Agrarian reform in the Philippines

The RAND Corporation through a grant from AID held a seminar in December 1977 to review the Philippine agrarian reform program. Participants examined social, economic, environmental and political ramifications of land redistribution to determine factors responsible for the slowdown in the program. They also discussed options for the Philippine government and the role that foreign donors, including AID, could take in the future. The seminar concluded that, in spite of the government's disinterest in the program and the fact that AID intended terminating its contribution in September 1978, the land transfer effort is worth trying to salvage. Agrarian reform is too functionally related to other development programs to allow it to fail. Direct support options include technical assistance in solving problems of land registration and titling, and establishing a rotating fund to subsidize new owners. Indirect support options include improving rural roads, assistance with irrigation and electrification projects, and reforestation and restoration of grasslands to agricultural use.