The land tenure system established under colonial rule still characterizes the use of agricultural land. The following is a classification of the peasantry according to tenure status; however, mixed features within different systems of agricultural production exist, allowing members of particular tenure groups to assume several overlapping roles (16):

The small owner-cultivator tills between one to three hectares of land. Usually, the cultivator is forced to work for supplementary income by becoming a tenant or an agricultural worker. In certain cases, the small owner cultivator may also lease out parts of his land or hire agricultural workers to assist in cultivation. The cultivator is as vulnerable as the tenants and agricultural workers, being under the control of the landlords. The rising number of tenants and agricultural workers in the countryside includes thousands of small owner-cultivators who were either forcibly displaced from their lands or lost them through indebtedness (16).

Tenants may work under: 

>    share tenancy or kasama system 

>    leasehold or buwisan system. 

Under the kasama system, the tenant cultivates the land with the landowner advancing all expenses such as irrigation fee, dealings, land preparation, etc. Farm management decisions are usually made by the landowner, including those on seed selection, use of fertilisers, and dates of planting and harvesting. After the crop is harvested, the landowner is reimbursed of his expenses and the reminder of the harvest is divided with the tenant. The kasama system provides a degree of security to the peasant and fosters a reciprocal relationship between landlord and the tenant (16).

In the buwisan system, a fixed-rent system operates between the leasehold tenant and the landowner. The buwis, or land rent, is paid to the landlord after each harvest. It is a normal practice for leaseholders to sublease partially or totally someone else’s parcel (16).

- In 2002, on a total 4 822 739 holdings in the country, 3 322 411 were under one form of tenure, namely: 2 158 354 holdings were owned or in owner like possess; 111 085 were rented from others; and 1 052 972 were under other single forms of tenure. 1 500 328 holdings were under more than one form of tenure (15).

- The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is responsible for implementing the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program as well as for managing the provision of support services and training for farmer-beneficiaries to facilitate the effective execution of the Program. DAR also covers activities related to land acquisition and distribution, land management and land development studies, development and implementation of alternative land tenure systems.

On September 27, 2004, by virtue of the Executive Order 364, the DAR broadened its original scope and was officially re-named Department of Land Reform (DLR). Both, the Presidential Commission on Urban Poor and the National Commission on Indigenous People’s were placed under the supervision of the new Department (16).

Under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), the Department is vested with the primary jurisdiction to determine and adjudicate agrarian reform matters and to extend free legal assistance to farmers involved in land disputes related to agrarian reform (16).

- The Special Agrarian Courts appointed by the Supreme Court at the provincial level are competent to hear all cases concerning just compensation to landowners, and to prosecute criminal offences, as provided for by Article 53 of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (13).

- The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) is responsible for the conservation, management, development and use of forest and grazing lands, mineral resources and other lands in the public domain. Under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), the DERN supervises land survey, land acquisition and distribution activities (16).

The disposition of land is further delegated to the Regional Executive Directors (REDs) and the Provincial Environment and Natural Resources Officers (PENROs), depending on the land area involved. Therefore, four government agencies are involved in surveying and titling activities: DENR, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) for the aspects of Administrative titling; and the Regional Trial Court (RTC) and/or the Municipal Trial Court (MTC) for Cadastral proceedings (16).

- The Department of Agriculture (DA) is tasked with the following activities: 

>   providing training to agrarian reform beneficiaries; 

>   providing technical assistance to farmer-beneficiaries by facilitating access to production, post-production, marketing and credit informational; and 

>   providing production and post-production facilities (16).

- The National Commission on Indigenous Peoples is the primary government agency that “formulates and implements policies, plans and programs for the recognition, promotion and protection of the rights and well-being of Indigenous Peoples and the recognition of their ancestral domains and their rights thereto.” The Commission is responsible for issuing certificates of ancestral land/domain titles (17). Two of the seven commissioners are women as a result of the provisions of the 1997 Indigenous Peoples Rights Act (3).

- The Land Registration Authority is in charge of the registration and titling of Emancipation Patents, Certificate of Land Ownership Award and the Free Patents (16).

- In 2001, women accounted for 29 percent of the membership of agrarian reform governing units or councils, with the smallest share observed at the municipal level with 23 percent (3).

- The Quendan & Rural Credit Guarantee Corporation (QUEDANCOR) of the Department of Agriculture provides agricultural credit to women who comprise 64 percent of all borrowers. However, of the total PhP 4.78 million loans released as of 2004, women’s share was only 36 percent (3).

- The Department of Agriculture through its lending windows provided 56 000 women with credit assistance for projects in the agri-fishery sector. Out of the PhP11.2 billion in loans released to the sector from 1996 to 2003, PhP 2.7 billion has been allocated for women borrowers (3).

- The traditional perception of the man as the farmer and rural producer affects rural women’s access to land. Furthermore, this perception excludes women farmers from farmers’ organizations and cooperatives, which generally consider men for membership. Women represent only 35 percent of the membership of farmers’ cooperatives and only 21 percent of cooperative leaders (3).

- Women’s access to credit is limited due to the lack of collaterals. Moreover, although women are allowed by law to enter into contracts without their spouse’s signed agreement, many financial institutions continue to require the male partners’ signature on the contracts (3).