On the other hand, the Tuason family (First Gentleman Arroyo’s mother’s family) is part of the land-owning elite. They owned a large chunk of what later became Quezon City as Diliman and certain nearby areas were owned by that clan.

I do think it is unfair when people keep saying that GMA is from the land-owning elite. She’s not. Her husband is.

A lot of land-ownership came about in the American times when the USA basically took Church-owned land and made it available for private ownership by individuals, when previously a lot of the land was owned by the Spanish Crown, and under the encomienda system, placed under the stewardship of the Church or the tutelage (but not ownership) of people who were expected to guide the people to become better Christians.

When the Americans seized such land and wanted the land taken over by private individuals, the members of the upper classes who were more sophisticated about Law and were better informed used this information to their advantage. The less educated/less informed poorer people unfortunately couldn’t take advantage of this because they were beaten to it by the better educated elites.

I wish we could also offer some of our politicians land on the Moon, provided that they live there.

i remember a line someone said to me a few years back: Paano naging pag-aari ng tao ang lupa eh nauna ang lupa sa tao?

just a thought.

Anyway, I have an idea that some of the wealthiest families (including that of Roxas, the Aguilars of Las Pinas, Macapagal Arroyo, Cojuancos) acquired most of their land during the revolution and World War II.

This is actually a good topic for research.