Land Reform, Rural Development, and Poverty in the Philippines: Revisiting the Agenda

Page 239

Table 8-1 Land amortization collections from agrarian reform beneficiaries (as of Dec. 2006) Agrarian Operations Center

Actual Collections (Php M) Principal

Interest

FAR

1

3.6

1.5

2

12.1

3

TOTAL

Amount Due & Collectible (Php M)

Collection Rate (%)

2.6

7.7

19.6

28

7.9

12.1

32.1

174.8

13

41.5

14

50.8

106.3

294.6

27

4

6.6

1.6

38.6

46.8

53.9

49

5

2.3

3.1

17.8

23.2

80.4

21

6

1.5

1.1

19

21.6

41.6

34

7

0.3

0.3

9.3

9.9

12.5

44

8

0.6

0.1

8.6

9.3

3.2

78

9

0.9

0.2

9.7

10.8

18.8

37

10

5.5

3

17.2

25.7

38.3

41

11

7.4

1.8

53.9

63.1

66.5

51

12

6.4

3

26.8

36.2

375.3

8

Total

88.7

37.6

266.4

392.7

1179.5

25

Source: Strategic Planning Group, Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP)

This problem has spawned second-generation issues brought about by the sale and transfer of rights of “unperfected titles” in the informal market. As discussed in Chapter 5, the agrarian reform law prohibits land acquired by ARBs to be sold, transferred or conveyed except through hereditary succession or to the government, to the Land Bank or to other qualified beneficiaries for a period of 10 years after the award (RA 6657, Section 27). However, it is contended that this provision of the law has been visibly disregarded or overlooked. Unfortunately only non-systematic evidence is available to draw a firm conclusion on the size of this phenomenon. DAR’s inability to track the stability of its land reform achievements represents a major factor in CARP’s perceived lack of transparency as recent hearings in Congress confirm. In a 1995 DAR study covering 23 provinces with one village sample in each province, the average number of EP recipients who sold and transferred their rights averaged 15% (DAR, 1995). This percentage ranged from a low of 4% to a high of 74%. Among CLOA recipients, the average was higher at 26% and the percentage ranged from 2% to 100%. The later percentage was common in areas such as the CALABARZON provinces where land commanded a higher price due to increasing urbanization from the spillover of population in Metro Manila. Similar findings were reported in a 2003 study by Urbis Philippines under the WB-AusAID Land Administration and Management Program (LAMP). Many beneficiaries were selling their lands as soon as they got hold of their EPs/CLOAs. In Malaybalay City, the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer estimated that 80% of the original agrarian reform awardees had already sold their lands covered by CLOAs. The CLOAs were being sold even before the

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