Removing roadblocks

Media

Part of The Republic

Title: Removing roadblocks
Language: English
Year: 1976
Rights
Fulltext: 12 16 May - 15 June 1976 Agriculture- THE REPUBLIC Land Reform □ Removing roadblocks A QUIET revolution is radically altering social and economic structures in the Philippine countryside. Land reform, which had been a paper dream in the past, is now being pushed with great vigor by a government unhampered by oligarchic politicians. Just three-and-ahalf years after proclamation of authoritarian rule, some 210,054 tenants have received land transfer certificates. These certificates entitle farmers to have full ownership of the land after they have fully paid their obligations. Despite decades of pious intent by generations of national leaders, the Filipino peasants have remained in bondage to the soil. The farmer contends not only with forces of nature-floods, droughts, typhoons—but also with absentee landlords, overbearing caciques and usurious middlemen. Not surprisingly, until the introduction of “miracle rice” in the early 1960s, the average yield per hectare of Philippine riceland was barely 30 cavanes, which was among the lowest in the world. Agrarian unrest has understandably found fertile ground in Central Luzon, the main rice-producing region. On September 26, 1972, just five days after he proclaimed martial law, President Marcos decreed the entire country a land-reform area. Covered by the decree were some 1.1 million rice and corn farmers. A month after, the President enacted the Tenant Emancipation Decree. Written in his own hand, it transferred to every tenant-farmer ownership of the land he tilled and provided the mechanism for its acquisition. The following is a progress report on the land reform program as of January 31, 1976: Operation Land Transfer. In November 1972, the President directed the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to start issuing certificates of land transfer (CLTs) to tenants. As of January 31, 1976, half or 53 percent of the target number of farmer beneficiaries have received their CLTs The recipients total 210,054 farmers cultivating 369,054.633 hectares of rice and corn lands in 64 provinces. The Land Bank has also paid 706 payment claims from former landowners at a cost of P237.953 million. The speed of land transfer under martial law can be gauged by comparison with the accomplishments of previous administrations stretching back to the Commonwealth period. According to Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado F. Estrella, the number of beneficiaries of the land reform program from September 1972 to January 1976 is more than six times the total number of beneficiaries from 1939 to 1972. In terms of Unprecedented progress in land reform. hectarage covered by the program, the New Society record in a little more than three years is four times as wide as that achieved in three decades before the proclamation of martial law. The goal of the agrarian reform program was to transfer 1,422,988 hectares of rice and corn lands to 914,914 tenant-farmers. The priorities were landholdings of 100 hectares and above, then down to 50 hectares, then further down to 24 hectares and finally those below 24 hectares. According to Estrella, land transfer was relatively easy on the big landholdings. But resistance grew as the program went downward to the smaller holdings. Many small landowners complained that the program was unfair, arguing that if the purpose of agrarian reform was to strengthen the middle class, then why dislodge those who are already there? Listening to the small landowner’s pleas, the President, on the basis of a cabinet committee report, temporarily excluded landholdings of seven hectares and less from operation land transfer. The land remains with the landowners. However, if there are tenants, they shall not be removed but continue tilling the land under leasehold arrangement. Landowners of less than 24 hectares were also given additional incentives in the form of higher cash payments for their lands and other benefits. The seven hectares and below category comprises 663,973 hectares or 46.t percent, 521,136 tenant-farmers or 56.9 percent and 371,129 landowners oi 90.3 percent. By the exclusion of the seven hectares and below, the new coverage stands as follows: land area-759,015 hectares: tenant-farmers-393,778; and landowners-39,550. There is great possibility, according to Estrella, that the new coverage may still increase because of indications that landowners of seven hectares and below may voluntarily transfer their lands to their tenants due to incentives offered by the government. A comparative analysis of the land tenure profile of tillers shows that as of October 21, 1972, only 1.8 percent of all tenanted rice and corn lands were in the hands of amortizing owners which totaled only 1.4 percent of all rice and corn farmers. DAR records show that since the launching of Operation Land Transfer in November, 1972, 29.6 percent of the tenanted rice and com lands are being cultivated by amortizing owners. Programs of Support. Integrated with the land transfer program is the Samahang Nayons with a membership of around 784,219 and generating capital 000001 £anb ikgietration P’omntiesion If 8ISTIY Of SEES! FBI TH- .. . -----------------(Transfer (fcrtificatc of (Title j&o.OOWl Ml yW af W* M /«&>•» •REPl Bl IC OF HIE PHI1JPP1MS "DEPARTMENT OF AC.RARIANzRMAMtM , “EMANCIPATION PATENT No. UUl’U -«r» <*» /wrrr/ u/ afnmWa/ Wnrf bmof hal bm Migmall, mvr,M in ibr LanJ « Hu agin af Hu Knuttr ,.f IMi ot. Par.glrUan ....... The first LTC, given by Pres. Marcos on October 21, 1975. amounting to P35.12 million. This amount comprises the general fund, the barrio savings fund and the barrio guarantee fund. Resettlement of landless tillers is also one of the important aspects of the government’s agrarian reform program. There are 29 public agricultural settlement for landless tenants with an aggregate area of 594,816 hectares; 354, 000 hectares or 60 percent of these are arable. More than 41,200 farm families are now in resettlement projects cultivating a total area of 247,218 hectares. A settler-family on the average is allocated six hectares. Only about 4,567 farm-families were resettled from 1966 to 1972, compared to 3,191 families resettled from 1972 to June 1975. In infrastructure (road, irrigation, bridges, etc.), some Pl29 million worth has been constructed during martial law, compared to P22 million constructed from 1966-1972, representing some 486 percent increase. Compact Farms. To achieve economies of scale, the farmers are encouraged to till their lands in consortia, or as “compact farms.” Under this scheme, each farmer will continue to work his holdings individually, but government extension workers will draw up a farm plan to cover neighboring lots. Some 314 compact farms were organized in 1974, covering about 19,000 hectares. As of June 1975, the Agricultural Credit Administration (ACA) has granted some Pl 5.7 million to compact farms. The DAR, in coordination with other government agencies, will soon provide irrigation facilities to members of this scheme. The DAR is currently undertaking three land consolidation projects: 587 hectares comprising the Hacienda Leet in Sta. Barbara, Pangasinan; 1,581 hectares of Hacienda Yulo in Barrio Pabanlag, Florida Blanca, Pampanga; and three estates in Bala and Binalabag, Camarines Sur totaling 2,500 hectares. Problems. The magnitude of coverage and the radicalness of reform have set up bottlenecks in the implementation of the program, Estrella reported. He said it needs technicians, more surveyors to hasten the pace of parcellary mapping, more lawyers to handle legal cases, more information materials beamed not just to media, but most importantly to landlords and tenants, and more money to open up new lands to resettle the landless and provide infrastructure for farmers. But more than anything else, according to the DAR Secretary, “We are worried by the traditional enemies of land reform-the ill-informed landlords, the powerholders, the unmotivated elite.” Many of theip, he said, are apprehensive about this program. They feel that it is a sword of Damocles over thenheads and that the terms and conditions of the land transfer are confiscatory. “This is not so. The land being transferred to the tenant tillers is paid for by the government,” Estrella said. To give the landowners better privileges, the President has expanded the mode of payment from its original concept of straight amortization by the tenant-tillers in 15 annual equal installments. In addition, former landowners can now utilize as collateral for investment projectsup to 50 percent of their bonds’ face value. The landowners of less than 24 hectares are given additional incentives by increasing the cash payment of 20 percent and granting them additional benefits such as insurance for their children’s education and housing. All these are intended to encourage the landowners to transfer their lands to the tenant-tillers and at the same time reinvest the proceeds that they get in industrial and nonagricultural enterprises. □