Agrarian Reform

Comprehensive Agrarian
What are the lands covered?
Sec. 4, RA6657
The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988 shall cover,
regardless of tenurial arrangement and commodity produced, all
public and private agricultural lands, as provided in
Proclamation No. 131 and Executive Order No. 229, including
other lands of the public domain suitable for agriculture.
Specifically:
(a) All alienable and disposable lands of the public domain
devoted to or suitable for agriculture. No reclassification
of forest or mineral lands to agricultural lands shall be
undertaken after the approval of this Act until Congress,
taking into account ecological, developmental and equity
considerations, shall have determined by law, the specific
limits of the public domain.
(b) All lands of the public domain in excess of the specific
limits as determined by Congress in the preceding
paragraph;
(c) All other lands owned by the Government devoted to or
suitable for agriculture; and
(d) All private lands devoted to or suitable for agriculture
regardless of the agricultural products raised or that can
be raised thereon.
What are excluded?
Sec. 10
Exemptions and Exclusions. Lands actually, directly and
exclusively used and found to be necessary for parks, wildlife,
forest reserves, reforestation, fish sanctuaries and breeding
grounds, watersheds, and mangroves, national defense, school
sites and campuses including experimental farm stations

operated by public or private schools for educational purposes,

seeds and seedlings research and pilot production centers,
church sites and convents appurtenant thereto, mosque sites
and Islamic centers appurtenant thereto, communal burial
grounds and cemeteries, penal colonies and penal farms
actually worked by the inmates, government and private
research and quarantine centers and all lands with eighteen
percent (18%) slope and over, except those already developed
shall be exempt from the coverage of this Act.
What inherent power of the state is applied?
eminent domain
police power
What is an agrarian dispute?
Sec. 3(d)
Agrarian Dispute refers to any controversy relating to tenurial
arrangements, whether leasehold, tenancy, stewardship or
otherwise, over lands devoted to agriculture, including disputes
concerning farmworkers associations or representation of
persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing, or seeking
to arrange terms or conditions of such tenurial arrangements.
It includes any controversy relating to compensation of lands
acquired under this Act and other terms and conditions of
transfer of ownership from landowners to farmworkers, tenants
and other agrarian reform beneficiaries, whether the disputants
stand in the proximate relation of farm operator and beneficiary,
landowner and tenant, or lessor and lessee.
What is agricultural land?
Sec. 3(c)
Agricultural Land refers to land devoted to agricultural activity as
defined in this Act and not classified as mineral, forest,
residential, commercial or industrial land.

a. What is an idle land? b. What are the exceptions? c. What

are the other reasons why the land lost his economic purpose
but not considered as idle?
Sec. 3(e)
Idle or Abandoned Land refers to any agricultural land not
cultivated, tilled or developed to produce any crop nor devoted
to any specific economic purpose continuously for a period of
three (3) years immediately prior to the receipt of notice of
acquisition by the government as provided under this Act,
(answer to a)
but does not include land that has become permanently or
regularly devoted to non-agricultural purposes. It does not
include land which has become unproductive by reason of force
majeure or any other fortuitous event, provided that prior to such
event, such land was previously used for agricultural or other
economic purpose. (answer to b and c)
What is a farmer? Does he need to cultivate the land
personally? Is
Sec. 3(f)
Farmer refers to a natural person whose primary livelihood is
cultivation of land or the production of agricultural crops, either
by himself, or primarily with the assistance of his immediate
farm household, whether the land is owned by him, or by
another person under a leasehold or share tenancy agreement
or arrangement with the owner thereof.
Is it limited to private lands?
No. It covers all lands.

What is the retention limit? What is the eligibility requirements

for a child to acquire such? What are the exceptions of
Sec. 6 Retention Limits
Except as otherwise provided in this Act, no person may own or
retain, directly or indirectly, any public or private agricultural
land, the size of which shall vary according to factors governing
a viable family-size farm, such as commodity produced, terrain,
infrastructure, and soil fertility as determined by the Presidential
Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) created hereunder, but in no
case shall retention by the landowner exceed five (5) hectares.
Three (3) hectares may be awarded to each child of the
landowner, subject to the following qualifications: (1) that he is at
least fifteen (15) years of age; and (2) that he is actually tilling
the land or directly managing the farm: Provided, That
landowners whose lands have been covered by Presidential
Decree No. 27 shall be allowed to keep the areas originally
retained by them thereunder: Provided, further, That original
homestead grantees or their direct compulsory heirs who still
own the original homestead at the time of the approval of this
Act shall retain the same areas as long as they continue to
cultivate said homestead.
Limited to 5 hectares
What is the eligibility requirements for a child to acquire such?
(3 hectares)
What are the exceptions of retention limit?
Homestead ( exceeding 5 hectares)
Children
Pd 27 (7 hectares)
How many hectares are given to homesteaders?
What are the considerations in choosing retention area?
What does the law grant to land owners in his retention area?
-it should be compact and continuous.
-the retention limit must be close.