CARPER and the Future of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines PDF

# CARPER and the Future of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines The new deadline of CARP expired in 2008, leaving 1.2 million farmer beneficiaries and 1.6 million hectares of agricultural land to be distributed to farmers. In 2009, President Arroyo signed Republic Act No. 9700 or the Comprehensive Ag...

# CARPER and the Future of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines The new deadline of CARP expired in 2008, leaving 1.2 million farmer beneficiaries and 1.6 million hectares of agricultural land to be distributed to farmers. In 2009, President Arroyo signed Republic Act No. 9700 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms (CARPER), the amendatory law that extended the deadline to five more years. Section 30 of the law also mandates that any case and/or proceeding involving the implementation of the provisions of CARP, as amended, which may remain pending on 30 June 2014 shall be allowed to proceed to its finality and executed even beyond such date From 2009 to 2014, CARPER has distributed a total of 1 million hectares of land to 900,000 farmer beneficiaries. After 27 years of land reform and two Aquino administrations, 500,000 hectares of lands remain undistributed. The DAR and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) are the government agencies mandated to fulfill CARP and CARPER, but even the combined effort and resources of the two agencies have proved incapable of fully achieving the goal of agrarian reform in the Philippines. The same problems have plagued its implementation: the powerful landed elite and the ineffectual bureaucracy of the Philippine government. Until these two challenges are surmounted, genuine agrarian reform in the Philippines remains but a dream to Filipino farmers who have been fighting for their right to landownership for centuries. ## Evolution of Philippine Taxation In today's world, taxation is a reality that all citizens must contend with for the primary reason that governments raise revenue from the people they govern to be able to function fully. In exchange for the taxes that people pay, the government promises to improve the citizens' lives through good governance. Taxation, as a government mechanism to raise funds, developed and evolved through time, and in the context of the Philippines, we must understand that it came with our colonial experience. ## Taxation in Spanish Philippines The Philippines may have abundant natural resources even before the encroachment of the Spaniards, but our ancestors were mainly involved in a subsistence economy, and while the payment of tribute or taxes (buhis/ buwis/handug) or the obligation to provide labor services to the datus in some early Filipino communities in the Philippines may resemble taxation, it is essentially different from the contemporary meaning of the concept. # Post-1986 Agrarian Reform The overthrow of Marcos and the 1987 Constitution resulted in a renewed interest and attention to agrarian reform as President Corazon Aquino envisioned agrarian reform to be the centerpiece of her administration's social legislation, which proved difficult because her background betrayed her she came from a family of a wealthy and landed clan that owned the Hacienda Luisita. On 22 July 1987, Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation 131 and Executive Order 229, which outlined her land reform program. In 1988, the Congress passed Republic Act No. 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), which introduced the program with the same name (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program or CARP). It enabled the redistribution of agricultural lands to tenant-farmers from landowners, who were paid in exchange by the government through just compensation and allowed them to retain not more than five hectares. Corporate landowners were, however, allowed under law to voluntarily divest a proportion of their capital stock, equity, or participation in favor of their workers or other qualified beneficiaries instead of turning over their land to the government. CARP was limited because it accomplished very little during the administration of Aquino. It only accomplished 22.5% of land distribution in six years owing to the fact that Congress, dominated by the landed elite, was unwilling to fund the high compensation costs of the program. It was also mired in controversy, since Aquino seemingly bowed down to the pressure of her relatives by allowing the stock redistribution option. Hacienda Luisita reorganized itself into a corporation and distributed stocks to farmers. Under the term of President Ramos, CARP implementation was speeded in order to meet the ten-year time frame, despite limitations and constraints in funding, logistics, and participation of involved sectors. By 1996, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) distributed only 58.25% of the total area target to be covered by the program. To address the lacking funding and the dwindling time for the implementation of CARP, Ramos signed Republic Act No. 8532 in 1998 to amend CARL and extend the program to another ten years. # Agrarian Reform Efforts under Marcos President Marcos declared Martial Law in 1972, enabling him to essentially wipe out the landlord-dominated Congress. Through his "Technocrats," he was able to expand executive power to start a "fundamental restructuring of government, including its efforts in solving the deep structural problems of the countryside. Presidential Decree No. 27 or the Code of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines became the core of agrarian reform during Marcos regime. ## Primary Source: Presidential Decree No. 27, 21 October 1972 This shall apply to tenant farmers of private agricultural lands primarily devoted to rice and corn under a system of sharecrop or lease-tenancy, whether classified as landed estate or not; The tenant farmer, whether in land classified as landed estate or not, shall be deemed owner of a portion constituting a family-size farm of five (5) hectares if not irrigated and three (3) hectares if irrigated; In all cases, the landowner may retain an area of not more than seven (7) hectares if such landowner is cultivating such area or will now cultivate it; # Agrarian Reform Efforts under Magsaysay The National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration (NARRA) under the administration of President Ramon Magsaysay. Magsaysay saw the importance of pursuing genuine land reform program and convinced the Congress, majority of which were landed elites, to pass legislation to improve the land reform situation. Republic Act No. 1199 or the Agricultural Tenancy Act was passed to govern the relationship between landholders and tenant farmers, protecting the tenurial rights of tenants and enforced tenancy practices. Through this law, the Court of Agricultural Relations was created in 1955 to improve tenancy security, fix land rentals of tenanted farms, and resolve land disputes filed by the landowners and peasant organizations. The Agricultural Tenancy Commission was also established to administer problems created by tenancy. The Agricultural Credit and Cooperative Financing Administration (ACCFA) was also created mainly to provide warehouse facilities and assist farmers in marketing their products. The administration spearheaded the establishment of the Agricultural and Industrial Bank to provide easier terms in applying for homestead and other farmlands. NARRA accelerated the government's resettlement program and distribution of agricultural lands to landless tenants and farmers. It also aimed to convince members of the Huks, a movement of rebels in Central Luzon, to resettle in areas where they could restart their lives as peaceful citizens. Despite a more vigorous effort toward agrarian reform, the situation for the farmers remained dire since the government lacked funds and provided inadequate support services for the programs. The landed elite did not fully cooperate and they criticized the programs. # Agrarian Reform Efforts under Macapagal A major stride in land reform arrived during the term of President Diosdado Macapagal through the Agricultural Land Reform Code (Republic Act No. 3844). ## Primary Source: Declaration of Policy under RA No. 3844 or Agricultural Land Reform Code ## Source: Section 2. Declaration of Policy--It is the policy of the State: (1) To establish owner-cultivatorship and the economic family-size farm as the basis of Philippine agriculture and, as a consequence, divert landlord capital in agriculture to industrial development; (2) To achieve a dignified existence for the small farmers free from pernicious institutional restraints and practices; # Agrarian Politics under the Commonwealth And nearby provinces through the publication, which led to the establishment of the Partido Sakdalista in 1933. They demanded reforms from the government, such as the abolition of taxes and "equal or common" ownership of land, among others. They also opposed the dominant Nacionalista Party's acceptance of gradual independence from the United States, and instead demanded immediate severance of ties with America. For a new party with a small clout, they did well in the 1934 general elections, scoring three seats in the House of Representatives and several local posts. This encouraged them to attempt an uprising in 1935. Upon being crushed, Ramos fled to Tokyo and the Partido Sakdalista collapsed. During the years of the Commonwealth government, the situation further worsened as peasant uprisings increased and landlord-tenant relationship became more and more disparate. President Quezon laid down a social justice program focused on the purchase of haciendas, which were to be divided and sold to tenants. His administration also created the National Rice and Corn Corporation (NARIC) to assign public defenders to assist peasants in court battles for their rights to the land, and the Court of Industrial Relations to exercise jurisdiction over disagreements arising from landowner-tenant relationship. The homestead program also continued through the National Land Settlement Administration (NLSA). Efforts toward agrarian reform by the Commonwealth failed because of many problems such as budget allocation for the settlement program and widespread peasant uprisings. World War II put a halt to all interventions to solve these problems as the Japanese occupied the country. # Post-War Interventions toward Agrarian Reform Rehabilitation and rebuilding after the war were focused on providing solutions to the problems of the past. The administration of President Roxas passed Republic Act No. 34 to establish a 70-30 sharing arrangement between tenant and landlord, respectively, which reduced the interest of landowners’ loans to tenants at six percent or less. The government also attempted to redistribute hacienda lands, falling prey to the woes of similar attempts since no support was given to small farmers who were given lands. Under the term of President Elpidio Quirino, the Land Settlement Development Corporation (LASEDECO) was established to accelerate and expand the resettlement program for peasants. This agency later on became policies to increase the small landholders and distribute ownership to a bigger number of Filipino tenants and farmers. The Philippine Bill of 1902 provided regulations on the disposal of public lands. A private individual may own 16 hectares of land while corporate landholders may have 1,024 hectares. Americans were also given rights to own agricultural lands in the country. The Philippine Commission also enacted Act No. 496 or the Land Registration Act, which introduced the Torrens system to address the absence of earlier records of issued land titles and conduct accurate land surveys. In 1903, the homestead program was introduced, allowing a tenant to enter into an agricultural business by acquiring a farm of at least 16 hectares. This program, however, was limited to areas in Northern Luzon and Mindanao, where colonial penetration had been difficult for Americans, a problem they inherited from the Spaniards. Landownership did not improve during the American period, in fact, it even worsened, because there was no limit to the size of landholdings people could possess and the accessibility of possession was limited to those who could afford to buy, register, and acquire fixed property titles. Not all friar lands acquired by the Americans were given to landless peasant farmers. Some lands were sold or leased to American and Filipino business interest. This early land reform program was also implemented without support mechanisms if a landless peasant farmer received land, he only received land, nothing more. Many were forced to return to tenancy and wealthy Filipino hacienderos purchased or forcefully took over lands from farmers who could not afford to pay their debts. The system introduced by the Americans enabled more lands to be placed under tenancy, which led to widespread peasant uprisings, such as the Colorum and Sakdal Uprising in Luzon. Peasants and workers found refuge from millenarian movements that gave them hope that change could still happen through militancy. The Sakdal (or Sakdalista) Uprising was 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 brought about by issues in land ownership and tenancy in the country. The Filipino word sakdal means "to accuse," which is the title of the newspaper helmed by Benigno Ramos. He rallied support from Manila of the crops and pay tribute. The encomienda system was an unfair and abusive system as "compras y vandalas" became the norm for the Filipino farmers working the land they were made to sell their products at a very low price or surrender their products to the encomenderos, who resold this at a profit. Filipinos in the encomienda were also required to render services to their encomenderos that were unrelated to farming. From this encomienda system, the hacienda system developed in the beginning of the nineteenth century as the Spanish government implemented policies that would fast track the entry of the colony into the capitalist world. The economy was tied to the world market as the Philippines became an exporter of raw materials and importer of goods. Agricultural exports were demanded and the hacienda system was developed as a new form of ownership. In the 1860s, Spain enacted a law ordering landholders to register their landholdings, and only those who knew benefitted from this. Lands were claimed and registered in other people's names, and many peasant families who were "assigned" to the land in the earlier days of colonization were driven out or forced to come under the power of these people who claimed rights to the land because they held a title. This is the primary reason why revolts in the Philippines were often agrarian in nature. Before the colonization, Filipinos had communal ownership of land. The system introduced by the Spaniards became a bitter source of hatred and discontent for the Filipinos. Religious orders, the biggest landowners in the Philippines, also became a main source of abuse and exploitation for the Filipinos, increasing the rent paid by the Filipinos on a whim. Filipinos fought the Philippine Revolution in a confluence of motivations, but the greatest desire for freedom would be the necessity of owning land. Upon the end of the Philippine Revolution, the revolutionary government would declare all large landed estates, especially the confiscated friar lands as government property. However, the first Philippine republic was short-lived. The entrance of the Americans would signal a new era of colonialism and imperialism in the Philippines. # Landownership in the Philippines under the Americans The Americans were aware that the main cause of social unrest in the Philippines was landlessness, and they attempted to put an end to the deplorable conditions of the tenant farmer. They were largely influenced by a combination of reform movements, often spurred by the American vision of a more equitable society, and the practical considerations of cultivating a stable and loyal political base. This led them to passing several land or federal government with regional governments in a single political system. This advocacy is in part an influence of his background, being a local leader in Mindanao that has been mired in poverty and violence for decades. On 7 December 2016, President Duterte signed an executive order creating a consultative committee to review the 1987 Constitution. ## Policies on Agrarian Reform Agrarian reform is essentially the rectification of the whole system of agriculture, an important aspect of the Philippine economy because nearly half of the population is employed in the agricultural sector, and most citizens live in rural areas. Agrarian reform is centered on the relationship between production and the distribution of land among farmers. It is also focused on the political and economic class character of the relations of production and distribution in farming and related enterprises, and how these connect to the wider class structure. Through genuine and comprehensive agrarian reform, the Philippines would be able to gain more from its agricultural potential and uplift the Filipinos in the agricultural sector, who have been, for the longest time, suffering in poverty and discontent. In our attempt to understand the development of agrarian reform in the Philippines, we turn our attention to our country's history, especially our colonial past, where we could find the root of the agrarian woes the country has experienced up to this very day. ## Landownership in the Philippines under Spain When the Spaniards colonized the country, they brought with them a system of pueblo agriculture, where rural communities, often dispersed and scattered in nature, were organized into a pueblo and given land to cultivate. Families were not allowed to own their land -- the King of Spain owned the land, and Filipinos were assigned to these lands to cultivate them, and they paid their colonial tributes to the Spanish authorities in the form of agricultural products. Later on, through the Law of the Indies, the Spanish crown awarded tracts of land to (1) religious orders; (2) repartamientos for Spanish military as reward for their service; and (3) Spanish encomenderos, those mandated to manage the encomienda or the lands given to them, where Filipinos worked and paid their tributes to the encomendero. Filipinos were not given the right to own land, and only worked in them so that they might have a share