Agrarian Reform in the

Philippines

The State shall promote

comprehensive rural
development and agrarian
reform
Republic Act No. 6657
The Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law
Signed by: Pres. Corazon C. Aquino

History
Precolonial

Times

Land owned by the community

known as Barangay
Headed by a Chief or Datu
Slash-and-burn
Everyone had access to the fruits &
soil

Spanish Era
Pueblo

Agriculture

A system wherein rural communities is

given certain hectares of land to cultivate.
Natives

were landholders, not

landowners
Spanish crown award lands to:
Friarland or religious order
Repartimientos
Encomienda
Compras

y Bandalas

American Era
Philippine

Bill of 1902

Regulation on the disposal of public lands

wherein a private individual can own 16
hectares of land while the corporate land
holdings can avail 1,024hectares
Land

Registration Act of 1902 or Act

No. 496
Comprehensive registration of land titles
under the Torrens System

Public

Land Act of 1903

Homestead system in the Philippines , thus

allowing an enterprising tenant to acquire a
farm of at least 16 hectares to cultivate

Other Laws
Rice

Share Tenancy Act of 1933 or Act

No. 4045
Regulated relationship between
landowners and tenants of rice and the
first law to legalize a 50-50 crop sharing
arrangement

Sugarcane

Tenancy Contracts Act of

1933 or Act No. 4113
Regulated relationships between
landowners and tenants of sugarcane fields

Friar

Land Act or Act No. 1120

The administrative and temporary leasing

and selling of friar lands to its tillers.

Commonwealth Period
The

1935 Constitution

Provide specific provisions on the

promotion of social justice to ensure the
well-being & economic security of all
people should be the concern of the
State
Commonwealth

Act No. 178

An Amendment to Rice tenancy Act No.

4045.
Provide for certain controls in the
landlord-tenant relationship

Commonwealth

Act No. 461 of

1937
Dismissal of tenant should first have
the approval of the tenancy Division
of the Dept of Justice

Social Justice Program

Pres. Manuel L. Quezon

Purchase of large haciendas to be

divided and sold to tenants

Establishment of National Rice and
Corn Corp
Assigning

of public defenders to
assist peasants in court battles for
their right to till the land
Setting up court of Industrial
Relations CIR to exercise
jurisdiction over disagreement
arising from agri-workers and
landowner relationship

Amendments

to the Rice

Tenancy Act
National Land Settlement
Administration
Tenancy problems covered

Japanese Era
Hukbong

Bayan Laban sa mga

Hapon
(HUKLABALAHAP)
TOOK OVER VAST TRACKS OF LAND AND
GAVE THE LAND HARVEST TO THE
PEOPLE.
The war was a golden opportunity for
peoples initiative to push pro-poor
programs
Landlords were overpowered by peasant

The Philippine Republic

Revolts

joined mostly by the

peasant workers led to Phil
Independence in 1946 but
problem of land tenured still
remained

Pres. Manuel A. Roxas

RA

No. 34

70-30 sharing arrangement and

regulated share-tenancy contract
RA

No. 55

Provide more effective safeguard

against arbitrary ejectments of
tenants

Pres. Elpidio Quirino

EO

No. 355

Oct. 23, 1950

Replaced National Land settlement
Administration with Land Settlement
Development Corp (LASEDECO)
Took over the responsibilities of
Agricultural Machinery Equipment Corp
and the Rice & Corn Production
Administration

Pres. Ramon Magsaysay

RA

1160

Free distribution, resettlement and

rehabilitation of Agricultural land
Abolished LASEDECO change it to NARRA
National Resettlement & Rehabilitation
Administration (NARRA)
RA

1199

Agricultural Tenancy Act of 1954

Governed the relationship between
landowners and tenant farmers by
organizing share tenancy and leasehold
system

RA

1400

Land to the Landless Program

Created Land Tenure Administration
Responsible for the acquisition and distribution
of large tenanted rice and corn lands over 200
hectares for individual and 600 hectares for
corporation

RA

821

Creation of agricultural Credit Cooperative

Financing Administration
RA

1266

Expropriated Hacienda del Rosario situated

Pres. Carlos P. Garcia

Continued

to implement the land

reform program of Pres. Ramon
Magsaysay

Pres. Diosdado P.
Macapagal
RA

3844

Agricultural Land Reform Code

Most comprehensive piece of
agrarian reform legislation ever
enacted in the country.
Abolish shared tenancy,
institutionalized leasehold, set
retention limit at 75 hectares etc.

Pres. Ferdinand Marcos

PD

No. 2

Declared country under Land reform

program
Enjoined all agencies and offices of
the government to extend full
cooperation and assistance to the
Dept of Agrarian Reform (DAR)
PD

No 27

Restricted land reform scope to

tenanted rice and corn lands & set
the retention limit at 7 hectares

Pres. Corazon Aquino

EO

288

Full ownership to qualified farmer

beneficiaries
EO

229

Implemented CARP
EO

129-A

Reorganized DAR and expanded the

power and operations

RA

6657

An act instituting comprehensive

agrarian reform program to promote
social justice and industrialization
EO

405

Vested Land Bank of the Phil the

responsibility to determine land
evaluation and compensation for all
lands covered by CARP

Pres. Fidel V. Ramos

RA

7881

Amended certain provisions of RA

6657
RA

7905

Strengthened the implementation of

CARP

Pres. Joseph Estrada

EO

151

Farmers Trust Fund

Launches

Magkabalikat Para sa
Kaunlarang Agraryo
(MAGKASAKA)

Pres. Gloria Arroyo

Bayan-Anihan

Concept
DAR implemented Kapit-bisig sa
Kahirapan Agrarian Reform Zones
(KARZONES)
A partnership and convergence
strategy aimed at achieving asset
reforms, poverty reduction, food
insufficiency etc

Land Reform vs. Agrarian

Reform
Land

reform improvement of
farmers relationship to the land that
they cultivate
Agrarian reform concerned with the
total development of farmers on
economic, social and political
transformation
RA 6657 redistribution of lands,
regardless of crops or fruits produced, to
farmers and regular farm workers who
are landless, irrespective of tennurial
arragement

Principles Behind
Social

Justice

Democratization of income and wealth

by equalizing access to land as the
basic productive resource
Just

compensation to land owners

Fair market values are primarily

considered in the land valuation
process
Fair market value full & fair equivalent
loss sustained by the owner