I.

THE AGRARIAN REFORM LAW

Agrarian Reform is an instrument of social justice and an act of

political wisdom."
ANGEL N. LAGDAMEO, DD
Archbishop of Jaro
President, CBCP

Background and Purpose

What is Land Reform and Agrarian Reform?
Land Reform is the redistribution of arable land, whether owned by the state
or by the rich farmers. The distribution usually proposes to take from the rich and
give to the poor. 1
Agrarian reform, on the other hand, is a much more comprehensive concept
than land reform. It is defined as an integrated measure designed to eliminate
obstacles to economic and social development arising out of the defects in the
agrarian structure.2
After the 2nd World War, several countries spearheaded development
programs to reduce widespread poverty among landless laborers. One of the
programs considered by the leaders of these countries to be a solution for prevalent
poverty and social injustice is land reform.
Agrarian reform seeks change and development --- change of ownership of
lands, thus, making the farm workers no longer landless farmers but landowners
themselves and development as they become empowered with the land they own.
In the Philippines, agrarian reform is being undertaken by the government as
a measure to mitigate social injustice and to change the prevailing situation of
unjust and inequitable ownership of land to one where landless farmers are no
longer landless but landowners.
For hundreds of years, most of the Filipino people worked as tenants, farm
workers and landless agricultural laborers. Such condition contributed to social
inequality and is one of the reasons for the prevalence of poverty in the
countryside. It is precisely because of this situation that the government sought
reform. Hence, the evolution of the agrarian reform program.
CARP, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, is the redistribution of
1

Beehner, Lionel (2005). Q&A: Land Reform, as published online in

http://www.nytimes.com/cfr/international/slot1_122405.html?_r=1& on December 24, 2005.
2
Leong, Benjamin T. (1992). Agrarian Reform: In the Legacy of Aquino Administration.

public and private agricultural lands to farmers and farmworkers who are landless,
irrespective of tenurial arrangement. CARPs vision is to have an equitable land
ownership with empowered agrarian reform beneficiaries who can effectively
manage their economic and social development to have a better quality of life.
On this note, the Department of Agrarian Reform is tasked with identifying
lands which are coverable under the program. The same government agency
identifies the farmer-beneficiaries and grants them the Emancipation Patent or
Certificate of Land Ownership Award.
One of the major programs of CARP is Land Tenure Improvement, which seeks
to hasten distribution of lands to landless farmers. Similarly, the Department offers
Support Services to the beneficiaries such as infrastructure facilities, marketing
assistance program, credit assistance program, and technical support programs.
Furthermore, the department seeks to facilitate, resolve cases and deliver Agrarian
Justice.
The legal basis for CARP is Republic Act No. 6657, otherwise known as the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), signed by President Corazon C. Aquino
on June 10, 1988. It is an act which aims to promote social justice and
industrialization, providing the mechanism for its implementation, and for other
purposes.3

http://www.dar.gov.ph/ra-6657-what-is-carp-comprehensive-agrarian-reform-program