings of the
land reform programs in the Philippines, these programs specifically PD 27 and CARL paved way to the break
up of huge estates. In several areas the increase in the number of owner cultivators has been observed even in
provinces where the hacienda system used to dominate. In general, the land reform law prohibits the transfer
of awarded lands except by hereditary succession. This legal impediment however has not prevented the sale
of awarded lands. Sales and other forms of land transfer actions of farmer beneficiaries have been attributed
to the demand for overseas employment and to the low productivity of agriculture. Studies show that such
actions are not necessarily regressive but have led to an increase in investments of rural households in
education. However, there is a growing concern over the possible consolidation of agricultural lands, which
can again lead to widening land ownership distribution. So far, there is no systematic effort to monitor
ownership of agriculture lands despite the legal prohibitions under CARL. Thus, the effects of land distribution
and the subsequent land transfer actions of agrarian reform beneficiaries on landownership are not known.

What is the significance of studying the historical background of Philippine agrarian reform?
The significance in studying the historical background of Philippine Agrarian Reform is to fully
understand the present situation and be able to see its development all throughout the years.

Constitutional mandates on Agrarian Reform under the 1987 Constitution

CARP or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, is the redistribution of public and private
agricultural lands to farmers and farmworkers who are landless, irrespective of tenurial arrangement. CARP’s
vision is to have an equitable land ownership with empowered agrarian reform beneficiaries who can
effectively manage their economic and social development to have a better quality of life. 
One of the major programs of CARP is Land Tenure Improvement, which seeks to hasten distribution of
lands to landless farmers. Similarly, the Department offers Support Services to the beneficiaries such as
infrastructure facilities, marketing assistance program, credit assistance program, and technical support
programs. Furthermore, the department seeks to facilitate, resolve cases and deliver Agrarian Justice. 
The legal basis for CARP is the Republic Act No. 6657 otherwise known as Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law (CARL) signed by President Corazon C. Aquino on June 10, 1988. It is an act, which aims to
promote social justice and industrialization, providing the mechanism for its implementation, and for other
purposes. It was enacted pursuant to the constitutional mandates shrined in Section 4, 5, 6 and 7 Art. XIII of
the 1987 Constitution, which provides:

Sec.4. The State shall, by law, undertake an agrarian reform program founded on the right of farmers and
regular farmworkers, who are landless, to own directly or collectively the lands they till or, in the case of other
farmworkers, to receive a just share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State shall encourage and undertake
the just distribution of all the agricultural lands, subject to such priorities and reasonable retention limits as the
Congress may prescribe, taking into account ecological, developmental, or equity considerations, and subject
to the payment of just compensation. In determining retention limits, the State shall respect the right of small
landowners. The State shall further provide incentives for voluntary land-sharing.

Section 5. The State shall recognize the right of farmers, farmworkers and landowners, as well as cooperatives
and other independent farmers' organizations, to participate in the planning, organization, and management
of the program, and shall provide support to agriculture through appropriate technology and research, and
adequate financial production, marketing and other support services.

Section 6. The State shall apply the principles of agrarian reform, or stewardship, whenever applicable, in
accordance with law, in the disposition or utilization of other natural resources, including lands of the public
domain, under lease or concession, suitable to agriculture, subject to prior rights, homestead rights of small
settlers and the rights of indigenous communities to their ancestral lands.

Section 7. The State shall protect the rights of subsistence fishermen, especially of local communities,
to the preferential use of communal marine and fishing resources, both inland and offshore. It shall provide
support to such fishermen through appropriate technology and research, adequate financial, production and
marketing assistance and other services. The State shall also protect, develop and conserve such resources.
The protection shall extend to offshore fishing grounds of subsistence fishermen against foreign intrusion.

The constitutionality of RA 6657 has been upheld in Association of Small Landowners vs. Secretary of
Agrarian Reform, 175 SCRA 342 (1989) and companion cases. The Supreme Court held that the requirement of
public use has already been settled by the Constitution itself. It noted that, “no less than the 1987 Charter calls
for agrarian reform which is the reason why private agricultural lands are to be taken from their owners,
subject to the prescribed retention limits.” While RA 6657 itself has been held constitutional, the Supreme
Court in a subsequent case, Luz Farms vs. Secretary of Agrarian Reform, 192 SCRA 51 (1990), declared
unconstitutional Sec. 3 (b), 10 and 11 thereof in so far as they include lands devoted to the raising of livestock,
swine and poultry within its coverage. As a result of this ruling, Congress enacted RA 7881 (1995) amending
the provisions and incorporating new provisions to existing ones. The amendments adopted the Luz doctrine
by removing livestock, swine and poultry farms from CARP coverage. On August 7, 2009, Republic Act No.
9700 was enacted which was:

An act strengthening the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), extending the acquisition and
distribution of all agricultural lands, instituting necessary reforms, amending for the purpose certain provisions
of Republic Act No. 6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Reform Law of 1988, as amended, and
appropriating funds therefor.

This Act amends Republic Act No. 6657 on the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law 1988. It amends:
(1) Section 2 regarding the declaration of principles and policies of the agrarian reform;
(2) Definitions in section 3;
(3) The scope of the comprehensive agrarian reform in section 4;
(4) Section 7 on priorities of the Department of Agrarian Reform;
(5) The title of section 16 to read “Procedure for acquisition and Distribution of Private Lands”;
(6) Section 17 on the determination of just compensation;
(7) Sections 24-27 on provisions regarding land distribution;
(8) Sections 36, 37 and 38, on support services; section 41 on the composition of the Presidential
Agrarian Reform Council;
(9) Section 50 on administrative adjudication;
(10) Section 55 on judicial reviews;
(11) Section 63 on financing matters;
(12) Sections 65, 68, 73 and 74 on prohibited acts, penalties, etc.
The Act provides for the protection of smallholders and family farms. It also inserts new sections as follows:
(13) Sections 6A and 6B on exception to retention limits and on review of limits of land size,
respectively;
(14) Section 22A on orders of priority;
(15) Section 37A on equal support services for rural women;
(16) Section 50A on exclusive jurisdiction on agrarian disputes.
The Act further provides for the establishment of a Congressional Oversight Committee on Agrarian Reform to
oversee and monitor the implementation of this Act, and it defines the composition of the Committee and its
powers and functions.
Landless farmers, including agricultural lessees, tenants, as well as regular, seasonal and other
farmworkers are the beneficiaries of the act. The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) identifies and screens
potential beneficiaries and validates their qualifications. Many agencies are involved in the implementation of
CARP. The lead agencies are the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), and the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR). They are in charge of the identification and distribution of covered land, and is
commonly refererred to as CARPable land.