Philippines

Background paper on land reform in the Philippines.

PHILIPPINES: Farm leader wounded in shooting in front of his family
Urgent Appeals Programme: Asian Human Rights Commission
December 18, 2006 - Dear friends,

The Asian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) writes to inform you that a leader of a group of farmers seeking land reform was wounded in a shooting at 6pm on 30 October 2006. The attack on Ronald Ocson (41), president of the Asao Farmers and Residents Association (AFRA), took place almost three weeks after he and his fellow villagers were also violently allegedly attacked by armed goons of an influential landlord in Barangay (village) Lawis, Balasan, Iloilo.

Redistributive land reform in ‘public’ (forest) lands? Lessons from the Philippines and their implications for land reform theory and practice
Saturnino M. Borras, Jr
March 30, 2006 - The conventional view in the land reform literature does not consider distribution of‘public’lands to landless and near-landless peasants as redistributive land reform. Questioning the (formal) private property bias in land reform theory and practice, this paper rethinks some fundamental concepts and re-examines actual distribution in public lands in the Philippines. Itconcludes that redistributive reform can, in fact, occur in this type of land and the political process through which this outcome can be achieved could be highly contentious.

THE STATE OF HUMAN RIGHTS IN CENTRAL LUZON: A MICROCOSM OF HUMAN RIGHTS SITUATION IN THE COUNTRY
Aurora Broquil, Kilusan para sa Pambansang Demokrasya (KPD)
February 14, 2006 - The Arroyo regime is no ‘strong republic’ but rather a desperate and illegitimate one. Despite its claims to the contrary, the present regime is being fueled not by people’s support but by foreign and local big business and the might of the police and military. It continues to implement neo-liberal policies that wreck lives and livelihood and those foolish enough to counter this bitter reality is gagged with executive orders and directives designed to demonize dissent and penalize the pursuit of civil and political liberties.

Agrarian Reform: The Promise and The Reality
Marissa de Guzman, Marco Garrido & Mary Ann Manahan
June 23, 2004 - An updated and revised background report on land reform in the Philippines. The authors have provided a comprehensive critical analysis of the history and reality of agrarian reform in the Philippines. This 59 page paper is also featured as a chapter in, Anti-development State: Political Economy of Permanent Crisis by Walden Bello