I. Context
The Value of Multistakeholder Partnerships in Agrarian Reform Advocacy
Today, a multistakeholder partnership is being recognized as a more effective advocacy and networking mechanism, especially for bypassed issues like agrarian reform. Its wider represen tation from other groupings or sectors of divergent perspectives and approaches provides critical inputs or opinion to the discussion and analysis of issues or the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of projects. They are found effective for policy formulation at national and local levels or projects at local level.
These multistakeholder or multisectoral formations could create wider ownership and collective accountability for the issue or outputs of activities undertaken. They also help explore possibilities for future collaboration and mechanisms especially for issue resolution and implementation.
Mass support for agrarian reform in the Philippines has generally dwindled since the 1986
People Power Revolution. Politicians who formerly pushed for a genuine agrarian reform have either passed away or changed their view whether it is still a critical requirement for poverty eradication. Land is being treated more of a commodity for development rather than an instrument for equity especially for the landless poor.
Even civil society groups clamoring for agrarian reform have gone separately in the advocacy thus affecting the credibility and strength of their calls. The Congress for People’s Agrarian
Reform (CPAR), the broadest peasant coalition formed to call for the passage of a genuine land reform law, dispersed in 1992. Its former members have also reorganized themselves based on differing political directions or approaches.
The issue of agrarian reform itself has lost its momentum and is being given least priority by
Philippine government especially in terms of resources. From its original target of completing implementation from 1988 to 1998, it