Agrarian Law and Social Legislation
A. PH Constitution
1) Art. II Sec. 21 - The State shall promote comprehensive rural development and
agrarian reform
- Rural development must include agrarian reform and also encompass a broad
spectrum of social, economic, human, cultural, political, and even industrial
development.
2) Art. XII Sec. 1 - The goals of the national economy are a more equitable distribution
of opportunities, income, and wealth; a sustained increase in the amount of goods
and services produced by the nation for the benefit of the people; and an expanding
productivity as the key to raising the quality of life for all, especially the
underprivileged.
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. However, the State shall protect Filipino enterprises
against unfair foreign competition and trade practices.
In the pursuit of these goals, all sectors of the economy and all regions of the country
shall be given optimum opportunity to develop. Private enterprises, including
corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective organizations, shall be encouraged
to broaden the base of their ownership.
- What is envisioned is industrialization that is a result of releasing through agrarian
reform capital locked up in land.
- This does not mean that agricultural development has priority over industrialization.
But only means a flexible and rational relationship between the two as dictated by
the common good.
Three-fold goal of National Economy:
1. More equitable distribution of wealth
2. Increase of wealth for the benefit of the people
3. Increased productivity
“Unfair foreign competition”
- Must be understood in the sense of anything that is harmful to Philippine enterprises
- Intention is NOT to protect local inefficiency, nor is it the intention to protect local
industries from foreign competition at the expense of the consuming public.
3) Art. XIII Sec. 3-6,8
LABOR
Section 3. The State shall afford full protection to labor, local and overseas, organized and
unorganized, and promote full employment and equality of employment opportunities for all.
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It shall guarantee the rights of all workers to self-organization, collective bargaining and
negotiations, and peaceful concerted activities, including the right to strike in accordance with
law. They shall be entitled to security of tenure, humane conditions of work, and a living wage.
They shall also participate in policy and decision-making processes affecting their rights and
benefits as may be provided by law.
The State shall promote the principle of shared responsibility between workers and employers
and the preferential use of voluntary modes in settling disputes, including conciliation, and shall
enforce their mutual compliance therewith to foster industrial peace.
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 to investments, and to expansion and growth.
Right to organize is given to all kinds of workers both in the private and public sector
Right to strike may be prohibited. Right to organize does not necessarily mean right to strike.
Workers have the right to participate in decision making process of employers on matters
affecting their rights and benefits as may be provided by law
This is done through the ff:
1. Collective Bargaining agreements
2. Grievance machineries
3. Voluntary modes of settling disputes
4. Conciliation proceedings mediated by government
*Compulsory arbitration is down-played in the Constitution.
Factors that must be considered in regulation the relations between workers and employers:
1. Right to labor to its just share in the fruits of production
2. Right of enterprises to reasonable returns on investments
3. Expansion and growth
*The command to promote social justice itself might make it necessary to tilt the balance in
favor of underprivileged workers.
AGRARIAN AND NATURAL RESOURCES REFORM
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.
- Agrarian Reform covers ALL kinds of agricultural land
- Agricultural lands are lands which are arable and suitable agricultural lands and do
NOT include commercial, industrial, and residential lands
Goals of Agrarian Reform:
1. Efficient production
2. More equitable distribution of land which recognizes the right of farmers and
landless regular farm workers to own the land they till
3. Just share of other or seasonal farm workers in the fruits of the land
Lands exempt from Land Reform:
1. Non-agricultural lands
2. Lands previously converted to non-agricultural uses prior to CARL effectivity by
government agencies other than respondent DAR
Redistribution of land is done through either:
1. Voluntary sale
2. Expropriation and resale
Just compensation
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.
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 agricultural estates which
shall be distributed to them in the manner provided by law.
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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. RA 6657, as amended
1. Sec. 2
SECTION 2. Declaration of Principles and Policies. — 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.
To this end, a more equitable distribution and ownership of land, with due regard to the rights
of landowners to just compensation 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 farm
workers, 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, having taken 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 incentives for voluntary land-sharing.
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 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 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. 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 lands 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.
2. Sec. 3 a,b,c,e
SECTION 3. Definitions. —For the purpose of this Act, unless the context indicates otherwise:
(a) Agrarian Reform means 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 shares of
stocks, which will allow beneficiaries to receive a just share of the fruits of the lands they work.
(b) Agriculture, Agricultural Enterprise or Agricultural Activity means the cultivation of the soil,
planting of crops, growing of fruit trees, raising of livestock, poultry or 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 person whether natural or
juridical.
(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.
(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, 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.
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3. Sec. 4-5
SECTION 4. Scope. — The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1989 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.
More 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.
SECTION 5. Schedule of Implementation. — The distribution of all lands covered by this Act
shall be implemented immediately and completed within ten (10) years from the effectivity
thereof.
4. Sec. 7-11
SECTION 7. Priorities. — The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in coordination with the
Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) shall plan and program the acquisition and
distribution of all agricultural lands through a period of ten (10) years from the effectivity of
this Act. Lands shall be acquired and distributed as follows:
Phase One: 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; all lands foreclosed by
the 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 within a period of not
more than four (4) years;
Phase Two: 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 in
excess of fifty (50) hectares, insofar as the excess hectarage is concerned, to implement
principally the rights of farmers and regular farmworkers, who are the 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 within a period of not more than four (4)
years.
Phase Three: All other private agricultural lands commencing with large landholdings and
proceeding to medium and small landholdings under the following schedule:
(a) Landholdings above twenty-four (24) hectares up to fifty (50) hectares, to begin on the
fourth (4th) year from the effectivity of this Act and to be completed within three (3) years;
and
(b) Landholdings from the retention limit up to twenty-four (24) hectares, to begin on the sixth
(6th) year from the effectivity of this Act and to be completed within four (4) years; 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 Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC), taking
into consideration the following; the need to distribute land to the tillers at the earliest
practicable time; the need to enhance agricultural productivity; and the availability of funds
and resources to implement and support the program.
In any case, the PARC, upon recommendation by the Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating
Committee (PARCCOM), may declare certain provinces or region as priority land reform areas,
in which the acquisition and distribution of private agricultural lands therein may be
implemented ahead of the above schedules. In effecting the transfer within these guidelines,
priority must be given to lands that are tenanted.
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 does not own but is actually cultivating to the extent of the
difference between the area of the land he owns and the award ceiling of three (3) hectares.
SECTION 8. Multinational Corporations. — All lands of the public domain leased, held or
possessed by multinational corporations or associations, and other lands owned by the
government or by government-owned or controlled corporations, associations, institutions, or
entities, devoted to existing and operational agri-business or agro-industrial enterprises,
operated by multinational corporations and associations, shall be programmed for acquisition
and distribution immediately upon the effectivity of this Act, with the implementation to be
completed within three (3) years.
Lands covered by the paragraph immediately preceding, under lease, management, grower or
service contracts, and the like, shall be disposed of as follows:
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(a) Lease, management, grower or service contracts covering such lands covering an aggregate
area in excess of 1,000 hectares, leased or held by foreign individuals in excess of 500 hectares
are deemed amended to conform with the limits set forth in Section 3 of Article XII of the
Constitution.
(b) Contracts covering areas not in excess of 1,000 hectares in the case of such corporations
and associations, and 500 hectares, in the case of such individuals, shall be allowed to continue
under their original terms and
conditions but not beyond August 29, 1992, or their valid termination, whichever comes
sooner, after which, such agreements shall continue only when confirmed by the appropriate
government agency. Such contracts shall likewise continue even after the lands has been
transferred to beneficiaries or awardees thereof, which transfer shall be immediately
commenced and implemented and completed within the period of three (3) years mentioned
in the first paragraph hereof.
(c) In no case will such leases and other agreements now being implemented extend beyond
August 29, 1992, when all lands subject hereof shall have been distributed completely to
qualified beneficiaries or awardees. Such agreements can continue thereafter only under a
new contract between the government or qualified beneficiaries or awardees, on the one
hand, and said enterprises, on the other. Lands leased, held or possessed by multinational
corporations, owned by private individuals and private non-governmental corporations,
associations, institutions and entities, citizens of the Philippines, shall be subject to
immediate compulsory acquisition and distribution upon the expiration of the applicable
lease, management, grower or service contract in effect as of August 29, 1987, or
otherwise, upon its valid termination, whichever comes sooner, but not later than after ten
(10) years following the effectivity of the Act. However, during the said period of effectivity,
the government shall take steps to acquire these lands for immediate distribution thereafter.
In general, lands shall be distributed directly to the individual worker beneficiaries. In case it is
not economically feasible and sound to divide the land, then they shall form a workers'
cooperative or association which will deal with the corporation or business association or any
other proper party for the purpose of entering into a lease or grower agreement and for all
other legitimate purposes. Until a new agreement is entered into by and between the workers'
cooperative or association and the corporation or business association or any other proper
party, any agreement existing at the time this Act takes effect between the former and
the previous landowner shall be respected by both the workers' cooperative or association and
the corporation, business, association or such other proper party. In no case shall the
implementation or application of this Act justify or result in the reduction of status or
diminution of any benefits received or enjoyed by the worker-beneficiaries, or in which they
may have a vested right, at the time this Act becomes effective.
The provisions of Section 32 of this Act, with regard to production and income-sharing shall
apply to farms operated by multinational corporations. During the transition period, the new
owners shall be assisted in their efforts to learn modern technology in production. Enterprises
which show a willingness and commitment and good-faith efforts to impart voluntarily such
advanced technology will be given preferential treatment where feasible.
In no case shall a foreign corporation, association, entity or individual enjoy any rights or
privileges better than those enjoyed by a domestic corporation, association, entity or
individual.
SECTION 9. Ancestral Lands. —For purposes of this Act, ancestral lands of each indigenous
cultural community shall include, but not be limited to, lands in the actual, continuous and
open possession and occupation of the community and its members: Provided, That the
Torrens Systems shall be respected. The right of these communities to their ancestral lands
shall be protected to ensure their economic, social and cultural well-being. In line with the
principles of self-determination and autonomy, the systems of land ownership, land use, and
the modes of settling land disputes of all these communities must be recognized and
respected.
Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the PARC may suspend the
implementation of this Act with respect to ancestral lands for the purpose of identifying and
delineating such lands: Provided, That in the autonomous regions, the respective legislatures
may enact their own laws on ancestral domain subject to the provisions of the Constitution
and the principles enunciated in this Act and other national laws.
SECTION 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 the Act.
SECTION 11. Commercial Farming. — Commercial farms, which are private agricultural lands
devoted to commercial livestock, poultry and swine raising, and aquaculture including salt
beds, fishponds and prawn ponds, fruit farms, orchards, vegetable and cut-flower farms, and
cacao, coffee and rubber plantations, shall be subject to immediate compulsory acquisition
and distribution after (10) years from the effectivity of the Act. In the case of new farms, the
ten-year period shall begin from
the first year of commercial production and operation, as determined by the DAR. During the
ten-year period, the government shall initiate the steps necessary to
acquire these lands, upon payment of just compensation for the land and the improvements
thereon, preferably in favor of organized cooperatives or associations,
which shall hereafter manage the said lands for the worker-beneficiaries. If the DAR
determines that the purposes for which this deferment is granted no
longer exist, such areas shall automatically be subject to redistribution. The provisions of
Section 32 of the Act, with regard to production-and income sharing,
shall apply to commercial farms.
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C. CASES
1. Luz farms v. Sec of DAR
FACTS:
- On 10 June 1988, RA 6657 was approved by the President of the Philippines, which
includes, among others, the raising of livestock, poultry and swine in its coverage.
- Luz Farms is a corporation engaged in the livestock and poultry business allegedly
stands to be adversely affected by the enforcement of some provisions of CARP.
Hence, it prayed that the said law be declared unconstitutional.
- Luz Farms questions the following provisions of R.A. 6657, insofar as they are made
to apply to it:
(a) Section 3(b) which includes the "raising of livestock (and poultry)" in the definition of
"Agricultural, Agricultural Enterprise or Agricultural Activity.
(b) Section 11 which defines "commercial farms" as "private agricultural lands devoted to
commercial, livestock, poultry and swine raising . . ."
(c) Section 13 which calls upon petitioner to execute a production-sharing plan.
(d) Section 16(d) and 17 which vest on the Department of Agrarian Reform the authority to
summarily determine the just compensation to be paid for lands covered by the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Law
(e) Section 32 which spells out the production-sharing plan mentioned in Section 13
". . . (W)hereby three percent (3%) of the gross sales from the production of such lands are
distributed within sixty (60) days of the end of the fiscal year as compensation to regular and
other farmworkers in such lands over and above the compensation they currently receive xxx
- The mentioned sections of the law provide the product-sharing plan, including those
engaged in livestock and poultry business.
- Luz Farms further argued that livestock or poultry raising is not similar with crop or
tree farming.
- That the land is not the primary resource in this undertaking and represents no more
than 5% of the total investments of commercial livestock and poultry raisers.
- That the land is incidental but not the principal factor or consideration in their
industry. Hence, it argued that it should not be included in the coverage of RA 6657
which covers “agricultural lands”.
ISSUE: WN Sections 3(b), 11, 13 and 32 of R.A. No. 6657 (the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Law of 1988) are constitutional, insofar as the said law includes the raising of livestock, poultry
and swine in its coverage
HELD: Said provisions are unconstitutional.
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.
Commissioner Tadeo: 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.
It is evident from the foregoing discussion that Section II of R.A. 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 aforementioned 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.
2. Central Mindanao University v. DAR
FACTS:
- CMU is an agricultural university. From its beginning, the school was the answer to
the crying need for training people in order to develop the agricultural potential of
the island of Mindanao. Those who planned and established the school had a vision
as to the future development of that part of the Philippines.
- Pres. Carlos Garcia issued Proclamation No. 476, withdrawing from sale or
settlement and reserving for the Mindanao Agricultural College, a site which would
be the future campus of what is now the CMU
- In the course of the cadastral hearing of the school's petition for registration of the
aforementioned grant of agricultural land, several tribes belonging to cultural
communities, opposed the petition claiming ownership of certain ancestral lands
forming part of the tribal reservations. Some of the claims were granted so that what
was titled to the present petitioner school was reduced from 3,401 hectares to 3,080
hectares.
- In 1984, the CMU approved Resolution No. 160, adopting a livelihood program called
"Kilusang Sariling Sikap Program" under which the land resources of the University
were leased to its faculty and employees. This arrangement was covered by a written
contract.
- Under this program the faculty and staff combine themselves to groups of five
members each, and the CMU provided technical know-how, practical training and all
kinds of assistance, to enable each group to cultivate 4 to 5 hectares of land for the
lowland rice project. Each group pays the CMU a service fee and also a land use
participant's fee.
- The contract prohibits participants and their hired workers to establish houses or live
in the project area and to use the cultivated land as a collateral for any kind of loan.
It was expressly stipulated that no landlord-tenant relationship existed between
the CMU and the faculty and/or employees. This particular program was conceived
as a multi-disciplinary applied research extension and productivity program to utilize
available land, train people in modern agricultural technology and at the same time
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give the faculty and staff opportunities within the confines of the CMU reservation
to earn additional income to augment their salaries.
- When petitioner Dr. Leonardo Chua became President of the CMU in July 1986, he
discontinued the Agri-Business Management and Training Project, due to losses
incurred while carrying on the said project. Some CMU personnel, among whom
were the complainants, were laid-off when this project was discontinued.
- Another project was launched o develop unutilized land resources, mobilize and
promote the spirit of self-reliance, provide socio-economic and technical training in
actual field project implementation and augment the income of the faculty and the
staff. This has the same nature as of the Kilusang Sariling Sikap Program with an
express provision that there would be no tenant-landlord relationship.
- The contract expired. Some were renewed, some were not. The non-renewal of the
contracts, the discontinuance of the rice, corn and sugar cane project, the loss of
jobs due to termination or separation from the service and the alleged harassment
by school authorities, all contributed to, and precipitated the filing of the complaint.
- DARAB found that the private respondents were not tenants and cannot therefore
be beneficiaries under the CARP. At the same time, the DARAB ordered the
segregation of 400 hectares of suitable, compact and contiguous portions of the
CMU land and their inclusion in the CARP for distribution to qualified beneficiaries.
- Complainants Obrique, et al. claimed that they are tenants of the CMU and/or
landless peasants claiming/occupying a part or portion of the CMU.
Issue:
1. WN the complainants are tenants of CMU, hence, beneficiaries of CARP
2. WN CMU is subject to CARP
3. WN DARAB has jurisdiction to hear and decide Case No. 005 for Declaration of Status
of Tenants and coverage of land under the CARP
Held:
1. We agree with the DARAB's finding that Obrique, et. al. are not tenants.
- Under the terms of the written agreement signed by Obrique, et. al., pursuant to the
livelihood program called "Kilusang Sariling Sikap Program", it was expressly
stipulated that no landlord-tenant relationship existed between the CMU and the
faculty and staff (participants in the project).
- The CMU did not receive any share from the harvest/fruits of the land tilled by the
participants. What the CMU collected was a nominal service fee and land use
participant's fee in consideration of all the kinds of assistance given to the
participants by the CMU.
- Again, the agreement signed by the participants under the CMU-IEP clearly
stipulated that no landlord-tenant relationship existed, and that the participants
 are not share croppers nor lessees, and the CMU did not share in the produce of
the participants' labor.
- Obrique is not a landless peasant. The facts showed he was Physics Instructor at CMU
holding a very responsible position was separated from the service on account of
certain irregularities he committed while Assistant Director of the Agri-Business
Project of cultivating lowland rice. Others may, at the moment, own no land in
Bukidnon but they may not necessarily be so destitute in their places of origin. No
proof whatsoever appears in the record to show that they are landless peasants.
- In view of the above, the private respondents, not being tenants nor proven to be
landless peasants, CANNOT qualify as beneficiaries under the CARP.
- The portion of the CMU land leased to the Philippine Packing Corporation (now Del
Monte Phils., Inc.) was leased long before the CARP was passed.
- The agreement with the Philippine Packing Corporation was not a lease but a
Management and Development Agreement, a joint undertaking where use by the
Philippine Packing Corporation of the land was part of the CMU research program,
with the direct participation of faculty and students. Said projects were directly
connected to the purpose and objectives of the CMU as an educational institution.
2. It is our opinion that the 400 hectares ordered segregated by the DARAB and
affirmed by the Court of Appeals in its Decision dated August 20, 1990, is not covered
by the CARP because:
 It is not alienable and disposable land of the public domain
 The CMU land reservation is not in excess of specific limits as determined
by Congress;
 It is private land registered and titled in the name of its lawful owner, the
CMU;
 It is exempt from coverage under Section 10 of R.A. 6657 because the lands
are actually, directly and exclusively used and found to be necessary for
school site and campus, including experimental farm stations for
educational purposes, and for establishing seed and seedling research and
pilot production centers
3. DARAB has no jurisdiction.
- Under Section 4 and Section 10 of R.A. 6657, it is crystal clear that the jurisdiction of
the DARAB is limited only to matters involving the implementation of the CARP.
- It is restricted to agrarian cases and controversies involving lands falling within the
coverage of the aforementioned program.
- It does NOT include those which are actually, directly and exclusively used and
found to be necessary for, among such purposes, school sites and campuses for
setting up experimental farm stations, research and pilot production centers, etc.
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- In the case at bar, the DARAB found that the complainants are not share tenants or
lease holders of the CMU, yet it ordered the "segregation of a suitable compact and
contiguous area of Four Hundred hectares, more or less", from the CMU land
reservation, and directed the DAR Regional Director to implement its order of
segregation. Having found that the complainants in this agrarian dispute for
Declaration of Tenancy Status are not entitled to claim as beneficiaries of the CARP
because they are not share tenants or leaseholders, its order for the segregation of
400 hectares of the CMU land was without legal authority.
3. Natalia Realty v. DAR
FACTS:
- Petitioner Natalia is the owner of three contiguous parcels of land located in Banaba,
Antipolo, Rizal.
- On 18 April 1979, Presidential Proclamation No. 1637 set aside 20,312 hectares of
land located in the Municipalities of Antipolo, San Mateo and Montalban as townsite
areas to absorb the population overspill in the metropolis which were designated as
the Lungsod Silangan Townsite. The Natalia properties are situated within the areas
proclaimed as townsite reservation.
- EDIC, developer of Natalia, applied for and was granted preliminary approval and
locational clearances by the Human Settlements Regulatory Commission. Petitioners
were likewise issued development permits after complying with the requirements.
Thus the Natalia properties later became the Antipolo Hills Subdivision.
- On 15 June 1988, CARL was enacted.
- DAR, through MARO, issued a Notice of Coverage on the undeveloped portions of
the Antipolo Hills Subdivision which consisted of roughly 90.3307 hectares.
- Natalia and EDIC protested to this.
- Members of the Samahan ng Magsasaka sa Bundok Antipolo, Inc. (SAMBA), filed a
complaint against Natalia and EDIC before the DAR Regional Adjudicator to restrain
petitioners from developing areas under cultivation by SAMBA members.
- DAR Regional ruled by temporarily restraining petitioners from further developing
the subdivision.
- Petitioners elevated their cause to DARAB but the latter merely remanded the case
to the Regional Adjudicator for further proceedings
- Natalia wrote respondent Secretary of Agrarian Reform reiterating its request to set
aside the Notice of Coverage. Neither respondent Secretary nor respondent Director
took action on the protest-letters. Hence, this petition.
- Natalia’s contention: Subject properties already ceased to be agricultural lands when
they were included in the areas reserved by presidential fiat for town site
reservation.
 - OSG’s contention: The permits granted petitioners were not valid and binding
because they did not comply with the implementing Standards, Rules and
Regulations of P.D. 957, otherwise known as "The Subdivision and Condominium
Buyers' Protective Decree," in that no application for conversion of the NATALIA
lands from agricultural to residential was ever filed with the DAR. In other words,
there was no valid conversion.
ISSUE: WN the subject properties shall be included in the coverage of CARP
HELD: NO.
Section 4 of R.A. 6657 provides that the CARL shall "cover, regardless of tenurial arrangement
and commodity produced, all public and private agricultural lands." As to what constitutes
"agricultural land," it is referred to as "land devoted to agricultural activity as defined in this
Act and not classified as mineral, forest, residential, commercial or industrial land. The
deliberations of the Constitutional Commission confirm this limitation. "Agricultural lands" are
only those lands which are "arable and suitable agricultural lands" and "do not include
commercial, industrial and residential lands."
Based on the foregoing, it is clear that the undeveloped portions of the Antipolo Hills
Subdivision cannot in any language be considered as "agricultural lands." These lots were
intended for residential use. They ceased to be agricultural lands upon approval of their
inclusion in the Lungsod Silangan Reservation.
4. Department of Agrarian Reform v. Sutton
FACTS:
- Respondent inherited a land in Aroroy, Masbate devoted exclusively to cow and calf
breeding. On October 26, 1987, pursuant to the existing agrarian reform program of
the government, respondent made a voluntary offer to sell (VOS) their landholdings
to petitioner DAR to avail incentives under the law.
- On June 10, 1988, a new agrarian law, RA 6657 known as Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law (CARL) of 1988 took effect. It included in its coverage farms used for
raising livestock, poultry and swine.
- An en banc decision in the case of Luz Farms vs. Secretary of DAR, ruled that land
devoted to livestock and poultry-raising are not included in the definition of
agricultural land.
- In view of the Luz Farm ruling, respondent filed with petitioner DAR a formal request
to withdraw their VOS as their landholding was exclusively to cattle-raising and thus
exempted from the coverage of the CARL. Petitioner ignored their request.
- DAR issue A.O No. 9, series of 1993, which provided that only portion of private
agricultural lands used for the raising of livestock, poultry and swine as of June 15,
1988 shall be excluded from the coverage of the CARL. In determining the area of
land to be excluded the A.O fixed the following retention limits, viz 1:1 animal-land
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ratio and the ration of 1.7815 hectares for livestock infrastructure for every 21
heads of cattle shall likewise be excluded from the operation of the CARL.
- DAR Secretary Garilao issue an Order partially granting the application of
respondents for exemption from the coverage of CARL applying the retention limit
outlined in the DAR A.O No. 9. Petitioner ordered the rest of respondents’
landholding to be segregated and placed under Compulsory Acquisition.
- On October 2001, the Office of the President affirmed the impugned Order of
petitioner DAR. It ruled that DAR A.O. no. 9 does not run counter to the Luz Farm
case as the A.O provided the guidelines to determine whether a certain parcel of
land is being used for cattle-raising.
Issue: WN DAR A.O No.9 is unconstitutional?
Held:
- YES, IT IS UNCONSTITUTIONAL. Administrative agencies are endowed with powers
legislative in nature. They have been granted by Congress with the authority to issue
rules to regulate the implementation of a law entrusted to them. Delegated rule-
making has become a practical necessity in modern governance due to the increasing
complexity and variety of public functions. However, while administrative rules and
regulations have the force and effect of law, they are not immune from judicial
review. They may be properly challenged before the courts to ensure that they do
not violate the Constitution and no grave abuse of administrative discretion is
committed by the administrative body concerned.
- The fundamental rule in administrative law is that, to be valid, administrative rules
and regulations must be issued by authority of a law and must not contravene the
provisions of the Constitution. The rule-making power of an administrative agency
may not be used to abridge the authority given to it by Congress or by the
Constitution. Nor can it be used to enlarge the power of the administrative agency
beyond the scope intended. Constitutional and statutory provisions control with
respect to what rules and regulations may be promulgated by administrative
agencies and the scope of their regulations.
- In the case at bar, SC find that the impugned A.O. is invalid as it contravenes the
Constitution. The A.O. sought to regulate livestock farms by including them in the
coverage of agrarian reform and prescribing a maximum retention limit for their
ownership. However, the deliberations of the 1987 Constitutional Commission
show a clear intent to exclude, inter alia, all lands exclusively devoted to livestock,
swine and poultry- raising.
- The Court clarified in the Luz Farms case that livestock, swine and poultry-raising
are industrial activities and do not fall within the definition of “agriculture” or
“agricultural activity.” The raising of livestock, swine and poultry is different from
crop or tree farming. It is an INDUSTRIAL ACTIVITY.
 - Petitioner DAR has no power to regulate livestock farms which have been
exempted by the Constitution from the coverage of agrarian reform. It has
exceeded its power in issuing the assailed A.O.

- Respondents’ family acquired their landholdings as early as 1948. They have long
been in the business of breeding cattle in Masbate which is popularly known as the
cattle-breeding capital of the Philippines. Petitioner DAR does not dispute this
fact. Indeed, there is no evidence on record that respondents have just recently
engaged in or converted to the business of breeding cattle after the enactment of
the CARL that may lead one to suspect that respondents intended to evade its
coverage. It must be stressed that what the CARL prohibits is the conversion of
agricultural lands for non-agricultural purposes after the effectivity of the
CARL. There has been no change of business interest in the case of respondents.

- It is a fundamental rule of statutory construction that the reenactment of a statute

by Congress without substantial change is an implied legislative approval and
adoption of the previous law. On the other hand, by making a new law, Congress
seeks to supersede an earlier one. In the case at bar, after the passage of the 1988
CARL, Congress enacted R.A. No. 7881 which amended certain provisions of the
CARL. Specifically, the new law changed the definition of the terms “agricultural
activity” and “commercial farming” by dropping from its coverage lands that are
devoted to commercial livestock, poultry and swine-raising. With this significant
modification, Congress clearly sought to align the provisions of our agrarian laws
with the intent of the 1987 Constitutional Commission to exclude livestock farms
from the coverage of agrarian reform.

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