Pro-Poor Land Reform: a Critique
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This page intentionally left blank S ATURNINO M. BORRAS J R . T U Of|f P Of|f © University of O awa Press 2007 All rights reserved. No parts of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmi ed in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopy, recording, or otherwise, without permission in writing from the publisher. LIBRARY AND ARCHIVES CANADA CATALOGUING IN PUBLICATION Borras, Saturnino M Pro-poor land reform : a critique / Saturnino M. Borras Jr. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-7766-0650-7 1. Land reform--Philippines. 2. Land reform. 3. Rural poor--Philippines. 4. Rural poor. 5. Land reform--Government policy--Philippines. 6. Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (Philippines). I. Title. HD1333.P6B673 2007 333.3’1599 C2007-903932-4 Published by the University of O awa Press, 2007 542 King Edward Avenue O awa, Ontario K1N 6N5 www.uopress.uo awa.ca The University of O awa Press acknowledges with gratitude the support extended to its publishing list by Heritage Canada through its Book Publishing Industry Development Program, by the Canada Council for the Arts, by the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences through its Aid to Scholarly Publications Program, by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council, and by the University of O awa. We also gratefully acknowledge the Institute of Social Studies in The Hague whose fi nancial support has contributed to the publication of this book. This book is dedicated to the memory of Eric Cabanit, secretary general of UNORKA, assassinated in Davao in April 2006; my dear friend and comrade Max Frivaldo, assassinated in Irosin, Sorsogon, in January 2006; and countless unknown land reform activists who were killed in the course of their struggles for land, food, freedom, and dignity — in the Philippines and in many parts of the world. I also dedicate this book to the memory of some of the best leaders of agrarian reform movements in the Philippines who passed away without seeing the full realization of their dream of a just Philippine society: Felicisimo “Ka Memong” Patayan, Ka Simon Sagnip, and Ka Nilo Oracion. This page intentionally left blank TABLE OF CONTENTS List of Tables .............................................................................................................ix Foreword ................................................................................................................... xi Acknowledgments .................................................................................................xiii Introduction Some Gaps in Land Reform Studies ............................................................... 1 Chapter 1 The Politics of Redistributive Land Reform: Conceptual Reconsideration ..........................................................................21 Chapter 2 Land and Tenancy Reforms in the Philippines: A National-Level View of Structures and Institutions, Processes and Outcomes ................................................................................ 81 Chapter 3 CARP’s Non-redistributive Policies and Outcomes .................................119 Chapter 4 CARP’s Redistributive Policies and Outcomes .........................................163 Chapter 5 State–Society Interactions for Redistributive Land Reform ....................215 Conclusion The Challenge of Redistributive Land Reform: Conclusions and Implications ..................................................................... 281 Notes ....................................................................................................................... 299 List of Abbreviations ............................................................................................323 References .............................................................................................................. 329 Index ....................................................................................................................... 385 LIST OF TABLES Table 1.1: Possible Outcomes of Land (Reform) Policies in Public Lands .....................................................................................................33 Table 1.2: Economic and Socio-political Bases of Land Reforms .....................47 Table 1.3: Key Features of State- and Market-Led Approaches to Land Reform in Private Lands ...................................................................... 58 Table 2.1: Population of the Philippines, 1961–1999 ..........................................88 Table 2.2: Size Distribution of Farms, 1980 ......................................................... 89 Table 2.3: Concentration of Agricultural Land Ownership, 1988 ....................90 Table 2.4: Value of Total Agricultural Exports-Imports, 1971–2002 ............... 93 Table 2.5: Value of Exports of Non-traditional Crops, 1971–2002 ...................95 Table 2.6: Comparative Yield per Hectare in Rice and Corn, Selected Countries ...........................................................................................96 Table 2.7: Trends in Revealed Comparative Advantage, Agriculture and Selected Major Agricultural Exports, 1960–1998 .................................97 Table 2.8: DAR’s Land Redistribution Scope, Deductions, and Accomplishment, 1972–2005 ........................................................................111 Table 2.9: Total Land Redistribution under the DAR, 1972–2005 ................. 113 Table 2.10: Total Land Redistribution under the DENR, 1987–2004 .............113 Table 2.11: Number of Benefi ciaries of Land Reform Programs, 1972–2000 ........................................................................................................ 114 ix Table 2.12: Yearly Summary of Leasehold Accomplishment, 1986–2003 ........................................................................................................ 115 Table 3.1: Land Deducted from the DAR Scope, as of 31 March 2005 ..........140 Table 3.2: DAR’s Land Distribution Accomplishment, by Land Acquisition Modality, 1972–2005 ................................................................ 148 Table 3.3: Deductions from the CARP Scope, by Region, as of 2005 ............ 151 Table 3.4.a: National Summary of Deductions Based on Legal Grounds, as of 1998 ....................................................................................... 152 Table 3.4.b: Geographic (Regional) Distribution of Deductions Based on Legal Grounds, as of 1998 ........................................................... 153 Table 3.5: Pangasinan’s Land Reform Accomplishment, DAR Jurisdiction, as of 2001 .................................................................................. 155 Table 4.1: DAR Land Redistribution Output in Private Lands, 1972–2005 ........................................................................................................ 206 Table 4.2: DENR’s Accomplishment in A&D Lands and CBFM, 1987–2001 ........................................................................................................ 212 Table 5.1: The KMP-Visayas Number of Participants in Mass Mobilizations, 1985–1991 ..............................................................................223 Table 5.2: State–Society Interactions and Spatial Variations in Policy Outcomes ............................................................................................ 277 FOREWORD Revolutions and peasant insurgencies during the 20th century often led to major land reforms, as occurred in Mexico and China. In the post-1945 Cold War climate many governments introduced land reform legislation to pre- empt more radical change. Some governments also viewed land reform as a precondition for industrialization and economic development. Undoubtedly land reform played a key role in the economic success of South Korea and Taiwan, a fact that is often overlooked. Overall, the record of land reforms is more mixed, as most governments failed to deliver. Far less land was redistributed than promised and those who did benefi t often had to compete on disadvantageous terms in the market without any economic support from the state. During the 1980s land reforms were no longer on the policy agenda. On the contrary, with the neoliberal agenda ushered in by the debt crisis and the World Bank–driven structural adjustment program, many governments put an end to land reform and facilitated the development of land markets. Furthermore, many developing countries liberalized and opened their economies, a process that resulted in the bankruptcy of many peasant farmers who were unable to compete with the cheap and subsidized imports from North America and the European Union. Such liberalizing measures can be described as a “counter- reform by stealth,” as peasants were forced to sell their land to pay off their debts and join the army of cheap labour. A few countries even implemented counter-reform measures in which many former land reform benefi ciaries were driven from the land. The exclusionary and concentrating consequences of neoliberal policies provoked a resurgence of peasant and indigenous movements claiming their xi xii | Pro-poor Land Reform rights to a dignifi ed livelihood as exemplifi ed by the Zapatista rebellion in Mexico, the Landless Rural Workers Movement (MST) in Brazil, and the Movement Towards Socialism (MAS) in Bolivia. Land reform continues to be a major demand of these movements as well as of others throughout Africa, Asia, and Latin America. Borras’s book thus appears