ALSL 2020.

CHAPTER 1

A. Definition of Agriculture. The term “agrarian” is derived from the Latin word “ager” which means a
field. Lexically, the word agrarian means “relating to land or to the ownership or division of land.

Agriculture is the art and science of cultivating the soil, growing crops and raising livestock. It includes the
preparation of plant and animal products for people to use and their distribution to
markets. Agriculture provides most of the world's food and fabrics.

a. 3 stages of agriculture development

1) Traditional Agriculture:
“It is a technologically stagnant stage in which production is increased largely through slowly
increased application of traditional forms of land, labour and capital.” The increase in output takes
place through an essentially symmetrical expansion of all inputs or through increased input of the
already abundant low productivity resources. Declining income and productivity per unit of an input
is a common feature of this phase.

2) Technologically Dynamics Agriculture-Low Capital Technology:

“a complex of technological changes substantially increases the efficiency of agricultural processes
and raises the rate of increase of agricultural production………. The critical characteristics of stage
II, as compared with stage I is the constant generation and application of technology which is
facilitated by a complex institutional framework…”
In this stage:
(a) Agriculture still represents a large proportion of the total economy
(b) Demand for agricultural products is rising rapidly due to both demographic and income effects,
(c) Capital for industrial development is particularly scarce and returns are rising
(d) Limitations to the pace of economic transformation and pressure of population growth preclude
enlargement of the average acreage per farm and
(e) Use of labour saving agricultural machinery is largely precluded by unfavourable labour-capital
cost relationships. These conditions call for a type of agricultural development which at one time
not possible, but which is now facilitated by modern science.

3) Technologically Dynamic Agriculture High Capital Technology:

This is the stage when agriculture has much of its relative importance in the generation of the
National Income. Agriculture of various developed countries is included in this stage. Government’s
role in different stages is quite important. In nature, of course, it is different. We would like to
highlight the objectives and important policy measures relevant for each stage in the paragraphs
that follow.

It may be noted that as the stage of agricultural development cannot be very finely demarcated,
the objectives of agricultural policy at a particular time, too cannot be defined rigidly. What we
fined at a particular point of time is a set of objective, their order of priority, of course, changing as
the time changes. We shall be giving below only the relatively more important policy objectives vis-
a vis agriculture in different stages of development.

B. Definition of Land Tenure

Land tenure is the relationship, whether legally or customarily defined, among people, as individuals or
groups, with respect to land. (For convenience, “land” is used here to include other natural resources such
as water and trees.) Land tenure is an institution, i.e., rules invented by societies to regulate behaviour.
Rules of tenure define how property rights to land are to be allocated within societies. They define how
access is granted to rights to use, control, and transfer land, as well as associated responsibilities and
restraints. In simple terms, land tenure systems determine who can use what resources for how long, and
under what conditions.

Land tenure is an important part of social, political and economic structures. It is multi-dimensional,
bringing into play social, technical, economic, institutional, legal and political aspects that are often ignored
but must be taken into account. Land tenure relationships may be well-defined and enforceable in a formal
court of law or through customary structures in a community. Alternatively, they may be relatively poorly
defined with ambiguities open to exploitation.

C. Related Concepts
a. Divine right of Kingship. The divine right of kings, or divine-right theory of kingship, is a
political and religious doctrine of royal and political legitimacy. It asserts that a monarch is subject
to no earthly authority, deriving his right to rule directly from the will of God.

b. Feudalism. Feudalism is a system of land ownership and duties. It was used in the Middle
Ages. With feudalism, all the land in a kingdom was the king's. However, the king would give some
of the land to the lords or nobles who fought for him. These gifts of land were called manors.

c. Spanish Encomienda system (Latin America, Philippines)

Encomienda System

In 1570 the encomienda was introduced in the Philippines when Legaspi, in compliance with the decree
issued by King Philip II in 1558, distributed lands in Cebu to loyal Spanish subjects. These men had helped
conquer the Philippines. The encomienda was not actually a land grant but was a favor from the kind under
which the Spaniard receiving his favor was given the right to collect tributes–or taxes–from the inhabitants
of the area assigned to him. The man who received this favor was called an encomendero. The encomienda
was, therefore, a public office.
The encomenderos were required by law to perform the following duties:

#1. to give protection to the natives

#2. to help the missionaries convert the natives to Christianity
#3. to promote education
Unfortunately, many Spanish encomenderos committed abuses, such as:

1) Brutal treatment of the Filipinos

2) Collecting more tribute than that authorized by law
3) Forcing the people to work for them
4) Seizure of the people’s animals and crops without just compensatio
Because of the abuses of encomenderos, much bad feeling resulted. First, peace and order, which the
colonizers and the early Spanish friars had established, was disturbed. Second, the abuses led to a conflict
between the friars and the encomenderos. The early friars observed that the encomenderos neglected their
duty of teaching the Christian faith to the Filipinos. They saw that the encomenderos were only interested
in enriching themselves instead.

The friars tried to protect the Filipinos from the greed and abuses of the encomenderos by;

#1. preaching from the pulpits against encomendero abuses

#2. writing letters and memorials to the King of Spain in which they reported the abuses of the
encomenderos
#3. refusing to absolve the encomenderos from their sins.
The Filipinos, seeing that the encomenderos were interested only in getting rich, grew lazy. They reasoned
that it was useless to work too hard for a living if the fruits of their work would only go to the payment of
excessive tributes to the encomenderos. This attitude was encouraged by the friars who told them that the
abandonment of their labors would free from injustice.

There were three kinds of encomiendas:

#1. the Royal Encomiendas, belonging to the King

#2. the Ecclesiastical Encomiendas, belonging to the Church
#3. Private Encomiendas, belonging to private individuals
At first the natives paid eight reales as tribute. This amount was increased to ten reales in 1589 by order of
King Philip II. Aside from the tribute expected from the royal encomiendas, the king also received reales
from each tribute each encomiendero received from his encomienda. The total amount of the tributes
intended for the king was kept as fund to pay the expenses for the country’s defense. This fund was called
the situado.
The size of an encomienda was determined in two ways:

#1. by the number of people living in it

#2. by the value of the land
The law limited the number of natives in an area and administered by an encomendero to not more than
300, and the value of the land was limited to not more than P2,000. At first an encomienda could be held
for three generations (about ninety years). This was later reduced to two generation. But because of the
complaints from encomenderos, the king decided to return the encomienda tenure to three generations in
1635.

d. Regalian Doctrine

Generally, under this concept, private title to land must be traced to some grant, express or implied, from
the Spanish Crown or its successors, the American Colonial Government, and thereafter, the Philippine
Republic.
In a broad sense, the term refers to royal rights, or those rights to which the King has by virtue of his
prerogatives.
The theory of jure regalia was therefore nothing more than a natural fruit of conquest.

CONNECTED TO THIS IS THE STATE’S POWER OF DOMINUUM

> Capacity of the state to own or acquire property—foundation for the early Spanish decree embracing the
feudal theory of jura regalia
> This concept was first introduced through the Laws of the Indies and the Royal Cedulas
> The Philippines passed to Spain by virtue of discovery and conquest. Consequently, all lands became the
exclusive patrimony and dominion of the Spanish Crown.
> The Law of the Indies was followed by the Ley Hipotecaria or the Mortgage Law of 1893. This law provided
for the systematic registration of titles and deeds as well as possessory claims
> The Maura Law: was partly an amendment and was the last Spanish land law promulgated in the
Philippines, which required the adjustment or registration of all agricultural lands, otherwise the lands shall
revert to the State

e. Land Registration Act of 1902

On November 6, 1902, the Philippine Commission enacted Act 496, known as Land Registration Law, that
created the Court of Land Registration (CLR) and the office of the Registers of Deeds. The Law
institutionalized the Torrens System of registration whereby real estate ownership may be judicially
confirmed and recorded in the archives of the government. The system took effect on February 1, 1903.

Landowners under this Act were required to register their landholdings and acquire Torrens Titles
to land properties. Almost all land titles granted by the Court of Land registration up to 1910 were
for large private landholdings. Small farmers who were either not aware of the law or were too
poor to pay for the documentation, failed to register their ownership of land. A in Spanish times.
Land-grabbing through fraudulent surveys was rampant.

f. Public land act of 1902

The Philippine Organic Act provided for the creation of an elected Philippine Assembly after the
following conditions were met:

1) The cessation of the existing insurrection in the Philippine Islands;

2) Completion and publication of a census;
3) Two years of continued peace and recognition of the authority of the United States of America
after the publication of the census.

g. Friar lands act (1903)

This Act instituted transfer of friar lands the tenants diffuse the peasant unrest which found
expression in 1898 revolution against Spain. The American government purchased some of $7
million, which it resold to 60,00 tenants at full cost plus interest. The prices were beyond reach of
most tenants and some could not understand why they had to buy back the land which had
belonged to their parents. In fact, most of the lands transferred as a result of this Act were those
in which agrarian unrest was widespread. This Act was later amended to allow the sale of friar lands
(which were prime lands) not only to Filipino tillers but to foreign nationals as well. In short time,
the Sugar Trust, an American Corporation, purchased the San Jose Estate.

h. Rice Share Tenacy Act of 1993 (Public Act No. 4054), which was passed on February 27,
1993 by the Philippine Legislature during the time of Governor-General Theodore Roosevelt, aimed
at protecting tenants against abuses of landlords. This Act provided for a 50-50 sharing of the crop,
an interest rate ceiling of 10 per crop year, and safeguards against arbitrary dismissal of tenants by
landlords. However, the law could into effect “only in provinces where the majority of the municipal
 councils shall, by resolution, petition for its application to the Governor-General.” With this
provision, the law was ineffective because members of the landed elite controlled the
municipalities. Subsequent amendments to make the law effective were also invalidated by the
landlord resistance.

i. Sugar Cane Tenancy Contracts Act of 1933 (Act No 4113). This law governed the
relationship between landowners and tenants in the sugar lands which makes it a duty of the sugar
central where the sugarcanes are milled to exhibit to the tenant the receipts of the number of tons
milled by the landowner thereat, upon demand of the said tenant, which receipt shall be the basis
of the computation of the tenant’s share from the cane harvested.

j. RA No 34 of 1946 (Agricultural Sharing)

This law, which was passed during the incumbency of the President Manuel Roxas, amended
certain sections of the Rice Share Tenancy Act providing for a 70-30 crop-sharing method. It
further provides that, in case the land is planted with rice on a second cropping or other
auxiliary crops, all expenses of production shall be shouldered by the tenant, but the sharing
arrangement shall be 80% for the tenant, and 20% for the landowner of the next harvest. Aside
from the change in the sharing system, this legislation also provided for a home lot for the
tenant which is not less than 600 square meters.

k. RA No 1160 of 1954 (National Resettlement)

Another post-war piece of the legislation, this law established the National Resettlement and
Rehabilitation Administration (NARRA) which embarked on a large-scale resettlement of
landless farmers. The government, through the NARRA, made an all-time record of acquiring
two-landed estates from 1956 to 157 involving 391 hectares that benefited some 569 landless
farmers.

l. RA No 1199 of 1954 (Tenacy Rights)

The Magsaysay Reform Program was based on the enactment of this law; otherwise known as
the Agricultural Tenacy Act of 1954, which infused an add boost to the tenurial rights of tenant-
tillers and provided for the enforcement of fair tenancy practices. Under this law, a tenant who
supplies al requirements, plowing, final harrowing and transplanting of rice crop, is entitled to
70% of the harvest. This Act is implemented by a machinery called Agricultural Tenancy
Commission created under Administrative Order No. 67, series of 1954.

m. Agricultural Land Reform Code of 1963

n. PD no. 2 of 1972
o. PD No. 27 of 1972

D. Police Power as Doctrine Basis of Agrarian Reform

a. Association de Agricultores v Talisa-Silat Milling GR No L-19937, Feb 19, 1979, 88 SCRA 294
(1979)