Socio-economic Assessment of the Philippine Agrarian Reform

Petr DrbohlavJan SvitálekJiří Hejkrlík

DOI 10.7160/aol.2017.090203
No 2/2017, June
pp. 33-46

Drbohlav, P., Svitálek, J. and Hejkrlík, J. (2017) “Socio-economic Assessment of the Philippine Agrarian Reform", AGRIS on-line Papers in Economics and Informatics, Vol. 9, No. 2, pp. 33 - 46. ISSN 1804-1930. DOI 10.7160/aol.2017.090203.

Abstract

This paper, using qualitative research methods, aims to assess the challenges faced by the Philippine Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program and its extension on the selected cases from ve Philippine provinces. In 27 years of its implementation, the agrarian reform has achieved land redistribution of around 7.7 million hectares despite the periodical lack of political will and opposition from landlords, sometimes violent or through protracted legal battles. Support services focus almost exclusively on Agrarian Reform Communities, in which such services are funded mostly through the of cial development assistance from abroad rather than government’s budget. Limited availability of support services to those agrarian reform bene ciaries located outside of Agrarian Reform Communities prevents them from becoming economically viable producers and seriously taints whatever land distribution may have accomplished. Some reform bene ciaries may have been awarded their land on paper but were not able to take possession of the land or must have abdicated control of it.

Keywords

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), land reform, land redistribution, landlordism, land con ict, agriculture support services.

References

  1. Adam, J. (2013) “Land reform, dispossession and new elites: A case study on coconut plantations in Davao Oriental, Philippines”, Asia Paci c Viewpoint, Vol. 54, No. 2, August 2013. ISSN 1467-8373. DOI 10.1111/apv.12011.
  2. Adamopoulos, T. and Restuccia, D. (2014) “Land Reform and Productivity: A Quantitative Analysis with Micro Data”, Working Paper 525, Toronto: University of Toronto, Department of Economics. [Online]. Available: https://www.economics.utoronto.ca/public/workingPapers/tecipa-525.pdf [Accessed: 23 Jan. 2017].
  3. Adams, M. (1995) “Land Reform: New Seeds on Old Grounds”, London: The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs. [Online]. Available: http://agris.fao.org/agris-search/ search.do?recordID=GB9617750 [Accessed: 2 Mar. 2017].
  4. Albertus, M. (2015) “Autocracy and redistribution: the politics of land reform”, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. ISBN 978-1-107-10655. DOI 10.1017/CBO9781316227107.
  5. Balisacan, A. M. (2007) “Agrarian Reform and Poverty Reduction in the Philippines”. [Online]. Available: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/241061667_Agrarian_Reform_ and_ Poverty_ Reduction_in_the_Philippines [Accessed: 23 Feb. 2017].
  6. Banerjee, A.V. (1999) “Land Reforms: Prospects and Strategies”, Annual World Bank Conference on Development Economics, Washington D.C. and MIT Department of Economics Working Paper No. 99-24. SSRN Electronic Journal. November 1999. DOI 10.2139/ssrn.183711.
  7. Binswanger, H. P. and Deininger, K. (1996) “South African land policy: the legacy of history and current options”, in van Zyl, J., Kirsten, J. and Binswanger, H.P. (eds.) “Agricultural Land Reform in South Africa: Policies, Markets and Mechanisms.” Oxford: Oxford University Press. ISBN 0195713850.
  8. Bejeno, C. E. (2010) “Land Reform and Gender Justice: The Peasant Women’s Movement in the Philippines”, Master’s thesis. The Hague: International Institute of Social Studies, Graduate School of Development Studies.
  9. Borras, S. M. Jr. (2005) “Can Redistributive Reform Be Achieved via Market-Based Voluntary Land Transfer Schemes? Evidence and Lessons from the Philippines”, The Journal Of Development Studies. Vol. 41, No. 1. DOI 10.1080/0022038042000276581.
  10. Borras, S. M. Jr. (2006) “The Underlying Assumptions, Theory, and Practice of Neoliberal Land Policies”, in Rosset, P., Patel, R. and Courville, M. (Eds.): “Promised Land. Competing Visions of Agrarian Reform”, New York: Institute for Food and Development Policy. ISBN 978-0-935028-28-7.
  11. Borras, S. M. Jr. (2007) “Pro-poor Land Reform: A Critique”, Ottawa: University of Ottawa Press. ISBN 9780776617718.
  12. Borras, S. M. Jr., Carrranza, D. and Franco, J. C. (2007) “Anti-poverty or Anti-poor? The World Bank’s market-led agrarian reform experiment in the Philippines.” Third World Quarterly, Vol. 28, No. 8, pp 1557–1576. ISSN 0143-6597. DOI 10.1080/01436590701637409.
  13. Borras, S. M. Jr. and Franco, J. C. (2006) “Struggles for land and livelihood. Redistributive Reform in Agribusiness Plantations in the Philippines”, Critical Asian Studies, Vol. 37, No. 3. DOI 10.1080/14672710500200383.
  14. Borras, S. M. Jr. and Franco, J. C. (2007) “The National Campaign for Land Reform in the Philippines”, Brighton: Institute of Development Studies, University of Sussex. [Online]. Available: http://www.ids.ac.uk/ids/Part/proj/pnp.html [Accessed: 23 Mar. 2017].
  15. Cohen, S. I. (1978) “Agrarian structures and agrarian reform: Exercises in development theory and policy”, Leiden: Martinus Nijhoff. ISBN 9020707647. DOI 10.1007/978-1-4613-4086-7.
  16. Cotula, L., Toulmin, C. and Quan, J. (2006) “Better Land Access for the Rural Poor. Lessons from Experience and Challenges Ahead.” London: International Institute for Environment and Development. ISBN 1-84369-632-0.
  17. Cox, M., Munro-Faure, P., Mathieu, P., Herrera, A., Palmer, D. and Groppo, P. (2003) “FAO in agrarian reform”, Land Reform, Land Settlement and Cooperatives. Vol. 2, pp. 12-31. ISSN 0252-1894.
  18. Cruz, J. P. D. and Manahan, M. A. B. (2014) “CARPER Diem: A Socio-Legal Analysis of the State of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform in the Aquino Administration”, Ateneo Law Journal, Vol. 59, No. 3. ISSN 0115-6136.
  19. Deininger, K. and Binswanger, H. P. (1999) “The Evolution of the World Bank’s Land Policy: Principles, Experience, and Future Challenges”, The World Bank Research Observer, Vol. 14, No. 2. pp 247–76.
  20. Deininger, K. and Binswanger, H. P. (1999) “The Evolution of the World Bank’s Land Policy: Principles, Experience, and Future Challenges”, The World Bank Research Observer, Vol. 14, No. 2. pp 247–76.
  21. Elvinia, J. (2011) “Is Land Reform a Failure in the Philippines? An Assessment on CARP”, in Kimura, H., Suharko, Javier, A. B. and Tangsupvattana, A. (Eds.) (2011) “Limits of Good Governance in Developing Countries”. Yogyakarta: Gadjah Mada University Press. ISBN 979-420-767-5.
  22. Focus on the Global South (2013) “The State of Agrarian Reform Under President Benigno Aquino III’s Government. Beyond the Numbers: A struggle for social justice and inclusive rural development”, Quezon City: Focus on the Global South-Philippines.
  23. Fuwa, N. (2000) “Politics and Economics of Land Reform in the Philippines: a survey”, [Online]. Available: https://mpra.ub.uni-muenchen.de/23394/ [Accessed: 23 Mar. 2017].
  24. Ghimire, K. B. (2001) “Land Reform and Peasant Livelihoods: The Social Dynamics of Rural Poverty and Agrarian Reform in Developing Countries”. London: ITDG. ISBN 1-85339-527-7. DOI 10.3362/9781780443577.
  25. Government of the Philippines (1988) “Republic Act No. 6657. An Act Instituting A Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program to promote social justice and industrialization, providing the mechanism for its implementation, and for other purposes.” [Online]. Available: http://www.dar.gov.ph/ra- 6657-what-is-carp-comprehensive-agrarian-reform-program [Accessed: 14 Jan. 2017].
  26. GTZ [Gesellschaft für technische Zusammenarbeit] (2006) “The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program: Scenarios and Options for Future Development”, [Online]. Available: http://www.dar.gov.ph/downloads/category/92-carp-scenarios-and-options-for-future-development [Accessed: 14 Jan. 2017].
  27. Guardian, E. A. (2003) “Impact of access to land on food security and poverty: the case of Philippine agrarian reform”. Paper presented at the 29th Session of the Committee on World Food Security, Rome, 12 - 16 May 2003. [Online]. Available: http://www.fao.org/docrep/006/j0415t/j0415t08. htm#fn11 [Accessed: 14 Apr. 2017].
  28. Jacobs, S. (2013) “Agrarian reforms”, Current Sociology Review, Vol. 61, No. 5-6, pp. 862-885, ISSN 0011-3921. DOI 10.1177/0011392113486660.
  29. Lavelle, D. (2013) “A Twenty- rst Century Socialist Agriculture? Land Reform, Food Sovereignty and Peasant–State Dynamics in Venezuela”, International Journal of Sociology of Agriculture and Food, Vol. 21, No. 1, pp. 133–154. ISSN 0798-1759.
  30. Platteau, J. P. (1992) “Land reform and structural adjustment in sub-Saharan Africa: controversies and guidelines”. Rome: FAO. ISBN 92-5-103000-6.
  31. Putzel, J. (1992) “A Captive Land: The Politics of Agrarian Reform in the Philippines”, Manila: Ateneo de Manila University Press. ISBN 10 0853458421.
  32. Reyes, C. M. (2002) “Impact of Agrarian Reform on Poverty”, Discussion Paper No. 2002-02. Makati City: Philippine Institute for Development Studies.
  33. Riedinger, J. M. (1995) “Agrarian Reform in the Philippines: Democratic Transitions and Redistributive Reform”, Redwood City, CA: Stanford University Press. ISBN 9780804725309.
  34. Senate Economic Planning Of ce. (2008) “Broadening and Reinforcing the Bene ts of Land Reform in the Philippines”, Policy Brief. Pasay: Senate of the Philippines.
  35. Tadem, E. C. (2015) “Philippine Agrarian Reform in the 21st Century”, paper presented at conference Land grabbing, con ict and agrarian-environmental transformations: perspectives from East and Southeast Asia. 5-6 June 2015, Chiang Mai University.
  36. Tadem, E.C. (2016) “Can Duterte x agrarian reform?” Philippine Daily Inquirer, June 19, 2016. [Online]. Available: http://opinion.inquirer.net/95277/can-duterte- x-agrarian-reform. [Accessed: 23 Feb. 2017].
  37. Tai, H.C. (1974) “Land Reform and Politics: A Comparative Analysis”, Berkeley /Los Angeles/ London: University of California Press. ISBN 0-520-02337-4.
  38. Villanueva, J. (2011) “Oil palm expansion in the Philippines. Analysis of land rights, environment and food security issues” in Colchester, M. and Chao, S. (2011) “Oil Palm Expansion in South East Asia: trends and implications for local communities and indigenous peoples” Moreton-in-Marsh: Forest Peoples Programme and Bogor - West Java: Perkumpulan Sawit Watch.
  39. World Bank. (2009) “Land Reform, Rural Development, and Poverty in the Philippines: Revisiting the Agenda”, Washington, DC: World Bank. [Online]. Available: https://openknowledge.worldbank. org/handle/10986/18545 [Accessed: 23 Mar. 2017].
  40. You, J. (2014) “Land Reform, Inequality, and Corruption: A Comparative Historical Study of Korea, Taiwan, and the Philippines”, The Korean Journal of International Studies, Vol.12, No. 1, pp. 191-224. ISSN 2233-470X. DOI 10.14731/kjis.2014.06.12.1.191.

Full paper

  Full paper (.pdf, 333.39 KB).