Department of Agrarian Reform (Philippines)

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Department of Agrarian Reform

Established:	September 01, 1971
Secretary:	Nasser C. Pagdanganan (Acting)
Budget:	P4.883 billion (2005)
Website:	www.dar.gov.ph

The Philippines' Department of Agrarian Reform (Filipino: Kagawaran ng Repormang Pansakahan), abbreviated as the DAR, is the executive department of the Philippine Government responsible for all land reform programs in the country, with the aim of promoting social justice and industrialization.

Contents 1 History 2 Secretaries/Ministers of Agriculture 3 Reference 4 External links

[edit] History

Land reform in the Philippines had its beginnings in 1963, when Section 49 of Republic Act (RA) 3844, or the Agricultural Land Reform Code, necessitated the creation of the Land Authority. This agency was tasked to implement the policies set forth in RA 3844 and was created on August 8, 1963. Republic Act 3844 reorganized existing agencies involved in tasks related to land reform and realigned their functions towards attaining the common objectives of the land reform program.

On September 10, 1971, President Ferdinand E. Marcos signed RA 6389, otherwise known as the Code of Agrarian Reform of the Philippines, into law. Section 49 of this act mandated the establishment of a new self-contained department, the Department of Agrarian Reform, and this effectively replaced the Land Authority. In 1978, under the parliamentary form of government, the DAR was renamed the Ministry of Agrarian Reform. On July 26, 1987, the department was organized structurally and functionally through Executive Order (EO) No. 129-A.

In 1988, Republic Act No. 6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) was signed into law and became the legal basis for the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). It is an act instituting a CARP with the aim of promoting social justice and industrialization. RA 6657 also provided the mechanism for its implementation. It was signed by President Corazon C. Aquino on June 10.

On September 27, 2004, President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo, signed Executive Order No. 364, and the Department of Agrarian Reform was renamed to Department of Land Reform. This EO also broadened the scope of the department, making it responsible for all land reform in the country. It also placed the Philippine Commission on Urban Poor (PCUP) under its supervision and control. Recognition of the ownership of ancestral domain by indigenous peoples also became the responsibility of this new department, under the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).^[1]

On August 23, 2005, President Arroyo signed Executive Order No. 456 and renamed the Department of Land Reform back to Department of Agrarian Reform, since "the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law goes beyond just land reform but includes the totality of all factors and support services designed to lift the economic status of the beneficiaries."^[2]

[edit] Secretaries/Ministers of Agriculture

Month started	Month finished	Name
Governors of the Land Authority
August 1936	October 1963	Sixto K. Roxas
November 1963	July 1964	Rodrigo D. Perez, Jr.
July 1964	December 1965	Benjamin M. Gozon
January 1966	June 2, 1978	Condrado F. Estrella
Ministers of Agrarian Reform
June 2, 1978	March 30, 1986	Condrado F. Estrella
May 1, 1986	March 7, 1987	Heherson T. Alvarez
Secretaries of Agrarian Reform
July 23, 1987	July 1, 1989	Philip Ella Juico
Jul. 20, 1989	January 4, 1990	Miriam Defensor-Santiago
January 4, 1990	April 5, 1990	Florencio B. Abad
April 6, 1990	June 30, 1992	Benjamin T. Leong
June 30, 1992	June 30, 1998	Ernesto D. Garilao
July 1, 1998	February 11, 2001	Horacio R. Morales
February 12, 2001	January 15, 2003	Hernani A. Braganza
January 20, 2003	January 20, 2004	Roberto M. Pagdanganan
February 20, 2004	August 24, 2004	Jose Mari B. Ponce (OFFICER-IN-CHARGE)
August 26, 2004	September 27, 2004	Rene C. Villa
Secretaries of Land Reform
September 27, 2004	July 8, 2005	Rene C. Villa
July 8, 2005	August 23, 2005	Nasser C. Pagdanganan (OFFICER-IN-CHARGE)
Secretaries of Agriarian Reform
August 23, 2005	Present	Nasser C. Pagdanganan (OFFICER-IN-CHARGE)

[edit] Reference

1. ^ Executiver Order No. 364
2. ^ Executive Order No. 456

• DAR - History

[edit] External links

• Department of Agrarian Reform website