It was year 1985 when Corazon Aquino’s administration launched the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform

Law (CARL) or Republic Act No. 6650 and later on passed by Gloria Arroyo’s administration on August
7,2009 as Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension and Reform (CARPER) which strengthen
and improved the CARL. It aims to provide agricultural lands to landless farmers. This reform program
will be facilitated primarily by the Department of Agrarian Reform together with the Department of
Natural Resources which are responsible with the identification and distribution of covered lands or
what we call “carpable land”. A total of 7.8 million hectares are subjected and covered by the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension and Reform which excludes parks, wildlife, fish
sanctuaries, campuses, cemeteries and etc.

In spite of the objective or aim of this CARP, Filipino farmers remain dissatisfied with Agrarian Reform.
First of the concerns is that the farmers still have difficulty to occupy the lands that were provided for
them but the land titles are hidden in the Department of Agrarian offices where the landlords use
“delaying tactics”. Second, hectares allocated for the CARP, 127,000 hectares out of the 7.8 million
hectares intended for CARP have not been issued yet with notices of coverage which means that the
government failed to do the 27 steps to acquire and distribute lands. Third, it was also reported by the
farmers that the Department of Agrarian Reform officials aren’t willing to implement programs intended
to help the farmers, it was when the farmers asked the DAR officials for protection. During Benigno
Aquino III presidency, the target of 198,000 hectares of farmlands which are intended to be distributed
to CARP beneficiaries has only made 18% of the targets which shows how uncompetitive the officials are
to implement reforms and programs. Fourth, a number of farmers have their land titles cancelled. The
titles are said to be destroyed and can be reissued with court process (knowing the Philippines courts
tho). Fifth, the alarming killings that involved farmers. The farmers believe that it is not only their
property or land rights that are being violated but also their human rights, taking into account how the
other farmers are killed just to evict them form their land. Jose Rodito Angeles of Task Force Mapalad
asserted that the victories during Aquino administration CARP, it is because the farmers fought for their
lives to reclaim the land they own and not because of the help of government. Lastly, some CARP
provisions are not in accordance with the law which involves zoning conversion.

Agrarian reforms have been one of the unending problems of the Filipinos even since the Spanish
colonization. The farmers will still remain dissatisfied specially if their rights have been set aside and
forgotten by those elected officials who have promised for better governance. In my opinion, I think the
government has to make a new department responsible and directed primarily for the farmers’
supplications and needs. The Department of Agrarian Reform and Department of Environment and
Natural Resources should have a shared responsibility and division of labor to attend to the needs of he
farmers. The government officials have to do their jobs, they have to implement completely and widely
without taking into the picture their personal interest.