OVERVIEW OF AGRARIAN LAWS

DIOSDADO P. MACAPAGAL (1961-1965)Republic Act No. 3844(August 8, 1963) (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 PurposesAimed to make the farmers owners of the land they tilledIt lowered the retention limit from 300 to 75 hectaresThis Code abolished share tenancy and instituted the leasehold systemPrior to RA 3844Republic Act No. 1199 August 30, 1954AN ACT TO GOVERN THE RELATIONS BETWEEN LANDHOLDERS AND TENANTS OF AGRICULTURAL LANDS (LEASEHOLDS AND SHARE TENANCY)Section 4.Systems of Agricultural Tenancy; Their Definitions.- Agricultural tenancy is classified into leasehold tenancy and share tenancy.Share tenancy exists whenever two persons agree on a joint undertaking for agricultural production wherein one party furnishes the land and the other his labor, with either or both contributing any one or several of the items of production, the tenant cultivating the land personally with the aid of labor available from members of his immediate farm household, and the produce thereof to be divided between the landholder and the tenant in proportion to their respective contributions.Leasehold tenancy exists when a person who, either personally or with the aid of labor available from members of his immediate farm household, undertakes to cultivate a piece of agricultural land susceptible of cultivation by a single person together with members of his immediate farm household, belonging to or legally possessed by, another in consideration of a price certain or ascertainable to be paid by the person cultivating the land either in percentage of the production or in a fixed amount in money, or in both.

Invested rights of preemption and redemption for tenant farmersInstitutionalized a judicial system of agrarian casesIncorporated extension, marketing and supervised credit system of services to farmer beneficiariesOne 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 developmentThis 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 objectiveIt incorporated some of the features of previous land reform lawsThe Code exempted coverage of plantation crops which were deemed too important as export earners that time

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 ofRepublic Act No. 3844Created the Department of Agrarian Reform, a separate administrative agency for agrarian reform, replacing the Land AuthorityInstituted the Code of Agrarian ReformsPresidential Decree No. 2(Proclaiming the Entire Country as a Land Reform Area)Placed the whole country under land reform programPresidential Decree No. 27 (21 October 1972) (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 landsIt provided for tenanted lands devoted to rice and corn to pass in ownership to the tenants who worked the propertiesIt lowered the ceiling for landholdings to 7 hectaresShare 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 leaseholdersAt 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 grantedBefore being given a CLT, a beneficiary must join an agrarian reform cooperative or the Samahang Nayon (SN)

CORAZON C. AQUINO (1986-1992)1987 Constitution(Article II, Section 21) "The State shall promote comprehensive rural development and agrarian reform"Proclamation 131 (22 July 1987)(Instituting a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program)Instituted the CARP as a major program of the governmentIt 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 1987-1992It 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 agricultureExecutive Order No. 229 (22 July 1987) (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 landownersIt also specified the composition and functions of the governing entities that will coordinate and supervise the implementation of the programExecutive Order No. 228(17 July 1987) (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 to qualified farmer-beneficiaries covered byP.D. No. 27Determined the value of remaining unvalued rice and corn land subject toP.D. No. 27Provided for the manner of payment by the FB and mode of compensation to the landownerRepublic 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 the1987 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 thereofIt covers, regardless of tenurial arrangement and commodity produced, all public and private agricultural lands as provided inProclamation No. 131andExecutive Order No. 229, including other lands of the public domain suitable for agricultureMore 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 government devoted to or suitable for agriculture; andd)All private lands devoted or suitable for agriculture regardless of the agricultural products raised or that can be raised thereon

FIDEL V. RAMOS (1992-1998)Republic Act No. 7881(20 February 1995) (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 ofRepublic 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; andc)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.GLORIA MACAPAGAL ARROYO (2001-2010)

RA 9700 (August 7, 2009) (AN ACT STRENGTHENING THE COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM (CARP), EXTENDING THE ACQUISITION AND DISTRIBUTION OF ALL AGRICULTURAL LANDS, INSTITUTING NECESSARY REFORMS, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6657, OTHERWISE, KNOWN AS THE COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM LAW OF 1988, AS AMENDED, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS THEREFOR)

SOURCE: http://www.lis.dar.gov.ph/?doc_type=History+and+Evolution+of+Major+Agrarian+Reform+Laws