Agrarian Reforms

and Policies

The Philippine
Constitution
 Agrarian Reform

● Defined as the rectification of the whole system of

agriculture
● Is concern with the relation between production and
distribution of land among farmers
● The processing of raw materials that are produced by
farming the land from the respective industries.
 History of Agrarian Reform
Pre-Colonial

● Filipinos already lived in villages and

barangay.
● The settlements were ruled by the
chieftains or datus who comprised
the nobility.
● There were no owner cultivators only
communal lands
● Rice was a medium of exchange as
money is yet unknown.
 History of Agrarian Reform

Spanish Period (1565-1898)

1. Encomienda System (Royal Land Grant)

2. Muara Degree (1 year for title)
3. Unrecognized of local customs.
4. Establishment of pueblos
5. Mortgage (pagsasanla)
6. Inquilinos (friars’ tax)
 History of Agrarian Reform

American Period

1. Philippine Bill 1902- set the ceiling

on the hectares of private land and
corporations
2. Land registration of 1902- private
owner through torrens system
3. Cadastral Act- survey of land
4. Public land 1903- introduced the
homestead system in the Philippines
5. Friars Land 1904- lease and sale
 History of Agrarian Reform

1935 Constitution and Quezon’s Plan established

1. Rice Share Tenancy Act 1936

- 50/50 percent tenant-landlord relationship
2. Regulation of 10 percent interest
3. No dismissal of landlords
4. Contract for 1 year only
 History of Agrarian Reform

Japanese Period

1. HUKBALAHAP controlled the whole

Central Luzon.
2. Peasant earned fixed rental of land
3. Peasant armed themselves and were
against the Japanese.
 History of Agrarian Reform

Manuel Roxas policy on land

reform:

1. Tenant Act - 70-30 percent to

landlord- tenants and regulated
shared tenancy.
 History of Agrarian Reform

Ramon Magsaysay policies on

land reform:

1. Agricultural Tenancy Act of 1954-

tenure of tenants-land owners
2. Land Reform Act of 1955- distribution
of rice and corn lands over 200
hectares for farmers and 600
corporations.
 History of Agrarian Reform

Diosdado Macapagal policies on

land reform:

1. Agricultural Land Reform Code-

distribution of private lands to
farmers on easy term of payment.
2. Retention limit of 75 hectares
3. Exemption, transfer of landlordism
 History of Agrarian Reform

Ferdinand Marcos policies on land

reform:

1. R.A 6390- agrarian reform special fund

act- finance the agrarian reform
programs.
2. Tenant Emancipation Act- operational
land transfer.
3. PD No.27- 27 hectares up sell
 History of Agrarian Reform
Cory Aquino policies on land
reform:
1. Article II, Section 21 of the 1987-
provides that “The State shall promote
comprehensive rural development and
agrarian reform”
● EO No.228- full land ownership to qualified
farmer-beneficiaries
● EO No.229- provide mechanism for the
implementation of the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)
 History of Agrarian Reform
Cory Aquino policies on land reform:
2. Proclamation No. 131, July 22, 1987- instituted the CARP as
a major program of the government. Provided for a special
fund known as the Agrarian Reform Fund (ARF) with an initial
amount of 50 billion
● EO No. 129 streamlined and expanded the power and
operations of the DAR.
● RA No. 6657 aka Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law
(CARL)- this law instituted a comprehensive agrarian
reform program to promote social justice and
industrialization.
 History of Agrarian Reform
Fidel V. Ramos policies on land
reform:
1. RA No. 7881 of 1995-this law amended
certain provisions of RA 6657 and exempted
fishponds and prawns from CARP coverage.
2. RA No. 7905 of 1995- which strengthened
CARP implementation
3. RA No. 363 of 1997, which prescribed the
guidelines for the protection of areas non-
negotiable for conversion and monitoring
compliances with sec. 20 of the Local
Government Code.
 History of Agrarian Reform
Joseph Estrada policies on land
reform:
● ERAP initiated the enactment of EO No. 151,
September 1999 Farmers Trust Fund) which
established the farmers trust development
program and provided institutional reforms
and fund mechanism for mobilizing long term
private sector capital for rural development.
● Launched the Magkabalikat para sa
Kaunlarang Agraryo or Magsasaka
● DAR forged into joint venture with private
investor into agrarian.
 History of Agrarian Reform
Gloria Arroyo policies on land reform:
1. Signed EO No. 379 s 2004 (Sept. 27, 2004)
amending EO No. 364 entitled transforming the
Department of Agrarian Reform into the
Department of land Reform (DLR), broadened
the scope of the Dept. making it responsible of
all reform in the country.
● Also placed the Philippine Commission on Urban
Poor (PCUP) under its supervision and control
● DLR also responsible for the recognition of the
ownership of ancestral domain by IP’s under the
National Commision on Indigenous People
(NCIP)
 History of Agrarian Reform
Gloria Arroyo policies on land reform:
1. Memorandum Circular No. 4 series of 2003 operationalized
the development of Kapit-Bisig Laban sa Kahirapan
Agrarian Reform Zones (KALAHI ARZones)
2. RA No. 9700 series of 2009, an act strengthening the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP),
extending the acquisition and distribution of all agricultural
lands, instituting necessary reforms, amending certain
provisions of RA No. 6657, aka as the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Law of 1988, as amended, and
appropriating funds therefor.
 Constitution

● is a set of fundamental principles or

established precedents according to
which a state or other organization is
governed.
● It symbolizes the country’s freedom and
independence.
● Serves as the supreme fundamental law.
● Must be broad, brief and define.
The Philippine Constitution
● THE 1897 CONSTITUTION OF BIAK-NA-BATO
● 1899 MALOLOS CONSTITUTION
● 1935 THE COMMONWEALTH CONSTITUTION
● THE 1943 CONSTITUTION
● THE 1973 CONSTITUTION
● THE 1987 CONSTITUTION
 The 1897 Constitution of Biak- na- Bato

● The constitution of Biak-na-Bato was the provisional

constitution of the Philippine Republic during the
Philippine Revolution, and was promulgated by the
Philippine Revolutionary Government on Nov. 1, 1897.
● The constitution borrowed from Cuba, was written by
Isabelo Artacho and Felix Ferrer
● was never fully implemented, since a truce, the Pact of
Biak-na-Bato, was signed between the Spanish and the
Philippine Revolutionary Army
 1899: Malolos Constitution

● After, the signing of the truce,the Filipino revolutionary leaders

accepted a payment from Spain and went to exile in Hong Kong.
● Upon the defeat of the Spanish to the Americans in the battle of
Manila Bay on May 1, 1898, the United States Navy transported
Aguinaldo back to the Philippines.
● The newly reformed Philippine revolutionary forces reverted to the
control of Aguinaldo, and the Philippine Declaration of
Independence was issued on June 12, 1898, together with several
decrease that formed the first Philippine Republic.
● The Malolos Congress was elected, which selected a commission to
draw up a draft constitution on Sept. 17, 1898, which was
composed of wealthy and educated men.
 1899: Malolos Constitution

● Promulgated by Aguinaldo on Jan. 21, 1899, was titled “The

Political Constitution of 1899” and written in Spanish.
● Pattern after the Spanish Constitution(Belgium, Mexico, Brazil,
Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala and French Constitution of
1793)
● According to Felipe Calderon, main author of the constitution,
these countries were studied because they shared similar social,
political, ethnological, and governance conditions with the
Philippines.
 1899: Malolos Constitution

● The sovereignty was retroverted to the people, a legal principle

underlying the Philippine Revolution.
● The people delegated government functions to civil servants
while they retain actual sovereignty.
● The 27 articles of Title IV detail the natural rights and popular
sovereignty of Filipinos, the enumeration of which does not
imply the prohibition of any other rights not expressly stated
● State recognize the freedom and equality of all beliefs as well as
Separation of State and Church.
 1899: Malolos Constitution

● The form of government is to be popular, represemntative,

alternative and responsible, and shall exercise three distinct
powers- legislative, executive, and judicial.
● The legislative power was vested in a unicameral body called
Assembly of Representatives, members of which are elected for
terms of four years.
● Secretaries of the government were given seats in the assembly,
which meet annually for a period of at least three months.
● Bills could be introduced either by the president or by a member
of the assembly.
 1935: Commonwealth Constitution

● From 1898 to 1901, the Philippines would be placed under a

military government until a civil government would put into
place
● Two acts of the United State Congress were passed that may be
considered to have qualities of constitutionality.
● First was the Philippine Organic Act of 1902, the first organic
law of the Philippine Islands that provided for the creation of a
popularly elected Philippine Assembly.
 1935: Commonwealth Constitution

● The act specified that the legislative power would be vested in a

bicameral legislature composed of the Philippine Commision as
the upper house and the Philippine Assembly as the lower house.
● Included a bill of rights for Filipinos and the appointment of two
non-voting Filipino Resident Commissioners .
● Philippine Autonomy Act of 1916, commonly referred to as
“Jones Laws”which modified the structure of the Philiippine
government.
 1935: Commonwealth Constitution

● In 1932, with the efforts of the Filipino independence mission

led by Sergio Osmena and Manuel Roxas, the United States
Congress passed th Hare-Hawes Cutting Act with the promise of
granting Filipinos’ independence
● The bill was opposed by then Senate President Manuel L.
Quezon and consequently, rejected by the Philippine Senate.
● By 1934, the Tydings-McDuffie Act, also known as the Philippine
Independence Act, was passed by the United States Congress
that provided authority and defined mechanism for the
establishment of a formal constitution by a constitutional
convention.
 1935: Commonwealth Constitution

● The constitution created the Commonwealth of the Philippines,

an administrative body that governed the Philippine from 1935
to 1946
● It originally provided for a unicameral National Assembly with a
president and vice president elected six years term without re-
election
● It was amended in 1940 to have a bicameral Congress composed
of a Senate and a House of representative, as well as the
creation of an independent electoral commission, and limited
the term of office of the president and vice president to four
years, with one re-election.
 1935: Commonwealth Constitution

● Rights to suffrage were originally afforded to male citizens of

the Philippines who are 21 years of age above and are able to
read and write, this was later on extended to women within two
years after the adaptation of the constitution.
● The draft of the constitutional convention on February 8, 1935,
and ratified by then U.S President Franklin B. Roosevelt on
March 25, 1935.
 1935: Commonwealth Constitution

● Election were held in September 1935 and Manuel L.

Quezon was elected President of the Commonwealth.
● Afterward, upon liberation, the Philippines was
declared an independent republic on July 4, 1946.
 1973: Constitutional Authoritarianism

● Philippine congress passed a resolution calling for

constitutional convention to change the 1973
constitution.
● Before the convention finished its work, Martial Law
was declared.
● Marcos cited a growing communist insurgency as
reason for the Martial Law, which was provided for in
the 1935 constitution.
 1973: Constitutional Authoritarianism

● With Marcos as dictator, the direction of the

convention turned, with accounts that the president
himself dictated some provisions of the constitution,
manipulating the document to be able to hold on to
power for as long as he could.
● On Nov. 29, 1972, the convention approved its
proposed constitution.
 1973: Constitutional Authoritarianism

● The constitution was supposed to introduce a

parliamentary -style government, where legislative
power was vested in a unicameral National Assembly,
with member being elected to a six-year term.
● The President would serve a six-year term and could be
re-elected to an unlimited number of terms.
● Executive power was relegated to the Prime Minister,
who was also the head of government and Commander-
in-chief of the Armed Forces who was also to be elected
from the National Assembly.
 1973: Constitutional Authoritarianism

● The constitution was supposed to introduce a

parliamentary -style government, where legislative
power was vested in a unicameral National Assembly,
with member being elected to a six-year term.
● The President would serve a six-year term and could be
re-elected to an unlimited number of terms.
● Executive power was relegated to the Prime Minister,
who was also the head of government and Commander-
in-chief of the Armed Forces who was also to be elected
from the National Assembly.
 1973: Constitutional Authoritarianism

● In 1976, citizen assemblies, once again, decided to allow

the continuation of Martial Law, as well as approved the
amendments.
● In 1981, the parliamentary system was formally modified
to a french- style, semi-presidential system where
executive power was restored to the president who was,
once again, to be directly elected; an executive committee
was to be created, composed of the Prime Minister and 14
others, that served as the president’s cabinet, and some
electoral reforms were instituted.
 1973: Constitutional Authoritarianism

● After all the amendments introduced, the 1973

constitution was merely a way for the President to keep
executive powers, abolish the Senate, and by any means,
never acted as a parliamentary system, instead
functioned as an authoritarian presidential system, with
all the real power concentrated in the hands of the
president, with the backing of the constitution.
● Marcos then was forced to hold the “snap” elections a
year early, and said elections were marred by widespread
fraud.
 1973: Constitutional Authoritarianism

● A small group of military rebels attempted to stage a

coup, but failed; however this triggered what came to be
known as the EDSA People Power Revolution of 1986, as
people from all walks of life spilled into the streets.
● Under pressure from the United State of America, who
used to supply Marcos and his Martial Law, the Marcoses
family fled into exile.
● Corazon Aquino, was installed as president on Feb. 25,
1986.
 1987: Constitution After Martial Law

● Aquino, government had three options regarding the

constitution; revert to the 1935 constitution, retain the 1973
constitution and be granted the power to make reforms or
start anew and break from the “ vestiges of a disgraced
dictatorship.”
● They decided to make a new constitution that, according to the
president herself, should be “truly reflective to the aspirations
and ideals to the Filipino people
● In March 1986, Pres. Aquino proclaimed a transitional
constitution to last for a year while a Constitutional
Commission drafted a permanent constitution.
 1987: Constitution After Martial Law

● This transitional constitution, called the Freedom Constitution,

maintained many provision of the old one, including in
rewritten form the presidential right to rule by decree.
● In 1986, a constitutional convention was created, composed of
48 members appointed by Pres. Aquino from varied
backgrounds and representations.
● The convention drew up a permanent constitution, largely
restoring the setup abolished by Marcos in 1972, but with new
ways to keep the president in check, a reaction to the
experience of Marcos’s rule.
● The new constitution was officially adopted on Feb. 2, 1987.
 1987: Constitution After Martial Law

● The constitution begins with a preamble and eighteen self-

contained articles.
● It established the Philippines as a “democratic republican
State” where “sovereignty resides in the people and all
government authority emanates from them.”
● It allocates government power among executive, legislatures,
and judicial branch of the government.
Let’s Have a SEATWORK!!