THE COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM LAW

Republic Act No. 6657, as amended

I. Introduction

A. Constitutional Basis

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

2. Article XII, Section 1: x x x The State shall promote industrialization and

full employment based on sound agricultural development and agrarian re-
form, x x x

3. Article XIII, Section 3: x x x 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 rights 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.

5. Article XIII, Section 5: The State shall recognize the rights of farmers,
farmworkers, and landowners, as well as cooperatives, and other indepen-
dent 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 industrial-
ization, employment creating, 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.

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.
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 arrangement 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 redistribu-
tion 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 case before us presents 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.

"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 petitioner 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

1 175 SCRA 343.

lawful method. Put otherwise, the interests of the public generally as distin-
guished 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 enable 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.

"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.

B. Exclusions from the Coverage of CARL

1. Under Section 102, 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.

2 As amended by Republic Act No. 7881.

 3. Likewise, execluded from the coverage 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 center;
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.

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 lands 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

3 192 SCRA 51.

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 question 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 int he coverage of agrarian
reform. (Rollo, p. 21).

"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.
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 1O, 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 t o 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.

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. PARC, upon recommendation of the Provincial Agrari-
an Reform Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM), may declare certain prov-
inces 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. CA4]

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 form 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

4 142 SCRA 136.

 tenant or lessee gets the whole produce with the mere obligation to pay a
fixed rental. [People v. Adillo5]

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 mere
proportion to their obligation to pay rent.
contributions.

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. Pangilinan6]

Leasehold Tenancy Civil Law Lease

Subject Matter Agricultural lands only Both rural and urban
properties
Attention and Culti- Tenant must personally Lessee does not have to
vation 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 68 SCRA 90.

6 58 SCRA 590.
 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 ceil-
ing) [Section 32]

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

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
manifest 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]

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
concur with the compensation determined by the DAR, he can 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 t o
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%

* 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: a natural person who is 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)].
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: a natural person who is employed on a recurrent,

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

4. Other farmworkers: a farmworker who is not a regular nor a seasonal

farmworker [Section 3(j)];

5. Actual tillers or occupants of public lands;

6. Collective 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. CAR7]

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]

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

7 7 SCRA 812.
 * 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 purpose. [Section 66]

VIII. Corporate Farms

A. Definition

* 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-beneficia-
ries 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.

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;

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 the
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, Forecloses 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.

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 deci-
sion-making bodies.

F. Veterans and Retirees: Landless ware 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;
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 in 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 for the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources;
iii. Representative for 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
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 n 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.

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 matter involv-
ing the implementation of agrarian reform, except those falling under
the exclusive jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture and the Depart-
ment 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

* Matter 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 of 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 party 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
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 Court

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.

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 a 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]

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 title 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 of conveyance by a beneficiary of the right to use or

any other usufructuary 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 (P 1,000.00)
and not more than fifteen thousand pesos (P 15,000.00), 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 for 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 on the land and its disposition: Provid-
ed, 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;
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