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 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
Prior to RA 3844
Republic Act No. 1199 August 30, 1954
AN 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 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

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 (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 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)


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 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 (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 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. 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
by P.D. No. 27
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 government devoted to or suitable
for agriculture; and
d) 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 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.
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