HISTORY AND EVOLUTION OF MAJOR AGRARIAN REFORM

LAWS/ISSUANCES/PROGRAMS UNDER THE DIFFERENT

PHILIPPINE LEADERSHIP
A. MANUEL L. QUEZON (1935-1944)
1935 Constitution

"The promotion of social justice to ensure the wellbeing and economic security of all people should be the
concern of the State."
Act No. 4054 (Rice Share Tenancy Act)

This is the first law on crop-sharing which legalized the

50-50 share between landlord and tenant
B. MANUEL A. ROXAS (1946-1948)
Republic Act No. 34 An Act Amending Certain Sections of Act
Numbered Four Thousand Fifty-Four, As Amended, Otherwise
Known as "The Philippine Rice Share Tenancy Act"

It established a 70-30 sharing arrangement between

tenant and landlord

It provided that whoever shouldered the expenses of

planting and harvesting and provided the work animals
would be entitled to 70 percent of the harvest

It also reduced the interest on landowner loans to

tenant at no more than 6 percent instead of 10 percent
C. ELPIDIO R. QUIRINO (1948-1953)
Executive Order No. 355 Creating the Land Settlement and
Development Corporation and Dissolving the National Land
Settlement Administration, the Rice and Corn Production
Administration and the Machinery and Equipment Department
of the National Development Company

Replaced the National Land Settlement Administration
(NLSA) with the Land Settlement Development Corporation
(LASEDECO) which took over the responsibilities of the
Agricultural Machinery Equipment Corporation and the Rice
and Corn Production Administration

Created
the
Land
Settlement
Development
Corporation (LASEDECO) on October 23, 1950 to accelerate
the resettlement program which was launched shortly before
World War II
D. RAMON DF. MAGSAYSAY (1953-1957)
Republic Act No. 1160 (NARRA Law) An Act to Further
Implement the Free Distribution of Agricultural Lands of the
Public Domain as Provided for In Commonwealth Act Numbered
Six Hundred and Ninety-One, As Amended, to Abolish the Land
Settlement and Development Corporation Created Under
Executive Order Numbered Three Hundred and Fifty-Five, Dated
October Twenty-Three, Nineteen Hundred and Fifty, and to
Create in Its Place the National Resettlement and Rehabilitation
Administration, and for Other Purposes

Abolished
the
Land
Settlement
Development
Corporation (LASEDECO) and created in its place the
National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration
(NARRA)

The NARRA was established in order to hasten free

distribution of agricultural lands of the public domain to
landless tenants and farmworkers

It was particularly aimed at the peasant base of the

HUK movement (Hukbo ng Bayan Laban sa Hapon
HUKBALAHAP)

It was successful in attracting farmers-turned-rebels to

a peaceful life by giving them homelots and farms in NARRA
settlements in Palawan and in some parts of Mindanao
Republic Act No. 1199 (Agricultural Tenancy Act of
1954) An Act to Govern the Relations Between

Landholders and Tenants of Agricultural Lands

(Leasehold and Share Tenancy)

The first land reform law which regulated all forms and
aspects of tenure relations, except civil lease

It gave share tenants the right to shift to leasehold

where they pay landowners a fixed rental instead of a
variable share

This law also provided security of tenure to tenants by

prohibiting the ejectment of tenants unless the Court of
Agrarian Relations found just cause

The law also allowed the purchase or expropriation of

private lands to be subdivided and resold to tenants at cost

This law created the Court of Agrarian Relations (CAR)

Republic Act No. 1400 (Land Reform Act of 1955) An
Act Defining a Land Tenure Policy, Providing for An
Instrumentality to Carry Out the Policy, and
Appropriating Funds for Its Implementation

Provided for the acquisition of large tenanted rice and

corn lands over 300 hectares if owned by individuals and
600 hectares, if owned by corporations (i.e., it provided for
retention limits of 300 hectares and 600 hectares,
respectively)

Also known as "Land to the Landless Program", it

sought to:
1.
reduce large landholdings and consolidate
smaller, uneconomic holdings into plots of adequate
sizes;
2.
resettle
abundant;

tenants

3.
provide
landholders;

adequate

in

areas

credit

where
facilities

land
for

was
small

4.
reduce rental and interest rates in order to
provide security for those who would remain tenants;

E.

5.

secure land titles for small holders; and

6.

reform the property tax structure.

DIOSDADO P. MACAPAGAL (1961-1965)

Republic Act No. 3844 (Agricultural Land Reform Code/Code of

Agrarian Reforms) An Act to Ordain the Agricultural Land
Reform Code and to Institute Land Reforms in the Philippines,
Including the Abolition of Tenancy and the Channeling of Capital
Into Industry, Provide for the Necessary Implementing Agencies,
Appropriate Funds Therefor and for Other Purposes

Aimed to make the farmers owners of the land they

tilled

It lowered the retention limit from 300 to 75 hectares

This Code abolished share tenancy and instituted the

leasehold system

Invested rights of preemption and redemption for

tenant farmers

Institutionalized a judicial system of agrarian cases

Incorporated extension, marketing and supervised

credit system of services to farmer beneficiaries

One of the law's basic objectives was to establish

owner-cultivatorship and the economic family-sized farm as
the basis of Philippine agriculture and as a consequence,
divert landlord capital in agriculture to industrial
development

This law created the Land Authority headed by a

Governor (under the control and supervision of the
President) for its implementation and to carry out the
aforementioned basic objective

It incorporated some of the features of previous land
reform laws

The Code exempted coverage of plantation crops

which were deemed too important as export earners that
time
F.

FERDINAND E. MARCOS (1965-1986)

Republic Act No. 6389 An Act Amending Republic Act

Numbered Thirty-Eight Hundred and Forty-Four, As Amended,
Otherwise Known as the Agricultural Land Reform Code, and for
Other Purposes)

Significantly amended several provisions of Republic

Act No. 3844

Created the Department of Agrarian Reform, a

separate administrative agency for agrarian reform,
replacing the Land Authority

Instituted the Code of Agrarian Reforms

Presidential Decree No. 2 (Proclaiming the Entire
Country as a Land Reform Area)

Placed the whole country under land reform program

Presidential Decree No. 27 (Decreeing the Emancipation of

Tenants from the Bondage of the Soil, Transferring to Them the
Ownership of the Land They Till and Providing the Instruments
and Mechanism Therefor)

Restricted land reform scope to tenanted rice and corn

lands

It provided for tenanted lands devoted to rice and corn

to pass in ownership to the tenants who worked the
properties

It lowered the ceiling for landholdings to 7 hectares

Share tenants who worked from a landholding of over

7 hectares could purchase the land they tilled, while share

tenants on land less than 7 hectares would become

leaseholders

At the time of land transfer, Certificates of Land

Transfer (CLTs) were issued to the new owners and when
payments were completed, Emancipation Patents (EPs) were
granted

Before being given a CLT, a beneficiary must join an

agrarian reform cooperative or the Samahang Nayon (SN)
G. CORAZON C. AQUINO (1986-1992)
1987 Constitution (Article II, Section 21) "The State shall
promote comprehensive rural development and agrarian
reform"
Proclamation 131 (Instituting a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program)

Instituted the CARP as a major program of the

government

It provided for a special fund known as the Agrarian

Reform Fund (ARF) in the amount of 50 Billion Pesos to cover
the estimated cost of the program for the period 1987-1992

It covers all agricultural lands regardless of tenurial

arrangement and commodity produced, all public and
private agricultural lands, including other lands of the public
domain suitable to agriculture
Executive Order No. 229 (Providing the Mechanism
for the Implementation of the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program)

Provided the mechanisms for CARP's implementation

such as administrative procedures and mechanics for land
registration, private land acquisition, and compensation
procedures to landowners

It also specified the composition and functions of the

governing entities that will coordinate and supervise the
implementation of the program

Executive Order No. 129-A (Modifying Executive

Order No. 129, Reorganizing and Strengthening
the Department of Agrarian Reform Program and
for Other Purposes)

Provided for the strengthening of the DAR as the lead

agency responsible for the implementation of CARP

Reorganized, streamlined and expanded power and

operation of DAR
Executive Order No. 228 (Declaring Full Land
Ownership to Qualified Farmer Beneficiaries
Covered
by
Presidential
Decree
No.
27;
Determining the Value of Remaining Unvalued Rice
and Corn Lands Subject to P.D. No. 27; and
Providing for the Manner of Payment by the Farmer
Beneficiary and Mode of Compensation to the
Landowner)

Declared full landownership

beneficiaries covered by P.D. No. 27

to

qualified

farmer-

Determined the value of remaining unvalued rice and

corn land subject to P.D. No. 27

Provided for the manner of payment by the FB and

mode of compensation to the landowner
Republic Act No. 6657 (Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform
Law)

An
Act
Instituting
A
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program to
Promote Social Justice and Industrialization,
Providing the Mechanism for Its Implementation,
and for Other Purposes)

Pursuant to Section 4, Article XIII of the 1987

Constitution, it undertakes 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

It covers, regardless of tenurial arrangement and
commodity produced, all public and private agricultural
lands as provided in Proclamation No. 131 and Executive
Order No. 229, including other lands of the public domain
suitable for agriculture

More specifically, the following lands are covered by

CARP:
a)
All alienable and disposable lands of the public
domain devoted to or suitable for agriculture;
b)
All lands of the public domain in excess of the
specific limits as determined by Congress in Section 4
(a) of R.A. No. 6657;
c)
All other lands owned by the
devoted to or suitable for agriculture; and

government

d)
All private lands devoted or suitable for
agriculture regardless of the agricultural products
raised or that can be raised thereon
Executive Order No. 405 (Vesting in the Land Bank of
the Philippines the Primary Responsibility to Determine
the Land Valuation and Compensation for All Lands
Covered Under Republic Act No. 6657, Known as the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988)

Vested in the Land Bank of the Philippines the primary

responsibility for land valuation
Executive Order No. 406 (Mandating Certain
Departments and Agencies to Align Their
Respective Programs and Projects with the
Comprehensive
Agrarian
Reform
Program,
Directing the Department of Agrarian Reform to
Accelerate the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries
Development Through the Provision of Economic
and Social Infrastructure Support, and Providing
the Necessary Implementing Mechanisms for the
Purpose)

Emphasized that CARP is central to the government's
efforts to hasten countryside agro-industrial development

Directed the implementing agencies to align their

respective programs and projects with the CARP

This created CARP Implementing Teams from the

national to the municipal levels

It also identified and gave priority to 24 Strategic

Operating Provinces (SOP) where the bulk of CARP workload
lies, without prejudice to program implementation in other
provinces of the country
Executive Order No. 407 (Accelerating the Acquisition
and Distribution of Agricultural Lands, Pasture Lands,
Fishponds, Agro-Forestry Lands and Other Lands of the
Public Domain Suitable for Agriculture)

Directed all government instrumentalities, including

financial institutions and corporations, to turn over to DAR all
lands suitable for agriculture for coverage under CARP
Executive Order No. 448 (Amending Executive
Order No. 407, Series of 1990, Entitled,
"Accelerating the Acquisition and Distribution of
Agricultural Lands, Pasture Lands, Fishponds, AgroForestry Lands and Other Lands of Public Domain
Suitable for Agriculture")

Amended Executive Order No. 407, series of 1990,

providing that:
"All lands or portions thereof reserved by virtue of
Presidential proclamations for specific public uses by
the government, its agencies and instrumentalities,
including
government-owned
or
controlled
corporations suitable for agriculture and no longer
actually, directly and exclusively used or necessary for
the purposes for which they have been reserved, as
determined by the Department of Agrarian Reform in
coordination with the government agency or
instrumentality concerned in whose favor the
reservation was established, shall be segregated from

the reservation and transferred to the Department of

Agrarian Reform for distribution to qualified
beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program."

Executive Order No. 506 (Further Amending Executive

Order No. 407, Series of 1990, as Amended By
Executive Order No. 448, Series of 1991, Accelerating
the Acquisition and Distribution of Agricultural Lands,
Pasture Lands, Fishponds, Agro-Forestry Lands and
Other Lands of Public Domain Suitable for Agriculture)

It declared that except national parks and other

protected areas, all lands or portions of the public domain
reserved by virtue of proclamation or law for specific
purposes or uses by departments, bureaus, offices and
agencies of the Government, which are suitable for
agriculture and no longer actually, directly and exclusively
used or necessary for the purpose for which they have been
reserved as determined by the Department of Agrarian
Reform in coordination with the government agency or
instrumentality concerned in whose favor the reservation
was established, shall be segregated from the reservation
and transferred to the Department of Agrarian Reform for
distribution
to
qualified
beneficiaries
under
the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

It also provided that all existing and proposed National

Parks, Game Refuge and Bird Sanctuaries, Wildlife Reserves,
Wilderness Areas and Other Protected Areas, including old
growth or virgin forests, and all forests above 1,000 meters
elevation or above 50 percent slope, are hereby excluded
from the present segregation, acquisition and distribution
procedures being conducted by the Department of Agrarian
Reform until such time as these area shall have been
identified, studied and determined to be either retained and
reclassified under the National Integrated Protected Areas
System of DENR or to be segregated for agricultural
purposes.
H. FIDEL V. RAMOS (1992-1998)

Republic Act No. 7881 (An Act Amending Certain Provisions of

Republic Act No. 6657, Entitled "An Act Instituting a
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program to Promote Social
Justice and Industrialization, Providing the Mechanism for Its
Implementation, and for Other Purposes")

Amended certain provisions of Republic Act No. 6657,

more significantly Section 10 thereof on exemptions and
exclusions from CARP, to wit:
a)
Lands actually, directly or exclusively used for
parks and wildlife, forest reserves, reforestation, fish
sanctuaries and breeding grounds, watersheds and
mangroves;
b)
Private lands actually, directly or exclusively
used for prawn farms and fishponds: Provided, That
said prawn farms and fishponds have not been
distributed and Certificate of Land Ownership Award
(CLOA) issued to agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs)
under CARP; and
c)
Lands actually, directly and exclusively used and
found to be necessary for sites and institutions, and all
lands with 18% slope and over, except those already
developed.
Republic Act No. 7905 (An Act to Strengthen the Implementation
of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, and for Other
Purposes)

It aimed to strengthen the implementation of the CARP

by amending certain provisions of Republic Act No. 6657,
particularly the provisions on the creation of support services
office (Section 35), funding for support services (Section 36),
Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee (Section
44) and province-by-province implementation of CARP
(Section 45).
Republic Act No. 8532 (An Act Strengthening
Further the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program (CARP), By Providing Augmentation Fund
Therefor, Amending for the Purpose Section 63 of

Republic Act No. 6657, Otherwise Known as "The

CARP Law of 1988")

It authorized the appropriation of an additional amount

of not more than P50 billion needed to implement the CARP
until year 2008

It provided for yearly appropriations of not less than

P3 billion from the General Appropriations Act
ARCs (Agrarian Reform Communities)

The DAR, under the leadership of President Fidel V.

Ramos and Secretary Ernesto D. Garilao, pursued the
"development of agrarian reform communities (ARCs) as its
key program for national development."

An ARC is a barangay at the minimum or a cluster of

contiguous barangays where there is a critical mass of
farmers and farmworkers awaiting the full implementation of
agrarian reform. These farmers and farmworkers will anchor
the integrated development of the area.

In order to optimize the allocation and use of limited

resources and create an impact, the DAR has adopted a
geographical focus and realigned its priorities towards the
development of viable ARCs. In these areas, DAR shall
intensify its interventions to increase farm production,
improve household income, and promote sustainable
development.

I.

ARCs shall serve as growth points in the countryside.

JOSEPH E. ESTRADA (1998-2001)

Executive Order No. 26 (Providing Opportunities for the

Development of Beneficiaries Under the Comprehensive Land
Reform Program to Become Productive Entrepreneurs, Providing
the Mechanism Therefor and for Other Purposes)

It provided that lands covered by Certificates of Land

Ownership Award (CLOA) shall now be accepted as collateral
to secure loans by their registered owners, with the consent
of the farmers cooperative to which they are members, with

the government financial institutions, as well as, with the

private financial institutions: Provided, That the loan
proceeds shall be used exclusively in the furtherance of the
agricultural productivity of the land and related activities.
MAGKASAKA (Magkabalikat sa Kaunlarang Agraryo)

To ensure adequate support services, there is a need

for greater private sector participation, both civil society and
business, in the development of agrarian reform areas.

MAGKASAKA, pursued under the framework of Joint

Economic Enterprises, aimed to bring investments into the
countryside. Investors will be encouraged to become
partners of the farmers in establishing rural business
enterprises, particularly in agrarian reform communities
(ARCs). They will contribute capital, technology and
management support, while the farmers will contribute the
use of their land but not the land itself. The land cannot be
used to settle obligations of the enterprise. This ensures that
ownership of the land remains in the hand of the farmers.
J.

GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO (2001-2010)

Bayan-Anihan (Bayan-Anihan Program for Rural Development

BPRD)

It is DAR's banner program under the Arroyo

Administration to hasten the implementation of the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)

The
following:
(a)

six

main

thrusts

of

Bayan-Anihan

are

the

fast tracking of land acquisition and distribution;

(b)
integrating, rationalizing and institutionalizing
the delivery of support services;
(c)

swift delivery of agrarian justice;

(d)

promoting peace;

(e)
intensifying
marketing; and
(f)

and

institutionalizing

modernizing the DAR bureaucracy.

social