DIOSDADO MACAPAGAL 1963 (Republic Act No.

3844) which provided for the purchase of private farmlands with the intention of distributing them in small lots to the landless tenants on easy term of payment. In comparison with the previous agrarian legislation, the law lowered the retention limit to 75 hectares, whether owned by individuals or corporations. It removed the term "contiguous" and established the leasehold system. The share-tenancy or the kasama system was prohibited. It formulated a bill of rights that assured agricultural workers the right to self organization and to a minimum wage. It was viewed that the 75-hectare retention limit was just too high for the growing population density. Moreover, this law merely allowed the transfer of the landlordism from one area to another. This was because landlords were paid in bonds, which he could use to purchase agricultural lands. Likewise, the farmer was free to choose to be excluded from theleasehold arrangements if he volunteered to give up the landholdings to the landlord. Within two years after the law was implemented, no land was being purchased under its term and conditions caused by the peasant's inability to purchase the land. Besides, thegovernment seemed lacking of strong political will, as shown by the Congress' allotment of only one million pesos for the implementation of this code. At least Php200 million was needed within a year from the enactment and implementation of the code, and Php300 million in the next three years for the program to be successful. However, by 1972, the code had benefited only 4,500 peasants covering 68 estates, at the cost of Php57 million to the government. Consequently, by the 1970s, the farmers ended up tilling less land, with their share in the farm also being less. They incurred more debts, depending on the landlord, creditors, and palay buyers. Indeed, during the administration of Macapagal, the productivity of the farmersfurther declined.

FERDINAND MARCOS

Land reform in the Philippines had its beginnings in 1962, when Section 49 of Republic Act (RA) 3844, or the Agricultural Land Reform Code, necessitated the creation of the Land Auty. This agency was tasked to implement the policies set forth in RA 3844 and was created on August 8, 1963. Republic Act 3844 reorganized existing agencies involved in tasks related to land reform and realigned their functions towards attaining the common objectives of the land reform program. On September 10, 1971, President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed RA 6389, otherwise known as the Code of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines, into law. Section 49 of this act mandated the establishment of a new selfcontained department, the Department of Agrarian Reform, and this effectively replaced the Land Authority. In 1978, under the parliamentary form of government, the DAR was renamed the Ministry of Agrarian Reform. On July 26, 1987, the department was organized something structurally and functionally through Executive Order (EO) No. 129-A. In 1988, Republic Act No. 6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) was signed into law and became the legal basis for the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). It is an act instituting a CARP with the aim of promoting social justice and industrialization. RA 6657 also provided the mechanism for its implementation. It was signed by PresidentCorazon C. Aquino on June 10.

CORAZON AQUINO

In response to calls for agrarian reform, President Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation 131 and Executive Order 229 on July 22, 1987, which outlined her land reform program, which included sugar lands. In 1988, with the backing of Aquino, the new Congress of the Philippines passed Republic Act No. 6657, more popularly known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law." The law paved the way for the redistribution of agricultural lands to tenantfarmers from landowners, who were paid in exchange by the government through just compensation but were also allowed to retain not more than five hectares of land. However, corporate landowners were also allowed under the law to voluntarily divest a proportion of their capital stock, equity or participation in favor of their workers or other qualified beneficiaries, in lieu of turning over their land to the government for redistribution. Despite the flaws in the law, the Supreme Court upheld its constitutionality in 1989, declaring that the implementation of the comprehensive agrarian reform program (CARP), provided by the said law) was a revolutionary kind of expropriation.

FIDEL RAMOS

The Ramos administration speeded the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) of former President Corazon Aquino in order to meet the ten-year time frame. However, there were constraints such as the need to firm up the database and geographic focus, generate funding support, strengthen inter-agency cooperation, and mobilize implementation partners, like the non-government organizations, local governments, and the business community. In 1992, the government acquired and distributed 382 hectares of land with nearly a quarter of a million farmer-beneficiaries. This constituted 41% of all land titles distributed by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) during the last thirty years. But by the end of 1996, the DAR had distributed only 58.25% of the total area it was supposed to cover. From January to December 1997, the DAR distributed 206,612 hectares. That year, since 1987, the DAR had distributed a total of 2.66 million hectares which benefited almost 1.8 million tenant-farmers. One major problem that the Ramos administration faced was the lack of funds to support and implement the program. The Php50 million, alloted by R.A. No. 6657 to finance the CARP from 1988 to 1998, was no longer sufficient to support the program. To address this problem, Ramos signed R.A. No. 8532 to amend the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) which further strengthened the CARP by extending the program to another ten years. This law signed Ramos on February 23, 1998 - a few months before the end of Ramos' term.

JOSEPH ESTRADA

The Estrada administration widened the coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) to the landless peasants in the country side.The latter's administration distributed more than 266,000 hectares of land to 175,000 landless farmers, including land owned by the traditional rural elite. (Total of 523,000 hectares to 305,000 farmers during his 2nd year as President). On September 1999, he issued Executive Order (EO) 151, also known as Farmers Trust Fund, which allows the voluntary consolidation of small farm operation into medium and large scale integrated enterprise that can access long-term capital. President Estrada launched the Magkabalikat Para sa Kaunlarang Agraryo or MAGKASAKA. The DAR forged into joint ventures with private investors into agrarian sector to make FBs competitive. In 1999 a huge fund was allocated to agricultural programs.One of which is the "Agrikulturang Maka Masa", through which it achieved an output growth of 6 percent, a record high at the time, thereby lowering the inflation rate from 11 percent in January 1999 to just a little over 3 percent by November of the same year.

GLORIA MACAPAGAL-ARROYO

On September 27, 2004, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, signed Executive Order No. 364, and the Department of Agrarian Reform was renamed to Department of Land Reform. This EO also broadened the scope of the department, making it responsible for all land reform in the country. It also placed the Philippine Commission on Urban Poor (PCUP) under its supervision and control. Recognition of the ownership of ancestral domain by indigenous peoples also became the responsibility of this new department, under the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP). On August 23, 2005, President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 456 and renamed the Department of Land Reform back to Department of Agrarian Reform, since "the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law goes beyond just land reform but includes the totality of all factors and support services designed to lift the economic status of the beneficiaries."