Agrarian Reform in the Philippines: Status and Perspectives for 1998 and Beyond. Workshop Proceedings

The proceedings reported here center on three case studies on Agrarian Reform in the Philippines – based on field research by Ms. Rachel Polestico, Mr. Antonio Quizon and Mr. Peter Hildemann – which were analyzed, in a workshop setting, by experienced activists and practitioners who are partners of GAA in the Philippines. The case studies, and the commentaries and critiques by the workshop participants, shed light on the complex solutions that are needed, and are possible, to make Agrarian Reform an effective 21st Century solution to persistent causes and consequences of poverty among rural populations in the Philippines. The report reviews historical and contextual realities affecting future – effective and durable — Agrarian Reform, which has been reaffirmed in mid-1998 as a national priority in the Philippines. It addresses the challenges of modern Agrarian Reform in a democratic society, and within the tension of a world setting of globalization set against national programs of localization. It also reviews the need, and experience, that Agrarian Reform go beyond land title to land use, by and for the rural poor