TENANT EMANCIPATION LAW

Presidential Decree 27
(As amended by Executive Order

Reported By:

Apasan, Rae Abby

Asares, Francis
Dumpit, Nely Cianne
Pinugu, Jaime
Ricaforte, Paolo
Prefatory Statement –
Under R.A. No. 3844, as amended (Agricultural Land Reform Code) share-
tenancy was abolished and supplanted by leasehold relationship between landowner
and tenant-tiller, but only with respect to land devoted to rice and corn which have been
declared land reform areas. Under Presidential Decree No. 27, all leasehold tenants of
land devoted to rice and corn regardless of whether or not they have been declared
land reform areas, automatically became amortizing owners of the land they till without
prior expropriation proceedings. The three shifts underlined under R.A. 3844 from
share-tenancy to leasehold, from leasehold to amortizing ownership and from
amortizing ownership to full ownership or owner-cultivator no longer apply.
The issuance of Executive Order No. 228 by Corazon Aquino upon her
assumption to the presidency, wiped out the status of amortizing owner, hence, “all
qualified beneficiaries are now deemed full owner of the land they till and acquired by
the operation of the Emancipation Decree as of October 21, 1972, which is the
effectivity date of P.D. No. 27. This does not, Decree by President Ferdinand Marcos,
has the effect of condoning the payment of whatever remaining balance of the tenant’s
amortizing to the Land Bank, that they have incurred under R.A. No. 3884 as amortizing
owner, which obligation they must continue to complete before they are entitled to the
issuance of a certificate of title.

Phrases and Terms under P.D. No. 27

1. Private agriculture lands primarily devoted to rice and corn refers to land of
private owner planted with rice and corn as principal crops as of October 21,
1972, not being part of the public domain and are under the effective control and
supervision of natural and juridical persons. The controlling criterion is that the
land has been proven to be suitable for the production of rice and corn as their
principal crops, although time to time planted thereon and between intervening
rice and corn harvests.
2. Tenan-farmers refers to the farmer who actually tills the land whether it is a
landed estate or not, irrespective of his relationship to the landowner, whether as
share-cropper or lessee-tenant. Should the lessee employ a sub-lessee or sub-
tenant who actually till the land, the sub-lessee and not the original lessee shall
be deemed as tenant-farmer.
3. Irrigated land – denotes a farmland that is supplied with water whether by means
of power-pump or gravity flow system or other modes of irrigation where water
supply flows from the dam or spring or brook.
4. Non-irrigated or upland refers to a farmland located on higher elevation or terrain
and is not provided with water supply through any method of irrigation and is
almost rainfed.
 5. Normal crop year denotes an agrarian period of 12 months of planting and
harvesting activities whether on a double or triple cropping not attended by any
natural calamity such as typhoon, flood, fire, pests, or other force majeure.
6. Right of retention in rice and corn lands is a right pertaining to a landowner or a
landholding devoted to rice and corn to retain an area of seven hectares for his
own individual farming if such landowner of such landowner is cultivating or will
now cultivate it.

Applicability of the Law

The Tenant Emancipation Law supplements the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law.1 It applies only to private agricultural lands primarily devoted to rice and
corn under share tenancy or lease tenancy.
Transfer of lands to tenants
Presidential Decree. No. 27 provides that:
“The tenant farmer, whether in land classified as landed estate or not, shall be
deemed owner of a portion constituting a family-size farm of five (5) hectares if
not irrigated and three (3) hectares if irrigated”
Sec. 1 of EO No. 228 further provides that:
“Section 1. All qualified farmer beneficiaries are now deemed full owners as of
October 21, 1972 of the land they acquired by virtue of Presidential Decree No.
27.”
The phrase “shall be deemed owner” or “are now deemed full owners” does not
mean automatic transfer of title or ownership of the land to the tenant or lessee. There
has to be full payment of just compensation before the landowner could be divested of
his land, otherwise, the land would be taken without just compensation in violation of the
constitutional injunction against taking of private property without just compensation in
violation of the constitutional injunction against taking of private property without just
compensation. Therefore, notwithstanding the phrase “shall be deemed owner” or
“are now deemed owners” the title and ownership over the land will be transferred to
the beneficiaries only upon full payment of the just compensation to the landowner.2
Tenant-Beneficiaries under P.D. No. 27
All tenant-farmers of private agricultural lands primarily devoted to rice and corn
under a system of share-cropping or lease-tenancy whether classified as landed estate

1 Sec. 75, R.A. No. 6657

2 Atty. Paulino D. Ungos, Jr. and Paulino Q. Ungos, III, Agrarian Law and Social Legislation, 152 – 153
or not (24 hectares in area or more) shall be deemed owners of portions of a
landholding constituting a family-size farm of five (5) hectares if not irrigated, and three
(3) hectares if irrigated.
A tenant-beneficiary who fails to take advantage of his right under this Decree or
is guilty of abandonment of his farmholding, may be deprived thereof, in which case the
landholding will revert to the government and not to the landowner.3
A tenant-farmer whose farmholding is less than five (5) hectares if not irrigated,
and three (3) hectares if irrigated, may seek the assistance of the Department of
Agrarian Reform (DAR) which shall endeavor to find additional landholdings to complete
the hectarage in order to be considered as a famiy-size farm. Once the famholding is
awarded to the tenant-farmer, it becomes his obligation to pay its values to the Land
Bank if the acquisition is financed by the Land Bank, or to the landowner in case of a
negotiated sale duly approved by the DAR.4
Stages of land transfer
The Land transfer under Presidential Decree No. 27 is effected in two (2) stages,
namely:
(a) Issuance of a certificate of Land Transfer (CLT) to farmer-beneficiary; and
(b) Issuance of Emancipation Patent (EP)
Significance Certificate of Land Transfer (CLT)
A certificate of land transfer is immediately issued to the tenant-farmer of land
primarily devoted to rice and corn after identifying the farmer’s landholding, its area,
location and specifying the terms and conditions of ownership, as soon as the DAR has
transferred the landholding to him and recognized him as a qualified beneficiary. As
soon as the tenant farmer under P.D. No. 27 whose landholding had been considered
into full ownership under E.O. No. 228, had fully paid his amortization to the Land Bank,
an Emancipation Patent is then issued to him by the DAR.
A certificate of land transfer (CLT) is not yet considered as absolute evidence of
ownership of the tenant-farmer’s farmlot, but only as a provisional title of ownership
thereof while he remains as amortizing owner. It is, however, a registrable valid
evidence of ownership which can be accepted as collateral for a loan with any financing
institution, and a cocksure guarantee that a certificate of title will soon be issued to the
amortizing owner upon compliance with the conditions specified under P.D. No. 27 and
full payment of all his obligations.5

3 Judge Recaredo Barte, Law on Agrarian Reform, 62

4
Ibid
5
Ibid, 69
Emancipation Patent
The Emancipation patent is a kind of title brought under the imposition of Torrens
system. This title gives the people an absolute claim of ownership over a parcel of land.
Under this rule, the farmer-beneficiaries who have complied with all the requirements
and conditions imposed by Presidential decree number 27 shall be permitted to acquire
an absolute ownership over the subject private agricultural lands or shall be given a
conclusive authority for the issuance of an original or transfer certificate of title under
their names. Like any other certificate and titles regarding with lands, emancipation
patent was vested with indefeasibility and imprescriptible character which would only
take effect after one year from its registration. The purpose of said characters is to
secure the lawful process and legitimate claims over the land.

The Department of Agrarian Reform has the exclusive and original jurisdiction over the
issuance and cases involving the emancipation patent. The agency also vested the
authority to revoke registrations for any reason under the valid grounds for cancellation.

Tenant-beneficiaries may not sell or transfer ownership of the land

Under P.D. No. 27:

“Title to land acquired pursuant to this Decree or the Land Reform Program of
the Government shall not be transferable except by hereditary succession or to
the Government in accordance with the provisions of this Decree, the Code of
Agrarian Reforms and other existing laws and regulations;”

The law provides that the land given to the landless farmers are given to them
only for the purpose of helping the country through planting produce. The land must be
protected from those who wish to use it for other purposes. Through this, the land
cannot be bought by rich corporations. The only time that ownership may be transferred
is through hereditary succession, should the heirs wish to continue working on the farm,
or through surrendering the land to the Land Bank once again.

The Tenant-farmer must pay the Land Bank

The land given to the farmers are not given to them for free. The farmer-
beneficiaries or their heirs will be given a twenty (20) year period to pay the total cost of
the land plus a 6% interest rate per annum through twenty (20) equal amortizations.
 Should the farmer fail to pay for three (3) consecutive years, the Land Bank will
have to foreclose the mortgage. The farmers are then given a period of two (2) years to
pay all unpaid amortizations on the land plus the interest.
Failure to pay within the two year period will result in the transference of the
ownership of the land to the Land Bank. The Land Bank will then be given a three (3)
month period in which it must find another landless farmer to work on the land. The
landless farmer must be from the same barangay or from the two closest barangays.
Payment of just compensation to the landowner
The power of emancipation exercised by this law requires that the owner of the
land be paid the value of what was taken from him. At the landowner’s discretion, there
are three methods of payment available to him:
1.) The farmer-beneficiary will pay the landowner directly, either in cash or in
kind, through terms agreed upon and approved by the DAR
2.) The Land Bank will pay the landowner 10% immediately, with the rest to be
paid through Bank bonds over a decade, with 1/10 of the face value maturing
every year
3.) Other modes of payment, provided that it has been approved or prescribed by
the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council