Land reform is imperative

The Philippines has a long-standing history of critical land issues and concerns arising from ambiguous and unsystematic policies and laws regarding the distribution and management of the country’s land resources. History bore witness to a system that favors pro-landlord and commercial land use at the expense of the less privileged. Power relations had time and again side-stepped necessary regulations.

The issue especially holds true for the agrarian sector, evident in the continued delay at land reform through Republic Act (RA) 6657 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, which was passed into law during the late President Corazon Aquino’s time.