CEDAW/C/PHI/5-6
Agrarian Reform Community (ARC) development approach.20 It also provided classified
guidelines to ensure gender equality in the generation and issuance of Emancipation Patents
and Certificate of Land Ownership Awards (EP/CLOA) between spouses who are agrarian
reform beneficiaries (ARBs).
514. In the last few years, the department has introduced additional safeguards such as the issuance
of Administrative Order No. 1 series of 2001. This is to further protect the rights of both
spouses to ownership of the land. This requires the issuance of Emancipation Patents or
Certificates of Land Ownership Award (EP/CLOA) in the name of both spouses, in accordance
with the applicable provisions of the Family Code and the Civil Code on property relations
involving legally married and common-law spouses. It also ordered the integration of genderresponsive reporting system in the reporting system for land acquisition and distribution and in
the department’s computerized information system. The Department’s National GAD Steering
Committee through the GAD Technical Working Group Focal Point provides the directions and
monitoring of the gender-based agrarian reform programs. The regional and provincial GAD
Focal Points serve as implementing bodies.
515. The efforts of recent years to obtain gender parity in land distribution seemed to have born
fruits. From January to December 2003, women beneficiaries (33% of total beneficiaries) were
granted 18,205 EP/CLOAs. Included among the individual beneficiaries were husbands and
wives who opted to have their EP/CLOA issued separately and in the case of collective
EP/CLOA to be listed or annotated as separate beneficiaries regardless of their marital
affiliation provided their respective vested rights to the awarded lands have been verified and
established according to law.
516. From 1993 to December 2003, the agrarian reform department launched 1,587 ARCs
nationwide where 66,201 beneficiaries cultivated their land. A total of 3,391 farmers’
organizations or cooperatives operate in these areas. Women accounted for 35 percent of the
members. They also accounted for 41 percent of committee members, but only 28 percent of
leaders.
517. As discussed under Article 13, the social welfare department has been at the forefront of
providing social services to the poorest sector. It has established and operated barangay day
care centers, a number located in rural areas. It conducted training, extended capital assistance
and delivered an integrated package of social services in order to help families living in
poverty.
518. The agriculture department undertakes a wide range of gender-responsive programs through its
different bureaus and offices. Some of these are the following:
a. Livelihood Enhancement for Agricultural Development of the National Agriculture and
Fishery Council, which covers 423 projects benefiting 27,150 rural women nationwide
with funding amounting to about PhP60 million. The department uses as an indicator of
success the economic viability and sustainability of projects that ultimately benefit women.
20An
“Agrarian Reform Community” is composed of a cluster of land-reformed barangays (village) in a
municipality where farmers and farm workers are awaiting the full implementation of agrarian reform.
139
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