RE JURISDICTION AGRICULTURAL LAND

RA 1199 as amended by RA 2263

Section 21. Ejectment: Violation; Jurisdiction. - All cases involving the dispossession of a
tenant by the landholder or by a third party and/or the settlement and disposition of
disputes arising from the relationship of landholder and tenant, as well as the violation
of any of the provisions of this Act, shall be under the original and exclusive jurisdiction
of such court as may now or hereafter be authorized by law to take cognizance of
tenancy relations and disputes

RE VACATING TENANT

SECTION 49. Ejectment of Tenant. - Notwithstanding any agreement or provision of law

as to the period, in all cases where land devoted to any agricultural purpose is held
under any system of tenancy, the tenant shall not be dispossessed of his holdings
except for any of the causes hereinafter enumerated and only after the same has been
proved before, and the dispossession is authorized by, the court.

Section 50. Causes for the Dispossession of a Tenant. - Any of the following shall be a
sufficient cause for the dispossession of a tenant from his holdings:

(a) The bona fide intention of the landholder to cultivate the land himself
personally or through the employment of farm machinery and implements:
Provided, however, That should the landholder not cultivate the land himself or
should fail to employ mechanical farm implements for a period of one year after
the dispossession of the tenant, it shall be presumed that he acted in bad faith
and the land and damages for any loss incurred by him because of said
dispossession: Provided, further, That the land-holder shall, at least one year but
not more than two years prior to the date of his petition to dispossess the tenant
under this subsection, file notice with the court and shall inform the tenant in
wiring in a language or dialect known to the latter of his intention to cultivate the
land himself, either personally or through the employment of mechanical
implements, together with a certification of the Secretary of Agriculture and
Natural Resources that the land is suited for mechanization: Provided, further,
That the dispossessed tenant and the members of his immediate household shall
be preferred in the employment of necessary laborers under the new set-up.

(b) When the current tenant violates or fails to comply with any of the terms and
conditions of the contract or any of the provisions of this Act: Provided, however,
That this subsection shall not apply when the tenant has substantially complied
with the contract or with the provisions of this Act.
 (c) The tenant's failure to pay the agreed rental or to deliver the landholder's
share: Provided, however, That this shall not apply when the tenant's failure is
caused by a fortuitous event or force majeure.

(d) When the tenant uses the land for a purpose other than that specified by
agreement of the parties.

(e) When a share-tenant fails to follow those proven farm practices which will
contribute towards the proper care of the land and increased agricultural
production.

(f) When the tenant through negligence permits serious injury to the land which
will impair its productive capacity.

(g) Conviction by a competent court of a tenant or any member of his immediate

family or farm household of a crime against the landholder or a member of his
immediate family.

RE STATUTE OF FRAUDS

Section 7. Tenancy Relationship; How established; Security of Tenure . - Tenancy

relationship may be established either verbally or in writing, expressly or impliedly.
Once such relationship is established, the tenant shall be entitled to security of tenure
as hereinafter provided.

RE JURISDICTION OF DARAB

RULE II

Jurisdiction of the Board and the Adjudicators

SECTION 1. Primary and Exclusive Original and Appellate Jurisdiction. The Board
shall have primary and exclusive jurisdiction, both original and appellate, to determine
and adjudicate all agrarian disputes involving the implementation of the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) under R.A. No. 6657, as amended by R.A. No. 9700,
E.O. Nos. 228, 229, and 129-A, R.A. No. 3844 as amended by R.A. No. 6389,
Presidential Decree No. 27 and other agrarian laws and their Implementing Rules and
Regulations. Specifically, such jurisdiction shall include but not be limited to cases
involving the following:
 a. The rights and obligations of persons, whether natural or juridical, engaged in
the management, cultivation, and use of all agricultural lands covered by R.A. No. 6657,
otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), as amended, and
other related agrarian laws;

b. The preliminary administrative determination of reasonable and just

compensation of lands acquired under Presidential Decree (PD) No. 27 and the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP);

c. Those cases involving the annulment or rescission of lease contracts or deeds

of sale or their amendments involving lands under the administration and disposition of
the DAR or Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), and the amendment of titles pertaining
to agricultural lands under the administration and disposition of the DAR and LBP; as
well as EPs issued under PD 266, Homestead Patents, Free Patents, and miscellaneous
sales patents to settlers in settlement and re-settlement areas under the administration
and disposition of the DAR;

d. Those cases involving the ejectment and dispossession of tenants and/or

leaseholders;

e. Those cases involving the sale, alienation, pre-emption, and redemption of

agricultural lands under the coverage of the CARL, as amended or other agrarian laws;

f. Those involving the correction, partition, secondary and subsequent issuances

such as reissuance of lost/destroyed owners duplicate copy and reconstitution of
Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) and Emancipation Patents (EPs) which
are registered with the Land Registration Authority;

g. Those cases involving the review of leasehold rentals and fixing of disturbance
compensation;

h. Those cases involving the collection of amortization payments, foreclosure and

similar disputes concerning the functions of the LBP, and payments 7 for lands awarded
under PD No. 27, RA No. 3844, as amended, and R.A. No. 6657, as amended by R.A.
No. 9700, and other related laws, decrees, orders, instructions, rules, and regulations,
as well as payment for residential, commercial, and industrial lots within the settlement
and resettlement areas under the administration and disposition of the DAR;

i. Those cases involving boundary disputes over lands under the administration
and disposition of the DAR and the LBP, which are transferred, distributed, and/or sold
to tenant-beneficiaries and are covered by deeds of sale, patents, and certificates of
title;
 j. Those cases previously falling under the original and exclusive jurisdiction of
the defunct Court of Agrarian Relations under Section 12 of PD No. 946 except those
cases falling under the proper courts or other quasi-judicial bodies; and

k. Such other agrarian cases, disputes, matters or concerns referred to it by the

Secretary of the DAR. SECTION 2.

Appellate Jurisdiction of the Board. The Board shall have exclusive appellate
jurisdiction to review, reverse, modify, alter, or affirm resolutions, orders and decisions
of the Adjudicators. No order of the Adjudicators on any issue, question, matter, or
incident raised before them shall be elevated to the Board until the hearing shall have
been terminated and the case decided on the merits.

RE LANDS COVERED BY CARP

CHAPTER II
Coverage

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.
 CASE LAW:

Agrarian laws were enacted to help small farmers uplift their economic status by
providing them with a modest standard of living sufficient to meet their needs for food,
clothing, shelter and other basic necessities. The law grants them the right to constitute
a home lot as their dwelling and subsistence. Because it is intimately connected with the
tenancy relationship of the landowner and the agricultural lessee, any dispute regarding
its transfer, removal or retention falls within the jurisdiction of the DARAB -- the quasi-
judicial body specially tasked to hear and adjudicate all agrarian disputes, matters or
incidents involved in or related to the implementation of agrarian laws. (Bautista vs. Mag-
isa vda. De Villena, G.R. No. 152564, September 13, 2004)