Agrarian Laws in the Philippines: Salient Features
RA 3844 PD 27
(as amended by RA 6389)
This Act shall be known as The
Title and
Code of Agrarian Reforms of the
Effectivity Date
Philippines promulgated on August 8,
1963.
To create a system of owner-
cultivatorship and economic family-
size farm as basis of Philippine
agriculture. It abolished the share
tenancy system and replaced it with
Objective of the
agricultural leasehold. It established a
Law
bill of rights for agricultural workers.
RA 6657
This Decree shall be known as the
Tenant Emancipation Law
promulgated on October 21, 1972
To emancipate the tenants from
the bondage of the soil, transferring to
them the ownership of the land they till.
RA 9700
This Act shall be known as The
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Law of 1998 promulgated on June 10,
1988.
It is founded on the right of
farmers and regular farm workers who
are landless, to own directly or
collectively the lands they till, or in the
case of the other farm workers, to
receive a just share in the fruits
thereof.
It is created to provide for a
favorable chance of uplifting the
socio-economic status of the
beneficiaries.
This Act shall be known as
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program Extension with Reforms
promulgated on August 7, 2009.
To promote industrialization and
full payment based on agricultural
development and agrarian reform. To
undertake the just distribution of all
agricultural lands.
The law extended the
implementation of CARL,
particularly the acquisition and
distribution of agricultural lands to,
June 30, 2014.
 Agricultural Leasehold shall apply
to all tenanted agricultural lands,
including but nit limited to the
following:
a) Retained Areas under R.A 6657
and P.D 27
b) Tenanted Agricultural Lands not
yet acquired for distribution under
Scope or
CARP pursuant to R.A 6657
Coverage
c) All tenanted areas under Section
10 of RA 6657 which may be
covered by A.O No. Series of 1989
The following shall be exempt from
Exemptions lien and/or execution against the
and Exclusions agricultural lessee:
(1) Twenty-five per centum of the
Private agricultural lands
primarily devoted to rice and corn
under the share tenancy or lease-tenancy.
Lands not covered by Presidential
Decree No. 27:
1. Private agricultural lands which are
NOT PRIMARILY DEVOTED
TO RICE OR CORN, or
All public and private All public and private
agricultural lands, including other agricultural lands and other lands of
lands of the public domain suitable for the public domain suitable for
agriculture. agriculture, except those landholdings
Specific Land Covered by CARP: of landowners with a total area of five
a) All alienable and disposable lands (5) hectares and below.
of the public domain devoted to
or suitable for agriculture
b) All lands of the public domain in
excess of the specific limits as
determined by the Congress
c) All other lands owned by the
Govt. devoted to or suitable for
agriculture.
d) All private lands devoted to or
suitable for agriculture regardless
of the agricultural products raised
or that can be raised thereon.
a) Private lands with a total area of Landholdings of landowners with a
five (5) hectares and below. total area of five (5) hectares and
b) Lands actually, directly and below shall not be covered for
exclusively used for parks, wildlife, acquisition and distribution to qualified
forest reserves, reforestation, fish beneficiaries.
 entire produce of the land under
cultivation; and
(2) Work animals and farm
implements belonging to the
agricultural lessee: Provided, That
their value does not exceed one
thousand pesos. But no article or
species of property mentioned in this
Section shall be exempt from
execution issued upon a judgment
Exemptions recovered for its price or upon a
and Exclusions
judgment of foreclosure of a mortgage
thereon.
2. There is NO SYSTEM OF SHARE
CROP OR LEASE TENANCY
obtaining in the landholding.
sanctuaries and breeding grounds,
watersheds and mangroves.
c) Private lands actually, directly and
exclusively used for prawn farms
and fishponds.
d) Lands actually, directly and
exclusively used and found to be
necessary for:
i. National defense
ii. School sites and campuses
iii. Experimental farm stations
operated for educational
purposes, research and
quarantine centers.
iv. Church sites and convents,
mosque sites and Islamic
centers appurtenant thereto
v. Communial burial grounds and
cemeteries
vi. Penal colonies and penal farms
actually worked by the inmates
vii. Ancestral Domains
viii. All lands with eighteen percent
(18%) slope and over, except
those already developed.
 In Leasehold Tenancy, the
Landowner or agricultural lessor retain
ownership of the subject landholding.
The landowner exercises the
attributes of ownership. Under Art.
428 of the New Civil Code. The owner the landowner.
has the right to dispose of a thing
without other limitation than those
imposed by law. As an incident of
ownership,
Retention
Right of the
Landowner Therefore, there is nothing to prevent a
landowner from DONATING his
NAKED TITLE TO THE LAND.
However, the new owner MUST
RESPECT THE RIGHT OF THE
TENANT.
The Landowner is entitled to retain
an area of not more than seven (7)
hectares provided that he is cultivating
or will cultivate the land.
No preferential share for the children of
The Landowner is entitled to retain
an area not more than five (5)
hectares.
The landowner’s children are entitled
to three (3) hectares each subject to
the following conditions:
a) The child is at least 15 years old.
b) The child is actually tilling the
land or directly managing the
farm.
Retention of husband and wife:
a) For marriages covered by the
New Civil Code, the spouses who
own only CONJUGAL
PROPERTIES may retain a total
of five (5) hectares unless there is
an agreement for the JUDICIAL
SEPERATION OF
PROPERTIES. However, if
either or both of them are
landowners in their respective
rights (capital and/or paraphernal)
they may retain not more than
five (5) hectares each from their
Exception to Retention Limits:
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, 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
CARL.
Provided, That lands subject to CARP
shall first undergo the land acquisition
and distribution process of the
program. When these lands have been
subjected to expropriation, the agrarian
reform beneficiaries therein shall be
paid just compensation.
 respective landholdings. In no
case, however, shall the total
retention of such a couple exceed
10 hectares, and
b) For marriage covered by the New
Family Code (August 3, 1988), a
husband owning capital property
Retention and/or a wife owning paraphernal
Right of the property may retain not more
Landowner
than five (5) hectares each
provided they execute a
JUDICIAL SPERATION OF
PROPERTIES prior to entering
the marriage. In the absence of
such an agreement all properties
(capital, paraphernal and
conjugal) shall be considered held
in absolute community.

The tenant-farmer, whether in land No qualified beneficiary may own

classified as landed estate or not, shall be more than three (3) hectares of
Distribution deemed owner of a portion constituting a agricultural land.
Limit family-size farm of five (5) hectares if
not irrigated and three (3) hectares if
irrigated.
 The beneficiaries under Republic
Act No. 1199, Republic Act No. 3844
as amended by Republic Act No. 6389
are SHARE-TENANT OR
AGRICULTURAL LESSEES
(TENANTS).
Qualified
Beneficiaries
Landholdings acquired under this
Limitation on Code may not be resold, mortgaged,
Land Rights encumbered or transferred within (10)
ten years from the date of full payment
and acquisition, except in case of
This shall apply to TENANT-
FARMERS of PRIVATE
AGRICULTURAL LANDS
PRIMARILY DEVOTED TO
RICE OR CORN under a SYSTEM
OF SHARE-CROP or
LEASE-TENANCY, whether
classified as landed estate or not.
Tenant-beneficiary cannot sell or
transfer ownership of the land acquired,
except to the Government or by
hereditary succession.
A person must be landless resident
of the same barangay, or of the same
municipality.
A landless resident is a farmer or tiller
who owns less than three (3) hectares
of land. It could refer to any
of the following:
a) Agricultural lessees and share
tenants
b) Regular farmworkers
c) Seasonal farmworkers
d) Other farmworkers
e) Actual tillers or occupants of
public lands
f) Collectives or coopertives of the
above beneficiaries
g) Others directly working on the
land.
Agrarian reform beneficiaries Lands acquired by beneficiaries shall
cannot, within a period of ten (10) not be sold, transferred or conveyed
years, sell or transfer ownership of the except through hereditary succession,
land awarded to them, except: or to the government, or to the LBP, or
a) Through hereditary succession to other qualified beneficiaries through
 hereditary succession or in favor of
persons qualified to acquire economic
family-size farm.
b) To the Government
c) To the Land Bank of the
Philippines
d) To other qualified beneficiaries.
the DAR for a period of ten (10) years.
Provided, however, That the children
or the spouse of the transferor shall
have a right to repurchase the land
from the government or LBP within a
period of two (2) years.

If the land has not yet been fully

paid by the beneficiary, the rights to
the land may be transferred or
conveyed, with prior approval of the
Limitation on
DAR, to any heir of the beneficiary
Land Rights
or to any other beneficiary who shall
cultivate the land himself/herself.
Failing compliance herewith, the land
shall be transferred to the LBP which
shall give due notice of the availability
of the land. In the event of such
transfer to the LBP, the latter shall
compensate the beneficiary in one
lump sum for the amounts the latter
has already paid, together with the
value of improvements he/she has
made on the land.
 -
The landowner-agricultural lessor
can FREELY AND VOLUNTARILY
TRANSFER the landholding to the
agricultural lessor by way of:
1. Sale
2. Donation
3. Succession – the agricultural
lessee as DEVISEE to the testator’s
free portion in the will.
However, the limitation imposed
by law on his right to acquired must be
observed, i.e. Legal prohibition on the
acquisition of property
Modes of
Acquiring By operation of law, the
agricultural-lessee can acquired
Ownership of the
ownership of the subject landholding
Land by the exercise of the following rights.
1.Right of Pre-Emption; and
2.Right of Redemption
The Mode of Transfer of lands
Tenant-Beneficiaries under Presidential
Decree No. 27 are the following:
1. OPERATION LAND
TRANSFER (OLT) under PD 27
and EO 228; and Operation Land
Transfer is the ORDERLY and
SYSTEMATIC TRANSFER of
land from the landowner to the
tenant-farmer
2. DIRECT PAYMENT SCHEME
(DPS). – The landowner and the
tenant-beneficiary can AGREE on
the DIRECT SALE terms and
conditions which is not onerous to
the tenant-beneficiary.
The value if the land shall
equivalent to two and one half (2-1/2)
times the AVERAGE HARVEST OF
THREE NORMAL CROP YEARS
IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE
PROMULGATION OF THIS
DEGREE.
The land transfer under P.D No. 27 is
effected in two stages:
a) Issuance of a Certificate of Land
Transfer to the farmer-beneficiary
b) Issuance of Emancipation Patent
(EP)
The MODES OF ACQUIRING Section 7 of the CARL as amended
LANDS for distribution under CARP:
by RA 9700, allowed voluntary land
a. Compulsory acquisition (ca) (sec. transfer up to June 30, 2009 ONLY.
16, ra 6657)
After June 30, 2009, the modes of
b. Voluntary offer to sell (vos) (sec. acquisition are limited to voluntary
19, ra 6657)
offer to sell and compulsory
c. Voluntary land tranfer/direct acquisition.
payment scheme (vlt/dps) (sec. 20, ra
6657).
The TITLES awarded to farmer-
beneficiaries CARP are the following:
1. Free Patent for Public
Alienation and Disposable
lands;
2. CERTIFICATE OF LAND
OWNERSHIP AWARD
(CLOA) for Resettlement
sites:
3. STEWARDSHIP
CONTRACT for Lands
covered by INTERGRATED
SOCIAL FORESTRY
PROGRAM (ISFP); and
4. CLOA for Private of
Agricultural Lands.
 The just cmpensation is payable to
the landowner thru any of the following
modes, at the option of the landowner:
a) Direct payment to the landowner
by the farmer-beneficiaries, in
cash or in kind, on terms agreed
upon by the beneficiaries and
landowners and subject to the
approval of the DAR.
b) Payment by the Land Bank with
Determination/ 10% payable in cash immediately
Payment of Just and the balance payable in the
Compensation form of Land Bank bonds over a
10-year period, with 1/10 of the
face value maturing every year
until the 10th year.
c) Other modes of payment as may
be prescribed or approved by the
Presidential Agrarian Reform
Council.
Lease rentals paid to the landowner by
the farmer beneficiary afetr October
21, 1972 is considered as advance
payment for the land.
Factors/Criteria considered in The cost of acquisition of the land,
determining just compensation:
the value of the standing crop, the
a) Cost of Acquisition of the land;
b) Current Value of like properties; current value of like properties, its
c) Nature of the land;
nature, actual use and income, the
d) Actual use
e) Income; sworn valuation by the owner, the tax
f) Sworn valuation by the
declarations, the assessment made by
landowner;
g) Tax Declaration; government assessors, and seventy
h) Assessment made by government
percent (70%) of the zonal valuation
assessors
i) The social and economic benefits of the Bureau of Internal Revenue
contributed by the farmers, and
(BIR), translated into a basic formula
j) Non-payment of taxes or loans
secured from any government by the DAR shall be considered,
financing institution on the land.
subject to the final decision of the
Basic Formula for the valuation of proper court. The social and economic
lands covered by VOS and CA –
benefits contributed by the farmers and
LV = (CNI x 0.6) + (CS x 0.3) + the farmworkers and by the
(MV x 0.1)
Government to the property as well as
Where: the nonpayment of taxes or loans
LV = Land Value
secured from any government
CNI = Capitalized Net Income
CS = Comparable Sales financing institution on the said land
MV = Market Value per Tax
shall be considered as additional
Declaration
factors to determine its valuation.
The above formula shall be used
if all three factors are present,
relevant and applicable.
 A.1. When the CS factor is not
present and CNI and MV are
applicable, the formula shall be:

LV = (CNI x 0.9) + (MV x 0.1)

A.2. When the CNI factor is not

present and
CS and MV are applicable, the
formula shall be:

LV = (CS x 0.9) + (MV x 0.1)

A.3. When both CS and CNI are not

present and only MV is applicable,
the formula shall be;

LV = (MV x 2)

The agricultural leasehold is
extinguished by:
a) Abandonment of the landholding
without the knowledge of the
agricultural lessor
Extinguishment b) Voluntary surrender of the
landholding by the agricultural
lessee
c) Absence of the persons under
Section 9 to succeed to the lessee,
in the event of death or permanent
incapacity of the lessee.
Emancipation Patents may be cancelled
on the following grounds:
a) Abondonment of the land;
b) Neglect or misuse of land
c) Failure to pay three (3) annual
amortization
d) Misuse or diversion of financial
and support services
e) Sale, Transfer or conveyance of
the right to use the land, and
f) Illegal Conversion of the land.
Grounds for Cancellation of CLOAs:
a) Abondonment of the land;
b) Neglect or misuse of land
c) Failure to pay three (3)
annual amortization
d) Misuse or diversion of
financial and support
services
e) Sale, Transfer or
conveyance of the right to
use the land, and
Grounds for Cancellation:
a) Abondonment of the land;
b) Neglect or misuse of land
c) Failure to pay three (3)
annual amortization
d) Misuse or diversion of
financial and support
services
e) Sale, Transfer or
conveyance of the right to
use the land, and
 (Sec. 9 - In case of death or f) Illegal Conversion of the f) Illegal Conversion of the
permanent incapacity of the land. land.
agricultural lessee to work his
landholding, the leasehold shall
continue between the agricultural
lessor and the person who can
cultivate the landholding personally,
chosen by the agricultural lessor
within one month from such death or
permanent incapacity, from among
the following:
(a) the surviving spouse;
(b) the eldest direct descendant by
Extinguishment consanguinity; or
(c) the next eldest descendant or
descendants in the order of their age:
Provided, That in case the death or
permanent incapacity of the
agricultural lessee occurs during the
agricultural year, such choice shall be
exercised at the end of that
agricultural year. In case of death or
permanent incapacity of the
agricultural lessor, the leasehold shall
bind his legal heirs.
References:

Quijano, A., (2004). Fundamental Distinctions

Republic Act No. 6657. An act instituting a comprehensive agrarian reform program to promote social justice and industrialization, providing the mechanism for
its implementation, and for other purpose.

Republic act no. 6389. An act amending republic act numbered thirty-eight hundred and forty-four, as amended, otherwise known as the agricultural land reform
code, and for other purpose.

Republic Act. No. 3844. An act to ordain the agricultural land reform code and to institute land reforms in the philippines, including the abolition of tenancy and
the channeling of capital into industry, provide for the necessary implementing agencies, appropriate funds therefor and for other purposes

Ungos P. Jr., & Ungos P. III. (2013). Agrarian laws and social legislation. ISEN: 978-971-23-6510

http://www.dar.gov.ph/ra-9700-carper-comprehensive-agrarian-reform-program-extension