THE COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO.

6657, AS AMENDED)

II. Introduction
A. Constitutional Basis
1. Article II, Section 21: The State shall promote comprehensive rural development and
agrarian reform.

2. Article XII, Section 1: . . . The State shall promote industrialization and full employment
based on sound agricultural development and agrarian reform, . . .

3. Article XIII, Section 3: . . . The State shall regulate the relations between workers and
employers, recognizing the right of labor to its just share in the fruits of production and
the right of enterprises to reasonable returns on investments, and to expansion and
growth.

4. Article XIII, Section 4: The State shall, by law, undertake an agrarian reform program
founded on the right of farmers and regular farmworkers, who are landless, to own
directly or collectively the lands they till or, in the case of other farmworkers, to receive a
just share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State shall encourage and undertake the
just distribution of all agricultural lands, subject to such priorities and reasonable
retention limits as the Congress may prescribe, taking into account ecological,
developmental, or equity considerations, and subject to the payment of just
compensation. In determining retention limits, the State shall respect the right of small
landowners. The State shall further provide incentives for voluntary land-sharing.
aHTDAc

5. Article XIII, Section 5: The State shall recognize the right of farmers, farmworkers, and
landowners, as well as cooperatives, and other independent farmers' organizations to
participate in the planning, organization, and management of the program, and shall
provide support to agriculture through appropriate technology and research, and
adequate financial, production, marketing, and other support services.

6. Article XIII, Section 6: The State shall apply the principles of agrarian reform or
stewardship, whenever applicable in accordance with law, in the disposition or utilization
of other natural resources, including lands of the public domain under lease or
concession suitable to agriculture, subject to prior rights, homestead rights of small
settlers, and the rights of indigenous communities to their ancestral lands.

The State may resettle landless farmers and farmworkers in its own agriculture
estates which shall be distributed to them in the manner provided by law.

7. Article XIII, Section 8: The State shall provide incentives to landowners to invest the
proceeds of the agrarian reform program to promote industrialization, employment
 creation, and privatization of public sector enterprises. Financial instruments used as
payment for their lands shall be honored as equity in enterprises of their choice.

B. Declaration of Principles and Policies [Section 2]

It is the policy of the State to pursue a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). The
welfare of the landless farmers and farmworkers will receive the highest consideration to
promote social justice and to move the nation toward sound rural development and
industrialization, and the establishment of owner cultivatorship of economic-size farms as the
basis of Philippine agriculture. SITCcE

The State shall promote industrialization and full employment based on sound agricultural
development and agrarian reform, through industries that make full and efficient use of human
and natural resources, and which are competitive in both domestic and foreign markets:
Provided, That the conversion of agricultural lands into industrial, commercial or residential
lands shall take into account, tillers' rights and national food security. Further, the State shall
protect Filipino enterprises against unfair foreign competition and trade practices.

The State recognizes that there is not enough agricultural land to be divided and distributed to
each farmer and regular farmworker so that each one can own his/her economic size family
farm. This being the case, a meaningful agrarian reform program to uplift the lives and economic
status of the farmer and his/her children can only be achieved through simultaneous
industrialization aimed at developing a self-reliant and independent national economy
effectively controlled by Filipinos.

To this end, the State may, in the interest of national welfare or defense, establish and operate
vital industries.

A more equitable distribution and ownership of land, with due regard to the rights of
landowners to just compensation, retention rights under Section 6 of Republic Act No. 6657, as
amended, and to the ecological needs of the nation, shall be undertaken to provide farmers and
farmworkers with the opportunity to enhance their dignity and improve the quality of their lives
through greater productivity of agricultural lands.

The agrarian reform program is founded on the right of farmers and regular farmworkers, who
are landless, to own directly or collectively the lands they till or, in the case of other
farmworkers, to receive a just share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State shall encourage
and undertake the just distribution of all agricultural lands, subject to the priorities and retention
limits set forth in this Act, taking into account ecological, developmental, and equity
considerations, and subject to the payment of just compensation. The State shall respect the
right of small landowners, and shall provide incentive for voluntary land sharing.

As much as practicable, the implementation of the program shall be community-based to assure,

among others, that the farmers shall have greater control of farmgate prices, and easier access
to credit.
The State shall recognize the right of farmers, farmworkers and landowners, as well as
cooperatives and other independent farmers' organizations, to participate in the planning,
organization, and management of the program, and shall provide support to agriculture through
appropriate technology and research, and adequate financial, production, marketing and other
support services.

The State shall recognize and enforce, consistent with existing laws, the rights of rural women to
own and control land, taking into consideration the substantive equality between men and
women as qualified beneficiaries, to receive a just share of the fruits thereof, and to be
represented in advisory or appropriate decision-making bodies. These rights shall be
independent of their male relatives and of their civil status.

The State shall apply the principles of agrarian reform, or stewardship, whenever applicable, in
accordance with law, in the disposition or utilization of other natural resources, including lands
of the public domain, under lease or concession, suitable to agriculture, subject to prior rights,
homestead rights of small settlers and the rights of indigenous communities to their ancestral
lands.

The State may resettle landless farmers and farm workers in its own agricultural estates, which
shall be distributed to them in the manner provided by law.

By means of appropriate incentives, the State shall encourage the formation and maintenance of
economic size family farms to be constituted by individual beneficiaries and small landowners.
LibLex

The State shall protect the rights of subsistence fishermen, especially of local communities, to
the preferential use of communal marine and fishing resources, both inland and offshore. It shall
provide support to such fishermen through appropriate technology and research, adequate
financial, production and marketing assistance and other services. The State shall also protect,
develop and conserve such resources. The protection shall extend to offshore fishing grounds of
subsistence fishermen against foreign intrusion. Fishworkers shall receive a just share from their
labor in the utilization of marine and fishing resources.

The State shall be guided by the principles that land has a social function and land ownership has
a social responsibility. Owners of agricultural land have the obligation to cultivate directly or
through labor administration the lands they own and thereby make the land productive.

The State shall provide incentives to landowners to invest the proceeds of the agrarian reform
program to promote industrialization, employment and privatization of public sector enterprises.
Financial instruments used as payment for lands shall contain features that shall enhance
negotiability and acceptability in the marketplace.

The State may lease undeveloped lands of the public domain to qualified entities for the
development of capital intensive farms, and traditional and pioneering crops especially those for
exports subject to the prior rights of the beneficiaries under this Act.
C. Definition of Agrarian Reform

1. Agrarian Reform means the redistribution of lands, regardless of crops or fruits

produced, to farmers and regular farmworkers who are landless, irrespective of tenurial
arrangement, to include the totality of factors and support services designed to lift the
economic status of the beneficiaries and all other arrangements alternative to the
physical redistribution of lands, such as production or profit-sharing, labor
administration, and the distribution of stock, which will allow beneficiaries to receive a
just share of the fruits of the lands they work. [Section 3 (a) of RA 6657]

2. Distinguished from Land Reform

* Land Reform is the physical redistribution of land such as the program under
Presidential Decree No. 27. Agrarian reform means the redistribution of lands
including the totality of factors and support services designed to lift the economic
status of the beneficiaries. Thus, agrarian reform is broader than land reform.

D. RA 6657 is Constitutional

In the case of Association of Small Landowners in the Philippines, Inc. v. Secretary of Agrarian
Reform, 1 the Supreme Court held:

"The cases before us present no knotty complication insofar as the question of compensable
taking is concerned. To the extent that the measures under challenge merely prescribe retention
limits for landowners, there is an exercise of the police power for the regulation of private
property in accordance with the Constitution. But where, to carry out such regulation, it
becomes necessary to deprive such owners of whatever lands they may own in excess of the
maximum area allowed, there is definitely a taking under the power of eminent domain for
which payment of just compensation is imperative. The taking contemplated is not a mere
limitation of the use of the land. What is required is the surrender of the title to and the physical
possession of the said excess and all beneficial rights accruing to the owner in favor of the
farmer-beneficiary. This is definitely an exercise not of the police power but of the power of
eminent domain.
"Classification has been defined as the grouping of persons or things similar to each other in
certain particulars and different from each other in these same particulars. To be valid, it must
conform to the following requirements: (1) it must be based on substantial distinctions; (2) it
must be germane to the purpose of the law; (3) it must not be limited to existing conditions only;
and (4) it must apply equally to all the members of the class. The Court finds that all these
requisites have been met by the measures here challenged as arbitrary and discriminatory.
aAcDSC
"Equal protection simply means that all persons or things similarly situated must be treated alike
both as to the rights conferred and the liabilities imposed. The petitioners have not shown that
they belong to a different class and entitled to a different treatment. The argument that not only
landowners but also owners of other properties must be made to share the burden of
implementing land reform must be rejected. There is a substantial distinction between these two
classes of owners that is clearly visible except to those who will not see. There is no need to
elaborate on this matter. In any event, the Congress is allowed a wide leeway in providing for a
valid classification. Its decision is accorded recognition and respect by the courts of justice except
only where its discretion is abused to the detriment of the Bill of Rights.
"It is worth remarking at this juncture that a statute may be sustained under the police power
only if there is a concurrence of the lawful subject and the lawful method. Put otherwise, the
interests of the public generally as distinguished from those of a particular class require the
interference of the State and, no less important, the means employed are reasonably necessary
for the attainment of the purpose sought to be achieved and not unduly oppressive upon
individuals. As the subject and purpose of agrarian reform have been laid down by the
Constitution itself, we may say that the first requirement has been satisfied. What remains to be
examined is the validity of the method employed to achieve the Constitutional goal.
"Eminent domain is an inherent power of the State that enables it to forcibly acquire private
lands intended for public use upon payment of just compensation to the owner. Obviously, there
is no need to expropriate where the owner is willing to sell under terms also acceptable to the
purchaser, in which case an ordinary deed of sale may be agreed upon by the parties. It is only
where the owner is unwilling to sell, or cannot accept the price or other conditions offered by
the vendee, that the power of eminent domain will come into play to assert the paramount
authority of the State over the interest of the property owner. Private rights must then yield to
the irresistible demands of the public interest on the time-honored justification, as in the case of
the police power, that the welfare of the people is the supreme law.
"But for all its primacy and urgency, the power of expropriation is by no means absolute (as
indeed no power is absolute). The limitation is found in the constitutional injunction that
"private property shall not be taken for public use without just compensation" and in the
abundant jurisprudence that has evolved from the interpretation of this principle. Basically, the
requirements for a proper exercise of the power are: (1) public use and (2) just compensation.
"[T]he determination of just compensation is a function addressed to the courts of justice and
may not be usurped by any other branch or official of the government. EPZA v. Dulay resolved a
challenge to several decrees promulgated by President Marcos providing that the just
compensation for property under expropriation should be either the assessment of the property
by the government or the sworn valuation thereof by the owner, whichever was lower.
"With these assumptions, the Court hereby declares that the content and manner of the just
compensation provided for in the afore-quoted Section 18 of the CARP Law is not violative of the
Constitution. We do not mind admitting that a certain degree of pragmatism has influenced our
decision on this issue, but after all this Court is not a cloistered institution removed from the
realities and demands of society or oblivious to the need for its enhancement. The Court is as
acutely anxious as the rest of our people to see the goal of agrarian reform achieved at last after
the frustrations and deprivations of our peasant masses during all these disappointing decades.
We are aware that invalidation of said section will result in the nullification of the entire
program, killing the farmer's hopes even as they approach realization and resurrecting the
 specter of discontent and dissent in the restless countryside. That is not in our view the intention
of the Constitution, and that is not what we shall decree today. TDAHCS
"Accepting the theory that payment of the just compensation is not always required to be made
fully in money, we find further that the proportion of cash payment to the other things of value
constituting the total payment, as determined on the basis of the areas of the lands
expropriated, is not unduly oppressive upon the landowner. It is noted that the smaller the land,
the bigger the payment in money, primarily because the small landowner will be needing it more
than the big landowner, who can afford a bigger balance in bonds and other things of value. No
less importantly, the government financial instruments making up the balance of the payment
are "negotiable at any time." The other modes, which are likewise available to the landowner at
his option, are also not unreasonable because payment is made in shares of stock, LBP bonds,
other properties or assets, tax credits, and other things of value equivalent to the amount of just
compensation."

II. Scope
A. Lands Covered
1. 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: Provided, That landholdings of landowners
with a total area of five (5) hectares and below shall not be covered for acquisition and
distribution to qualified beneficiaries. [Section 4]

a. Agricultural land refers to land devoted to agricultural activity and not

classified as mineral, forest, residential, commercial or industrial land [Section 3
(c)].

b. Agricultural activity means the cultivation of the soil, planting of crops,

growing of fruit trees, raising of fish, including the harvesting of such farm
products, and other farm activities and practices performed by a farmer in
conjunction with such farming operations done by persons whether natural or
juridical [Section 3 (b)].

2. Specifically, the following lands are covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program:

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. acCETD

B. Exclusions from the Coverage of CARL

1. Under Section 10, 2 excluded from the coverage of the CARL are lands actually,
directly and exclusively used for:

a. Parks;

b. Wildlife;

c. Forest reserves;

d. Reforestation;

e. Fish sanctuaries and breeding grounds;

f. Watersheds and mangroves.

2. Private lands actually, directly and exclusively used for prawn farms and fishponds
shall be exempt from the coverage of this Act: Provided, That said prawn farms and
fishponds have not been distributed and Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA)
issued to agrarian reform beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program.

In cases where the fishponds or prawn farms have been subjected to the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, by voluntary offer to sell, or commercial farms
deferment or notices of compulsory acquisition, a simple and absolute majority of the
actual regular workers or tenants must consent to the exemption within one (1) year
from the effectivity of this Act. When the workers or tenants do not agree to this
exemption, the fishponds or prawn farms shall be distributed collectively to the worker
beneficiaries or tenants who shall form a cooperative or association to manage the
same.

3. Likewise, excluded from the coverage of the CARL are lands actually, directly and
exclusively used and found to be necessary for:

a. National defense;

b. School sites and campuses including experimental farm stations operated by

public or private schools for educational purposes;

c. Seeds and seedling research and pilot production centers;

d. Church sites and convents appurtenant thereto;

 e. Mosque sites and Islamic centers appurtenant thereto;

f. Communal burial grounds and cemeteries;

g. Penal colonies and penal farms actually worked by the inmates; and

h. Government and private research and quarantine centers.

4. All lands with eighteen percent (18%) slope and over which are not developed for
agriculture are exempted from the coverage of CARL.

* An eighteen percent slope is not equivalent to an eighteen-degree angle.

Eighteen percent slope is obtained by having a 100-meter run and an 18-meter
rise.

5. In the case of Luz Farms v. Secretary of Agrarian Reform, 3 the Supreme Court has
excluded agricultural lands devoted to commercial livestock, poultry and swine raising
from the coverage of CARL. aSEHDA

The Supreme Court said:

"The transcripts of the deliberations of the Constitutional Commission of 1986 on

the meaning of the word "agricultural," clearly show that it was never the
intention of the framers of the Constitution to include livestock and poultry
industry in the coverage of the constitutionally-mandated agrarian reform
program of the Government.

"The Committee adopted the definition of "agricultural land" as defined under

Section 166 of RA 3844, as land devoted to any growth, including but not limited
to crop lands, saltbeds, fishponds, idle and abandoned land (Record, CONCOM,
August 7, 1986, Vol. III, p. 11).

"The intention of the Committee is to limit the application of the word

"agriculture." Commissioner Jamir proposed to insert the word "ARABLE" to
distinguish this kind of agricultural land from such lands as commercial and
industrial lands and residential properties because all of them fall under the
general classification of the word "agricultural." This proposal, however, was not
considered because the Committee contemplated that agricultural lands are
limited to arable and suitable agricultural lands and therefore, do not include
commercial, industrial and residential lands (Record, CONCOM, August 7, 1986,
Vol. III, p. 30).

"In the interpellation, then Commissioner Regalado (now a Supreme Court

Justice), posed several questions, among others, quoted as follows:

xxx xxx xxx

 "Line 19 refers to genuine reform program founded on the primary right
of farmers and farmworkers. I wonder if it means that leasehold tenancy is
thereby proscribed under this provision because it speaks of the primary
right of farmers and farmworkers to own directly or collectively the lands
they till. As also mentioned by Commissioner Tadeo, farmworkers include
those who work in piggeries and poultry projects.

I was wondering whether I am wrong in my appreciation that if somebody

puts up a piggery or a poultry project and for that purpose hires
farmworkers therein, these farmworkers will automatically have the right
to own eventually, directly or ultimately or collectively, the land on which
the piggeries and poultry projects were constructed. (Record, CONCOM,
August 2, 1986, p. 618)

xxx xxx xxx"

"The questions were answered and explained in the statement of the then
Commissioner Tadeo, quoted as follows:

xxx xxx xxx

"Sa pangalawang katanungan ng Ginoo ay medyo hindi kami

nagkaunawaan. Ipinaaalam ko kay Commissioner Regalado na hindi namin
inilagay ang agricultural worker sa kadahilanang kasama rito ang piggery,
poultry at livestock workers. Ang inilagay namin dito ay farm worker kaya
hindi kasama ang piggery, poultry at livestock workers (Record, CONCOM,
August , 1986, Vol. II, p. 621).

"It is evident from the foregoing discussion that Section 11 of RA 6657 which
includes "private agricultural lands devoted to commercial livestock, poultry and
swine raising" in the definition of "commercial farms" is invalid, to the extent that
the aforecited agro-industrial activities are made to be covered by the agrarian
reform program of the State. There is simply no reason to include livestock and
poultry lands in the coverage of agrarian reform. (Rollo, p. 21). EAHDac

"PREMISES CONSIDERED, the instant petition is hereby GRANTED. Sections 3(b),

11, 13 and 32 of R.A. No. 6657 insofar as the inclusion of raising of livestock,
poultry and swine in its coverage as well as the Implementing Rules and
Guidelines promulgated in accordance therewith, are hereby DECLARED null and
void for being unconstitutional and the writ of preliminary injunction issued is
hereby MADE permanent."
III. Schedule of Implementation
A. Period for Implementation [Section 5]

1. The DAR, in coordination with the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) shall
plan and program the final acquisition and distribution of all remaining unacquired and
undistributed agricultural lands from the effectivity of this Act until June 30, 2014.

B. Priorities [Section 7]

1. Guiding Principle: In effecting the transfer, priority must be given to lands that are
tenanted.

2. Factors to consider in the Implementation

a. Need to distribute lands to the tillers at the earliest practical time;

b. Need to enhance agricultural productivity; and

c. Availability of funds and resources to implement and support the program.

3. Phases of Implementation

Phase One: During the five (5)-year extension period hereafter all remaining lands
above fifty (50) hectares shall be covered for purposes of agrarian reform upon the
effectivity of this Act. All private agricultural lands of landowners with aggregate
landholdings in excess of fifty (50) hectares which have already been subjected to a
notice of coverage issued on or before December 10, 2008; rice and corn lands under
Presidential Decree No. 27; all idle or abandoned lands; all private lands voluntarily
offered by the owners for agrarian reform: Provided, That with respect to voluntary land
transfer, only those submitted by June 30, 2009 shall be allowed: Provided, further, That
after June 30, 2009, the modes of acquisition shall be limited to voluntary offer to sell
and compulsory acquisition: Provided, furthermore, That all previously acquired lands
wherein valuation is subject to challenge by landowners shall be completed and finally
resolved pursuant to Section 17 of Republic Act No. 6657, as amended: Provided, finally,
as mandated by the Constitution, Republic Act No. 6657, as amended, and Republic Act
No. 3844, as amended, only farmers (tenants or lessees) and regular farmworkers
actually tilling the lands, as certified under oath by the Barangay Agrarian Reform Council
(BARC) and attested under oath by the landowners, are the qualified beneficiaries. The
intended beneficiary shall state under oath before the judge of the city or municipal
court that he/she is willing to work on the land to make it productive and to assume the
obligation of paying the amortization for the compensation of the land and the land taxes
thereon; all lands foreclosed by government financial institutions; all lands acquired by
the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG); and all other lands owned by
the government devoted to or suitable for agriculture, which shall be acquired and
distributed immediately upon the effectivity of this Act, with the implementation to be
completed by June 30, 2012. DTSaHI

Phase Two: (a) Lands twenty four (24) hectares up to fifty (50) hectares shall
likewise be covered for purposes of agrarian reform upon the effectivity of this Act. All
alienable and disposable public agricultural lands; all arable public agricultural lands
under agro forest, pasture and agricultural leases already cultivated and planted to crops
in accordance with Section 6, Article XIII of the Constitution; all public agricultural lands
which are to be opened for new development and resettlement: and all private
agricultural lands of landowners with aggregate landholdings above twenty four (24)
hectares up to fifty (50) hectares which have already been subjected to a notice of
coverage issued on or before December 10, 2008, to implement principally the rights of
farmers and regular farmworkers, who are landless, to own directly or collectively the
lands they till, which shall be distributed immediately upon the effectivity of this Act,
with the implementation to be completed by June 30, 2012; and

(b) All remaining private agricultural lands of landowners with aggregate landholdings
in excess of twenty four (24) hectares, regardless as to whether these have been
subjected to notices of coverage or not, with the implementation to begin on July 1, 2012
and to be completed by June 30, 2013.

Phase Three: All other private agricultural lands commencing with large
landholdings and proceeding to medium and small landholdings under the following
schedule:

(a) Lands of landowners with aggregate landholdings above ten (10) hectares up to
twenty four (24) hectares, insofar as the excess hectarage above ten (10) hectares is
concerned, to begin on July 1, 2012 and to be completed by June 30, 2013; and

(b) Lands of landowners with aggregate landholdings from the retention limit up to
ten (10) hectares, to begin on July 1, 2013 and to be completed by June 30, 2014; to
implement principally the right of farmers and regular farmworkers who are landless, to
own directly or collectively the lands they till.

The schedule of acquisition and redistribution of all agricultural lands covered by

this program shall be made in accordance with the above order of priority, which shall be
provided in the implementing rules to be prepared by the PARC, taking into consideration
the following: the landholdings wherein the farmers are organized and understand, the
meaning and obligations of farmland ownership; the distribution of lands to the tillers at
the earliest practicable time; the enhancement of agricultural productivity; and the
availability of funds and resources to implement and support the program: Provided,
That the PARC shall design and conduct seminars, symposia, information campaigns, and
other similar programs for farmers who are not organized or not covered by any
landholdings. Completion by these farmers of the aforementioned seminars, symposia,
 and other similar programs shall be encouraged in the implementation of this Act
particularly the provisions of this Section.

The PARC shall establish guidelines to implement the above priorities and
distribution scheme, including the determination of who are qualified beneficiaries:
Provided, That an owner-tiller may be a beneficiary of the land he/she does not own but
is actually cultivating to the extent of the difference between the area of the land he/she
owns and the award ceiling of three (3) hectares: Provided, further, That collective
ownership by the farmer beneficiaries shall be subject to Section 25 of Republic Act No.
6657, as amended: Provided, furthermore, That rural women shall be given the
opportunity to participate in the development planning and implementation of this Act:
Provided, finally, That in no case should the agrarian reform beneficiaries' sex, economic,
religious, social, cultural and political attributes adversely affect the distribution of lands.
ATcaID

C. Exceptions from the Implementation Phases

1. Land acquisition and distribution shall be completed by June 30, 2014 on a province-
by-province basis. In any case, the PARC or the PARC Executive Committee (PARC
EXCOM), upon recommendation by the Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating
Committee (PARCCOM), may declare certain provinces as priority land reform areas, in
which case the acquisition and distribution of private agricultural lands therein under
advanced phases may be implemented ahead of the above schedules on the condition
that prior phases in these provinces have been completed: Provided, That
notwithstanding the above schedules, phase three (b) shall not be implemented in a
particular province until at least ninety percent (90%) of the provincial balance of that
particular province as of January 1, 2009 under Phase One, Phase Two (a), Phase Two (b),
and Phase Three (a), excluding lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), have been successfully completed. The
PARC, upon recommendation of the PARCCOM, may declare certain provinces or regions
as priority land reform areas, in which case the acquisition and distribution of private
agricultural lands therein may be implemented ahead of schedule. [Section 7]

2. The PARC may suspend the implementation of CARL with respect to ancestral lands
for purpose of identifying and delineating such lands. [Section 9]

IV. Improvement of Tenurial and Labor Relations

A. Leasehold Tenancy

1. Tenancy in General

a. Definition: Agricultural tenancy is the physical possession by a person of land

devoted to agriculture, belonging to or legally possessed by another for the
purpose of production through the labor of the former and of the members of his
 immediate farm household in consideration of which the former agrees to share
the harvest with the latter or to pay a price certain or ascertainable, either in
produce or in money, or in both [Section 3 of RA 1199, Guerrero v. CA] 4

b. Types of Tenancy Relation

i. Sharehold Tenancy; and

ii. Leasehold Tenancy.

2. Leasehold vs. Sharehold Tenancy

* The two tenancy systems are distinct and different from each other. In
sharehold, the tenant may choose to shoulder, in addition to labor, any one or
more of the items of contributions (such as farm implements, work animals, final
harrowing, transplanting), while in leasehold, the tenant or lessee always
shoulders all items of production except the land. Under the sharehold system,
the tenant and the landholder are co-managers, whereas in leasehold, the tenant
is the sole manager of the farmholding. Finally, in sharehold tenancy, the tenant
and the landholder divide the harvest in proportion to their contributions, while
in leasehold tenancy, the tenant or lessee gets the whole produce with the mere
obligation to pay a fixed rental. [People v. Adillo] 5 cCaSHA

Sharehold Leasehold
Expenses of Production Tenant and Landowner Tenant
Management Tenant and Landowner Tenant
Payment Tenant and landowner Tenant gets
the whole
divide the harvest in produce with
the
proportion to their mere
obligation to
contributions. pay rent.
3. Leasehold vs. Civil Lease

* There are important differences between a leasehold tenancy and a civil

law lease. The subject matter of leasehold tenancy is limited to agricultural lands;
that of civil law lease may be either rural or urban property. As to attention and
cultivation, the law requires the leasehold tenant to personally attend to, and
cultivate the agricultural land, whereas the civil law lessee need not personally
cultivate or work the thing leased. As to purpose, the landholding in leasehold
tenancy is devoted to agriculture, whereas in civil law lease, the purpose may be
for any other lawful pursuit. As to the law that governs, the civil law lease is
 governed by the Civil Code, whereas leasehold tenancy is governed by special
laws. [Gabriel v. Pangilinan] 6

Leasehold Tenancy Civil Law Lease

Subject Matter Agricultural lands only Both rural and urban
properties
Attention and Tenant must personally Lessee does not
have to
Cultivation cultivate personally cultivate
Purpose Agriculture only Any lawful purpose
Governing Law Special laws Civil Code
4. Purpose of the Leasehold Relation: To protect and improve the tenurial and economic
status of the farmers in tenanted lands. [Section 12]

5. Application [Section 12]

a. Tenanted lands under the retention limit; and

b. Tenanted lands not yet acquired under the CARL.

B. Production Sharing Plan

1. Application [Section 13]

a. Any enterprise adopting the scheme provided for in Section 32;

b. Any enterprise operating under a production venture, lease, management

contract or other similar arrangement;

c. Any farm covered by Section 8 (Private agricultural lands leased by

Multinational corporations) and Section 11 (Commercial farming); and

d. Corporate farms pending final land transfer.

2. Period for Compliance: Within ninety (90) days from effectivity of CARL

3. Scheme (Applies to those individuals or enterprises realizing gross sales in excess of

five million pesos per annum, unless the DAR sets a lower ceiling) [Section 32]

a. Three percent (3%) of the gross sales from the production of such lands;
TcEaAS

b. Distributed within sixty (60) days of the end of the fiscal year;

c. Treated as additional compensation to regular and other farmworkers of such

lands;
 d. During the transitory period (before the land is turned over to the farmworker-
beneficiaries), at least one percent (1%) of the gross sales shall be distributed to
the managerial, supervisory and technical group; and

e. If profit is realized, an additional ten percent (10%) of the net profit after tax
shall be distributed to the regular and other farmworkers within ninety (90) days
of the end of the fiscal year.

V. Registration
A. Within 180 days from the effectivity of CARL, landowners, natural or juridical, shall file a
sworn statement in the assessor's office the following information:

a. the description and area of the property;

b. the average gross income from the property for at least 3 years;

c. the names of all tenants and farmworkers therein;

d. the crops planted in the property and the area covered by the crop as of June 1, 1987;

e. the terms of mortgages, leases and management contracts subsisting as of June 1,

1987; and

f. the latest declared market value of the land as determined by the city or provincial
assessor. (Section 14)

B. The DAR, in coordination with the Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC) shall register
all agricultural lessees, tenants and farmworkers who are qualified to be beneficiaries under the
CARL. These potential beneficiaries shall provide the following data:

a. names and members of their immediate farm household;

b. owners and administrators of the lands they work on and the length of tenurial
relationship;

c. location and area of the land they work;

d. crops planted; and

e. their share in the harvest or amount of rental paid or wages received.

VI. Private Land Acquisition

A. Retention Limit [Section 6]

1. Five hectares is the retention limit. 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-sized farm, such as commodity produced, terrain,
 infrastructure, and soil fertility as determined by the Presidential Agrarian Reform
Council (PARC), but in no case shall the retention limit exceed five (5) hectares. DTEHIA

2. Additional three hectares may be awarded to each child, subject to the following
qualifications:

a. That the child is at least fifteen (15) years of age; and

b. That the child is actually tilling the land or directly managing the farm.

3. Exceptions to the retention limit of five hectares.

a. Landowners whose lands have been covered by PD 27; and

b. Original homestead grantees or direct compulsory heirs who still own the
original homestead at the time of the approval of CARL, as long as they continue
to cultivate said homestead.

c. Provincial, city and municipal government units acquiring private agricultural

lands by expropriation or other modes of acquisition to be used for actual, direct
and exclusive public purposes, such as roads and bridges, public markets, school
sites, resettlement sites, local government facilities, public parks and barangay
plazas or squares, consistent with the approved local comprehensive land use
plan, shall not be subject to the five (5)-hectare retention limit under this Section
and Sections 70 and 73 (a) of Republic Act No. 6657, as amended: Provided, That
lands subject to CARP shall first undergo the land acquisition and distribution
process of the program: Provided, further, That when these lands have been
subjected to expropriation, the agrarian reform beneficiaries therein shall be paid
just compensation [Section 6-A].

4. Right to choose the area to be retained.

The right to choose the area to be retained, which shall be compact or contiguous,
shall pertain to the landowner. If the land retained is tenanted, the tenant shall have the
option to choose whether to remain therein or be a beneficiary in the same or another
agricultural land. In case the tenant chooses to remain in the retained area, he shall be
considered a leaseholder and shall lose his right to be a beneficiary under this Act. In case
the tenant chooses to be a beneficiary in another agricultural land, he loses his right as a
leaseholder to the land retained by the landowner. The tenant must exercise this option
within a period of one (1) year from the time the landowner manifests his choice of the
area for retention.

B. Procedure

1. Voluntary Land Transfer (VLT) [Section 20]

a. Must be submitted to the DAR within one year from effectivity of the CARL;
 b. Must not be less favorable to the transferee than those of the government's
standing; and

c. Shall include sanctions for non-compliance by either party and shall be duly
recorded and its implementation monitored by the DAR.

d. Only those submitted by June 30, 2009 shall be allowed.

2. Compulsory Acquisition [Section 16] SDHAcI

a. Notice to acquire the land shall be sent to the landowner and the beneficiaries.
The notice shall also be posted in a conspicuous place in the municipal building
and the barangay hall of the place where the property is located.

b. Within thirty (30) days from receipt of the written notice, the landowner shall
inform the DAR of his acceptance or rejection of the offer.

c. If the offer is accepted, the LBP pays the landowner and within thirty (30) days,
the landowner executes and delivers a deed of transfer to the Government and
surrenders the Certificate of Title and other muniments of title.

d. In case of rejection or failure to reply, the DAR shall conduct summary

administrative proceedings to determine the compensation. If he does not concur
with the compensation determined by the DAR, he can bring the matter to the
courts.

e. Payment of the just compensation as determined by the DAR or the Court.

f. Registration with the Register of Deeds for the issuance of Transfer Certificate
of Title in the name of the Republic of the Philippines.

g. Standing Crops: The landowner shall retain his share of any standing crops
unharvested at the time the DAR shall take possession of the land and shall be
given reasonable time to harvest the same [Section 28].

C. Compensation

1. Determination of Just Compensation.

In determining just compensation, the cost of acquisition of the land, the value of
the standing crop, the current value of like properties, its nature, actual use and income,
the sworn valuation by the owner, the tax declarations, the assessment made by
government assessors, and seventy percent (70%) of the zonal valuation of the Bureau of
Internal Revenue (BIR), translated into a basic formula by the DAR shall be considered,
subject to the final decision of the proper court. The social and economic benefits
contributed by the farmers and the farmworkers and by the Government to the property
as well as the nonpayment of taxes or loans secured from any government financing
 institution on the said land shall be considered as additional factors to determine its
valuation [Section 17].

2. Under EO 405 (1990), Land Bank of the Philippines shall be primarily responsible for
the determination of the land valuation and compensation.

3. Mode of Payment [Section 18]

a. Cash under the following scheme:

i. For lands above 50 hectares — 25%

ii. For lands above 24 and up to 50 — 30%

iii. For lands 24 and below — 35% SAHITC

* In case of VOS, the landowner shall be entitled to an additional 5%

cash payment. [Section 19]

b. Balance in any of the following:

i. Shares of stock in government-owned or -controlled corporations, LBP

preferred shares, physical assets or other qualified investments;

ii. Tax credits which can be used against any tax liability;

iii. Land Bank of the Philippines Bonds which shall have the following
features:

* Market interest rates aligned with 91-day treasury bill rates;

* Ten percent (10%) of the face value of the bonds shall mature
every year from the date of issuance until the tenth year; and

* Transferability and negotiability.

c. Set-off

* All arrearages in real property taxes, without penalty or interest, shall

be deductible from the compensation to which the owner is entitled.
[Section 66]

D. Exemptions from Taxes and Fees

1. Transactions under CARL involving a transfer of ownership, whether from natural or

juridical persons, shall be exempted from taxes arising from capital gains. These
transactions shall also be exempted from the payment of registration fees, and all other
taxes and fees for the conveyance or transfer thereof; Provided, That all arrearages in
real property taxes, without penalty or interest, shall be deducted from the
compensation to which the owner may be entitled. [Section 66]
 2. All Registers of Deeds are hereby directed to register, free from payment of all fees
and other charges, patents, titles and documents required for the implementation of
CARP. [Section 67]

VII. Land Redistribution

A. Beneficiaries [Section 22]

Beneficiaries, in their order of priority, are:

1. Agricultural lessees and share tenants;

2. Regular Farmworkers: natural persons who are employed on a permanent basis by an

agricultural enterprise or farm [Section 3 (h)];

a. Farmer refers to a natural person whose primary livelihood is cultivation of

land or the production of agricultural crops, livestock and/or fisheries either by
himself/herself, or primarily with the assistance of his/her immediate farm
household, whether the land is owned by him/her, or by another person under a
leasehold or share tenancy agreement or arrangement with the owner thereof
[Section 3 (f)]. ISAaTH

b. Farmworker is a natural person who renders service for value as an employee

or laborer in an agricultural enterprise or farm regardless of whether his
compensation is paid on a daily, weekly, monthly or "pakyaw" basis. It includes an
individual whose work has ceased as a consequence of, or in connection with, a
pending agrarian dispute and who has not obtained a substantially equivalent and
regular farm employment [Section 3 (g)].

3. Seasonal farmworkers: natural persons who are employed on a recurrent, periodic or

intermittent basis by an agricultural enterprise or farm, whether as permanent or non-
permanent laborers, such as "dumaan", "sacada", and the like [Section 3 (i)];

4. Other farmworkers: farmworkers who are not regular or seasonal farmworkers

[Section 3 (j)];

5. Actual tillers or occupants of public lands;

6. Collectives or cooperatives of the above beneficiaries; and

* Cooperatives shall refer to organizations composed primarily of small

agricultural producers, farmers, farmworkers, or other agrarian reform
beneficiaries who voluntarily organize themselves for the purpose of pooling land,
human, technological, financial or other economic resources, and operated on the
principle of one member, one vote. A juridical person may be a member of a
cooperative, with the same rights and duties as a natural person [Section 3 (k)].

7. Others directly working on the land.

 Before any award is given to a farmer, the qualified children of the landowner must
receive their three-hectare award.

Rural women refer to women who are engaged directly or indirectly in farming and/or
fishing as their source of livelihood, whether paid or unpaid, regular or seasonal, or in
food preparation, managing the household, caring for the children, and other similar
activities [Section 3 (l)].

B. Disqualifications of Beneficiaries [Section 22]

1. Beneficiaries under Presidential Decree No. 27 who have culpably sold, disposed of, or
abandoned their land;

2. Beneficiaries guilty of negligence or misuse of the land or any support extended to

them;

* The mere fact that the expected quantity of harvest, as visualized and
calculated by agricultural experts, is not actually realized, or that the harvest did
not increase, is not a sufficient basis for concluding that the tenants failed to
follow proven farm practices. [Belmi v. CAR] 7

3. Beneficiaries with at least three (3) hectares of agricultural land; and

* Under the CARL, a beneficiary is landless if he owns less than three (3) hectares
of agricultural land. [Section 25]

4. Beneficiaries whose land have been the subject of foreclosure by the Land Bank of the
Philippines. [Section 26] SacDIE

* Under the CARL, the LBP may foreclose on the mortgage for non-payment of
the beneficiary of an aggregate of three (3) annual amortizations. [Section 26]

C. Awards

1. Emancipation Patents (EPs) are issued for lands covered under Operation Land
Transfer (OLT) of Presidential Decree No. 27.

2. Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) are issued for private agricultural lands
and resettlement areas covered under Republic Act No. 6657, otherwise known as the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988.

3. Free Patents are issued for public agricultural lands.

* Under Section 15 of EO 229 (1987), all alienable and disposable lands of the
public domain suitable for agriculture and outside proclaimed settlements shall
be redistributed by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR).
 4. Certificates of Stewardship Contracts are issued for forest areas under the Integrated
Social Forestry Program.

D. Manner of Payment [Section 26]

1. Lands awarded shall be paid by the beneficiaries to the LBP in thirty (30) annual
amortizations at six percent (6%) interest per annum. The payments for the first three (3)
years after the awards may be at reduced amounts as established by the PARC: Provided,
That the first five (5) annual payments may not be more than five percent (5%) of the
value of the annual gross production as established by the DAR. Should the scheduled
annual payments after the fifth year exceed ten percent (10%) of the annual gross
production and the failure to produce accordingly is not due to the beneficiary's fault, the
LBP may reduce the interest rate or reduce the principal obligation to make the
repayment affordable.

2. Payment shall be:

a. Thirty (30) annual amortizations (First 3 years may be at reduced amounts);

b. Six percent (6%) interest per annum; and

c. First five (5) annual payments may not be more than five percent (5%) of the
value of the annual gross production.

E. Ownership Limitations on the Awarded Lands

1. Transferability of Awarded Lands. — Lands acquired by beneficiaries may not be sold,

transferred or conveyed except through hereditary succession, or to the government, or
to the Land Bank of the Philippines, or to other qualified beneficiaries for a period of ten
(10) years. [Section 27]

* If the land is sold to the government or to the LBP, the children or the spouse of
the transferee shall have a right to repurchase within a period of two (2) years.

2. Conversions of Lands. — An application for conversion may be entertained only after

the lapse of five (5) years from the award, when the land ceases to be economically
feasible and sound for agricultural purposes or the locality has become urbanized and the
land will have a greater economic value for residential, commercial or industrial
purposes. [Section 65]

VIII. Corporate Farms

A. Definition aSATHE

* Corporate farms are farms which are owned or operated by corporations or other
business associations. [Section 29]

B. Distribution
1. Land Transfer (Voluntarily Offer to Sell or Compulsory Acquisition)

a. General rule: Lands shall be distributed directly to the individual farmworker-

beneficiaries.

b. Exception: However, if it is not economically feasible and sound to divide the

land, then it shall be owned collectively by the farmworker-beneficiaries through
a workers' cooperative or association. [Section 29]

c. In case the land is transferred to a cooperative or association, the individual

members of the cooperatives shall be provided with homelots and small farmlots
for their family use, to be taken from the land owned by the cooperative. [Section
30]

2. Capital Stock Transfer [Section 31]

a. This is a non-land transfer. Corporations or associations which voluntarily

divest a proportion of their capital stock, equity or participation in favor of their
workers or other qualified beneficiaries shall be deemed to have complied with
CARL.

b. Amount to be divested: Corporations owning agricultural lands may give their

qualified beneficiaries the right to repurchase such proportion of the capital stock
of the corporation that the agricultural land, actually devoted to agricultural
activities, bears in relation to the company's total assets.

* Agricultural activity means the cultivation of the soil, planting of crops,

growing of fruit trees, raising of fish, including the harvesting of such farm
products, and other farm activities and practices performed by a farmer in
conjunction with such farming operations done by persons whether
natural or juridical [Section 3 (b)].

c. Conditions of the Capital Stock Transfer.

i. The books of the corporation shall be subject to periodic audit by

certified public accountants chosen by the beneficiaries;

ii. The beneficiaries shall be assured of at least one (1) representative in

the board of directors, or in a management or executive committee, if one
exists;

iii. Any share acquired by the beneficiaries shall have the same rights and
features as all other shares; and

iv. Any transfer of shares of stock by the original beneficiaries shall be

void ab initio unless said transaction is in favor of a qualified and
registered beneficiary within the same corporation. EacHCD
 d. Period for Compliance: If within TWO (2) YEARS from the approval of CARL or
from the approval of the PARC of the plan for stock distribution, the stock transfer
is not made or realized, the agricultural land shall be subject to compulsory
coverage of the CARL.

IX. Support Services

A. General Support and Coordinative Services [Section 35]

1. Irrigation facilities;

2. Infrastructure development and public works projects in areas and settlements that
come under agrarian reform;

3. Government subsidies for the use of irrigation facilities;

4. Price support and guarantee for all agricultural produce;

5. Extending the necessary credit;

6. Promoting, developing and extending financial assistance to small- and medium-scale

industries in agrarian reform areas;

7. Assigning sufficient numbers of agricultural extension workers to farmers'

organizations;

8. Undertaking research, development and dissemination of information on agrarian

reform and low-cost and ecologically sound farm inputs and technologies to minimize
reliance on expensive and imported agricultural inputs;

9. Development of cooperative management through intensive training;

10. Assistance in the identification of ready markets for agricultural produce and training
in other various aspects of marketing; and

11. Administration, operation, management and funding of support service programs

and projects including pilot projects and models related to agrarian reform.

B. Support Services to Beneficiaries [Section 37]

1. Land surveys and titling;

2. Liberalized terms on credit facilities and production loans;

3. Extension services by way of planting, cropping, production and post-harvest

technology transfer, as well as marketing and management assistance and support to
cooperatives and farmers' organizations;

4. Infrastructure such as access trail, mini-dams, public utilities, marketing and storage
facilities; and
 5. Research, production and use of organic fertilizers and other local substances
necessary in farming and cultivation.

C. Support Services to Landowners [Section 38]

1. Investment information, financial and counselling assistance; EcHIAC

2. Facilities, programs and schemes for the conversion or exchange of bonds issued for
payment of the lands acquired with stocks and bonds issued by the National
Government, the Central Bank and other government institutions and instrumentalities;

3. Marketing of LBP bonds, as well as promoting the marketability of said bonds in

traditional and non-traditional financial markets and stock exchanges;

4. Other services designed to utilize productively the proceeds of the sale of such lands
for rural industrialization;

5. Incentives granted to a registered enterprise engaged in a pioneer or preferred area of

investment as provided for in the Omnibus Investment Code or granted by the PARC, the
LBP or other government financial institutions for those who invests in rural-based
industries; and

6. Redemption by the LBP of up to thirty percent (30%) of the face value of its bonds for
landowners who will invest the proceeds of the redemption in a BOI-registered company
or in any agri-business or agro-industrial enterprise in the region where they have
previously made investments.

D. Funding

* At least twenty-five percent (25%) of all appropriations for agrarian reform shall be
immediately set aside and made available for support services. In addition, the DAR shall
be authorized to package proposals and receive grants, aid and other forms of financial
assistance from any source. [Section 36]

X. Special Areas of Concern [Section 40]

A. Subsistence Fishing: Small fisherfolk, including seaweed farmer, shall be assured of greater
access to the utilization of water resources.

B. Logging and Mining Concessions: Subject to the requirement of a balanced ecology and
conservation of water resources, suitable areas in logging, mining and pasture areas, shall be
opened up for agrarian settlements whose beneficiaries shall be required to undertake
reforestation and conservation production methods.

* Certificates of Stewardship Contracts are issued for forest areas under the Integrated
Social Forestry Program.
 C. Sparsely Occupied Public Agricultural Lands: Sparsely occupied agricultural lands of the public
domain shall be surveyed, proclaimed and developed as farm settlements for qualified landless
people.

* Agricultural land allocations shall be made for ideal family-size farms.

* Uncultivated lands of the public domain shall be made available on a lease basis to
interested and qualified parties. Priority shall be given to those who will engage in the
development of capital-intensive, traditional or pioneering crops.

D. Idle, Abandoned, Foreclosed and Sequestered Lands: Idle, abandoned, foreclosed and
sequestered lands shall be planned for distribution as home lots and family-size farmlots to
actual occupants. If land area permits, other landless families shall be accommodated in these
lands. ESTCHa

E. Rural Women: All qualified women members of the agricultural labor force must be
guaranteed and assured equal rights to ownership of the land, equal shares of the farm's
produce, and representation in advisory or appropriate decision-making bodies.

F. Veterans and Retirees: Landless war veterans and veterans of military campaigns, their
surviving spouses and orphans, retirees of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the
Integrated National Police, returnees, surrenderees and similar beneficiaries shall be given due
consideration in the disposition of agricultural lands of the public domain.

G. Agriculture Graduates: Graduates of agricultural schools who are landless shall be assisted by
the government in their desire to own and till agricultural lands.

XI. Program Implementation

A. Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC)

1. Composition [Section 41]

a. Chairman: President of the Philippines

b. Vice-Chairman: Secretary of Agrarian Reform

c. Members:

i. Secretary of Agriculture;

ii. Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources;

iii. Secretary of Budget and Management;

iv. Secretary of Local Government;

v. Secretary of Public Works and Highways;

vi. Secretary of Trade and Industry;

 vii. Secretary of Finance;

viii. Secretary of Labor and Employment;

ix. Director-General of National Economic and Development Authority;

x. President of Land Bank of the Philippines;

xi. Administrator of National Irrigation Authority;

xii. Three (3) representatives of affected landowners to represent Luzon,

Visayas and Mindanao; and

xiii. Six (6) representatives of agrarian reform beneficiaries, two (2) each
from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, provided that one of them shall be
from cultural communities.

2. Functions and Duties [EO 229, 1987]

a. Formulate and implement policies, rules and regulations necessary to

implement the CARP;

b. Recommend small farm economy areas; DECcAS

c. Schedule the acquisition and distribution of specific agrarian reform areas; and

d. Control mechanisms for evaluating the owner's declaration of current fair

market value.

3. Executive Committee (EXCOM) of the PARC [Section 42]

a. There shall be an Executive Committee of the PARC which shall meet and
decide on any and all matters in between meetings of the PARC: Provided,
however, That its decision must be reported to the PARC immediately and not
later than the next meeting.

b. Composition: The Secretary of Agrarian Reform shall be the Chairman and its
members shall be designated by the President, taking into account Article XIII,
Section 5 of the Constitution (Rights of farmers to participate in the planning,
organization and management of the CARP).

4. PARC Secretariat [Section 43]

a. A PARC Secretariat is established to provide general support and coordinative

services such as inter-agency linkages, program and project appraisal and
evaluation and general operations monitoring for the PARC.
 b. Composition: The Secretariat shall be headed by the Secretary of Agrarian
Reform who shall be assisted by an Undersecretary and supported by a staff
whose composition shall be determined by the PARC Executive Committee.

B. Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM)

1. Composition (Section 44)

a. Chairman: an appointee of the President upon recommendation of the PARC

EXCOM;

b. Executive Officer: Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer;

c. Members:

i. Representative from the Department of Agriculture;

ii. Representative from the Department of Environment and Natural

Resources;

iii. Representative from the Land Bank of the Philippines;

iv. One representative each from existing farmers' organizations,

agricultural cooperatives and non-governmental organizations in the
province;

v. Two representatives from the landowners, at least one of whom shall

be a producer representing the principal crop of the province;

vi. Two representatives from farmers and farmworker beneficiaries, at

least one of whom shall be a farmer or farmworker representing the
principal crop of the province; and CAETcH

vii. In areas where there are cultural communities, there shall be one
representative from them.

2. Functions and Duties

a. Coordinate and monitor the implementation of the CARP in the province;

* The PARC shall provide the guidelines for a province-by-province

implementation of the CARP. The ten-year program of distribution of
public and private lands in each province shall be adjusted from year to
year by the province's PARCCOM, in accordance with the level of
operations previously established by the PARC, in every case ensuring that
support services are available or have been programmed before actual
distribution is effected. [Section 45]

b. Provide information on the following:

 i. Provisions of the CARP;

ii. Guidelines issued by the PARC; and

iii. Progress of the CARP in the province.

C. Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC)

1. Composition [EO 229, 1987]

* The BARC shall be operated on a self-help basis and will be composed of the
following:

a. Representatives of farmer and farmworker beneficiaries;

b. Representatives of farmer and farmworker non-beneficiaries;

c. Representatives of agricultural cooperatives;

d. Representatives of other farmer organizations;

e. Representatives of the Barangay Council;

f. Representatives of non-governmental organization (NGOs);

g. Representatives of landowners;

h. Department of Agriculture official assigned to the area;

i. Department of Environment and Natural Resources official assigned to

the area;

j. DAR Agrarian Reform Technologist assigned to the area; and

k. Land Bank of the Philippines representative.

2. Functions [EO 229, 1987 and Section 47]

* The BARC shall have the following functions:

a. Mediate and conciliate between parties involved in an agrarian dispute;

b. Assist in the identification of qualified beneficiaries and landowners

within the barangay;

c. Attest to the accuracy of the initial parcellary mapping of the

beneficiary's tillage;

d. Assist qualified beneficiaries in obtaining credit from lending

institutions;

e. Assist in the initial determination of the value of the land;

 f. Assist the DAR representative in the preparation of periodic reports on
the CARP implementation;

g. Coordinate the delivery of support services to beneficiaries;

h. Participate and give support in the implementation of CARP; and

i. Perform such other functions as may be assigned by the PARC and

DAR. TaEIAS

D. Others

1. No injunction, restraining order, prohibition or mandamus shall be issued by the lower

courts against the DAR, DA, DENR and DOJ in their implementation of CARP. [Section 68]

* This does not apply to the Supreme Court.

2. The PARC, in the exercise of its functions, is hereby authorized to call upon the
assistance and support of other government agencies, bureaus and offices, including
government-owned or controlled corporations. [Section 69]

XII. Administrative Adjudication

A. Jurisdiction

1. The Department of Agrarian Reform is hereby vested with primary jurisdiction to

determine and adjudicate agrarian reform matters and shall have exclusive original
jurisdiction over all matters involving the implementation of agrarian reform, except
those falling under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture and the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources. [Section 50]

2. DAR Adjudicator

a. Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB)

i. Exercises both original and appellate jurisdiction

ii. Exercises functional supervision over the RARADs and PARADs

b. Regional Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (RARAD)

i. Executive Adjudicator in his region

ii. Receives, hears and adjudicates cases which the PARAD cannot handle
because the latter is disqualified or inhibits himself or because the case is
complex or sensitive

c. Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (PARAD)

3. Exclusive Jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agrarian Reform

 * Matters involving strictly the administrative implementation of the CARP and
agrarian laws and regulations shall be the exclusive prerogative of and cognizable
by the Secretary of Agrarian Reform

B. BARC Certification Requirement

1. The DAR shall not take cognizance of any agrarian dispute or controversy unless a
certification from the BARC that the dispute has been submitted to it for mediation and
conciliation without any success of settlement is presented. [Section 53]

* Failure to present a BARC certification is not a ground for dismissal of the

action. The complainant or petitioner will be given every opportunity to secure
the BARC certification. [Rule III, Section 1 (c) of the DARAB Rules]

2. Exceptions to the BARC Certification Requirement:

a. Failure of the BARC to issue a certification within thirty (30) days after a matter
or issue is submitted to it;

b. The required certification cannot be complied with for valid reasons like the
non-existence or non-organization of the BARC or the impossibility of convening
it. A certification to that effect may be issued by the proper agrarian reform
officer in lieu of the BARC certification; [Rule III, Section 1 (b) of DARAB Rules]

c. The issue involves the valuation of the land to determine just compensation;
[Rule III, Section 2 of DARAB Rules]

d. The parties reside in different barangays, unless they adjoin each other;

* Where the lands involved in the dispute straddles two or more

barangays, the BARC of the Barangay where the biggest portion lies, shall
have the authority to conduct the mediation or conciliation proceeding.

e. One of the parties is a public or private corporation, a partnership, association

or juridical person, or a public officer or employee and the dispute relates to the
performance of his official functions;

f. The issue involves merely the administrative implementation of agrarian

reform law, rule, guideline or policy; and EHASaD

g. The issue is beyond the pale of mediation, conciliation or compromise, as

determined by the Secretary of Agrarian Reform.

C. Rules of Procedure

1. It shall not be bound by technical rules of procedure and evidence but shall proceed to
hear and decide all cases, disputes or controversies in a most expeditious manner,
 employing all reasonable means to ascertain the facts of every case in accordance with
justice and equity and the merits of the case. [Section 50]

2. Responsible leaders shall be allowed to represent themselves, their fellow farmers, or

their organizations in any proceedings before the DAR [Section 50]

3. To discourage frivolous or dilatory appeals from the decision or order on the local or
provincial levels, the DAR may impose reasonable penalties, including but not limited to
fines or censures upon erring parties. [Section 52]

D. Enforcement Powers

1. It shall have the power to summon witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony,
require submission of reports, compel the production of books and documents and
answers to interrogatories and issue subpoena, and subpoena duces tecum and to
enforce its writs through sheriffs or other duly deputized officers. It shall likewise have
the power to punish direct and indirect contempt in the same manner and subject to the
same penalties as provided in the Rules of Court. [Section 50]

2. The DAR has executed a Memorandum of Agreement with the Philippine National
Police, in order that the latter may assist the DAR in the enforcement of its orders.

E. Judicial Review

1. Any decision, order, award or ruling of the DAR on any agrarian dispute or on any
matter pertaining to the application, implementation, enforcement or interpretation of
the CARL and other pertinent laws on agrarian reform may be brought to the Court of
Appeals by certiorari within fifteen (15) days from receipt of a copy thereof. [Section 54]

2. The findings of fact of the DAR shall be final and conclusive if based on substantial
evidence.

3. Notwithstanding an appeal to the Court of Appeals, the decision of the DAR shall be
immediately executory. [Section 50]

XIII. Special Agrarian Courts

A. Jurisdiction [Section 57]

1. The Special Agrarian Courts (Regional Trial Courts) shall have original and exclusive
jurisdiction over:

a. All petitions for the determination of just compensation to landowners; and

b. The prosecution of all criminal offenses under the CARL.

2. The Special Agrarian Courts, upon their own initiative or at the instance of any of the
parties, may appoint one or more commissioners to examine, investigate and ascertain
 facts relevant to the dispute, including the valuation of properties and to file a written
report thereof with the court. EICScD

B. Appeals

1. Appeal from the Decision of the Special Agrarian Court

* Within fifteen (15) days from the receipt of the decision of the Special Agrarian
Court, an appeal may be taken by filing a petition for review with the Court of
Appeals.

2. Appeal from the Decision of the Court of Appeals

* Within a non-extendible period of fifteen (15) days from the receipt of the
decision of the Court of Appeals, an appeal may be taken by filing a petition for
review with the Supreme Court.

XIV. Prohibited Acts and Omissions

A. Prohibited Acts and Omissions

1. Section 73. The following are prohibited.

a. The ownership or possession, for the purpose of circumventing the provisions

of CARL, of agricultural lands in excess of the total retention limits or award
ceilings by any person, natural or juridical, except those under collective
ownership by farmer-beneficiaries.

b. The forcible entry or illegal detainer by persons who are not qualified
beneficiaries to avail themselves of the rights and benefits of the CARP.

c. The conversion by any landowner of his agricultural land into non-agricultural

uses with intent to avoid the application of CARL to his landholdings and to
dispossess his tenant farmers of the land tilled by them.

d. The willful prevention or obstruction by any person, association or entity of

the implementation of the CARP.

e. The sale, transfer, conveyance or change of the nature of lands outside of

urban centers and city limits either in whole or in part after the effectivity of
CARL.

i. Upon the effectivity of CARL, any sale, disposition, lease, management

contract or transfer of possession of private lands executed by the original
landowner in violation of CARL shall be null and void; Provided, however,
that those executed prior to CARL shall be valid only when registered with
the Register of Deeds within three (3) months after the effectivity of CARL.
[Section 6]
 * Exception: Banks and other financial institutions allowed by law
to hold mortgage rights or security interests in agricultural lands to
secure loans and other obligations of borrowers, may acquire title
to these mortgaged properties, regardless of area, subject to
existing laws on compulsory transfer of foreclosed assets and
acquisition as prescribed under Section 16 of CARL [Section 71]
ETDAaC

ii. Disposition of private lands is in violation of CARL if it is over the

retention limit.

iii. The date of registration of the deed of conveyance in the Register of

Deeds with respect to titled lands and the date of the issuance of the tax
declaration to the transferee of the property with respect to untitled lands
shall be conclusive for this purpose.

f. The sale, transfer or conveyance by a beneficiary of the right to use or any

other usufructuary's right over the land he acquired by virtue of being a
beneficiary, in order to circumvent the provisions of CARL. [Refer to VII (E) of this
Outline]

2. Any person who knowingly or willfully violates the provisions of CARL shall be
punished by imprisonment of not less than one (1) month to not more than three (3)
years or a fine of not less than one thousand pesos (P1,000.00) and not more than fifteen
thousand pesos (P15,000.00), or both at the discretion of the court. If the offender is a
corporation or association, the officer responsible therefor shall be criminally liable.

B. Conversions

1. Authority to Allow Conversion of Agricultural Land to Non-agricultural Uses

a. Under Executive Order No. 129-A, Series of 1987, the Department of Agrarian
Reform is authorized to:

i. Approve or disapprove the conversion, restructuring or readjustment of

agricultural lands into non-agricultural uses; [Section 4 (j)]

ii. Have exclusive authority to approve or disapprove conversion of

agricultural lands for residential, commercial, industrial and other land
uses as may be provided for by law. [Section 5 (l)]

b. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law provides that the DAR . . . may
authorize the reclassification or conversion on the land and its disposition.
[Section 65]

2. Conversion
 a. After the lapse of five (5) years from its award, when the land ceases to be
economically feasible and sound for agricultural purposes, or the locality has
become highly urbanized and the land will have greater economic value for
residential, commercial or industrial purposes, the DAR, upon application of the
beneficiary or the landowner, may authorize the reclassification or conversion of
the land and its disposition: Provided, That the beneficiary shall have fully paid his
obligation. [Section 65]

b. Grounds for conversion

i. Five (5) years had lapsed from the award of the land; ESTCHa

ii. The land ceases to be economically feasible and sound for agricultural
purposes, or the locality has become highly urbanized and the land will
have greater economic value for residential, commercial or industrial
purposes; and

iii. Beneficiary shall have fully paid his obligation.

c. Administrative Order No. 20, Series of 1992 [Took effect on 30 December

1992]

* President Fidel V. Ramos directed the observance by all agencies and

local government units the following interim guidelines on agricultural
land use conversion.

i. All irrigated or irrigable agricultural lands shall not be subject to

and non-negotiable for conversion;

ii. All other agricultural lands may be converted only upon strict
compliance with existing laws, rules and regulations.

3. Disturbance Compensation

* Section 36 (1) of Republic Act No. 3844, as amended provides: the agricultural
lessee shall be entitled to disturbance compensation equivalent to five years
rental on his landholding.

* Displaced farmers are entitled to disturbance compensation which varies

depending on the agreement between the farmers and the landowners.

XV. Relation to Other Laws

A. Suppletory Application: The provisions of Republic Act No. 3844, as amended, Presidential
Decree Nos. 27 and 266, as amended, Executive Order Nos. 228 and 229, both Series of 1987;
and other laws not inconsistent with this Act shall have suppletory effect. [Section 75]
 B. Repealing Clause: Section 35 of Republic Act No. 3844, Presidential Decree No. 316, the last
two paragraphs of Section 12 of Presidential Decree No. 946, Presidential Decree No. 1038, and
all other laws, decrees, executive orders, rules and regulations, issuances or parts thereof
inconsistent with CARL are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.

XVI. Effectivity
* CARL takes effect immediately after publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of
general circulation. CARL was printed 15 June 1988.

Prepared by: Atty. Ferdinand M. Casis