A Brief Analysis of Land

Reform in the Philippines

Bunao | Dolor | Sison
What is Land Reform?
Land
Farmer Farmer Farmer Farmer

Farmer Farmer Farmer Farmer

Land Reform Redistribution of
agricultural land

Reallocation to
landless people
Agrarian Reform Redistribution of
agricultural land
(err...same?)

Reallocation to
landless people
Agrarian Reform Redirection of an
agrarian system
Credit measures
Land tenure
Tenant-Landlord relationship
Land consolidation
Agricultural extension, education,
and research
Agrarian Reform in
the Philippines
Spanish encomienda
1902: Land Registration Act

1903: Homestead system

Philippine
Commonwealth
1933: Rice Share Tenancy Act

50-50?
War against Japan
1946: Tenant Act
Whoever provides
farming implements
gets 70% of the profit
1954: Agricultural Share-tenancy and
Tenancy Act leasehold system
Provided the tenure
security of tenants
Created the Court of
Agrarian Relations
1955: Land Creation of Land Tenure
Administration
Reform Act 200 hectares for individuals and
600 hectares for corporations

Kami po ang LTA, amin na

po ang lupa niyo, ibibigay
namin sa mga magsasaka
R.A. 821: Assisted small farmers in
Agricultural securing liberal credit
Credit Established a cooperative
Cooperative financing system
Financing Low interest rates for
Administration loans

Utang here,
utang there,
utang everywhere
1963: Abolished share tenancy
Institutionalized leasehold
Agricultural Set retention limit at 75 hectares
Land Reform Judicial system of agrarian cases
Code Agricultural extension

I recognize
your rights K
1971: Code of Department of Agrarian Reform

Agrarian Reform

Agrarian Reform Special Account Fund
Strengthened the position of farmers

More werpa
mga lodi
Mendiola
Massacre
 Enacted under the basis of CARL
1988: CARP Tenant-farmers given land
Full ownership of beneficiaries
Landowners were allowed to retain five
(5) hectares
Corporate landowners were allowed to
voluntarily divest a proportion of their
capital stock
Php 50B for 1987-1992
Extended twice by Ramos and Arroyo
1988: CARP Land tenure improvement
Program beneficiaries development
Achievements Agrarian justice delivery
Land Reform in Other Countries
A Successful Land Reform: Taiwan

LAND REFORM MUSEUM

Pre-Land Reform Only 36% of the farming population
were owner-farmers and 25% owned
Situation part of their land.

Rent took at least fifty 50% percent of
the income from crop harvests.

Leases were renewed each year and
landlords demanded a security deposit
and assured rentals even during crop
failures.

Contracts were oral.
First Stage(1949): Rents paid by tenants to the landlord were
forcibly dropped from 50% of the crop to
Rent Reduction
37.5% of the crop.

Government encouraged planting of a

second rice crop and additional crops of
tobacco, vegetables, and other foods.

From a land survey undertaken: A farmer
should devote 25% of his land in seed and
fertilizer. The remainder should be divided
equally between the landlord and
tenantand this was put into a written
contract for at least six years.

First Stage(1949):
No more "key money" was paid to the
landlord as a guarantee.

Rent Reduction
Any crop failure was borne equally by the
landlord, and tenant unless it was critical.
The contract will be abolished with no
forced payment by the tenant.

A tenancy committee was established in
each township to settle disputes. If there
was no agreement, disputes could be
brought to the county committee.

Out of 11 on the committee, the tenants had
five representations.
 Sale of government-owned land was taken

Second Stage(1951): over from the Japanese and operated by

tenants with the government collecting the

Sale of Public Lands

rentals.

to Farmers The land was sold to the tenants. This is

different from stage 3 which involved
compulsory purchase of land from landlords
for resale to operator-tenants.

The government sold lands with payments in
20 installments over ten years at 4% per
annum interest. The annual payment was
only 25% of the crop. It did not include land
tax and water fee.

The government provided loans through
farm associations for the farmers needs.
Last Stage(1953):
There was instituted compulsory purchase
by the government of excessive land

Land to the Tiller holdings of absentee land owners for resale

to the operators.

Program
In Taiwan the average land holding is small
and neighbors exchanged labor at planting
and harvest time. Retention of three
hectares of medium grade land of an
irrigable nature was permitted.

The government paid the landlords 30% of
the price in shares in government-owned
enterprises, the other 70% in land bonds or
bonds in kind.

Last Stage(1953):
The government sold four big corporations
and put the stock in the hands of the former

Land to the Tiller

land-owners.

Program This stimulated industry while shifting the

landlords to an industrial capital position at
the same time the tenant got title to his land.
There was little delinquencyonly about
1%in payments for the land. Consequently
the government had a large sum left from
sale of government land. Part was used as
loan capital for tenants on retention areas to
buy land from landlords by private
negotiation.

An Unsuccessful Land Reform:
Sicily, Italy
Land Reform in
The British gained control of Sicily during the
Napoleonic Wars of the early 19th century

Sicily, Italy
and officially abolished feudalism by law on
the island in 1812. The Bourbon kings
continued these reforms in 1816:

The abolition of primogeniture in 1820;

The seizure of land in settlement of debts in

1824; and,

An order giving peasants property rights over at

least one-fifth of the land where common rights
were enjoyed under feudalism.
Land Reform in
The number of large landowners in Sicily
increased from 2,000 to 20,000 between

Sicily, Italy
1812 and 1860. However, this attempt at
land ownership reform actually reinforced
existing structures by weakening the
position of the peasant class .

Although many of the large feudal estates
were broken into small parcels following the
abolition of feudalism, ownership of most of
these properties was granted to their former
stewards (i.e., gabelloti).
Land Reform in
The gabelloti, in turn, used their new riches
and power to acquire a position amongst the

Sicily, Italy
elite upper classes.

Although reluctant to give up power, the old
aristocracy found that they had a common
interest with the gabelloti in terms of
suppressing the peasantry at any price.

The Italian Revolution of 1860 and the
formation of the new Italian state had
additional ramifications on the societal
structure of Sicily.
Land Reform in
The state confiscated a large share of public
and church landholdings and redistributed

Sicily, Italy
them to the public.

Those lands that were given to peasants
tended to be very small (e.g. 4.5 hectares)
and of the very lowest quality.

The post-revolution land reform had
additional unintended consequences that
helped encourage the growth of the mafia.

The confiscation of church lands led to a
feeling of hostility amongst the Popes
towards the Italian government.
Land Reform in
Sicily was a stronghold of Catholicism so its
citizens were strongly influenced by the

Sicily, Italy
Pope's edicts that Catholics refuse to
cooperate with the new state.

There were usually less than 350 policemen
stationed in the entire island of Sicily.

Bandits exacerbated the sense of
lawlessness by arguing that any peasant
who sought the help of the police was going
against the direct wishes of the Pope.

This power vacuum would be instrumental
in the rise of the mafia.
Land Reform: Solving the Inequality
of Wealth
Agricultural
The country should designate or appropriate lands
that could be used for massive agricultural integration

Industrialization and industrialization.

Merely transferring land titles from to

tenants does not ensure increase of
agricultural productivity.
Agricultural There have been laws passed to
modernize the countrys agriculture
Industrialization sector, progress has been very slow
Among these laws are:

Agriculture and Fisheries Modernization Act

(AFMA or Republic Act No. 8435)
Agricultural and Fisheries Modernization Act
(RA 10601)
Cooperative Code of the Philippines (RA 9520)
Credit Surety Fund Cooperative Act (RA 10744)
Agricultural In South Africa, land reform
beneficiaries receive proper training
Industrialization as to make sure that these lands will
be productive.
Unfortunately, due to lack of support from the
government, agricultural colleges became
dysfunctional. Thus, it was not sustained
Going Beyond Land Reform
Bonifacio Gillego
Former soldier and politician known
for his agrarian reform legislation
He observed that the governments land reform
program as well as the proposals of peasant and farm
workers groups faced the limitation of having to
define its program within the context of existing
property relations, that is, individual private
ownership.
He pointed out that a
truly comprehensive
and genuine agrarian reform is not
possible under a system of private
property ownership.
Issues Land ownership is highly concentrated
and feudal lords are obstructing any
meaningful reforms towards fairer
distribution of land.
Most of the rural poor hold only enough land to
sustain and survive or work as sharecropper and
remain at the mercy of the tenancy arrangements with
the landowners. Rental income from land only accrues
to the big farmers while majority of rural population
working as tenant farmers or having very small tracts
of land are on the losing side
Solution People from rural areas need other
ways to earn money. Focus on raising
employment can help reduce rural
income inequality
Currently, the poor and uneducated are unable to
invest in education which could enable them to secure
government jobs. Policies with a pronounced bias in
favour of facilitating non-farm income such as
improving human capital or labour skills by providing
free and quality education, would help correct the
skewed income patterns and reduce the rural poverty
 In 3rd of August 2017,
President Rodrigo Duterte
signed a new law providing
free education for public
tertiary and vocational
schools. Republic Act 10931 or
"Universal Access to Quality
Tertiary Education Act," which
Congress ratified in May and
was transmitted to the Office
of the President on July 5,
gives full tuition subsidy for
students in State Universities
and Colleges (SUCs), local
universities and colleges, and
state-run technical-vocational
schools.

Duterte signs law on free college tuition (Photo from: philstar.com)