Johnvien Angelo B.

Velasquez

ABF 3 - 1

Prof. Melcah T. Pascua

CARP and CARPER

Introduction
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program and Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program Extensions with Reform are reform law in the Philippines,
established

for

the

workers/farmers

purpose

of

here

giving

hands

in

to

the

the

agricultural
Philippines.

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP)

The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) has its primary
objectives both the improvement of equality and the increase in productivity
and growth in the rural areas. It was a land reform law mandated by Republic
Act No. 6657, signed by President Corazon Aquino in June 10, 1988. It was
the fifth land reform program in fifty years, following the land reform laws of
Presidents Manuel Quezon, Ramon Magsaysay, Diosdado Macapagal and
Ferdinand Marcos.
Republic Act No.6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive
Agrarian

Reform

Law

(CARL)

has

become

the

legal

basis

for

the

implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). RA

6657 also provided mechanism for its implementation.
The predecessor of CARP was the Accelerated Land Reform Program
(ALRP), initiated after the ratification of the Constitution in February 1987.
The ALRP, as in PD 27, imposed a ceiling of seven hectares for all croplands,
the distribution of large privately- owned farms, rice and corn lands, small
farms, and alienable as well as disposable lands exempting areas such as
ancestral tribal lands and those that are used for public service.
The CARP is so far the most comprehensive agrarian reform program
ever formulated. Unlike that of PD 27, which include only rice and corn lands,

CARP covers all private and public agricultural lands regardless of commodity
produced and tenurial status of the tiller including other lands of the public
domain suitable for agriculture.[1]

COMPONENTS OF CARP

Land Tenure Improvement

The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law aims to
promote social equity and justice by restructuring
landownership patterns. Through land distribution, the
government ensures that the tiller has power over his
tillage, his own productivity and economic viability.[2]

Leasehold Operation
Leasehold Operation is a non-land transfer program
that protects the tenurial status of tenant-farmers in
tenanted lands. This is implemented when the tenant is
working within the landowners retention limit of five
hectares and the CARP covered lands that are not yet due
for distribution. In this program, the tenants are entitled to
75 percent of the net harvest after the deduction of
production expenses.[3]

Production and Profit Sharing

This is a temporary arrangement wherein corporate
farms (operating under a lease or management contract
with more than P5 million gross sales per annum) are to
execute production and profit sharing plans with farm
workers. These include corporate agricultural landowners

1 Republic Act No. 6657; Chan Robles Virtual Law Library

2 Impact of Agrarian Reform of Poverty; Reyes, Celia M; 2002
3 Ibid

who availed of deferment as provided under Section II of

R.A. 6657.[4]

Stock Distribution Option

Under this scheme, qualified beneficiaries are given
the right to purchase from the landowning corporation
capital stocks that are equivalent to the value of the land
devoted by the company to agricultural activities. They are
also entitled to dividends, other financial benefits and
representation in either the companys board of directors,
management or executive committee.[5]

Commercial Farms Deferment

Under this arrangement, several agricultural lands
are listed for future acquisition and distribution. In this
way, corporate landowners of newly established
commercial plantations are given enough time to recover
their investments. After the deferment period, these lands
shall be subjected to immediate acquisition and
distribution.[6]

Program Beneficiaries Development

Land distribution alone is not enough to improve the
productivity of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs). The
government recognizes the need for support services to
complement land distribution such as credit facilities,
technology and infrastructure.[7]

Agrarian Justice Delivery

4 Ibid
5 Ibid
6 Impact of Agrarian Reform on Poverty; Reyes, Celia M; 2002
7 Ibid

Agrarian Legal Assistance

Extending legal assistance during court
hearings is a major support provided by the CARP to
its farmer-beneficiaries. The DAR lawyers handle
three types of cases and these are the judicial, quasijudicial and non-judicial cases. Judicial cases may be
civil or criminal in nature and are filed in the regular
courts. Quasi-judicial on the other hand includes
ejectment, reinstatement, termination of leasehold
agreement, falling in the jurisdiction of the DAR
Adjudication Board (DARAB) and its adjudicators
while non-judicial cases are those arising from
agrarian
law
implementation
and
related
implementing rules and regulations and personnel
discipline cases.
Adjudication of Cases
Through the DARAB, the Department is vested
with quasi-judicial powers to determine and
adjudicate disputes, cases, controversies and
matters involving the implementation of RA 6657 and
other related issuances. [8]

Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extensions with Reform

(CARPER)
An amendatory law, CARPER or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program Extension with Reforms or the Republic Act. 9700 was passed. It
extended the deadline of distributing agricultural lands to the farmers for an
additional five years. This law also amends other provisions and regulations
formerly stated in the CARP. It was signed into law on August 7, 2009 and
was set to be accomplished by the year 2014. [9]

8 Ibid
9
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Agrarian_Reform_Program#Backgroun
d; Wikipedia

In December 2008, the budget for CARP expired and there remained
1.2 million hectares of agricultural land waiting to be acquired and
distributed to farmers. CARPER was signed into law on August 7, 2009
by Gloria Macapagal Arroyo and was set to expire in June 30, 2014. However
the program of distributing lands to farmer-beneficiaries continued even after
June 2014. Section 30 of RA 9700 or CARPER law states that cases on the
matter which are still pending shall be allowed to proceed to its finality and
be executed even beyond such date. [10

SIGNIFICANT PROVISION OF CARPER

Gender-Sensitive Agrarian Reform

Section 1 of the CARPER law states that The
State shall recognize and enforce, consistent with
existing laws, the rights of rural women to own and
control
land,
taking
into
consideration
the
substantive equality between men and women as
qualified beneficiaries, to receive a just share of the
fruits thereof, and to be represented in advisory or
appropriate decision-making bodies. These rights
shall be independent of their male relatives and of
their civil status. Rural women will have a
representative in the highest policy making body of
DAR the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council
(PARC).[11]

Budget
Section 21 amending Section 63 for CARL state
that the budget allocated for the 5-year extension is
150 Billion pesos which will be sourced from three
funds: Agrarian Reform Fund, General Appropriations
Acts (GAA) and other sources of funding like
privatization of government asset, foreign donors,
etc. This budget is the largest per year in the history
of CARP.[12]

10 Ibid
11 ibid

Creation of a Congressional Oversight Committee

Section 26 of the CARPER law created a joint
Congressional Oversight Committee to oversee and
monitor the implementation of the act, which will be
composed of the Chairpersons of the Committee on
Agrarian Reform of both Houses of Congress, three
Members of the House of Representatives, and three
Members of the Senate of the Philippines, to be
designated respectively by the Speaker of the House
of Representatives and the President of the Senate of
the Philippines. The chairpersons of the COCAR are
the Chairpersons of the Committees on Agrarian
Reform of the House of Representatives and of the
Senate of the Philippines. The term of the COCAR will
end six months after the expiration of the extended
period of five years. The COCAR is provided with
twenty-five million pesos (P25,000,000.00) every
year.[13]

CARPER as a Continuing Program

Section 30 of the CARPER law mandates that
any case and/or proceeding involving the
implementation of the provisions of Republic Act No.
6657, as amended, which may remain pending on
June 30, 2014 shall be allowed to proceed to its
finality and be executed even beyond such date".
Section 30 of CARPER law provides a way to legally
continue the implementation of pending CARP cases
after the 5-year extension by filling the initiatory
process of CARP.[14]

Policies in Converting Agricultural Lands

12
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Agrarian_Reform_Program#Backgroun
d; Wikipedia
13 Ibid
14 Ibid

Section 73 of the CARPER law: Any conversion

by any landowner of his/her agricultural land into any
non-agricultural use with intent to avoid the
application of this Act to his/her landholdings and to
dispossess his/her bonafide tenant farmers. Failure
to comply will result into an imprisonment of 6 to 12
years and/or a penalty of 200,000 pesos to 1 million
pesos. The CARPER law prohibits any conversion of
irrigated and irrigable lands and mandates the
National Irrigation Administration to identify these.
CARPER law also states that non-implementation of
the conversion plan will result to automatic coverage
of the subject by CARP.[15]

ACHIEVEMENTS OF CARPER
The Official
Gazette released
an
update
on
the
accomplishments in the field of agrarian reform as of June 30,
2014.
As of December 31, 2013, the government has acquired
and distributed 6.9 million hectares of land, equivalent to 88% of
the total land subject to CARP. Of this area, the Aquino
administration has distributed a total of 751,514 hectares, or
45% of the total landholdings to be distributed to the farmer
beneficiaries left under this administration. From this, DAR has
distributed 412,782 hectares and DENR has already distributed
338,732 hectares.
In 2014 - 2016, Department of Agrarian Reform still needs
to acquire 771,795 hectares (187,686 hectares in 2014; 198,631
hectares in 2015; and 385,478 hectares in 2016).
The Department of Environment and Nation Resources still needs
to acquire 134,857 hectaresa total of 906,652 hectares.[16]

DIFFERENCE BETWEEN CARP and CARPER

15 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comprehensive_Agrarian_Reform_Program;
Wikipedia
16 Ibid

Based on my research, there are many people saying that CARPER is worse
than CARP, just as some are saying that CARP is better than CARPER.
It is said that certain provisions in the CARPER bill will aggravate
the farmers fundamental problem of landlessness and may only
strengthen the land monopoly of a few. Anakpawis Representative and
KMP chairman Rafael Mariano is interviewed about his views on the
CARPER.
A Congress that represents the class interest of landlords and
big local and foreign corporations can, unsurprisingly, railroad an
ultimately anti-farmer legislation like the CARP extension bill, Mariano
said.
Under the bill, the landholdings of the Arroyos, the Cojuangcos
and other landlords will remain untouched. He believes that, precisely
for this reason, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo issued the marching
orders to her allies in Congress to pass the bill. She certified it as
urgent, Mariano said.17
Three Phases
Lands covered by CARPER will be acquired and distributed in
three phases.
o Phase One will cover rice and corn lands, all idle
lands or abandoned lands, all private lands
voluntarily offered by the owners for agrarian reform,
all lands foreclosed by government financial
institutions, all lands acquired by the Presidential
Commission on Good Government, and all other
lands owned by government devoted to or suitable
for agriculture.[18]
o Phase Two of the program will cover all alienable
and disposable public agricultural lands; all arable
public agricultural lands under agro-forest, pasture
and agricultural leases already cultivated and
17 http://bulatlat.com/main/2009/06/14/why-carper-is-worse-than-carp/; Olea,
Ronalyn V.; 2009
18 http://bulatlat.com/main/2009/06/14/why-carper-is-worse-than-carp/; Olea,
Ronalyn V.; 2009

planted to crops in accordance with Section 6 Article

XIII of the Constitution; all public agricultural lands
that are to be opened for new development and
resettlement; all private agricultural lands in excess
of 50 hectares.[19]
o Phase Three will cover all other private agricultural
lands starting with large landholdings and then those
with medium and small landholding.[20]

Under CARPER, private agricultural lands can only be covered by the

law and distributed to farmers if 90 percent of all the land classified for
distribution under the original CARP and Phase One and Phase Two of
CARPER had been distributed. In other words, before CARPER can implement
Phase Three, which is the most problematic phase, the original CARP must
have distributed 90 percent of its target and, if it did not, CARPERs Phase
One and Phase Two must make up for the shortfall within the period of five
years, Mariano said.
This, Mariano said, is next to impossible and is the biggest defect of
CARPER.
Mariano said that the original CARP failed despite running for more than
two decades to achieve even half of its target, let alone 90 percent.
When will that happen? Mariano asked. In effect, no private agricultural
lands will ever be distributed under the CARP extension.
CARPER, he said, is designed to fail.21

No Expansion of Coverage
Instead of expanding the coverage of land reform program,
the landlords/legislators in Congress added provisions that will
exempt more agricultural land from coverage to include land
devoted to aquaculture, livestock, swine raising and the like.
19 ibid
20 ibid
21 ibid

Under CARPER, landowners will have cause to file more

petitions for exemptions before the DAR.
Land-Use Conversion
It said that after five years from the lands award, when
the land ceases to be economically feasible and sound for
agricultural purposes, or the locality has become urbanized and
the land will have greater economic value for residential,
commercial or industrial purposes, the DAR, upon the
application of the beneficiary or the landowner and with due
notice to the present landowner, may reclassify or convert the
land and dispose it.
DAR records show that in the first seven years of CARP, an
estimated 33,707 hectares of agricultural lands were converted
into other uses. By the end of 1997, conversion has covered 59,
965 hectares of agricultural lands.
Non-Land Transfer Schemes
CARP gives option to landowners to choose all other
arrangements alternative to the physical distribution of lands,
such as production or profit-sharing, labor administration, and
distribution of shares of stocks which will allow beneficiaries to
receive a just share of the fruits of the lands they work.
Social justice through agrarian reform remains an elusive promise to a
great number of Filipino farmers.
But most tragic of all, even the combined resources of national
government agencies have sometimes proved useless, in the face of fierce
landlord resistance to land reform.
So basically, this CARPER that supposedly a bill passed to help others
are just like another problem given to the agricultural dependent people of
our country. Instead of helping, this reform is planned and passed just to fail.