Biala, Christine Joyce G. 24 March 2015SSP 1/ HIST 1

Land Reform in the Philippines

Land Reform refers to the full range of measures that may or should be taken to improve or remedy the respect to their rights in land; also defined as an integral set of measures designed to eliminate obstacles to economic and social development arising out of defects in the agrarian structure.1 In the Philippine context, land reform had been a long-running issue which started way back during the Spanish colonial period. During the Spanish settlement in the Philippines, land ownership revolved around the encomienda system of plantations, also known as haciendas. By 19th century, due to industrialization and liberalization of trade, these encomiendas were permitted to expand their cash crops, thus establishing a competent sugar industry in the Philippines especially in Panay and Negros.2

When America took over Philippines just about after Philippines declared independence from Spain and after the Philippine-American War. The Taft Commission saw the potential of Philippine lands for economic development and so Governor-General William Howard Taft decidedly turn land acclaimed by the government, which was 93% of total land area, to saleable lots to American investors. 1902 Land Act limits the government to sell or lease up to 16 hectares to American individuals and 1024 hectares to American corporations.3

The 1902 Philippine Organic Act was a constitution for the Insular Government which disestablished Catholic Church as the state religion. There had disputes regarding political ownership of Philippine land, especially regarding the land ownership of different religious orders, which the government addressed to Vatican. In 1904 the administration bought for $7.2 million the major part of the friars' holdings, amounting to some 166,000 hectares (410,000 acres), of which half of it was in the vicinity of Manila. Eventually, the government sold the land to Filipinos, with some of them were tenants, but majority were estate owners.4

Complaints about the sharecropping system were raised by the tenant farmers, as well as by the population increase which added economic pressure to the tenant farmers' families. As a result, the Commonwealth initiated an agrarian reform program. Although successful, the program was hampered by ongoing clashes between tenants and landowners.5 One among the many clashes throughout the Philippine history was the Sakdalista movement initiated by Benigno Ramos in Central Luzon in May 1935, which advocated tax reductions, land reforms, the breakup of the large estates or haciendas, and the severing of American ties.

References:1 LAND AND AGRARIAN REFORM. http://www.slideshare.net/ludymae/land-agrarian-reform (Accessed 24 March 2015)2 Land reform in the Philippines - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Land_reform_in_the_Philippines (Accessed 24 March 2015)3 Philippines – UNITED STATES RULE. http://countrystudies.us/philippines/16.htm (Accessed 24 March 2015)4 Philippines - THE FIRST PHASE OF UNITED STATES RULE, 1898-1935. http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+ph0026) (Accessed 24 March 2015)5 Philippines History - American Colony and Philippine Commonwealth (1901-1941). http://web.archive.org/web/20071010133830/http://www.asia.msu.edu/seasia/Philippines/History/hist_AmerColony.html (Accessed 24 March 2015)