Past

DAR Leaders
Sixto K. Governor August 1963 -
Roxas Land Authority October 1963

RAFAEL
The Agriculture Land Reform Code (RA 3844) was
signed into law on August 8, 1963. The Land
Authority under the auspices of Governor Sixto K.
Roxas from August 1963 to October 1963 was
committed in its implementation. As the lead agency
in implementing RA 3844 during the Macapagal
Administration, the Land Authority sought the
agricultural retention limit of the landowners from
300 hectares to 75 hectares. The share tenancy was
abolished and the leasehold system was instituted.
One of the major thrusts of the Land Authority was
to establish owner-cultivatorship and the economic
family-sized farm as the basis of Philippine
agriculture. As a consequence, it diverted landlord
capital in agriculture to industrial development.

It was also during the leadership of Governor Sixto

Roxas together with Governors Rodrigo Perez, Jr.
and Benjamin Gozon that RA 3844 was
implemented in Pangasinan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija,
Pampanga, Tarlac, Occidental Mindoro, Camarines
Sur, and Misamis Oriental. Out of the total scope of
18,377.05 hectares, the Land Registration Authority
covered 18,247.06 hectares or generated a 99.29%
accomplishment rate. The program benefited 7,466
farmer beneficiaries. Governor Roxas during his
term eagerly attended hearings to fight for the
funding of RA 3844.
RAFAEL
Rodrigo D. Governor November 1963 -
Perez, Jr. Land Authority July 1964

RAFAEL
The Agriculture Land Reform Code (RA 3844) was
signed into law on August 8, 1963. After Governor
Sixtor Roxas, Governor Rodrigo D. Perez led the
Land Authority from November 1963 to July 1964.
Like his predecessor, he also committed to the
successful implementation of the the law. As the
lead agency in implementing RA 3844 during the
Macapagal Administration, the Land Authority
sought the agricultural retention limit of the
landowners from 300 hectares to 75 hectares. The
share tenancy was abolished and the leasehold
cultivatorship and the economic family-sized farm as
the basis of Philippine agriculture. As a
consequence, it diverted landlord capital in
agriculture to industrial development.

Governor Rodrigo Perez continued what Governor

Sixto Roxas started in the implementation of RA
3844 in Pangasinan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija,
Pampanga, Tarlac, Occidental Mindoro, Camarines
Sur, and Misamis Oriental. His leadership at the
Land Authority was contributory in accomplishing the
targets of the Macapagal Administration on
leasehold. As a result out of the total scope of
18,377.05 hectares, the Land Authority covered
18,247.06 hectares or generated a 99.29%
accomplishment rate. The program benefited 7,466
farmer beneficiaries.
RAFAEL
Benjamin M. Governor July 1964 -
Gozon Land Authority December 1965

RAFAEL
The Land Authority was under the leadership of
Governor Benjamin M. Gozon from July 1964 to
December 1965. Like Governors Roxas and Perez
he also committed to the implementation of RA
3844. As the lead agency in implementing RA 3844
during the Macapagal Administration, the Land
Authority sought the agricultural retention limit of the
landowners from 300 hectares to 75 hectares. The
share tenancy was abolished and the leasehold
system was instituted. One of the major thrusts of
the Land Authority was to establish owner-
cultivatorship and the economic family-sized farm as
the basis of Philippine agriculture. As a
consequence, it diverted landlord capital in
agriculture to industrial development.

Governor Benjamin Gozon continually implemented

RA 3844 in Pangasinan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija,
Pampanga, Tarlac, Occidental Mindoro, Camarines
Sur, and Misamis Oriental. Through the leadership
of Governors Roxas, Perez and Gozon, out of the
total scope of 18,377.05 hectares, the Land
Registration Authority covered 18,247.06 hectares
or generated a 99.29% accomplishment rate . The
program benefited 7,466 farmer beneficiaries.
RAFAEL
Conrado Secretary
Governor, Department of
Estrella Land Authority Agrarian Reform
January 1966 - September 10,
September 1971 A il 30
RAFAEL
Secretary Conrado Estrella is credited for carrying
out measures to facilitate the implementation of the
agrarian reform program under the Marcos
administration. Through the initial effort of his
administration, a total of 236 municipalities from
Luzon and Visayas with a total coverage of 716, 912
hectares involving 292, 429 farmer beneficiaries
were under the leasehold by the end of 1971. That
same year, through his endeavors the National Land
Reform Council for which he was a member
approved the acquisition of One hundred seventy
three (173) agricultural estates for distribution to
tenant-tillers.

As Minister of the Ministry of Agrarian Reform, he

was given the authority and power to issue
Certificate of Land Transfer and Emancipation
Patent.

Secretary Estrella ensured the implementation of PD

27 (The Tenant Emancipation Decree) when the
entire country was proclaimed into a land reform
area (PD 2). During his term, the tenanted rice and
corn lands gave the tenants opportunity to purchase
the lands they tilled, while share tenants on lands
over 7 hectares became leaseholders.

The Ministry of Agrarian Reform which later became

the Department of Agrarian Reform (RA 6389),
distributed and titled a total of 260,000 hectares of
land in a period of fourteen years. Subsequently,
Certificates of Land Transfers (CLTs) in the rice and
corn areas were awarded to 250,000 tenant farmers,
covering almost half a million hectares, throughout
his leadership in the Department. He was also the
Governor of the Land Authority from January 1966
to September 1971. In fact, he is credited for the
successful implementation of the leasehold program
as Governor of the Land Authority in the provinces
of Pangasinan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga,
Tarlac, Occidental Mindoro, Camarines Sur, and
Misamis Oriental.
RAFAEL
Minister
Heherson T. Ministry of May 1, 1986 -
Alvarez Agrarian March 7, 1987
Reform

RAFAEL
After the 1986 Presidential Election, Minister Alvarez
was designated as head of the Ministry of
continued with the implementation of PD 27. He ran
and won a seat at the Senate after less than a year
as Minister of MAR.
RAFAEL
Secretary
Philip E. Department of July 23, 1987 -
Juico Agrarian July 1, 1989
Reform

RAFAEL
Secretary Juico was Secretary of the newly re-
organized Department of Agrarian Reform (EO 129-
A) and sought the implementation of the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. Armed
with all the measures to speed up the
implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program, he immediately came out with
DAR Administrative Order No. 7, Series of 1988
which launched the LISTASAKA land registration
program. The program was aimed to get the
necessary data that will be used to set and monitor
land ownership.

Hopes were high during this time that the program

would provide a better indication of the
concentration of landholdings than the census data,
for it sought to establish a database of agricultural
lands according to the retention limits and priorities
under CARP.

However, the controversial Garchitorena scam

shortened the stay of Secretary Juico as Secretary
of DAR. Although he did not have any direct link to
the scam, he resigned and was replaced by
Secretary Miriam D. Santiago.
RAFAEL
Secretary
Miriam D. Department of July 20, 1989 -
Santiago Agrarian January 4, 1990
Reform

RAFAEL
There were many changes of leadership in DAR
during the administration of President Corazon
Aquino. Although this led to lack of continuity in
priorities, programs and projects, it can be said that
Secretary Miriam D. Santiago came up with
necessary policies and new perspectives to
implement CARP.
RAFAEL
Florencio B January 4 1990 -
 Agrarian
Reform

RAFAEL
The many changes of leadership in DAR during the
administration of President Corazon Aquino led to
lack of continuity in priorities, programs and projects.
However, as an individual whose heart is on the
successful implementation of the agrarian reform
program, Secretary Abad brought fresh perspective
into the Department. However, his term was only
short lived since the Commission on Appointment of
Congress did not confirm his appointment.
RAFAEL
Secretary
Benjamin T. Department of April 6, 1990 -
Leong Agrarian June 30, 1992
Reform

RAFAEL
President Corazon Aquino's administration saw
many changes in the DAR leadership. According to
some observers, this led to lack of continuity in
priorities, programs and projects in the Department.
Secretary Juico's resignation followed the
designation of three Secretaries in a row, namely:
Miriam D. Santiago, Florencio B. Abad and
Benjamin T. Leong. With the three secretaries came
new policies and new perspectives to implement
CARP.

Since Secretary Santiago and Secretary Abad's stay

were short lived, it was Secretary Benjamin Leong
who had the opportunity to continue where
Secretary Juico left off. Through his administration,
the implementing rules and mechanisms for the
different Executive Orders to speed up CARP
implementation (405, 406, 407 and 448) were
established to:

Create Agro-Industrial Development Areas

(AIDAs) to align programs and projects of CARP
implementing agencies;

Establish CARP Implementing Teams (CITs)

from the national to the municipal levels to
facilitate identification of priority areas for
coverage, solve operating problems and
coordinated the delivery of support services;

Indentify Strategic Operating Provinces where

greater part of CARP activities will be
concentrated to intend the direct use of
At the end of Secretary Leong’s administration, a
total of 170,904 tenants were beneficiaries of
Leasehold Operation covering 267,160 hectares.
Application of nine corporations for the Stock
Distribution Option covering 7,275 hectares were
approved and 84 firms distributed 216.2 million of
production and profit shares to 81,992 farmworkers.
(The Record and Legacy of the Aquino
Administration in AR: Executive Summary, Planning
Service-DAR)

It was also during this time of the Department that

the Agrarian Justice component or AJD was
recognized by the CARP public through the
development of the Paralegal Program and because
of the quasi-judicial power of the DAR through the
DARAB (Department of Agrarian Reform
Adjudication Board).
RAFAEL
Secretary
Ernesto D. Department of June 30, 1992 -
Garilao Agrarian June 30, 1998
Reform

RAFAEL
Secretary Ernesto Garilao’s main thrust when he
assumed office was to implement President Fidel
Ramos’ goal to carry out a faster, fairer and more
meaningful agrarian reform program. To facilitate
this, various guidelines and procedures were
formulated namely: (hyperlink to Issuances) DAR
AO 2, Series of 1992; DAR AO 1, Series of 1993;
DAR MC 7, Series of 1993; Joint DAR-LBP AO 3,
Series of 1994; DAR AO 1, Series of 1995; DAR AO
2, Series of 1995; DAR AO 2, Series of 1996; DAR
AO 4, Series of 1996; DAR AO 2, Series of 1997;
and DAR AO 8, Series of 1997. Likewise, various
guidelines on land acquisition and distribution (LAD)
were revised in order to accelerate the pace of land
distribution.

Notably, it was during Secretary Garilao’s leadership

that DAR created the Agrarian Reform Communities
(ARC) approach to Program Beneficiaries
Development or PBD. It provided a window for
viewing CARP impact on the lives of rural Filipinos.
ARCs converted cold statistics into real indicators of
equitable growth thru land tenure improvement and
the delivery of basic support services. This caught
the interests of other developed countries and many
foreign assisted projects supported the DAR thru its
ARCs in order to accelerate program implementation
in the ARCs.
bureaucracy by upgrading the DAR personnel thru
its 3-year human resource development, thus
enhancing the capabilities of line executives, middle
managers and technical staff. There was also the
development of performance contracting for better
and clearer accountabilities by the provincial and
regional offices.

Through his leadership and through his

proactiveness during deliberations in Congress, the
Agrarian Reform Fund Bill was approved into law
(RA 8532, Series of 1998)

In a span of six years (1992-1998), Secretary

Garilao’s administration was able to distribute a total
of 1.9 million hectares of agricultural lands or 49% of
the total CARP scope. It should be noted however,
that around half of the lands distributed during his
term were government owned lands or GOLs which
did not require compensation from the government.
RAFAEL
Secretary
Horacio R. Department of July 1, 1998 -
Morales Agrarian February 11, 2001
Reform

RAFAEL
It was during the leadership of Secretary Morales
that the field personnel were harassed by so many
lawsuits filed by disgruntled landowners. Thus, the
Agrarian Justice Delivery component was
strengthened and enhanced by reinforcing the legal
system in order to speed up the resolution of
agrarian reform cases. Also, to support the DAR
field personnel, the Agrarian Justice Fund and the
Agrarian Justice Foundation were created.

With regards to land tenure improvement or LTI,

private agricultural lands or PAL which consisted the
bulk of agri-lands were to be distributed during
Secretary Morales’ governance. To achieve its LAD
targets, DAR established two task forces, by type of
commodity planted in farm areas, i.e. coconut lands
and sugar lands. The objective was to fast track
distribution through these land types. Thus, a total of
333, 389 hectares of agricultural lands was
distributed or a 9 percent share to the total
accomplishment.

For the Program Beneficiaries Development

component (PBD), the ARC convergence strategy
among DAR, DA and DENR was pursued. This was
when President Estrada approved the Convergence
series of 1999. The DA’s Strategic Agricultural
Fisheries Development Zones (SAFDZs), the DAR’s
Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs) and the
DENR’s National Integrated Protected Areas
(NIPAS) were consolidated to promote sustainable
and integrated area development.
RAFAEL
Secretary
Hernani A. Department of February 12, 2001
Braganza Agrarian - January 15, 2003
Reform

RAFAEL
In support to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s poverty
alleviation thrusts, the administration of Secretary
Hernani Braganza started to embark on the Bayan-
Anihan CARP framework. This framework provides
for the transformation of the Philippine Countryside
into vibrant and dynamic communities through the
Program’s focused intervention under the agrarian
reform communities (ARC) Strategy.

With this, Program Beneficiaries Development

(PBD) component of the DAR increased
tremendously thru foreign assisted projects in the
agrarian reform communities. Through the
leadership of Secretary Braganza, the development
efforts and support services provided in the agrarian
reform communities displayed a bustling and
empowered community.

As regards to Agrarian Justice Delivery (AJD), DAR

through Secretary Braganza, carried out two
programs namely agrarian legal assistance (ALA)
under the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance and
the adjudication of agrarian cases thru the DAR
Adjudication Board (DARAB).
RAFAEL
Secretary
Roberto M. Department of January 20, 2003 -
Pagdanganan Agrarian January 20, 2004
Reform

RAFAEL
The administration of Secretary Roberto
Pagdanganan continued with the Bayan-Anihan
CARP Framework to support President Gloria
Macapagal-Arroyo’s poverty alleviation thrusts. This
framework provides for the transformation of the
Philippine Countryside into vibrant and dynamic
communities through the Program’s focused
With this, Program Beneficiaries Development
(PBD) component of the DAR increased
tremendously thru foreign assisted projects in the
agrarian reform communities. Part of its success
was brought about by the efficient manner Secretary
Pagdanganan handled the development efforts and
support services provided in the agrarian reform
communities.

As regards to Agrarian Justice Delivery (AJD), DAR

through his leadership carried out two programs
namely agrarian legal assistance (ALA) under the
Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance and the
adjudication of agrarian cases thru the DAR
Adjudication Board (DARAB). Various mechanisms
were instituted to reduce agrarian cases.
RAFAEL
OIC-Secretary
Jose Mari B. Department of February 20, 2004
Ponce Agrarian - August 24, 2004
Reform

RAFAEL
In support to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s poverty
alleviation thrusts, the administration of Secretary
Secretary Jose Mari Ponce, continued with the
implementatiion of the Bayan-Anihan CARP
framework which provided for the transformation of
the Philippine Countryside into vibrant and dynamic
communities through the Program’s focused
intervention under the agrarian reform communities
(ARC) Strategy.
RAFAEL
Secretary
August 26, 2004 -
Rene C. Villa Department of July 9, 2005
Land Reform

RAFAEL
The inventory of CARP scope project or ICS was
started during Secretary Rene Villa’s administration
in order to determine the actual CARP scope of
agricultural lands to be distributed. In addition, a task
force on problematic landholdings was created to
transform problematic landholdings into workable
and achievable accomplishments.

Secretary Villa also used the Bayan-Anihan CARP

framework to continually transform the countryside
into vibrant and dynamic communities through the
Agrarian Reform Community strategy.
 Nasser C. Secretary July 10, 2005 -
Pangandaman Department of June 30, 2010
Agrarian
Reform

RAFAEL
In support to Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo’s poverty
alleviation thrusts, the administration of Secretary
Hernani Braganza, Secretary Roberto
Pagdanganan, Secretary Jose Mari Ponce,
Secretary Rene Villa and Secretary Nasser
Pangandaman embarked on the Bayan-Anihan
CARP framework. This framework provides for the
transformation of the Philippine Countryside into
vibrant and dynamic communities through the
Program’s focused intervention under the agrarian
reform communities (ARC) Strategy.

With this, Program Beneficiaries Development

(PBD) component of the DAR increased
tremendously thru foreign assisted projects in the
agrarian reform communities. Part of its success
was brought about by the efficient manner these
Secretaries who have handled the development
efforts and support services provided in the agrarian
reform communities that displayed a bustling and
empowered community.

As regards to Agrarian Justice Delivery (AJD), DAR

has carried out two programs namely agrarian legal
assistance (ALA) under the Bureau of Agrarian
Legal Assistance and the adjudication of agrarian
cases thru the DAR Adjudication Board (DARAB).
From 2001 to 2009, it was a continuing program of
agrarian justice delivery. Various mechanisms were
instituted to reduce agrarian cases.

The inventory of CARP scope project or ICS was

started during Secretary Villa’s administration and
continued by the administration of Secretary
Pangandaman in order to determine the actual
CARP scope of agricultural lands to be distributed.
In addition, a task force on problematic landholdings
was created to transform problematic landholdings
into workable and achievable accomplishments.
RAFAEL
Secretary
Virgilio R. de Department of July 1, 2010 - July
Los Reyes Agrarian 1, 2016
Reform

RAFAEL
He served well as DAR Secretary having been an
active leader.

His administration can be attributed to the

institutionalization of work systems in DAR to
improve program implementation. Some of which
are the Operationalization of the LTI Operational
Tool (OpTool) to track status of landholding for
targeting and monitoring purposes; Full
operationalization and utilization of Legal Case
Monitoring System (LCMS) where stakeholders can
monitor the status of cases; and Full
operationalization of the Legal Information System
(LIS) which contains all related laws, issuances,
Supreme Court Decisions, etc. on CARP
implementation. His adminsitration also aggressively
utilized Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR)
Scheme in resolving and reducing conflicts into court
cases.

Further, training nterventions for ARBs; construction

and rehabilitation of infrastructure facilities; and
access of ARB households to basic social services
to ensure holistic support for the beneficiaries
became the focus of this administration.