Department of Agrarian Reform

About Us

Agrarian Reform History

The history of agrarian reform in the Philippines dates back to the early 20th century, when the American colonial government implemented a number of measures aimed at improving the lives of Filipino farmers. These measures included the Homestead Act of 1903, which allowed individuals to claim land for free if they cultivated it for five years, and the Cadastral Act of 1913, which established a system for surveying and registering land ownership.

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Mandate and Functions

To lead in the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) through Land Tenure Improvement (LTI), Agrarian Justice and Coordinated delivery of essential Support Services to client beneficiaries.

  • To provide Land Tenure security to landless farmers through land acquisition and distribution; leasehold arrangements’ implementation and other LTI services;
  • To provide legal intervention to Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBS) through adjudication of agrarian cases and agrarian legal assistance;
  • To implement, facilitate and coordinate the delivery of support services to ARBs through Social Infrastructure and Local Capability Building (SILCAB); Sustainable Agribusiness and Rural Enterprise Development (SARED); and Access Facilitation and Enhancement Services (AFAES).

Mission Statement

DAR is the lead government agency that upholds and implements comprehensive and genuine agrarian reform which actualizes equitable land distribution, ownership, agricultural productivity, and tenurial security for, of and with the tillers of the land towards the improvement of their quality of life.

Vision

A just, safe and equitable society that upholds the rights of tillers to own, control, secure, cultivate and enhance their agricultural lands, improve their quality of life towards rural development and national industrialization.

DAR Leaders

Services

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Land Tenure Services

Land Tenure Services is operationalized either through land acquisition and distribution (LAD) or leasehold operations. LAD involves the redistribution of government and private agricultural lands to landless farmers and farm workers.
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Agrarian Legal Services

This is complemented with two programs, namely: agrarian legal assistance (ALA) under the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance (BALA) and adjudication of agrarian cases under the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB).
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Agrarian Policy Advisory Services

This MFO on Agrarian Policy Advisory Services (APAS) covers policy advisory formulation, updating and dissemination. For FY 2015, the Department of Agrarian Reform has signed and issued 5 Administrative Orders and 1 Memorandum Circular.
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ARBDSP

Technical Advisory Support Services (TASS) is an agrarian reform component that aims to capacitate Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) and provide them access to neccessary support services to make their land productive.