us pushes philippine land reform and gets nowhere_ar-47-53.pdf

8/14/2019 US Pushes Philippine Land Reform and gets Nowhere_AR-47-53.pdf

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PHILIPPINESAR 1 0 t53 OT FOR PUBLICATI

M E R I C N U N I V E R S I T I E S F I E L D S T F F5 HFTH VENUE NEW YORK 36 N Y

T HE UNITED S T A T E S PU SH ES P H I L I P P I N ELAND REFORM AND GETS NOWHERE

S t a f f l e t t e r f r om Albert avenholt

Manila,June 17 953

Dear As s oc i a t e :When the Second Phil ip p in e Congress adjourned i t s f o u r t hse ss io n thr ee weeks ago without enacting any si gn if ic an t landreform leg i s la t ion , i t adm inistere d a major de fe at t o Americanpolicy i n these Is land s. This ref usal of the Phil ipp ineGovernment t o perform one of i t s major commitments madea s a cond it ion f or American aid ind ica tes the p ol i t i ca l powerexercised here by th e land-owning ge nt ry , It suggests a needf o r re-examining th e methods th e United S t a t e s has employed inencouraging t h i s underdeveloped young p rotege re pub lic t o

modernize i t s of ten feudal land-use p ract ices . Our fa i l u ret o secure reforms has l e f t the discontented Fi l ip i no tenantfarmer more dependent f o r any improvement i n h i s l o t uponthe p o l i t i c a l f ac t ions s t ruggl ing for power here i n th i sp r e s i d e n t i a l e l e c t i o n year most ordinary farmers lackthe e xperience and dependable l o c a l lea de rs needed t o organizep o l i t i c a l l y for th e i r own ends.On the 2th of September, 1952 U.S. Ambassador RaymondSpruance deli ve red t o th e Phi1ippl.de Foreign O f f ce th reecopies of a r ep or t e n t i t l e d P h i l i ~ p i n eLand Tenure ReformAnalysis and Recommendations, prepared here by t kae MutualSecurity Agency. This was the f i r s t American attempt t o

secure performance of the ph il ip pi ne Government s pledget o implement a program of l and red i s t r ibu t io n th rough thepurchase of lar ge e st a te s for re sa le t o small farmers and toprovide te na nts with gr ea te r se cu ri ty of tenure and a moreequitable share of tkheir crops. The pledge was incorporatedi n th e Q uir in o- Fost er Agreement of November, 1950, when thePh ili pp ine Government i n re tu rn f o r American te ch ni ca l andeconomic aid promised a I t . bold implementation of measures


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t ha t w i l l bring about a higher degree of social justice inthe Philippinestt i n l i n e w ith recommendations of th e Be llMission,which had surveyed the Islands e a r l i e r t ha t year.Later ths Phil ippin e Congress had committed i t s e l f i n afomai resolu t ion t o support the Agreement and the Missionlsrecammendat ions,es i t e these sub st an tia l beginnings, the repo rt dekiv-red by he American Ambassador fo r t ra nsmitt a l t o Presiden tElpid io Quirino was ignored by the Phi lipp ine Governmentu n t i l l a t e December when the loca l and American pr es s securedacce ss t o seve ra l copies and began publishing excerpts . Sud-denly la nd reform became important and contr over si al news.Although much of the information included was gleaned frome ar l i er f indings of off icf a 1 investig ation s and census

figures The Hardie ReportM named a f t e r MSA Land Tenures p e c i a l i s t Robert Hardie was descr ibed by House SpeakerEugenio Perez a s an insid iou s and systematic rele ase ofco nfi den tial MSA rep ort s T r Jose Yulo, wealthy chairman ofthe P hilipp ine Council fo r United S ta tes Aid, pub licly deniedhe had ever received a copy of t he report , which had beenprepared wi th hi s f u l l knowledge, While a de legation ofCentral Luzon farmers organized by the -Libera l Pa rty ca l le dupon President Quirino t o assu re him t h a t a l l was peace andorder in t h e i r region , one of the la rg er landowners i n theare a was assas sinate d by hi s tenants , Nacionalista Pa rtyopposit ion le ad er s defended The Reportw and it was endorsedby the Manila Junior Chamber of Commerce and other c iv icgroups, Pr ov inci al governors announced th ir support oropposition t o Hardie's findings, often on the basis of t h e irpo l i t i ca l a ll eg iance . College students held a l a rge r a l lyi n downtown Manila, asking th a t t he land reform recommenda-tions be upheld. he Pres iden t ts br othe r, Judge AntonioQuirino, c r i t i c i z e d the Hagdie Report and Americans ingeneral as %nemies arresting Philippine Economic de~elopment.~'he Committee on Un-Filipino Activities of the PhilippineCongress launched a sp ec ia l inve st igat ion and se ve ra l monthslater published a 103-page preliminary study and ana ly si snpurporting t o show a similarity between the MSA findingsand Communist charges of poverty and di s sa t i s f ac t io n among

tenant farmers.During a l l t h is noisy discussion ref lec t ing i n par t thetemper of the approaching elections, the American Embassyand MSA Mission refused t o is sue or deny statements. In a


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confidential conference with the seni or American of f i c i a l sPresident Quirino deplored publication of the Report andadmitted the accuracy of its .c on te nt s. But he f a i l e d t opromise remedial a c t on. Publ ic ly the Pres iden t t r i ed tododge the issue by announcing th t his solution was tha openingof new lands. Meanwhile, th e MSA s p e c i a l i s t s i n cooperationwith t h e i r Fi l ip ino counterpar ts draf ted spec if i c proposalsf o r land reform le gis la t ion . nLease-hold Tenancy Acttt wasprepared t h a t would le g a l l y ab ol is h the pr esen t Kasamatenancy system whereby th e land lord and tena nt occupy thel e g a l po sit ion of partners. Under the old pra cti ce the land-lo r d has f u l l con tr ol over management and has a pr ior l i e n onup to 8 percent of th e ten an ts f share of the crop that theowner oft en re ta in s f o r himself i n the form of int ere st,charges on loans, charges fo r ten an t 's use of water bu ffa loand equipment, et c . This proposed a c t provided f o r a lea se -hold c on tr ac t between ten an t and la nd owner si mil ar t o Americanprac t ice and es tabl ished guiding pr inciples i n ant ic ipa t ionof the time when such co ntr ac ts could be writ ten f o r a l lfarmers rent ing land. The present le g al ren t ceil in g of 3percent on rice crops was extended t o include a l l crops andmaximum charges were fi xe d f o r the use of work animals andtools .

second Court of Agrarian Re la tion s Acttt was d ra f tedt o give tena nt farmers and land owners ea si e r and inexpensiveaccess t o specia l cour ts fo r se t tlement of d isputes . ThisAct a ls o would have e stab lish ed o f f i c i a l machinery f o r i nv est i-gating and br inging t o t r i a l those who violated land tenurelaws. An amendment t o t he present Minimum Wage Law a l s o wasprepared t o di ff er en ti at e le ga ll y between tenants and farmla bo re rs , who ar e of te n considered a s interchangeable underthe ex is t in g kasamaH system. Because operato rs of farmswith less than 3 acre s ( thr ee times the si z e of the averagefarm) a r e exempt from th e p ro vi sion s of the old minimum wagelaw t h i s amendment was needed t o prevent landlords from can-ver t ing the i r t enants i n t o laborers .

The l eg i s l a t i on dra f ted under MS guidance was designedt o a l l e v i a t e the most acute causes of tenant disconte nt and t oinitiate an integrated land reform program. t a future datethe MS s p e c i a l i s t s planned t o encourage government purchaseof larg e land holdings f o r subdivision and res ale t o ind ividualfarmers. The governing council of PHILCUSA which reflectsthe at t i tu d e s of President Quirinols Liberal Party, refusedt o approve the proposed le gi sl at io n o r t o endorse i t t o t hespri ng se ssi on of the Ph ili pp ine Congress. But several s t a ffmembers of t h i s o f f i c i a l Phil ippine organization esta blish edt o cooperate with MS worked privately with interested Fil i-


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pino newspapermen and sl ippe d copies of the proposed l eg is la -t i o n t o sympathetic members of Congress, They prodded theseCongressmen t o push the le g is la ti on . And l a t e in the fo urt hse ss io n th e Lease-hold Tenancy Actti was repor ted out of theHouse Agrarian and Social Welfare Committee. t was recom-mended t o be consolida ted with a s im il ar ac t passed by theNacionalista c ontro lled Senate l a s t year and calendared f o ra second reading. The tlCourt of Agrarian Relations Actrt wasreported out of the House Judiciary Committee, also with therecommendation t ha t i t be calendared for a second reading.But the Liberal Party leadership controlling the House refusedt o act on ei th er b i l l , leaving both t o expire with t h i sCongress, An inadequate b i l l designed to buy estates volun-t a r i l y offer ed fo r sa le by owners th at was introduced l a s tyear suff er ed a s imila r f a t e , The amendment t o the MinimumWage Law never was introduced.into Congress. Unless anoth ersp ec ia l se ssion of the second Ph ilip pin e Congress i s cal ledbefore the ele ct io ns next November any of t h i s le g is la ti o ntha t i s t o be considered again mud be reintroduced in to theThird philippine Congress next year,

In retrospect Fil ipin os and ~m eric ansmost intimatelyconcerned with land reform recognize they made seve ral m istakesth at contributed t o t h is defeat of th ei r leg is la t io n i n Congmss,~t l e a s t some Americans fai le d t o re al iz e th at PresidentQ u ir in ol s promise t o a c t as embodied i n the Quirino-FosterAgreement could not be depended upon in an election year whenhe and h i s Party are soliciting support from the landownerswho boss most prov incial po l i t i c a l machines. The Pres iden tand his chief henchmen are convinced that the United Statesmust continue to ai d th e Philip pine s economically and m i l i t a r i l yregardless of what they do. So f a r no re sponsible Americano f f i c i a l h s disabused these Fil ipino poli t icia ns of th isassumption, nor convinced them that irresponsible verbalattacks upon the United States w l l cost them anything.

he present Philippine Government i s modelled largelyaf te r the pat ter n of author i ty t h a t grew up here during theperiod of United S ta te s co lo nial adm inistra tion. The Pres iden tretains much of ths centralized power that formerly belongedt o the American Governor-Generawhen a community needs abridge o r typhoon re l i e f they send a delegation t o see thePresiden t, Once Pre sid ent Quirino had indicated even h i s un-official opposition to action on land reform, it becamedangerous for an o f f i c i a l i n ny subordina te branch of th egovernment t o f a c i l i t a t e such action. t appears noTa t h a t


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th e American o f f i c i a l s here might have been more su cc es sfuli f they had delayed fo rn al diplomatic pre sen tati on of the landtenur e reforrn rep or t u n t i l a f t e r they had mobilized widespreadsu ppo rt f o r such a c t i on - ~ i t h i nower echelons of the Phil ip-pine Government. If Fil ip in o sp ec ia l i s t s wi thin the Depart-ments of Justice and Agriculture, the National EconomicCouncil and other government agencies concerned had reachedr e l a t i v e agreement i n advance on the kind of i n i t i a l programthat would work fewer Congressmen would have opposed thel e g i s l a t i o n . 1i i s possible th at the great popular sen ti-ment supp orting la nd reform t h a t responded t o publ ica tionof the Wardie Reportn could h ve been molded and directedf o r p o l i t i c a l a c ti o n t h a t would have made land r e f o m p o l i ti c a l l v des irab le f o r the presen t government. The PhilfppineGovernment and Congress a r e ujnusually s ens it ive t o theopinions expressed by th e two and one-half m il li on Fi li pi no swho l i v e i n and around Manila. And the se ar e the F i li p in o swho h ve easy access t o newspapers and r adi os and a r e notaf ra id t o express themselves; they ar e f r ee f rom the in t i -midation th a t keeps so many ru r a l c it iz e n s from voicingoppos it ion t o th e i r l oc a l gen try,

The i nt eg ra ti on of economic and social developmente ff o rt s with popular f e l t needstt i n order to prompt acti onby a relu ctan t government requ ires ra re s k i l l s on the pa rtof the responsible American o f f i c i a l s and technici ansThey must be a ble t o fun ct io n qu ie tl y i n the background,suppo rting guiding- and encouraging th e Fi li pi no s who dothe ac tu al work and, a t the st r a t e g i c moment, co nt rib ut in gthe lev erage t h a t ,American a id makes'pos sible . One sympa-th e t ic F i l ip in o o f f ic ia l who helped unof f ic ia l ly i n theattempt to init ia te land reform explained: I t ' s r e a l 1a b a n r e l a ti o n sh ip problem. He added that fore ign ch-ni ci an s had proven most e ff ec ti ve her e when they con st an tl ykept i n mind the po l i t i c a l and so ci a l pressures wi th inwhich operate the Fi l ip in o groups they are a ss is t i ng , Inthe i r e f fo r t s to in i t i a te l and re fo rm here Uni ted S ta tesdiplomatic and tach ni cal r epr ese nta tiv es f ai le d t o do someimportant missionary work among Filipino Congressmen andother persons who wield power. No one explained ind ivi dua llyt o thes e Fil ip in os the importance of improved land tenurepra ct ice s fo r achieving increased agr ic ul tu ra l production.Most F i l ip in o leaders a re anxious t o s t a r t indus t r i a l iz ingtheir country. But they were never educated t o the possibleuse of a land reform program t o speed in du st ri al iz at io n bysh i f t i ng ca p i t a l from ru ra l t o urban a reas . American special-i s t s were discouraged from est abl ishi ng cord ial personal re-


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lations with Filipino political leaders and encouraging theiracceptance of new attitudes, Iths MS Mission h s not incorporatedinto the irrigation prograqdeveloped jointly with the PhilippineGovermnent,principles of limita ti on of ind ividua l holdings on landtha t ben ef it s from publ ic investment, such a s have been es ta bl ishe dpractice I n the opening up of ths American West, These andthe r omissions in the United States ef fo r t often re fl ec t abmpartmentalization of thinking among our technicians. Relativelyfew of the Amerqcan spec ia l i s t s seem aware of the soc ia lr sults of the ap pli ca ti on of th e i r technology. With some out--standing exceptions, they f a i l to re la te the ir own ef fo rt s t othe achievement of broad fundamental changes such a s land reform,The ea rl y prosp scts f or improving the l o t of the steadi lyincreasing number of F il ip ino tenant farmers now depend large lyupon the e le cti ons t o be held here next Ebvember. PresidentQuirlno, who i s seeking reelection on the Liberal Party Ticket,

has become more dependent for support upon the large landowners,Carlos P Romulo and Vice President Fernando Lopez, a weal twsugar pla nter took th e i r followers out of the Liberal Partg:and are organ zing a new Democratic Partp* So f a r they haveco rr all ed po li ti c al supporters wherever possible and shown l i t t l ep rmise of evolving a s ocia l ly meaningful program, othe r thant o demand Ita change1( i n th e i r favor. Ramon Magsagsay hascarried h i s campaign as Nacionalista Party candidate for presidentin to remote bar riosu hi th er to ignored by offic ia ls and pol i t ic ians.He promises t o build community water systems, open more schoolsissue land t i t l e s and meet o ther urgent demands of the ru ra l f d k .He has avoided t o da te d i rec t a ttac ks upon the landed gentry whoalso are strong in h i s own party , But Magsaysay does apprec ia tethe c r i t i c a l need f or land reform and has pri vately said t ha t i felected he w i l l take i r m action. o the extent that ordinaryFi lip in o farmers organize p o li ti c al ly and support candidates fo rt he Senate and House they w i l l be able t o insist upon performancei n th e ir in te re st s when the Third Congress meets. But the land-owning in te re s ts a re entrenched a t most levels of control and/orinfluence i n the Phil ipp ines and the preva ilin g philosophyregarding property supports their position. Even i f the moreprogressive candidates are elected here next November, Americanhelp w i l l be needed i n order t o peacefully modify this sscialstructure and to offer the tenant' farmer more productxve andremunerative opportunitiesa

U n i t e d States EmbassyM a n i l a , P h i l i p p i n e Islands.

us pushes philippine land reform and gets nowhere_ar-47-53.pdf

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