MALACAÑANG
Manila
PRESIDENTIAL DECREE No. 705 May 19, 1975
REVISING PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 389, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS
THE FORESTRY REFORM CODE OF THE PHILIPPINES
WHEREAS, proper classification, management and utilization of the lands of
the public domain to maximize their productivity to meet the demands of our
increasing population is urgently needed;
WHEREAS, to achieve the above purpose, it is necessary to reassess the
multiple uses of forest lands and resources before allowing any utilization
thereof to optimize the benefits that can be derived therefrom;
WHEREAS, it is also imperative to place emphasis not only on the utilization
thereof but more so on the protection, rehabilitation and development of
forest lands, in order to ensure the continuity of their productive condition;
WHEREAS, the present laws and regulations governing forest lands are not
responsive enough to support re-oriented government programs, projects
and efforts on the proper classification and delimitation of the lands of the
public domain, and the management, utilization, protection, rehabilitation,
and development of forest lands;
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution, do
hereby revise Presidential Decree No. 389 to read as follows:
Section 1. Title of this Code. This decree shall be known as the "Revised
Forestry Code of the Philippines."
Section 2. Policies. The State hereby adopts the following policies:
(a) The multiple uses of forest lands shall be oriented to the
development and progress requirements of the country, the
advancement of science and technology, and the public welfare;
(b) Land classification and survey shall be systematized and
hastened;
(c) The establishment of wood-processing plants shall
encouraged and rationalized; and
(d) The protection, development and rehabilitation of forest lands
shall be emphasized so as to ensure their continuity in productive
condition.
Section 3. Definitions.
(a) Public forest is the mass of lands of the public domain which has
not been the subject of the present system of classification for the
determination of which lands are needed for forest purposes and
which are not.
(b) Permanent forest or forest reserves refer to those lands of the
public domain which have been the subject of the present system of
classification and determined to be needed for forest purposes.
(c) Alienable and disposable lands refer to those lands of the public
domain which have been the subject of the present system of
classification and declared as not needed for forest purposes.
(d) Forest lands include the public forest, the permanent forest or
forest reserves, and forest reservations.
(e) Grazing land refers to that portion of the public domain which has
been set aside, in view of the suitability of its topography and
vegetation, for the raising of livestock.
(f) Mineral lands refer to those lands of the public domain which have
been classified as such by the Secretary of Natural Resources in
accordance with prescribed and approved criteria, guidelines and
procedure.
(g) Forest reservations refer to forest lands which have been
reserved by the President of the Philippines for any specific purpose
or purposes.
(h) National park refers to a forest land reservation essentially of
primitive or wilderness character which has been withdrawn from
settlement or occupancy and set aside as such exclusively to
preserve the scenery, the natural and historic objects and the wild
animals or plants therein, and to provide enjoyment of these features
in such a manner as will leave them unimpaired for future
generations.
be
(i) Game refuge or bird sanctuary refers to a forest land designated
for the protection of game animals, birds and fish and closed to
hunting and fishing in order that the excess population may flow and
restock surrounding areas.
(j) Marine parks refers to any off-shore area inhabited by rare and
unique species of marine flora and fauna.
(k) Seashore park refers to any public shore area delimited for
outdoor recreation, sports fishing, water skiing and related healthful
activities.
(l) Watershed reservation is a forest land reservation established to
protect or improve the conditions of the water yield thereof or reduce
sedimentation.
(m) Watershed is a land area drained by a stream or fixed body of
water and its tributaries having a common outlet for surface run-off.
(n) Critical watershed is a drainage area of a river system supporting
existing and proposed hydro-electric power and irrigation works
needing immediate rehabilitation as it is being subjected to a fast
denudation causing accelerated erosion and destructive floods. It is
closed from logging until it is fully rehabilitated.
(o) Mangrove is a term applied to the type of forest occurring on tidal
flat along the sea coast, extending along streams where the water is
brackish.
(p) Kaingin is a portion of the forest land, whether occupied or not,
which is subjected to shifting and/or permanent slash-and-burn
cultivation having little or no provision to prevent soil erosion.
(q) Forest product means timber, pulpwood, firewood, bark, tree top,
resin, gum, wood, oil, honey, beeswax, nipa, rattan, or other forest
growth such as grass, shrub, and flowering plant, the associated
water, fish, game, scenic, historical, recreational and geologic
resources in forest lands.
(r) Dipterocarp forest is a forest dominated by trees of the
dipterocarp species, such as red lauan, tengile, tiaong, white lauan,
almon, bagtikan and mayapis of the Philippine mahogany group,
apitong and the yakals.
(s) Pine forest is a forest composed of the Benguet Pine in the
Mountain Provinces or the Mindoro pine in Mindoro and Zambales
provinces.
(t) Industrial tree plantation is any tract of forest land purposely and
extensively planted to timber crops primarily to supply the raw
material requirements of existing or proposed processing plants and
related industries.
(u) Tree farm refers to any tract of forest land purposely and
extensively planted to trees of economic value for their fruits, flowers,
leaves, barks, or extractives, but not for the wood thereof.
(v) Multiple-use is the harmonized utilization of the numerous
beneficial uses of the land, soil, water, wildlife, recreation value,
grass and timber of forest lands.
(w) Selective logging means the systematic removal of the mature,
over-mature and defective trees in such manner as to leave
adequate number and volume of healthy residual trees of the desired
species necessary to assure a future crop of timber, and forest cover
for the protection and conservation of soil and water.
(x) Seed tree system is partial clearcutting with seed trees left to
regenerate the area.
(y) Healthy residual is a sound or slightly injured tree of the
commercial species left after logging.
(z) Sustained-yield management implies continuous or periodic
production of forest products in a working unit with the aid of
achieving at the earliest practicable time an approximate balance
between growth and harvest or use. This is generally applied to the
commercial timber resources and is also applicable to the water,
grass, wildlife, and other renewable resources of the forest.
(aa) Processing plant is any mechanical set-up, machine or
combination of machine used for the processing of logs and other
forest raw materials into lumber, veneer, plywood, wallboard, block-
board, paper board, pulp, paper or other finished wood products.
(bb) Lease is a privilege granted by the State to a person to occupy
and possess, in consideration of a specified rental, any forest land of
the public domain in order to undertake any authorized activity
therein.
(cc) License is a privilege granted by the State to a person to utilize
forest resources as in any forest land, without any right of occupation
and possession over the same, to the exclusion of others, or
establish and operate a wood-processing plant, or conduct any
activity involving the utilization of any forest resources.
(dd) License agreement is a privilege granted by the State to a
person to utilize forest resources within any forest land with the right
of possession and occupation thereof to the exclusion of others,
except the government, but with the corresponding obligation to
develop, protect and rehabilitate the same in accordance with the
terms and conditions set forth in said agreement.
(ee) Permit is a short-term privilege or authority granted by the State
to a person to utilize any limited forest resources or undertake a
limited activity with any forest land without any right of occupation
and possession therein.
(ff) Annual allowable cut is the volume of materials, whether of wood
or other forest products, that is authorized to be cut regularly from
the forest.
(gg) Cutting cycle is the number of years between major harvests in
the same working unit and/or region, within a rotation.
(hh) Ecosystem means the ecological community considered
together with non-living factors and its environment as a unit.
(ii) Silviculture is the establishment, development reproduction and
care of forest trees.
(jj) Rationalization is the organization of a business or industry using
scientific business management principles and simplified procedures
to obtain greater efficiency of operation.
(kk) Forest officer means any official or employee of the Bureau who,
by the nature of his appointment or the function of the position to
which he is appointed, is delegated by law or by competent authority
to execute, implement or enforce the provisions of this Code, other
related laws, as well as their implementing regulations.
(ll) Primitive tribe is a group of endemic tribe living primitively as a
distinct portion of a people from a common ancestor.
(mm) Private right means or refers to titled rights of ownership under
existing laws, and in the case of primitive tribes, to rights of
possession existing at the time a license is granted under this Code,
which possession may include places of abode and worship, burial
grounds, and old clearings, but excludes production forest inclusive
of logged-over areas, commercial forests and established plantations
of forest trees and trees of economic value.
(nn) Person includes natural as well as juridical person.
CHAPTER I
ORGANIZATION AND JURISDICTION OF THE BUREAU
Section 4. Creation of, and merger of all forestry agencies into, the Bureau
of Forest Development. For the purpose of implementing the provisions of
this Code, the Bureau of Forestry, the Reforestation Administration, the
Southern Cebu Reforestation Development Project, and the Parks and
Wildlife Office, including applicable appropriations, records, equipment,
property and such personnel as may be necessary, are hereby merged into a
single agency to be known as the Bureau of Forest Development, hereinafter
referred to as the Bureau.
Section 5. Jurisdiction of Bureau. The Bureau shall have jurisdiction and
authority over all forest land, grazing lands, and all forest reservations
including watershed reservations presently administered by other
government agencies or instrumentalities.
It shall be responsible for the protection, development, management,
regeneration, and reforestation of forest lands; the regulation and supervision
of the operation of licensees, lessees and permittees for the taking or use of
forest products therefrom or the occupancy or use thereof; the
implementation of multiple use and sustained yield management in forest
lands; the protection, development and preservation of national parks,
marine parks, game refuges and wildlife; the implementation of measures
and programs to prevent kaingin and managed occupancy of forest and
grazing lands; in collaboration with other bureaus, the effective, efficient and
economic classification of lands of the public domain; and the enforcement of
forestry, reforestation, parks, game and wildlife laws, rules, and regulations.
The Bureau shall regulate the establishment and operation of sawmills,
veneer and plywood mills and other wood processing plants and conduct
studies of domestic and world markets of forest products.
Section 6. Director and Assistant Director and their qualifications. The
Bureau shall be headed by a Director, who shall be assisted by one or more
Assistant Directors. The Director and Assistant Directors shall be appointed
Administrative Division Personnel;
by the President.
Budget;
Accounting;
No person shall be appointed Director or Assistant Director of the Bureau Information;
unless he is a natural born citizen of the Philippines, at least 30 years of age, General Services.
a holder of at least a Bachelor's Degree in Forestry or its equivalent, and a
registered forester. Legal Division

Section 7. Supervision and Control. The Bureau shall be directly under the Reforestation and Afforestation Division Cooperative Planting;
control and supervision of the Secretary of the Department of Natural Planting Stock Production;
Resources, hereinafter referred to as the Department Head. Plantation Management.

Timber Management Division Forest Surveys, Data & Mapping;

Section 8. Review. All actions and decisions of the Director are subject to Sulviculture;
review, motu propio or upon appeal of any person aggrieved thereby, by the Timber Inventory & Photo-Interpretation;
Department Head whose decision shall be final and executory after the lapse Timber Management Plans;
of thirty (30) days from receipt by the aggrieved party of said decision, unless Land Classification.
appealed to the President in accordance with the Executive Order No. 19,
series of 1966. The Decision of the Department Head may not be reviewed Utilization Division Timber Operations;
by the courts except through a special civil action for certiorari or prohibition. Land Uses;
Utilization.
Section 9. Rules and Regulations. The Department Head, upon the
Forest Protection and Infrastructure Forest Protection;
recommendation of the Director of Forest Development, shall promulgate the
Forest Occupancy
rules and regulations necessary to implement effectively the provisions of
Management;
this Code.
Watershed Management; Infrastructure.
Section 10. Creation of Functional Divisions, and Regional and District Parks, Wildlife Division Parks Management;
Offices. All positions in the merged agencies are considered vacant. Present Recreation Management;
occupants may be appointed in accordance with a staffing pattern or plan of Wildlife Management;
organization to be prepared by the Director and approved by the Department Range Management.
Head. Any appointee who fails to report for duty in accordance with the
approved plan within thirty (30) days upon receipt of notification shall be Security and Intelligence Division
deemed to have declined the appointment, in which case the position may be
filed by any other qualified applicant. Forest Development Training Center Technical Training;
Non-Technical Training.
For the efficient and effective implementation of the program of the Bureau,
the following divisions and sections are hereby created, to wit:

Divisions Sections The Department Head may, upon recommendation of the Director,
reorganize or create such other divisions, sections of units as may be
Planning and Evaluation Program Planning; deemed necessary and to appoint the personnel there: Provided, That an
Performance Evaluation; employee appointed or designated as officer-in-charge of a newly created
Forest Economics; division, section or unit, or to an existing vacant position with a higher salary,
Management Analysis shall receive, from the date of such appointment or designation until he is
Data & Information. replaced or reverted to his original position, the salary corresponding to the
position temporarily held by him.
There shall be created at least eleven regional offices. In each region, there
shall be as many forest districts as may be necessary, in accordance with the
extent of forest area, established work loads, need for forest protection, fire
prevention and other factors, the provisions of any law to the contrary
notwithstanding: Provided, That the boundaries of such districts shall follow,
whenever possible, natural boundaries of watersheds under the river-basin
concept of management.
Section 11. Manpower Development. The Bureau shall establish and
operate an in-service training center for the purpose of upgrading and
training its personnel and new employees.
The Bureau shall also set aside adequate funds to enable personnel to
obtain special education and training in local or foreign colleges or
institutions.
Section 12. Performance Evaluation. The Bureau shall devise a system, to
be approved by the Department Head, to evaluate the performance of its
employees. The system shall measure accomplishment in quantity and
quality of performance as related to the funded program of work assigned to
each organizational unit. There shall be included a system of periodic
inspection of district offices by the regional offices and the regional and
district offices by the Central Office in both functional fields and in the overall
assessment of how each administrative unit has implemented the laws,
regulations, policies, programs, and practices relevant to such unit. The
evaluation system shall provide the information necessary for annual
progress reports and determination of employee training civil service awards
and transfer or disciplinary action.
CHAPTER II
CLASSIFICATION AND SURVEY
Section 13. System of Land Classification. The Department Head shall
study, devise, determine and prescribe the criteria, guidelines and methods
for the proper and accurate classification and survey of all lands of the public
domain into agricultural, industrial or commercial, residential, resettlement,
mineral, timber or forest, and grazing lands, and into such other classes as
now or may hereafter be provided by law, rules and regulations.
In the meantime, the Department Head shall simplify through inter-bureau
action the present system of determining which of the unclassified lands of
the public domain are needed for forest purposes and declare them as
permanent forest to form part of the forest reserves. He shall decree those
classified and determined not to be needed for forest purposes as alienable
and disposable lands, the administrative jurisdiction and management of
which shall be transferred to the Bureau of Lands: Provided, That mangrove
and other swamps not needed for shore protection and suitable for fishpond
purposes shall be released to, and be placed under the administrative
jurisdiction and management of, the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources. Those still to be classified under the Present system shall
continue to remain as part of the public forest.
Section 14. Existing Pasture Leases and Permits in Forest Lands. Forest
lands which have been the subject of pasture leases and permits shall
remain classified as forest lands until classified as grazing lands under the
criteria, guidelines and methods of classification to be prescribed by the
Department Head: Provided, That the administration, management and
disposition of grazing lands shall remain under the Bureau.
Section 15. Topography. No land of the public domain eighteen per cent
(18%) in slope or over shall be classified as alienable and disposable, nor
any forest land fifty per cent (50%) in slope or over, as grazing land.
Lands eighteen per cent (18%) in slope or over which have already been
declared as alienable and disposable shall be reverted to the classification of
forest lands by the Department Head, to form part of the forest reserves,
unless they are already covered by existing titles or approved public land
application, or actually occupied openly, continuously, adversely and publicly
for a period of not less than thirty (30) years as of the effectivity of this Code,
where the occupant is qualified for a free patent under the Public Land Act:
Provided, That said lands, which are not yet part of a well-established
communities, shall be kept in a vegetative condition sufficient to prevent
erosion and adverse effects on the lowlands and streams: Provided, further,
That when public interest so requires, steps shall be taken to expropriate,
cancel defective titles, reject public land application, or eject occupants
thereof.
Section 16. Areas needed for forest purposes. The following lands, even if
they are below eighteen per cent (18%) in slope, are needed for forest
purposes, and may not, therefore, be classified as alienable and disposable
land, to wit:
1. Areas less than 250 hectares which are far from, or are not
contiguous with, any certified alienable and disposable land;
2. Isolated patches of forest of at least five (5) hectares with rocky
terrain, or which protect a spring for communal use;
3. Areas which have already been reforested;
 4. Areas within forest concessions which are timbered or have good
residual stocking to support an existing, or approved to be
established, wood processing plant;
5. Ridge tops and plateaus regardless of size found within, or
surrounded wholly or partly by, forest lands where headwaters
emanate;
6. Appropriately located road-rights-or-way;
7. Twenty-meter strips of land along the edge of the normal high
waterline of rivers and streams with channels of at least five (5)
meters wide;
8. Strips of mangrove or swamplands at least twenty (20) meters
wide, along shorelines facing oceans, lakes, and other bodies of
water, and strips of land at least twenty (20) meters wide facing
lakes;
9. Areas needed for other purposes, such as national parks, national
historical sites, game refuges and wildlife sanctuaries, forest station
sites, and others of public interest; and
10. Areas previously proclaimed by the President as forest reserves,
national parks, game refuge, bird sanctuaries, national shrines,
national historic sites:
Provided, That in case an area falling under any of the foregoing categories
shall have been titled in favor of any person, steps shall be taken, if public
interest so requires, to have said title cancelled or amended, or the titled area
expropriated.
Section 17. Establishment of boundaries of forest lands. All boundaries
between permanent forests and alienable and disposable lands shall be
clearly marked and maintained on the ground, with infrastructure or roads, or
concrete monuments at intervals of not more than five hundred (500) meters
in accordance with established procedures and standards, or any other
visible and practicable signs to insure protection of the forest.
Section 18. Reservations in forest lands and off-shore areas. The President
of the Philippines may establish within any lands of the public domain, forest
reserve and forest reservation for the national park system, for preservation
as critical watersheds, or for any other purpose, and modify boundaries of
existing ones. The Department Head may reserve and establish any portion
of the public forest or forest reserve as site or experimental forest for use of
the Forest Research Institute.
When public interest so requires, any off-shore area needed for the
preservation and protection of its educational, scientific, historical, ecological
and recreational values including the marine life found therein, shall be
established as marine parks.
CHAPTER III
UTILIZATION AND MANAGEMENT
Section 19. Multiple use. The numerous beneficial uses of the timber, land,
soil, water, wildlife, recreation value and grass of forest lands shall be
evaluated and weighted before allowing the utilization, exploitation,
occupation or possession thereof, or the conduct of any activity therein.
Only the utilization, exploitation, occupation or possession of any forest land,
or any activity therein, involving one or more or its resources, which will
produce the optimum benefits to the development and progress of the
country and the public welfare, without impairment or with the least injury to
its other resources, shall be allowed.
All forest reservations may be open to uses not inconsistent with the principal
objectives of the reservation: Provided, That critical watersheds and national
parks shall not be subject to logging operations.
Section 20. License agreement, license, lease or permit. No person may
utilize, exploit, occupy, possess or conduct any activity within any forest land,
or establish and operate any wood-processing plant, unless he has been
authorized to do so under a license agreement, lease, license, or permit.
Section 21. Sustained yield. All measures shall be taken to achieve an
approximate balance between growth and harvest or use of forest products
in forest lands.
A. TIMBER
Section 22. Silvicultural and harvesting systems. In any logging operations in
production forests within forest lands, the proper silvicultural and harvesting
systems that will promote optimum sustained yield shall be practised.
(a) For dipterocarp forest, selective logging shall be practised.
 (b) For pine forest, the seed tree system with planting when
necessary shall be practised.
(c) For other types of forest, the silvicultural and harvesting system
that will be found suitable by research shall be applied. Meanwhile, a
system based on observation and practices abroad may be adopted
initially.
Any practised system are subject to modification or changes based on
research findings.
Section 23. Timber inventory. The Bureau shall conduct a program of
progressive inventories of the harvestable timber and young trees in all forest
lands, whether covered by any license agreement, license, lease or permit,
or not, until a one hundred per cent (100%) timber inventory thereon has
been achieved.
Section 24. Required inventory prior to timber utilization in forest lands. No
harvest of timber in any forest land shall be allowed unless it has been the
subject of at least a five per cent (5%) timber inventory, or any statistically
sound timber estimate, made not earlier than five (5) years prior to the
issuance of a license agreement or license allowing such utilization.
Section 25. Cutting cycle. The Bureau shall apply scientific cutting cycle and
rotation in all forest lands, giving particular consideration to the age, volume
and kind of healthy residual trees which may be left undisturbed and
undamaged for future harvest and forest cover indipterocarp area, and seed
trees and reproduction in pine area.
Section 26. Annual allowable cut. The annual allowable cut of any particular
forest land shall be determined on the basis of the established rotation and
cutting cycle thereof, and the volume and kind of harvestable timber and
healthy residuals, seed trees and reproduction found therein.
Section 27. Duration of license agreement or license to harvest timber in
forest lands. The duration of the privilege to harvest timber in any particular
forest land under a license agreement or license shall be fixed and
determined in accordance with the annual allowable cut therein, the
established cutting cycle thereof, the yield capacity of harvestable timber,
and the capacity of healthy residuals for a second growth.
The privilege shall automatically terminate, even before the expiration of the
license agreement of license, the moment the harvestable timber have been
utilized without leaving any logged-over area capable of commercial
utilization.
The maximum period of any privilege to harvest timber is twenty-five (25)
years, renewable for a period, not exceeding twenty-five (25) years,
necessary to utilize all the remaining commercial quantity or harvestable
timber either from the unlogged or logged-over area.
It shall be a condition for the continued privilege to harvest timber under any
license or license agreement that the licensee shall reforest all the areas
which shall be determined by the Bureau.
Section 28. Size of forest concessions. Forest lands shall not be held in
perpetuity.
The size of the forest lands which may be the subject of timber utilization
shall be limited to that which a person may effectively utilize and develop for
a period of fifty (50) years, considering the cutting cycle, the past
performance of the applicant and his capacity not only to utilize but, more
importantly, to protect and manage the whole area, and the requirements of
processing plants existing or to be installed in the region.
Forest concessions which had been the subject of consolidations shall be
reviewed and re-evaluated for the effective implementation of protection,
reforestation and management thereof under the multiple use and sustained
yield concepts, and for the processing locally of the timber resources
therefrom.
B. WOOD-PROCESSING
Section 29. Incentives to the wood industry. The Department Head, in
collaboration with other government agencies and the wood industry
associations and other private entities in the country, shall evolve incentives
for the establishment of an integrated wood industry in designated wood
industry centers and/or economic area.
The President of the Philippines, upon the recommendations of the National
Economic Development Authority and the Department Head, may establish
wood industry import-export centers in selected locations: Provided, That
logs imported for such centers shall be subject to such precaution as may be
imposed by the Bureau, in collaboration with proper government agencies, to
prevent the introduction of pests, insects and/or diseases detrimental to the
forests.
Section 30. Rationalization of the wood industry. While establishment of
wood-processing plants shall be encouraged, their locations and operations
shall be regulated in order to rationalize the industry. No new processing
plant shall be established unless adequate raw material is available on a
sustained-yield basis in the area where the raw materials will come from.
The Department Head may cancel, suspend, or phase-out all uneconomical
wood-processing plants which are not responsive to the rationalization
program of the government.
Section 31. Wood wastes, weed trees and residues. Timber licensees shall
be encouraged and assisted to gather and save the wood wastes and weed
trees in their concessions, and those with processing plants, the wood
residues thereof, for utilization and conversion into wood by-products and
derivatives.
Section 32. Log production and processing. Unless otherwise decreed by
the President, upon recommendation of the National Economic Development
Authority, the entire production of logs by all licensees shall, beginning
January 1, 1976, be processed locally.
A licensee who has no processing plant may, subject to the approval of the
Director, enter into a contract with a wood processor for the processing of his
logs. Wood processors shall accept for processing only logs cut by, or
purchased from, licensees of good standing at the time of the cutting of logs.
C. REFORESTATION
Section 33. Forest lands to be reforested. The following shall be reforested
and covered with suitable and sufficient trees, to wit:
(a) Bare or grass-covered tracts of forest lands with at least fifty per
cent (50%) slope;
(b) Bare or grass-covered tracts of forest lands with less than fifty per
cent (50%) slope, but with soil so highly erodible as to make grass
cover inadequate for soil erosion control;
(c) Brushlands or tracts of forest lands generally covered with brush,
which need to be developed to increase their productivity;
(d) Open tracts of forest lands with slopes or gradients generally
exceeding fifty per cent (50%), interspersed with patches of forest
each of which is less than two hundred fifty (250) hectares in area;
(e) Denuded or inadequately-timbered areas proclaimed by the
President as forest reserves and reservations as critical watersheds,
national parks, game refuge, bird sanctuaries, national shrines,
national historic sites;
(f) Inadequately-stocked forest lands within forest concessions;
(g) Portions of areas covered by pasture leases or permits having a
slope of at least fifty per cent (50%); and
(h) River banks, easements, road rights-of-ways, deltas, swamps,
former river beds, and beaches.
Section 34. Industrial Tree Plantations and Tree Farms. A lease for a period
of twenty-five (25) years, renewable for another period not exceeding twenty-
five (25) years, for the establishment of an industrial tree plantation or a tree
farm may be granted by the Department Head upon recommendation of the
Director to any person qualified to develop and exploit natural resources,
over timber or forest lands of the public domain categorized in Section 33
hereof, with a minimum area of One Thousand (1,000) hectares for industrial
tree plantation and One Hundred (100) hectares for tree farm; Provided, That
the size of the area that may be granted under each category shall in each
case depend upon the capacity of the lessee to develop or convert the area
into productive condition within the term of the lease; Provided, further, That
no lease shall be granted within critical watersheds.
Scattered areas of less than One Hundred (100) hectares each may be
leased for the establishment of tree farms to different qualified persons upon
a showing that if developed as an integrated unit these areas can be
economically exploited: Provided, That it shall be a condition of the lease that
such persons organize themselves into a cooperative to ensure the orderly
management thereof.
The lease may be granted under such terms and conditions as the
Department Head may prescribe, taking into account, among others, the raw
material needs of forest-based industries and the maintenance of a
wholesome ecological balance.
Reforestation projects of the Government, or portions thereof which, upon
field evaluation, are found to be more suitable for, or can be better developed
as, industrial tree plantations or tree farms in terms of benefits to the
Government and the general surrounding area, may be the subject of the
lease under this section.
Section 35. Priority. Over any suitable area covered by a timber license
agreement, or a pasture lease agreement or permit, the priority to establish
industrial forest plantation or tree farm shall be given to the holder thereof.
The priority herein granted must, however, be availed of within a reasonable
period to be determined by the Department Head, otherwise, the area shall
be declared open to any qualified person and consequently segregated from
the holder's area.
Section 36. Incentives. To encourage qualified persons to engage in
industrial tree plantation and/or tree farming, the following incentives are
granted:
(a) Payment of a nominal filing fee of fifty centavos (P0.50) per
hectare;
(b) No rental shall be collected during the first five (5) years from the
date of the lease; from the sixth year to the tenth year, the annual
rental shall be fifty centavos (P0.50) per hectare; and thereafter, the
annual rental shall be one peso (P1.00) per hectare: Provided, That
lessees of areas long denuded as certified by the Director and
approved by the Department Head, shall be exempted from the
payment of rental for the full term of the lease which shall not exceed
twenty-five (25) years; for the first five (5) years following the renewal
of the lease, the annual rental shall be fifty centavos (P0.50) per
hectare; and thereafter, the annual rental shall be one peso (P1.00)
per hectare.
(c) The lessee shall pay forest charges on the timber and other forest
products grown and cut or gathered in an industrial tree plantation or
tree farm equivalent to six percent (6%) current market value thereof;
(d) Sale at cost of seedlings and free technical advice and
assistance to persons who will develop their privately-owned lands
into industrial tree plantation or tree farm;
(e) Exemption from the payment of the percentage tax levied in Title
V of the National Internal Revenue Code when the timber and forest
products are sold, bartered or exchanged by the lessee whether in
their original state or not;
(f) The Board of Investments shall, notwithstanding its nationality
requirement on projects involving natural resources, classify
industrial tree plantations and tree farms as pioneer areas of
investment under its annual priority plan, to be governed by the rules
and regulations of said Board. A lessee of an industrial tree
plantation or tree farm may either apply to the Board of Investments
for the tax and other benefits thereunder, or avail of the following
benefits:
1. Amounts expended by a lessee in the development and
operation of an industrial tree plantation or tree farm prior to
the time when the production state is reached, may, at the
option of said lessee, be regarded as ordinary and
necessary business expenses or as capital expenditures;
and
2. Deduction from an investor's taxable income for the year,
of an annual investment allowance equivalent to thirty-three
and one-third per cent (33-1/3%) of his actual investment
during the year in an enterprise engaged in industrial tree
plantation or tree farm: Provided, That such investment shall
not be withdrawn for a period of at least ten (10) years from
the date of investment: Provided, further, That should the
investment be withdrawn within such period, a tax equivalent
to double the amount of the total income tax rebate resulting
from the investment allowance shall be payable as a lump
sum in addition to the income tax due from the taxpayer for
the year the investment was withdrawn.
(g) Except when public interest demands the alteration or
modification, the boundaries of an area covered by an industrial tree
plantation or tree farm lease, once established on the ground, shall
not be altered or modified; and
(h) A lessee shall not be subject to any obligation prescribed in, or
arising out of, the provisions of the National Internal Revenue Code
on withholding of tax at source upon interests paid on borrowings
incurred for development and operation of the industrial tree
plantation or tree farm.
The Department Head may provide other incentives in addition to those
hereinabove granted to promote industrial tree plantation and tree farms in
special areas such as, but not limited to, those where there are no roads or
where roads are inadequate, or areas with rough topography and remote
areas far from processing plants.
All amounts collected under this section shall accrue to a special deposit of
the Bureau to be used for reforestation of critical watersheds or degraded
areas and other development activities, over and above the general
appropriation of the said Bureau.
D. FOREST PROTECTION
Section 37. Protection of all resources. All measures shall be taken to
protect the forest resources from destruction, impairment and depletion.
Section 38. Control of concession area. In order to achieve the effective
protection of the forest lands and the resources thereof from illegal entry,
unlawful occupation, kaingin, fire, insect infestation, theft, and other forms of
forest destruction, the utilization of timber therein shall not be allowed except
through license agreements under which the holders thereof shall have the
exclusive privilege to cut all the allowable harvestable timber in their
respective concessions, and the additional right of occupation, possession,
and control over the same, to the exclusive of all others, except the
government, but with the corresponding obligation to adopt all the protection
and conservation measures to ensure the continuity of the productive
condition of said areas, conformably with multiple use and sustained yield
management.
If the holder of a license agreement over a forest area expressly or impliedly
waives the privilege to utilize any softwood, hardwood or mangrove species
therein, a license may be issued to another person for the harvest thereof
without any right of possession or occupation over the areas where they are
found, but he shall, likewise, adopt protection and conservation measures
consistent with those adopted by the license agreement holder in the said
areas.
Section 39. Regulation of timber utilization in all other classes of lands and
of wood-processing plants. The utilization of timber in alienable and
disposable lands, private lands, civil reservations, and all lands containing
standing or felled timber, including those under the jurisdiction of other
government agencies, and the establishment and operation of saw-mills and
other wood-processing plants, shall be regulated in order to prevent them
from being used as shelters for excessive and unauthorized harvests in
forest lands, and shall not therefore be allowed except through a license
agreement, license, lease or permit.
Section 40. Timber inventory in other lands containing standing or felled
timber. The Bureau shall conduct a one hundred per cent (100%) timber
inventory in alienable and disposable lands and civil reservations
immediately upon classification or reservation thereof.
No harvest of standing or felled timber in alienable and disposable lands,
private lands, civil reservation, and all other lands, including those under the
jurisdiction of other government agencies, shall be allowed unless a one
hundred per cent (100%) timber inventory has been conducted thereon.
Section 41. Sworn timber inventory reports. All reports on timber inventories
of forest lands, alienable and disposable lands, private lands, civil
reservations, and all lands containing standing or felled timber must be
subscribed and sworn to by all the forest officers who conducted the same.
Section 42. Participation in the development of alienable and disposable
lands and civil reservations. The privilege to harvest timber in alienable and
disposable lands and civil reservations shall be given to those who can best
help in the delineation and development of such areas in accordance with the
management plan of the appropriate government exercising jurisdiction over
the same.
The extent of participation shall be based on the amount of timber which may
be harvested therefrom.
Section 43. Swamplands and mangrove forests. Strips of mangrove forest
bordering numerous islands which protect the shoreline, the shoreline roads,
and even coastal communities from the destructive force of the sea during
high winds and typhoons, shall be maintained and shall not be alienated.
Such strips must be kept from artificial obstruction so that flood water will
flow unimpeded to the sea to avoid flooding or inundation of cultivated areas
in the upstream.
All mangrove swamps set aside for coast-protection purposes shall not be
subject to clear-cutting operation.
Mangrove and other swamps released to the Bureau of Fisheries and
Aquatic Resources for fishpond purposes which are not utilized, or which
have been abandoned for five (5) years from the date of such release shall
revert to the category of forest land.
Section 44. Visitorial power. The Department Head may, by himself or thru
the Director or any qualified person duly designated by the Department
Head, investigate, inspect and examine records, books and other documents
relating to the operation of any holder of a license agreement, license, lease,
or permit, and its subsidiary or affiliated companies, to determine compliance
with the terms and conditions thereof, this Code and pertinent laws, policies,
rules and regulations.
Section 45. Authority of forest officers. When in the performance of their
official duties, forest officers, or other government officials or employees duly
authorized by the Department Head or Director, shall have free entry into
areas covered by a license agreement, license, lease or permit.
Forest officers are authorized to administer oath and take acknowledgment in
official matters connected with the functions of their office, and to take
testimony in official investigations conducted under the authority of this Code
and the implementing rules and regulations.
Section 46. Scaling stations. In collaboration with appropriate government
agencies, the Bureau shall establish control or scaling stations at suitably
located outlets of timber and other forest products to insure that they were
legally cut or harvested.
Section 47. Mining operations. Mining operations in forest lands shall be
regulated and conducted with due regard to protection, development and
utilization of other surface resources.
Location, prospecting, exploration, utilization or exploitation of mineral
resources in forest reservations shall be governed by Mining laws, rules and
regulations. No location, prospecting, exploration, utilization, or exploitation
of mineral resources inside forest concessions shall be allowed unless
proper notice has been served upon the licensees thereof and the prior
approval of the Director, secured.
Mine tailings and other pollutants affecting the health and safety of the
people, water, fish, vegetation, animal life and other surface resources, shall
be filtered in silt traps or other filtration devices and only clean exhausts and
liquids shall be released therefrom.
Surface-mined areas shall be restored to as near its former natural
configuration or as approved by the Director prior to its abandonment by the
mining concern.
Section 48. Mineral Reservations. Mineral reservations which are not the
subject of mining operations or where operations have been suspended for
more than five (5) years shall be placed under forest management by the
Bureau.
Mineral reservations where mining operations have been terminated due to
the exhaustion of its minerals shall revert to the category of forest land,
unless otherwise reserved for other purposes.
Section 49. Roads and other infrastructure. Roads and other infrastructure in
forest lands shall be constructed with the least impairment to the resource
values thereof.
Government agencies undertaking the construction of roads, bridges,
communications, and other infrastructure and installations inside forest lands,
shall coordinate with the Bureau, especially if it will involve the utilization or
destruction of timber and/or other forest resources, or watershed disturbance
therein, in order to adopt measures to avoid or reduce damage or injury to
the forest resource values.
They shall likewise extend assistance in the planning and establishment of
roads, wharves, piers, port facilities, and other infrastructure in locations
designated as wood-processing centers or for the convenience of wood-
based industries.
In order to coincide and conform to government plans, programs, standards,
and specifications, holders of license agreements, licenses, leases and
permits shall not undertake road or infrastructure construction or installation
in forest lands without the prior approval of the Director, or in alienable and
disposable lands, civil reservations and other government lands, without the
approval of the government agencies having administrative jurisdiction over
the same.
All roads and infrastructure constructed by holders of license agreements,
licenses, leases and permits belong to the State and the use and
administration thereof shall be transferred to the government immediately
upon the expiration or termination thereof. Prior thereto the Bureau may
authorize the public use thereof, if it will not be detrimental to forest
conservation measures.
Where roads are utilized by more than one commercial forest user, the
Bureau shall prescribe the terms and conditions of joint use including the
equitable sharing of construction and/or maintenance costs, and of the use of
these roads by other parties and the collection of such fees as may be
deemed necessary.
Section 50. Logging roads. There shall be indiscriminate construction of
logging roads.
Such roads shall be strategically located and their widths regulated so as to
minimize clear-cutting, unnecessary damage or injury to healthy residuals,
and erosion. Their construction must not only serve the transportation need
of the logger but, most importantly, the requirement to save as many healthy
residuals as possible during cutting and hauling operations.
Section 51. Management of occupancy in forest lands. Forest occupancy
shall henceforth be managed. The Bureau shall study, determine and define
which lands may be the subject of occupancy and prescribed therein, an
agro-forestry development program.
Occupants shall undertake measures to prevent and protect forest
resources.
Any occupancy in forest land which will result in sedimentation, erosion,
reduction in water yield and impairment of other resources to the detriment of
community and public interest shall not be allowed.
In areas above 50% in slope, occupation shall be conditioned upon the
planting of desirable trees thereon and/or adoption of other conservation
measures.
Section 52. Census of kaingineros, squatters, cultural minorities and other
occupants and residents in forest lands.Henceforth, no person shall enter
into forest lands and cultivate the same without lease or permit.
A complete census of kaingineros, squatters, cultural minorities and other
occupants and residents in forest lands with or without authority or permits
from the government, showing the extent of their respective occupation and
resulting damage, or impairment of forest resources, shall be conducted.
The Bureau may call upon other agencies of the government and holders of
license agreement, license, lease and permits over forest lands to participate
in the census.
Section 53. Criminal Prosecution. Kaingineros, squatters, cultural minorities
and other occupants who entered into forest lands before the effectivity of
this Code, without permits or authority, shall not be prosecuted: Provided,
That they do not increase their clearings: Provided, further, That they
undertake, within two (2) months from the notice thereof, the activities which
will be imposed upon them by the Bureau in accordance with a management
plan calculated to conserve and protect forest resources.
E. SPECIAL USES
Section 54. Pasture in forest lands. No forest land 50% in slope or over may
be utilized for pasture purposes.
Forest lands which are being utilized for pasture shall be maintained with
sufficient grass cover to protect soil, water and other forest resources.
If grass cover is insufficient, the same shall be supplemented with trees or
such vegetative cover as may be deemed necessary.
The size of forest lands that may be allowed for pasture and other special
uses shall be determined by rules and regulations, any provision of law to the
contrary notwithstanding.
Section 55. Wildlife. Wildlife may be destroyed, killed, consumed, eaten or
otherwise disposed of, without the necessity of permit, for the protection of
life, health, safety and property, and the convenience of the people.
However, the Director may regulate the killing and destruction of wildlife in
forest lands in order to maintain an ecological balance of flora and fauna.
Section 56. Recreation. The Bureau shall, in the preparation of multiple-use
management plans, identify and provide for the protection of scenic areas in
all forest lands which are potentially valuable for recreation and tourism, and
plan for the development and protection of such areas to attract visitors
thereto and meet increasing demands therefor.
The construction and operation of necessary facilities to accommodate
outdoor recreation shall be done by the Bureau with the use of funds derived
from rentals and fees for the operation and use of recreational facilities by
private persons or operators, in addition to whatever funds may be
appropriated for such purposes.
Section 57. Other special uses of forest lands. Forest lands may be leased
for a period not exceeding twenty-five (25) years, renewable upon the
expiration thereof for a similar period, or held under permit, for the
establishment of sawmills, lumber yards, timber depots, logging camps,
rights-of-way, or for the construction of sanatoria, bathing establishments,
camps, salt works, or other beneficial purposes which do not in any way
impair the forest resources therein.
F. QUALIFICATIONS
Section 58. Diffusion of benefits. The privilege to utilize, exploit, occupy, or
possess forest lands, or to conduct any activity therein, or to establish and
operate wood-processing plants, shall be diffused to as many qualified and
deserving applicants as possible.
Section 59. Citizenship. In the evaluation of applications of corporations,
increased Filipino equity and participation beyond the 60% constitutional
limitation shall be encouraged. All other factors being equal, the applicant
with more Filipino equity and participation shall be preferred.
Section 60. Financial and technical capability. No license agreement,
license, lease or permit over forest lands shall be issued to an applicant
unless he proves satisfactorily that he has the financial resources and
technical capability not only to minimize utilization, but also to practice forest
protection, conservation and development measures to insure the
perpetuation of said forest in productive condition.
Section 61. Transfers. Unless authorized by the Department Head, no
licensee, lessee, or permittee may transfer, exchange, sell or convey his
license agreement, license, lease or permit, or any of his rights or interests
therein, or any of his assets used in connection therewith.
The licensee, lessee, or permittee shall be allowed to transfer or convey his
license agreement, license, lease or permit only if he has not violated any
forestry law, rule or regulation; has been faithfully complying with the terms
and conditions of the license agreement, license, lease or permit; the
transferee has all the qualifications and none of the disqualifications to hold a
license agreement, license, lease or permit; there is no evidence that such
transfer or conveyance is being made for purposes of speculation; and the
transferee shall assume all the obligations of the transferor.
The transferor shall forever be barred from acquiring another license
agreement, license, lease or permit.
Section 62. Service contracts. The Department Head, may in the national
interest, allow forest products licensees, lessees, or permittees to enter into
service contracts for financial, technical, management, or other forms of
assistance, in consideration of a fee, with any foreign person or entity for the
exploration, development, exploitation or utilization of the forest resources,
covered by their license agreements, licenses, leases or permits. Existing
valid and binding service contracts for financial, technical, management or
other forms of assistance are hereby recognized as such.
Section 63. Equity sharing. Every corporation holding a license agreement,
license, lease or permit to utilize, exploit, occupy or possess any forest land,
or conduct any activity therein, or establish and operate a wood-processing
plant, shall within one (1) year after the effectivity of this Code, formulate and
submit to the Department Head for approval a plan for the sale of at least
twenty percent (20%) of its subscribed capital stock in favor of its employees
and laborers.
The plan shall be so implemented that the sale of the shares of stock shall be
effected by the corporation not later than the sixth year of its operation, or the
first year of the effectivity of this Code, if the corporation has been in
operation for more than 5 years prior to such effectivity.
No corporation shall be issued any license agreement, license, lease or
permit after the effectivity of this Code, unless it submits such a plan and the
same is approved for implementation within the sixth year of its operation.
The Department Head shall promulgate the necessary rules and regulations
to carry out the provisions of this section, particularly on the determination of
the manner of payment, factors affecting the selling price, establishment of
priorities in the purchase of the shares of stock, and the capability of the
deserving employees and laborers. The industries concerned shall extend all
assistance in the promulgation of policies on the matter, such as the
submission of all data and information relative to their operation, personnel
management, and asset evaluation.
G. REGULATORY FEES
Section 64. Charges, fees and bonds. The Department Head, upon
recommendation of the Director, shall fix the amount of charges, rental,
bonds and fees for the different kinds of utilization, exploitation, occupation,
possession, or activity inside forest lands, the filing and processing of
applications therefor, the issuance and renewal of license agreements,
licenses, leases and permits, and for other services; Provided, That all fees
and charges presently being collected under existing laws and regulations
shall continue to be imposed and collected until otherwise provided;
Provided, further, That timber taken and removed from private lands for
commercial purposes shall be exempt from the payment of forest charges.
Section 65. Authority of Department Head to impose other fees. In addition
to the fees and charges imposed under existing laws, rules and regulations,
the Department Head is hereby authorized, upon recommendation of the
Director and in consultation with representatives of the industries affected, to
impose other fees for forest protection, management, reforestation, and
development, the proceeds of which shall accrue into a special deposit of the
Bureau as its revolving fund for the aforementioned purposes.
Section 66. Collection and Disbursement. The collection of the charges and
fees above-mentioned shall be the responsibility of the Director or his
authorized representative. The Director shall remit his monthly collection of
fees and charges mentioned in Section 64 to the Treasurer of the Philippines
within the first ten (10) days of the succeeding month; Provided, That the
proceeds of the collection of the fees imposed under Section 65 and the
special deposit heretofore required of licensees shall be constituted into a
revolving fund for such purposes and be deposited in the Philippine National
Bank, as a special deposit of the Bureau. The Budget Commissioner and the
National Treasurer shall effect the quarterly releases out of the collection
accruing to the general fund upon request of the Director on the basis of a
consolidated annual budget of a work program approved by the Department
Head and the President.
In the case of the special deposit revolving fund, withdrawals therefrom shall
be effected by the Department Head on the basis of a consolidated annual
budget prepared by the Director of a work program for the specific purposes
mentioned in Section 65.
Section 67. Basis of Assessment. Tree measurement shall be the basis for
assessing government charges and other fees on timber cut and removed
from forest lands, alienable or disposable lands, and the civil reservations;
Provided, That until such time as the mechanics of tree measurement shall
have been developed and promulgated in rules and regulations, the present
scaling method provided for in the National Internal Revenue Code shall be
used.
The Director may, with the approval of the Department Head, prescribe a
new method of assessment of forest products and collection of charges
thereon based upon the result of production cost and market studies
undertaken by the Bureau; Provided, That such charges shall not be lower
than those now imposed.
CHAPTER IV
CRIMINAL OFFENSES AND PENALTIES
Section 68. Cutting, gathering and/or collecting timber or other products
without license. Any person who shall cut, gather, collect, or remove timber
or other forest products from any forest land, or timber from alienable and
disposable public lands, or from private lands, without any authority under a
license agreement, lease, license or permit, shall be guilty of qualified theft
as defined and punished under Articles 309 and 310 of the Revised Penal
Code; Provided, That in the case of partnership, association or corporation,
the officers who ordered the cutting, gathering or collecting shall be liable,
and if such officers are aliens, they shall, in addition to the penalty, be
deported without further proceedings on the part of the Commission on
Immigration and Deportation.
The Court shall further order the confiscation in favor of the government of
the timber or forest products to cut, gathered, collected or removed, and the
machinery, equipment, implements and tools used therein, and the forfeiture
of his improvements in the area.
The same penalty plus cancellation of his license agreement, lease, license
or permit and perpetual disqualification from acquiring any such privilege
shall be imposed upon any licensee, lessee, or permittee who cuts timber
from the licensed or leased area of another, without prejudice to whatever
civil action the latter may bring against the offender.
Section 69. Unlawful occupation or destruction of forest lands. Any person
who enters and occupies or possesses, or makes kaingin for his own private
use or for others any forest land without authority under a license agreement,
lease, license or permit, or in any manner destroys such forest land or part
thereof, or causes any damage to the timber stand and other products and
forest growths found therein, or who assists, aids or abets any other person
to do so, or sets a fire, or negligently permits a fire to be set in any forest land
shall, upon conviction, be fined in an amount of not less than five hundred
pesos (P500.00) nor more than twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00) and
imprisoned for not less than six (6) months nor more than two (2) years for
each such offense, and be liable to the payment of ten (10) times the rental
fees and other charges which would have been accrued had the occupation
and use of the land been authorized under a license agreement, lease,
license or permit: Provided, That in the case of an offender found guilty of
making kaingin, the penalty shall be imprisoned for not less than two (2) nor
more than (4) years and a fine equal to eight (8) times the regular forest
charges due on the forest products destroyed, without prejudice to the
payment of the full cost of restoration of the occupied area as determined by
the Bureau.
The Court shall further order the eviction of the offender from the land and
the forfeiture to the Government of all improvements made and all vehicles,
domestic animals and equipment of any kind used in the commission of the
offense. If not suitable for use by the Bureau, said vehicles shall be sold at
public auction, the proceeds of which shall accrue to the Development Fund
of the Bureau.
In case the offender is a government official or employee, he shall, in
addition to the above penalties, be deemed automatically dismissed from
office and permanently disqualified from holding any elective or appointive
position.
Section 70. Pasturing Livestock. Imprisonment for not less than six (6)
months nor more than two (2) years and a fine equal to ten (10) times the
regular rentals due, in addition to the confiscation of such livestock and all
improvement introduced in the area in favor of the government, shall be
imposed upon any person, who shall, without authority under a lease or
permit, graze or cause to graze livestock in forest lands, grazing lands and
alienable and disposable lands which have not as yet been disposed of in
accordance with the Public Land Act; Provided, That in case the offender is a
corporation, partnership or association, the officers and directors thereof
shall be liable.
Section 71. Illegal occupation of national parks system and recreation areas
and vandalism therein. Any person who shall, without permit, occupy for any
length of time any portion of the national parks system or shall, in any
manner, cut, destroy, damage or remove timber or any species of vegetation
or forest cover and other natural resources found therein, or shall mutilate,
deface or destroy objects of natural beauty or of scenic value within areas in
the national parks system, shall be fined not less than two hundred (P200.00)
pesos or more than five hundred (P500.00) pesos exclusive of the value of
the thing damaged; Provided, That if the area requires rehabilitation or
restoration as determined by the Director, the offender shall also be required
to restore or compensate for the restoration of the damage; Provided,
Further, That any person who, without proper permit shall hunt, capture or kill
any kind of bird, fish or wild animal life within any area in the national parks
system shall be subject to the same penalty; Provided, Finally, That the
Court shall order eviction of the offender from the land and the forfeiture in
favor of the Government of all timber or any species of vegetation and other
natural resources collected or removed, and any construction or
improvement made thereon by the offender. If the offender is an association
or corporation, the president or manager shall be directly responsible and
liable for the act of his employees or laborers.
In the event that an official of a city or municipal government is primarily
responsible for detecting and convicting the violator of the provisions of this
Section, fifty per centum (50%) of the fine collected shall accrue to such
municipality or city for the development of local parks.
Section 72. Destruction of wildlife resources. Any person violating the
provisions of Section 55 of this Code, or the regulations promulgated
thereunder, shall be fined not less than one hundred (P100.00) pesos for
each such violation and in addition shall be denied a permit for a period of
three (3) years from the date of the violation.
Section 73. Survey by unauthorized person. Imprisonment for not less than
two (2) nor more than four (4) years, in addition to the confiscation of the
implements used in the violation of this section including the cancellation of
the license, if any, shall be imposed upon any person who shall, without
permit to survey from the Director, enter any forest lands, whether covered
by a license agreement, lease, license, or permit, or not, and conduct or
undertake a survey for whatever purpose.
Section 74. Misclassification and survey by government official or
employee. Any public officer or employee who knowingly surveys, classifies,
or recommends the release of forest lands as alienable and disposable lands
contrary to the criteria and standards established in this Code, or the rules
and regulations promulgated hereunder, shall, after an appropriate
administrative proceeding, be dismissed from the service with prejudice to re-
employment, and upon conviction by a court of competent jurisdiction, suffer
an imprisonment of not less than one (1) year and a fine of not less than one
thousand, (P1,000.00) pesos. The survey, classification or release of forest
lands shall be null and void.
Section 75. Tax declaration on real property. Imprisonment for a period of
not less than two (2) nor more than four (4) years and perpetual
disqualification from holding an elective or appointive office, shall be imposed
upon any public officer or employee who shall issue a tax declaration on real
property without a certification from the Director of Forest Development and
the Director of Lands or their duly designated representatives that the area
declared for taxation is alienable and disposable lands, unless the property is
titled or has been occupied and possessed by members of the national
cultural minorities prior to July 4, 1955.
Section 76. Coercion and influence. Any person who coerces, influences,
abets or persuades the public officer or employee referred to in the two
preceding sections to commit any of the acts mentioned therein shall suffer
imprisonment of not less than one (1) year and pay a fine of five hundred
(P500.00) pesos for every hectare or a fraction thereof so improperly
surveyed, classified or released.
Section 77. Unlawful possession of implements and devices used by forest
officers. Imprisonment for a period of not less than (2) nor more than four (4)
years and a fine of not less than one thousand pesos (P1,000.00), nor more
than ten thousand (P10,000.00) pesos in addition to the confiscation of such
implements and devices, and the automatic cancellation of the license
agreement, lease, license or permit, if the offender is a holder thereof, shall
be imposed upon any person who shall, without authority from the Director or
his authorized representative, make, manufacture, or has in his possession
any government marking, hatchet or other marking implement, or any
marker, poster, or other devices officially used by officers of the Bureau for
the marking or identification of timber or other products, or any duplicate,
counterfeit, or imitation thereof, or make or apply a government mark on
timber or any other forest products by means of any authentic or counterfeit
device, or alter, deface, or remove government marks or signs, from trees,
logs, stumps, firewoods or other forest products, or destroy, deface, remove
or disfigure any such mark, sign, poster or warning notices set by the Bureau
to designate the boundaries of cutting areas, municipal or city forest or
pasture, classified timber land, forest reserve, and areas under the national
park system or to make any false mark or imitation of any mark or sign herein
indicated; Provided, That if the offender is a corporation, partnership or
association, the officers and directors thereof shall be liable.
Section 78. Payment, collection and remittance of forest charges. Any
person who fails to pay the amount due and payable under the provisions of
this Code, the National Internal Revenue Code, or the rules and regulations
promulgated thereunder, shall be liable to the payment of a surcharge of
twenty-five per centum (25%) of the amount due and payable.
Any person who fails or refuses to remit to the proper authorities said forest
charges collectible pursuant to the provisions of this Code or the National
Internal Revenue Code, or who delays, obstructs or prevents the same, or
who orders, causes or effects the transfer or diversion of the funds for
purposes other than those specified in this Code, for each such offense shall,
upon conviction, be punished by a fine of not exceeding one hundred
thousand pesos (P100,000.00) and/or imprisonment for a period of not
exceeding six (6) years in the discretion of the Court. If the offender is a
government official or employee, he shall, in addition, be dismissed from the
service with prejudice to reinstatement and with disqualification from holding
any elective or appointive office.
If the offender is a corporation, partnership or association, the officers and
directors thereof shall be liable.
Section 79. Sale of wood products. No person shall sell or offer for sale any
log, lumber, plywood or other manufactured wood products in the
international or domestic market unless he complies with grading rules and
established or to be established by the Government.
Failure to adhere to the established grading rules and standards, or any act
of falsification of the volume of logs, lumber, or other forest products shall be
a sufficient cause for the suspension of the export, sawmill, or other license
or permit authorizing the manufacture or sale of such products for a period of
not less than two (2) years.
A duly accredited representative of the Bureau shall certify to the compliance
by the licensees with grading rules.
Every dealer in lumber and other building material covered by this Code shall
issue an invoice for each sale of such material and such invoice shall state
that the kind, standard and size of material sold to each purchaser in exactly
the same as described in the invoice. Any violation of this Section shall be
sufficient ground for the suspension of the dealer's license for a period of not
less than two (2) years and, in addition thereto, the dealer shall be punished
for each such offense by a fine of not less than two hundred pesos (P200.00)
or the total value of the invoice, whichever is greater.
Section 80. Arrest; Institution of criminal actions. A forest officer or employee
of the Bureau shall arrest even without warrant any person who has
committed or is committing in his presence any of the offenses defined in this
Chapter. He shall also seize and confiscate, in favor of the Government, the
tools and equipment used in committing the offense, and the forest products
cut, gathered or taken by the offender in the process of committing the
offense. The arresting forest officer or employee shall thereafter deliver
within six (6) hours from the time of arrest and seizure, the offender and the
confiscated forest products, tools and equipment to, and file the proper
complaint with, the appropriate official designated by law to conduct
preliminary investigations and file informations in court.
If the arrest and seizure are made in the forests, far from the authorities
designated by law to conduct preliminary investigations, the delivery to, and
filing of the complaint with, the latter shall be done within a reasonable time
sufficient for ordinary travel from the place of arrest to the place of delivery.
The seized products, materials and equipment shall be immediately disposed
of in accordance with forestry administrative orders promulgated by the
Department Head.
The Department Head may deputize any member or unit of the Philippine
Constabulary, police agency, barangay or barrio official, or any qualified
person to protect the forest and exercise the power or authority provided for
in the preceding paragraph.
Reports and complaints regarding the commission of any of the offenses
defined in this Chapter, not committed in the presence of any forest officer or
employee, or any of the deputized officers or officials, shall immediately be
investigated by the forest officer assigned in the area where the offense was
allegedly committed, who shall thereupon receive the evidence supporting
the report or complaint.
If there is prima facie evidence to support the complaint or report, the
investigating forest officer shall file the necessary complaint with the
appropriate official authorized by law to conduct a preliminary investigation of
criminal cases and file an information in Court.
SPECIAL CLAUSES
Section 81. Separability Clause. Should any provision herein be
subsequently declared unconstitutional, the same shall not affect the validity
or the legality of the other provisions.
Section 82. Repealing Clause. Presidential Decree Nos. 330, and 389, C.A.
No. 452, R.A. No. 4715 and all laws, orders, rules and regulations or any part
thereof which are inconsistent herewith are hereby repealed or amended
accordingly.
Section 83. Date of Effectivity. This Code shall take effect immediately upon
promulgation. REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7598
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7598 - AN ACT CONVERTING THE RURAL
Done in the City of Manila, this 19th day of May, in the year of Our Lord, HEALTH UNIT IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF PINAMUNGAJAN,
nineteen hundred and seventy-five. PROVINCE OF CEBU, INTO A FIVE-BED CAPACITY HEALTH
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7931 INFIRMARY, TO BE KNOWN AS THE PINAMUNGAJAN
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 7931 - AN ACT CONVERTING THE HEALTH INFIRMARY, AND APPROPRIATING FUNDS
HINUNANGAN AGRICULTURAL AND VOCATIONAL SCHOOL THEREFORE
IN THE MUNICIPALITY OF HINUNANGAN, PROVINCE OF
SOUTHERN LEYTE, INTO A NON-CHARTERED COLLEGE, TO
Section 1. The rural health unit in the Municipality of
BE KNOWN AS THE SOUTHERN LEYTE INSTITUTE OF
Pinamungajan, Province of Cebu, is hereby converted into a five-
AGRICULTURE AND TECHNOLOGY, AND APPROPRIATING
bed capacity health infirmary, to be known as the Pinamungajan
FUNDS THEREFORE, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
Health Infirmary.
Section 1. The Hinunangan Agricultural and Vocational School in
the Municipality of Hinunangan, Province of Southern Leyte, is Sec. 2. The amount necessary to carry out the provisions of this
hereby upgraded to a non-chartered college, to be known as the Act shall be included in the General Appropriations Act of the year
Southern Leyte Institute of Agriculture and Technology, hereinafter following its enactment into law and thereafter.
referred to as the Institute.
Sec. 3. This Act shall take effect upon its approval.
Sec. 2. The Institute, in addition to its present secondary curricular
offering, shall offer four-year undergraduate courses in agriculture Approved: June 2, 1992
and such short-term non-degree programs as may be deemed
necessary to meet the increasing agricultural manpower
requirements of the province, subject to the policies and standards
of the Commission on Higher Education (CHED).

Sec. 3. The rules and regulations necessary for the implementation What is CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program), or RA 6657?
of this Act shall be promulgated by the CHED. CARP, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, is the redistribution
of public and private agricultural lands to farmers and farmworkers who are
Sec. 4. The amount necessary for the implementation of this Act landless, irrespective of tenurial arrangement. CARP’s vision is to have an
shall be charged against the current year's appropriations of the equitable land ownership with empowered agrarian reform beneficiaries who
Hinunangan Agricultural and Vocational School. Thereafter, such can effectively manage their economic and social development to have a
sums as may be necessary for its operation and maintenance shall better quality of life.
be included in the annual General Appropriations Act.
One of the major programs of CARP is Land Tenure Improvement, which
Sec. 5. All laws, decrees, orders, rules and regulations which are seeks to hasten distribution of lands to landless farmers. Similarly, the
inconsistent with any provision of this Act are hereby amended Department offers Support Services to the beneficiaries such as
accordingly or repealed. infrastructure facilities, marketing assistance program, credit assistance
program, and technical support programs. Furthermore, the department
Sec. 6. This Act shall take effect upon its approval. seeks to facilitate, resolve cases and deliver Agrarian Justice.

The legal basis for CARP is the Republic Act No. 6657 otherwise known as
Approved: March 1, 1995
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) signed by President Corazon
chanrobles virtual law library C. Aquino on June 10, 1988. It is an act which aims to promote social justice
and industrialization, providing the mechanism for its implementation, and for research, and adequate financial production, marketing and other support
other purposes. services.

REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6657 The State shall apply the principles of agrarian reform, or
(June 10, 1988) stewardship, whenever applicable, in accordance with law, in the disposition
or utilization of other natural resources, including lands of the public domain,
AN ACT INSTITUTING A COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN under lease or concession, suitable to agriculture, subject to prior rights,
REFORM PROGRAM TO PROMOTE SOCIAL JUSTICE AND homestead rights of small settlers and the rights of indigenous communities
INDUSTRIALIZATION, PROVIDING THE MECHANISM FOR ITS to their ancestral lands.
IMPLEMENTATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES
The State may resettle landless farmers and farmworkers in its own
agricultural estates, which shall be distributed to them in the manner
provided by law. By means of appropriate incentives, the State shall
CHAPTER I encourage the formation and maintenance of economic-size family farms to
Preliminary Chapter be constituted by individual beneficiaries and small landowners. The State
shall protect the rights of subsistence fishermen, especially of
SECTION 1. Title. — This Act shall be known as the local communities, to the preferential use of communal marine and fishing
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988. resources, both inland and offshore. It shall provide support to such
fishermen through appropriate technology and research, adequate financial,
SECTION 2. Declaration of Principles and Policies. — It is the policy of the production and marketing assistance and other services. The State shall also
State to pursue a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). protect, develop and conserve such resources. The protection shall extend to
The welfare of the landless farmers and farmworkers will receive the offshore fishing grounds of subsistence fishermen against foreign intrusion.
highest consideration to promote social justice and to move the nation toward Fishworkers shall receive a just share from their labor in the utilization of
sound rural development and industrialization, and the establishment of marine and fishing resources.
owner cultivatorship of economic-size farms as the basis of Philippine
agriculture. The State shall be guided by the principles that land has a social function
and land ownership has a social responsibility. Owners of agricultural lands
To this end, a more equitable distribution and ownership of land, with have the obligation to cultivate directly or through labor administration the
due regard to the rights of landowners to just compensation and to the lands they own and thereby make the land productive.
ecological needs of the nation, shall be undertaken to provide farmers and
farmworkers with the opportunity to enhance their dignity and improve the The State shall provide incentives to landowners to invest the proceeds of
quality of their lives through greater productivity of agricultural lands. the agrarian reform program to promote industrialization, employment and
privatization of public sector enterprises. Financial instruments used as
The agrarian reform program is founded on the right of farmers and payment for lands shall contain features that shall enhance negotiability and
regular farmworkers, who are landless, to own directly or collectively the acceptability in the marketplace. The State may lease undeveloped lands of
lands they till or, in the case of other farm workers, to receive a just share of the public domain to qualified entities for the development of capital-intensive
the fruits thereof. To this end, the State shall encourage and undertake the farms, and traditional and pioneering crops especially those for exports
just distribution of all agricultural lands, subject to the priorities and retention subject to the prior rights of the beneficiaries under this Act.
limits set forth in this Act, having taken into account ecological,
developmental, and equity considerations, and subject to the payment of just SECTION 3. Definitions. —For the purpose of this Act, unless the context
compensation. The State shall respect the right of small landowners, and indicates otherwise:
shall provide incentives for voluntary land-sharing.
(a) Agrarian Reform means redistribution of lands, regardless of crops
The State shall recognize the right of farmers, farmworkers and landowners, or fruits produced, to farmers and regular farmworkers who are
as well as cooperatives and other independent farmers' organizations, to landless, irrespective of tenurial arrangement, to include the totality of
participate in the planning, organization, and management of the program, factors and support services designed to lift the economic status of the
and shall provide support to agriculture through appropriate technology and beneficiaries and all other arrangements alternative to the physical
redistribution of lands, such as production or profit-sharing, labor
administration, and the distribution of shares of stocks, which will allow
beneficiaries to receive a just share of the fruits of the lands they work.
(b) Agriculture, Agricultural Enterprise or Agricultural Activity means
the cultivation of the soil, planting of crops, growing of fruit trees, raising
of livestock, poultry or fish, including the harvesting of such farm products,
and other farm activities and practices performed by a farmer in conjunction
with such farming operations done by person whether natural or juridical.
(c) Agricultural Land refers to land devoted to agricultural activity as defined
in this Act and not classified as mineral, forest, residential, commercial or
industrial land.
(d) Agrarian Dispute refers to any controversy relating to
tenurial arrangements, whether leasehold, tenancy, stewardship or
otherwise, over lands devoted to agriculture, including disputes concerning
farmworkers' associations or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing,
maintaining, changing, or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of such
tenurial arrangements.
It includes any controversy relating to compensation of lands acquired
under this Act and other terms and conditions of transfer of ownership
from landowners to farmworkers, tenants and other agrarian reform
beneficiaries, whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of farm
operator and beneficiary, landowner and tenant, or lessor and lessee.
(e) Idle or Abandoned Land refers to any agricultural land not cultivated, tilled
or developed to produce any crop nor devoted to any specific
economic purpose continuously for a period of three (3) years immediately
prior to the receipt of notice of acquisition by the government as provided
under this Act, but does not include land that has become permanently or
regularly devoted to non-agricultural purposes. It does not include land which
has become unproductive by reason of force majeure or any other fortuitous
event, provided that prior to such event, such land was previously used for
agricultural or other economic purpose.
(f) Farmer refers to a natural person whose primary livelihood is cultivation of
land or the production of agricultural crops, either by himself, or primarily with
the assistance of his immediate farm household, whether the land is
owned by him, or by another person under a leasehold or share tenancy
agreement or arrangement with the owner thereof.
(g) 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. The term 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.
(h) Regular Farmworker is a natural person who is employed on a permanent
basis by an agricultural enterprise or farm.
(i) Seasonal Farmworker is a natural person who is employed on a recurrent,
periodic or intermittent basis by an agricultural enterprise or farm, whether as
a permanent or a non-permanent laborer, such as "dumaan", "sacada", and
the like.
(j) Other Farmworker is a farmworker who does not fall under paragraphs
(g), (h) and (i).
(k) 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.
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.
SECTION 5. Schedule of Implementation. — The distribution of all lands
covered by this Act shall be implemented immediately and completed
within ten (10) years from the effectivity thereof.
SECTION 6. Retention Limits. — Except as otherwise provided in this Act, 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-size farm, such as commodity produced, terrain,
infrastructure, and soil fertility as determined by the Presidential Agrarian
Reform Council (PARC) created hereunder, but in no case shall retention by
the landowner exceed five (5) hectares.
Three (3) hectares may be awarded to each child of the landowner, subject
to the following qualifications: (1) that he is at least fifteen (15) years of age;
and (2) that he is actually tilling the land or directly managing the farm:
Provided, That landowners whose lands have been covered by Presidential
Decree No. 27 shall be allowed to keep the areas originally retained by them
thereunder: Provided, further, That original homestead grantees or their
direct compulsory heirs who still own the original homestead at the time of
the approval of this Act shall retain the same areas as long as they continue
to cultivate said homestead.
The right to choose the area to be retained, which shall be compact
or contiguous, shall pertain to the landowner: Provided, however, That in
case the area selected for retention by the landowner 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 with similar or comparable features.
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 manifests his choice of the area for
retention. In all cases, the security of tenure of the farmers or farmworkers on
the land prior to the approval of this Act shall be respected.
Upon the effectivity of this Act, any sale, disposition, lease,
management, contract or transfer of possession of private lands executed by
the original landowner in violation of the Act shall be null and void: Provided,
however, That those executed prior to this Act shall be valid only when
registered with the Register of Deeds within a period of three (3) months after
the effectivity of this Act. Thereafter, all Registers of Deeds shall inform the
Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) within thirty (30) days of any
transaction involving agricultural lands in excess of five (5) hectares.
SECTION 7. Priorities. — The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) in
coordination with the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) shall plan
and program the acquisition and distribution of all agricultural lands through a
period of ten (10) years from the effectivity of this Act. Lands shall be
acquired and distributed as follows:
Phase One: Rice and corn lands under Presidential Decree No. 27; all idle
or abandoned lands; all private lands voluntarily offered by the owners for
agrarian reform; all lands foreclosed by the government financial institutions;
all lands acquired by the Presidential Commission on Good Government
(PCGG); and all other lands owned by the government devoted to or suitable
for agriculture, which shall be acquired and distributed immediately upon
the effectivity of this Act, with the implementation to be completed within a
period of not more than four (4) years;
Phase Two: All alienable and disposable public agricultural lands; all
arable public agricultural lands under agro-forest, pasture and
agricultural leases already cultivated and planted to crops in accordance
with Section 6, Article XIII of the Constitution; all public agricultural lands
which are to be opened for new development and resettlement; and all
private agricultural lands in excess of fifty (50) hectares, insofar as the
excess hectarage is concerned, to implement principally the rights of farmers
and regular farmworkers, who are the landless, to own directly or
collectively the lands they till, which shall be distributed immediately upon
the effectivity of this Act, with the implementation to be completed within a
period of not more than four (4) years.
Phase Three: All other private agricultural lands commencing with
large landholdings and proceeding to medium and small landholdings under
the following schedule:
(a) Landholdings above twenty-four (24) hectares up to fifty (50) hectares, to
begin on the fourth (4th) year from the effectivity of this Act and to be
completed within three (3) years; and
(b) Landholdings from the retention limit up to twenty-four (24) hectares, to
begin on the sixth (6th) year from the effectivity of this Act and to be
completed within four (4) years; to implement principally the right of farmers
and regular farmworkers who are landless, to own directly or collectively the
lands they till.
The schedule of acquisition and redistribution of all agricultural lands
covered by this program shall be made in accordance with the above order of
priority, which shall be provided in the implementing rules to be prepared by
the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC), taking into consideration
the following; the need to distribute land to the tillers at the earliest
practicable time; the need to enhance agricultural productivity; and the
availability of funds and resources to implement and support the program.
In any case, the PARC, upon recommendation by the Provincial
Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM), may declare certain
provinces or region as priority land reform areas, in which the acquisition and
distribution of private agricultural lands therein may be implemented ahead of
the above schedules. In effecting the transfer within these guidelines, priority
must be given to lands that are tenanted.
The PARC shall establish guidelines to implement the above priorities
and distribution scheme, including the determination of who are qualified
beneficiaries: Provided, That an owner-tiller may be a beneficiary of the land
he does not own but is actually cultivating to the extent of the difference
between the area of the land he owns and the award ceiling of three (3)
hectares.
SECTION 8. Multinational Corporations. — All lands of the public domain
leased, held or possessed by multinational corporations or associations,
and other lands owned by the government or by government-owned or
controlled corporations, associations, institutions, or entities, devoted to
existing and operational agri-business or agro-industrial enterprises,
operated by multinational corporations and associations, shall be
programmed for acquisition and distribution immediately upon the effectivity
of this Act, with the implementation to be completed within three (3) years.
Lands covered by the paragraph immediately preceding, under
lease, management, grower or service contracts, and the like, shall be
disposed of as follows:
(a) Lease, management, grower or service contracts covering such lands
covering an aggregate area in excess of 1,000 hectares, leased or held by
foreign individuals in excess of 500 hectares are deemed amended to
conform with the limits set forth in Section 3 of Article XII of the Constitution.
(b) Contracts covering areas not in excess of 1,000 hectares in the case
of such corporations and associations, and 500 hectares, in the case of
such individuals, shall be allowed to continue under their original terms and
conditions but not beyond August 29, 1992, or their valid
termination, whichever comes sooner, after which, such agreements shall
continue only when confirmed by the appropriate government agency. Such
contracts shall likewise continue even after the lands has been transferred to
beneficiaries or awardees thereof, which transfer shall be immediately
commenced and implemented and completed within the period of three (3)
years mentioned in the first paragraph hereof.
(c) In no case will such leases and other agreements now being
implemented extend beyond August 29, 1992, when all lands subject hereof
shall have been distributed completely to qualified beneficiaries or
awardees. Such agreements can continue thereafter only under a new
contract between the government or qualified beneficiaries or awardees, on
the one hand, and said enterprises, on the other. Lands leased, held or
possessed by multinational corporations, owned by private individuals and
private non-governmental corporations, associations, institutions and entities,
citizens of the Philippines, shall be subject to immediate compulsory
acquisition and distribution upon the expiration of the applicable
lease, management, grower or service contract in effect as of August 29,
1987, or otherwise, upon its valid termination, whichever comes sooner, but
not later than after ten (10) years following the effectivity of the Act. However
during the said period of effectivity, the government shall take steps to
acquire these lands for immediate distribution thereafter.
In general, lands shall be distributed directly to the individual
workerbeneficiaries. In case it is not economically feasible and sound to
divide the land, then they shall form a workers' cooperative or association
which will deal with the corporation or business association or any other
proper party for the purpose of entering into a lease or growers agreement
and for all other legitimate purposes. Until a new agreement is entered into
by and between the workers' cooperative or association and the corporation
or business association or any other proper party, any agreement existing at
the time this Act takes effect between the former and the previous landowner
shall be respected by both the workers' cooperative or association and the
corporation, business, association or such other proper party. In no case
shall the implementation or application of this Act justify or result in the
reduction of status or diminution of any benefits received or enjoyed by the
worker-beneficiaries, or in which they may have a vested right, at the time
this Act becomes effective,.
The provisions of Section 32 of this Act, with regard to production
and income-sharing shall apply to farms operated by multinational
corporations. During the transition period, the new owners shall be assisted
in their efforts to learn modern technology in production. Enterprises which
show a willingness and commitment and good-faith efforts to impart
voluntarily such advanced technology will be given preferential treatment
where feasible.
In no case shall a foreign corporation, association, entity or individual
enjoy any rights or privileges better than those enjoyed by a domestic
corporation, association, entity or individual.
SECTION 9. Ancestral Lands. —For purposes of this Act, ancestral lands of
each indigenous cultural community shall include, but not be limited to, lands
in the actual, continuous and open possession and occupation of the
community and its members: Provided, That the Torrens Systems shall be
respected. The right of these communities to their ancestral lands shall be
protected to ensure their economic, social and cultural well-being. In line with
the principles of self-determination and autonomy, the systems of land
ownership, land use, and the modes of settling land disputes of all these
communities must be recognized and
respected.
Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding, the PARC may
suspend the implementation of this Act with respect to ancestral lands for the
purpose of identifying and delineating such lands: Provided, That in the
autonomous regions, the respective legislatures may enact their own laws on
ancestral domain subject to the provisions of the Constitution and the
principles enunciated in this Act and other national laws.
SECTION 10. Exemptions and Exclusions. —Lands actually, directly and
exclusively used and found to be necessary for parks, wildlife, forest
reserves, reforestation, fish sanctuaries and breeding grounds, watersheds,
and mangroves, national defense, school sites and campuses including
experimental farm stations operated by public or private schools for
educational purposes, seeds and seedlings research and pilot production
centers, church sites and convents appurtenant thereto, mosque sites and
Islamic centers appurtenant thereto, communal burial grounds
and cemeteries, penal colonies and penal farms actually worked by the
inmates, government and private research and quarantine centers and all
lands with eighteen percent (18%) slope and over, except those already
developed shall be exempt from the coverage of the Act.
SECTION 11. Commercial Farming. — Commercial farms, which are private
agricultural lands devoted to commercial livestock, poultry and swine
raising, and aquaculture including saltbeds, fishponds and prawn ponds, fruit
farms, orchards, vegetable and cut-flower farms, and cacao, coffee and
rubber plantations, shall be subject to immediate compulsory acquisition and
distribution after (10) years from the effectivity of the Act. In the case of new
farms, the ten-year period shall begin from
the first year of commercial production and operation, as determined by the
DAR. During the ten-year period, the government shall initiate the steps
necessary to
acquire these lands, upon payment of just compensation for the land and
the improvements thereon, preferably in favor of organized cooperatives or
associations,
which shall hereafter manage the said lands for the worker-beneficiaries. If
the DAR determines that the purposes for which this deferment is granted no
longer exist, such areas shall automatically be subject to redistribution. The
provisions of Section 32 of the Act, with regard to production-and
incomesharing,
shall apply to commercial farms.
CHAPTER III
Improvement of Tenurial and Labor Relations
SECTION 12. Determination of Lease Rentals. —In order to protect
and improve the tenurial and economic status of the farmers in tenanted
lands under the retention limit and lands not yet acquired under this Act, the
DAR is mandated to determine and fix immediately the lease rentals thereof
in accordance with Section 34 of Republic Act No. 3844, as amended:
Provided, That the DAR shall immediately and periodically review and adjust
the rental structure for different crops, including rice and corn, or different
regions in order to improve progressively the conditions of the farmer, tenant
or lessee.
SECTION 13. Production-Sharing Plan. — Any enterprise adopting
the scheme provided for in Section 32 or operating under a production
venture, lease, management contract or other similar arrangement and any
farm covered by Sections 8 and 11 hereof is hereby mandated to execute
within ninety (90) days from the effectivity of this Act, a production-sharing
plan, under guidelines prescribed by the appropriate government agency.
Nothing herein shall be construed to sanction the diminution of any
benefits such as salaries, bonuses, leaves and working conditions granted to
the employeebeneficiaries
under existing laws, agreements, and voluntary practice by the enterprise,
nor shall the enterprise and its employee-beneficiaries be prevented
from entering into any agreement with terms more favorable to the latter.
CHAPTER IV
Registration
SECTION 14. Registration of Landowners. —Within one hundred eighty
(180) days from the effectivity of this Act, all persons, natural or
juridical, including government entities, that own or claim to own agricultural
lands, whether in their names or in the name of others, except those who
have already registered pursuant to Executive Order No. 229, who shall be
entitled to such incentives as may be provided for the PARC, shall file a
sworn statement in the proper assessor's office in the form to be prescribed
by the DAR, stating the following information:
(a) the description and area of the property;
(b) the average gross income from the property for at least three (3) years;
(c) the names of all tenants and farmworkers therein; cda
(d) the crops planted in the property and the area covered by each crop as
of June 1, 1987;
(e) the terms of mortgages, lease, 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 15. Registration of Beneficiaries. — The DAR in coordination with
the Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC) as organized in this
Act, shall register all agricultural lessees, tenants and farmworkers who are
qualified to be beneficiaries of the CARP. These potential beneficiaries with
the assistance of the BARC and the DAR shall provide the following data:
(a) names and members of their immediate farm household;
(b) owners or 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.
A copy of the registry or list of all potential CARP beneficiaries in
the barangay shall be posted in the barangay hall, school or other public
buildings in the barangay where it shall be open to inspection by the public at
all reasonable hours.
CHAPTER
Land Acquisition
SECTION 16. Procedure for Acquisition of Private Lands. — For purposes of
acquisition of private lands, the following procedures shall be followed:
(a) After having identified the land, the landowners and the beneficiaries,
the DAR shall send its notice to acquire the land to the owners thereof, by
personal delivery or registered mail, and post the same in a conspicuous
place in the municipal building and barangay hall of the place where the
property is located. Said notice shall contain the offer of the DAR to pay a
corresponding value in accordance with the valuation set forth in Sections
17, 18, and other pertinent
provisions hereof.
(b) Within thirty (30) days from the date of receipt of written notice
by personal delivery or registered mail, the landowner, his administrator
or representative shall inform the DAR of his acceptance or rejection of the
offer.
(c) If the landowner accepts the offer of the DAR, the Land Bank of
the Philippines (LBP) shall pay the landowner the purchase price of the land
within thirty (30) days after he executes and delivers a deed of transfer in
favor of 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 for the
land requiring the landowner, the LBP and other interested parties to submit
evidence as to the just compensation for the land, within fifteen (15) days
from the receipt of the notice. After the expiration of the above period, the
matter is deemed submitted for decision. The DAR shall decide the case
within thirty (30) days after it is submitted for decision.
(e) Upon receipt by the landowner of the corresponding payment or, in
case of rejection or no response from the landowner, upon the deposit with
an accessible bank designated by the DAR of the compensation in cash or in
LBP bonds in accordance with this Act, the DAR shall take immediate
possession of the land and shall request the proper Register of Deeds to
issue a Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) in the name of the Republic of the
Philippines. The DAR shall thereafter proceed with the redistribution of the
land to the qualified beneficiaries.
(f) Any party who disagrees with the decision may bring the matter to
the court of proper jurisdiction for final determination of just compensation.
CHAPTER VI
V Compensation
SECTION 17. Determination of Just Compensation. —In determining just
compensation, the cost of acquisition of the land, the current value of the
like properties, its nature, actual use and income, the sworn valuation by the
owner, the tax declarations, and the assessment made by government
assessors shall be considered. The social and economic benefits contributed
by the farmers and the farmworkers and by the Government to the property
as well as the non-payment 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 18. Valuation and Mode of Compensation. —The LBP
shall compensate the landowner in such amounts as may be agreed upon by
the landowner and the DAR and the LBP, in accordance with the criteria
provided for in Sections 16 and 17, and other pertinent provisions hereof, or
as may be finally determined by the court, as the just compensation for the
land.
The compensation shall be paid on one of the following modes, at the option
of the landowner:
(1) Cash payment, under the following terms and conditions;
(a) For lands above — Twenty-five percent fifty (50) hectares, insofar (25%)
cash, the balance to as the excess hectarage is be paid in
government concerned. financial instruments negotiable at any time.
(b) For lands above — Thirty percent (30%) cash, twenty-four (24) hectares
the balance to be paid in and up to fifty (50) hectares. government
financial instruments negotiable at any time.
(c) For lands twenty-four — Thirty-five percent (35%) (24) hectares and
below. cash, the balance to be paid in government financial instruments
negotiable at any time.
(2) Shares of stock in government-owned or controlled corporations,
LBP preferred shares, physical assets or other qualified investments in
accordance with guidelines set by the PARC;
(3) Tax credits which can be used against any tax liability;
In case of extraordinary inflation, the PARC shall take appropriate measures
to protect the economy.
SECTION 19. Incentives for Voluntary Offers for Sales. —Landowners, other
than banks and other financial institutions, who voluntarily offer their lands
for sale shall be entitled to an additional five percent (5%) cash payment.
SECTION 20. Voluntary Land Transfer. —Landowners of agricultural lands
subject to acquisition under this Act may enter into a voluntary arrangement
for direct transfer of their lands to qualified beneficiaries subject to the
following guidelines:

(4) LBP bonds, which shall have the following features:

(a) Market interest rates aligned with 91-day treasury bill rates. Ten percent (a) All notices for voluntary land transfer must be submitted to the DAR within
(10%) of the face value of the bonds shall mature every year from the date of the first year of the implementation of the CARP. Negotiations between the
issuance until the tenth (10th) year: Provided, That should the landowner landowners and qualified beneficiaries covering any voluntary land transfer
choose to forego the cash portion, whether in full or in part, he shall be paid which remain unresolved after one (1) year shall not be recognized and such
correspondingly in LBP bonds; land shall instead be acquired by the government and transferred pursuant to
(b) Transferability and negotiability. Such LBP bonds may be used by the this Act.
landowner, his successors in interest or his assigns, up to the amount of their
face value, for any of the following: (b) The terms and conditions of such transfer shall not be less favorable to
(i) Acquisition of land or other real properties of the government, including the transferee than those of the government's standing offer to purchase
assets under the Asset Privatization Program and other assets foreclosed from the landowner and to resell to the beneficiaries, if such offers have been
by government financial institutions in the same province or region where the made and are fully known to both parties.
lands for which the bonds were paid are situated;
(ii) Acquisition of shares of stock of governmentowned or -controlled (c) The voluntary agreement shall include sanctions for non-compliance by
corporations or shares of stocks owned by the government in private either party and shall be duly recorded and its implementation monitored by
corporations; the DAR.
(iii) Substitution for surety or bail bonds for the provisional release of accused
persons, or performance bonds; SECTION 21. Payment of Compensation by Beneficiaries Under Voluntary
(iv) Security for loans with any government financial institution, provided the Land Transfer. —Direct payments in cash or in kind may be by the farmer-
proceeds of the loans shall be invested in an economic enterprise, preferably beneficiary to the landowner under terms to be mutually agreed upon by both
in a small-and medium-scale industry, in the same province or region as the parties, which shall be binding upon them, upon registration with the approval
land for which the bonds are paid; by the DAR. Said approval shall be considered given, unless notice of
(v) Payment for various taxes and fees to government; Provided, That the disapproval is received by the farmer-beneficiary within thirty (30) days from
use of these bonds for these purposes will be limited to a certain percentage the date of registration. In the event they cannot agree on the price of land,
of the outstanding balance of the financial instruments: Provided, further, the procedure for compulsory acquisition as provided in Section 16 shall
That the PARC shall determine the percentage mentioned above; apply. The LBP shall extend financing to the beneficiaries for purposes of
acquiring the land.
(vi) Payment for tuition fees of the immediate family of the original
bondholder in government universities, colleges, trade schools, and CHAPTER VII
other institutions; Land Redistribution

(vii) Payment for fees of the immediate family of the original bondholder in SECTION 22. Qualified Beneficiaries. — The lands covered by the CARP
government hospitals; and shall be distributed as much as possible to landless residents of the same
barangay, or in the absence thereof, landless residents of the same
(viii) Such other uses as the PARC may from time to time allow. municipality in the following order of priority: (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
cooperatives of the above beneficiaries; and (g) others directly working on
the land. Provided, however, That the children of landowners who are
qualified under Section 6 of this Act shall be given preference in the
distribution of the land of their parents: and Provided, further, That actual
tenant-tillers in the landholdings shall not be ejected or removed therefrom.
Beneficiaries under Presidential Decree No. 27 who have culpably sold,
disposed of, or abandoned their land are disqualified to become
beneficiaries under this Program. A basic qualification of a beneficiary shall
be his willingness, aptitude, and ability to cultivate and make the land as
productive as possible. The DAR shall adopt a system of monitoring the
record or performance of each beneficiary, so that any beneficiary guilty of
negligence or misuse of the land or any support extended to him shall forfeit
his right to continue as such beneficiary. The DAR shall submit periodic
reports on the performance of the beneficiaries to the PARC. If, due to the
landowner's retention rights or to the number of tenants, lessees, or workers
on the land, there is not enough land to accommodate any or some of them,
they may be granted ownership of other lands available for distribution under
this Act, at the option of the beneficiaries. Farmers already in place and
those not accommodated in the distribution of privately-owned lands will be
given preferential rights in the distribution of lands from the public domain.
SECTION 23. Distribution Limit. — No qualified beneficiary may own more
than three (3) hectares of agricultural land.
SECTION 24. Award to Beneficiaries. — The rights and responsibilities of
the beneficiary shall commence from the time the DAR makes an award of
the land to him, which award shall be completed within one hundred eighty
(180) days from the time the DAR takes actual possession of the land.
Ownership of the beneficiary shall be evidenced by a Certificate of Land
Ownership Award, which shall contain the restrictions and conditions
provided for in this Act, and shall be recorded in the Register of Deeds
concerned and annotated on the Certificate of Title.
SECTION 25. Award Ceilings for Beneficiaries. —Beneficiaries shall be
awarded an area not exceeding three (3) hectares which may cover a
contiguous tract of land or several parcels of land cumulated up to the
prescribed award limits. For purposes of this Act, a landless beneficiary is
one who owns less than three (3) hectares of agricultural land. The
beneficiaries may opt for collective ownership, such as co-ownership or
farmers cooperative or some other form of collective organization: Provided,
That the total area that may be awarded shall not exceed the total number of
co-owners or member of the cooperative or collective organization multiplied
by the award limit above prescribed, except in meritorious cases as
determined by the PARC. Title to the property shall be issued in the name of
the co-owners or the cooperative or collective organization as the case may
be.
SECTION 26. Payment by Beneficiaries. —Lands awarded pursuant to this
Act shall be paid for 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 award 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 obligations to make the repayment affordable. The LBP shall have
a lien by way of mortgage on the land awarded to the beneficiary; and this
mortgage may be foreclosed by the LBP for non-payment of an aggregate of
three (3) annual amortizations. The LBP shall advise the DAR of such
proceedings and the latter shall subsequently award the forfeited
landholdings to other qualified beneficiaries. A beneficiary whose land, as
provided herein, has been foreclosed shall thereafter be permanently
disqualified from becoming a beneficiary under this Act. cd
SECTION 27. Transferability of Awarded Lands. —Lands acquired by
beneficiaries under this Act may not be sold, transferred or conveyed except
through hereditary succession, or to the government, or the LBP, or to other
qualified beneficiaries 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. Due
notice of the availability of the land shall be given by the LBP to the
Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC) of the barangay where the
land is situated. The Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee
(PARCCOM) as herein provided, shall, in turn, be given due notice thereof
by the BARC. 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
DAR, to any heir of the beneficiary or to any other beneficiary who, as a
condition for such transfer or conveyance, shall cultivate the land himself.
Failing compliance herewith, the land shall be transferred to the LBP which
shall give due notice of the availability of the land in the manner specified in
the immediately preceding paragraph. 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 has made on the land.
SECTION 28. Standing Crops at the Time of Acquisition. —The landowner
shall retain his share of any standing crops unharvested at the time the DAR
shall take possession of the land under Section 16 of the Act, and shall be
given a reasonable time to harvest the same.
CHAPTER VIII
Corporate Farms
SECTION 29. Farms Owned or Operated by Corporations or Other Business
Associations. —In the case of farms owned or operated by corporations or
other business associations, the following rules shall be observed by the
PARC: In general, lands shall be distributed directly to the individual worker-
beneficiaries. In case it is not economically feasible and sound to divide the
land, then it shall be owned collectively by the workers' cooperative or
association which will deal with the corporation or business association. Until
a new agreement is entered into by and between the workers' cooperative or
association and the corporation or business association, any agreement
existing at the time this Act takes effect between the former and the previous
landowner shall be respected by both the workers' cooperative or association
and the corporation or business association.
SECTION 30. Homelots and Farmlots for Members of Cooperatives. — The
individual members of the cooperatives or corporations mentioned in the
preceding section shall be provided with homelots and small farmlots for their
family use, to be taken from the land owned by the cooperative or
corporation.
SECTION 31. Corporate Landowners. —Corporate landowners may
voluntarily transfer ownership over their agricultural landholdings to the
Republic of the Philippines pursuant to Section 20 hereof or to qualified
beneficiaries, under such terms and conditions, consistent with this Act, as
they may agree upon, subject to confirmation by the DAR. Upon certification
by the DAR, corporations owning agricultural lands may give their qualified
beneficiaries the right to purchase 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, under such terms
and conditions as may be agreed upon by them. In no case shall the
compensation received by the workers at the time the shares of stocks are
distributed be reduced. The same principle shall be applied to associations,
with respect to their equity or participation. Corporations or associations
which voluntarily divest a proportion of their capital stock, equity or
participation in favor of their workers or other qualified beneficiaries under
this section shall be deemed to have complied with the provisions of the Act:
Provided, That the following conditions are complied with: a) In order to
safeguard the right of beneficiaries who own shares of stocks to dividends
and other financial benefits, the books of the corporation or association shall
be subject to periodic audit by certified public accountants chosen by the
beneficiaries; b) Irrespective of the value of their equity in the corporation or
association, 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, of the corporation or association; and c) Any shares
acquired by such workers and beneficiaries shall have the same rights and
features as all other shares. d) Any transfer of shares of stocks 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. If within
two (2) years from the approval of this Act, the land or stock transfer
envisioned above is not made or realized or the plan for such stock
distribution approved by the PARC within the same period, the agricultural
land of the corporate owners or corporation shall be subject to the
compulsory coverage of this Act. acd
SECTION 32. Production-Sharing. —Pending final land transfer, individuals
or entities owning, or operating under lease or management contract,
agricultural lands are hereby mandated to execute a production-sharing plan
with their farm workers or farmworkers' reorganization, if any, whereby three
percent (3%) of the gross sales from the production of such lands are
distributed within sixty (60) days of the end of the fiscal year as
compensation to regular and other farmworkers in such lands over and
above the compensation they currently receive: Provided, That these
individuals or entities realize gross sales in excess of five million pesos per
annum unless the DAR, upon proper application, determines a lower ceiling.
In the event that the individual or entity realizes a profit, an additional ten
percent (10%) of the net profit after tax shall be distributed to said regular
and other farmworkers within ninety (90) days of the end of the fiscal year.
To forestall any disruption in the normal operation of lands to be turned over
to the farmworker-beneficiaries mentioned above, a transitory period, the
length of which shall be determined by the DAR, shall be established. During
this transitory period, at least one percent (1%) of the gross sales of the
entity shall be distributed to the managerial, supervisory and technical group
in place at the time of the effectivity of this Act, as compensation for such
transitory managerial and technical functions as it will perform, pursuant to
an agreement that the farmworker-beneficiaries and the managerial,
supervisory and technical group may conclude, subject to the approval of the
DAR.
SECTION 33. Payment of Shares of Cooperative or Association. — Shares
of a cooperative or association acquired by farmers-beneficiaries or
workersbeneficiaries shall be fully paid for in an amount corresponding to the
valuation as determined in the immediately succeeding section. The
landowner and the LBP shall assist the farmers-beneficiaries and workers-
beneficiaries in the payment for said shares by providing credit financing.
SECTION 34. Valuation of Lands. —A valuation scheme for the land shall be
formulated by the PARC, taking into account the factors enumerated in
Section 17, in addition to the need to stimulate the growth of cooperatives
and the objective of fostering responsible participation of the workers-
beneficiaries in the creation of wealth. In the determination of price that is just
not only to the individuals but to society as well, the PARC shall consult
closely with the landowner and the workersbeneficiaries. In case of
disagreement, the price as determined by the PARC, if accepted by the
workers-beneficiaries, shall be followed, without prejudice to the landowner's
right to petition the Special Agrarian Court to resolve the issue of valuation.
CHAPTER IX
Support Services
SECTION 35. Creation of Support Services Office. — There is hereby
created the Office of Support Services under the DAR to be headed by an
Undersecretary. The Office shall provide general support and coordinative
services in the implementation of the program particularly in carrying out the
provisions of the following services to farmer-beneficiaries and affected
landowners: 1) Irrigation facilities, especially second crop or dry season
irrigation facilities; 2) Infrastructure development and public works projects in
areas and settlements that come under agrarian reform, and for this purpose,
the preparation of the physical development plan of such settlements
providing suitable barangay sites, potable water and power resources,
irrigation systems and other facilities for a sound agricultural development
plan; 3) Government subsidies for the use of irrigation facilities; 4) Price
support and guarantee for all agricultural produce; 5) Extending to small
landowners, farmers' organizations the necessary credit, like concessional
and collateral-free loans, for agro-industrialization based on social collaterals
like the guarantees of farmers' organization: 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) Undertake 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 skills through intensive training; 10) Assistance in
the identification of ready markets for agricultural produce and training in
other various prospects of marketing; and cdtai 11) Administration operation
management and funding of support services, programs and projects
including pilot projects and models related to agrarian reform as developed
by the DAR.
SECTION 36. Funding for Support Services. —In order to cover the
expenses and cost of support services, at least twenty-five percent (25%) of
all appropriations for agrarian reform shall be immediately set aside and
made available for this purpose. In addition, the DAR shall be authorized to
package proposals and receive grants, aid and other forms of financial
assistance from any source.
SECTION 37. Support Services to the Beneficiaries. — The PARC shall
ensure that support services to farmers-beneficiaries are provided, such as:
(a) Land surveys and titling; (b) Liberalized terms on credit facilities and
production loans; (c) Extension services by way of planting, cropping,
production and postharvest technology transfer, as well as marketing and
management assistance and support to cooperatives and farmers'
organizations; (d) Infrastructure such as access trails, mini-dams, public
utilities, marketing and storage facilities; and (e) Research, production and
use of organic fertilizers and other local substances necessary in farming and
cultivation. The PARC shall formulate policies to ensure that support services
to farmerbeneficiaries shall be provided at all stages of land reform. The
Bagong Kilusang Kabuhayan sa Kaunlaran (BKKK) Secretariat shall be
transferred and attached to the LBP, for its supervision including all its
applicable and existing funds, personnel, properties, equipment and records.
Misuse or diversion of the financial and support services herein provided
shall result in sanctions against the beneficiary guilty thereof, including the
forfeiture of the land transferred to him or lesser sanctions as may be
provided by the PARC, without prejudice to criminal prosecution.
SECTION 38. Support Services to Landowners. —The PARC with the
assistance of such other government agencies and instrumentalities as it
may direct, shall provide landowners affected by the CARP and prior
agrarian reform programs with the following services: (a) Investment
information financial and counseling assistance; (b) 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; (c)
Marketing of LBP bonds, as well as promoting the marketability of said bonds
in traditional and non-traditional financial markets and stock exchanges; and
(d) Other services designed to utilize productively the proceeds of the sale of
such lands for rural industrialization. A landowner who invests in rural-based
industries shall be entitled to the incentives granted to a registered enterprise
engaged in a pioneer or preferred area of investment as provided for in the
Omnibus Investment Code of 1987, or to such other incentives as the PARC,
the LBP, or other government financial institutions may provide. The LBP
shall redeem a landowner's LBP bonds at face value, provided that the
proceeds thereof shall be invested in a BOI-registered company or in any
agribusiness or agro-industrial enterprise in the region where the landowner
has previously made investments, to the extent of thirty percent (30%) of the
face value of said LBP bonds, subject to guidelines that shall be issued by
the LBP.
SECTION 39. Land Consolidation. — The DAR shall carry out land
consolidation projects to promote equal distribution of landholdings, to
provide the needed infrastructures in agriculture, and to conserve soil fertility
and prevent erosion.
CHAPTER X
Special Areas of Concern
SECTION 40. Special Areas of Concern. — As an integral part of the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, the following principles in these
special areas of concern shall be observed:
(1) Subsistence Fishing. —Small fisherfolk, including seaweed farmers, shall
be assured of greater access to the utilization of water resources.
(2) Logging and Mining Concessions. —Subject to the requirement of a
balanced ecology and conservation of water resources, suitable areas, as
determined by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
(DENR), 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. Subject to existing laws,
rules and regulations, settlers and members of tribal communities shall be
allowed to enjoy and exploit the products of the forest other than timer within
the logging concessions.
(3) 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 based on an
organized program to ensure their orderly and early development. cda
Agricultural land allocations shall be made for ideal family-size farms as
determined by the PARC. Pioneers and other settlers shall be treated equally
in every respect. Subject to the prior rights of qualified beneficiaries,
uncultivated lands of the public domain shall be made available on a lease
basis to interested and qualified parties. Parties who will engaged in the
development of capitalintensive, traditional or pioneering crops shall be given
priority. The lease period, which shall not be more than a total of fifty (50)
years, shall be proportionate to the amount of investment and production
goals of the lessee. A system of evaluation and audit shall be instituted.
(4) Idle, Abandoned, Foreclosed 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.
(5) Rural Women. — All qualified women members of the agricultural labor
force must be guaranteed and assured equal right to ownership of the land,
equal shares of the farm's produce, and representation in advisory or
appropriate decision-making bodies.
(6) Veterans and Retirees. —In accordance with Section 7 of Article XVI of
the Constitution, landless war veterans and veterans of military campaigns,
their surviving spouse and orphans, retirees of the Armed Forces of the
Philippines (AFP) and the Integrated National Police (INP), returnees,
surrenderees, and similar beneficiaries shall be given due consideration in
the disposition of agricultural lands of the public domain.
(7) Agriculture Graduates. —Graduates of agricultural schools who are
landless shall be assisted by the government, through the DAR, in their
desire to own and till agricultural lands.
CHAPTER XI
Program Implementation
SECTION 41. The Presidential Agrarian Reform Council. — The Presidential
Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) shall be composed of the President of the
Philippines as Chairman, the Secretary of Agrarian Reform as Vice-
Chairman and the following as members; Secretaries of the Departments of
Agriculture; Environment and Natural Resources; Budget and Management;
Local Government: Public Works and Highways; Trade and Industry;
Finance; Labor and Employment; Director-General of the National Economic
and Development Authority; President, Land Bank of the Philippines;
Administrator, National Irrigation Administration; and three (3)
representatives of affected landowners to represent Luzon, Visayas and
Mindanao; six (6) representatives of agrarian reform beneficiaries, two (2)
each from Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao, provided that one of them shall be
from the cultural communities.
SECTION 42. Executive Committee. — There shall be an Executive
Committee (EXCOM) of the PARC composed of the Secretary of the DAR as
Chairman, and such other members as the President may designate, taking
into account Article XIII, Section 5 of the Constitution. Unless otherwise
directed by PARC, the EXCOM may meet and decide on any and all matters
in between meetings of the PARC: Provided, however, That its decisions
must be reported to the PARC immediately and not later than the next
meeting.
SECTION 43. Secretariat. — A PARC Secretariat is hereby 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. 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 and whose compensation shall be chargeable
against the Agrarian Reform Fund. All officers and employees of the
Secretariat shall be appointed by the Secretary of Agrarian Reform.
SECTION 44. Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee
(PARCCOM). — A Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee
(PARCCOM) is hereby created in each province, composed of a Chairman,
who shall be appointed by the President upon the recommendation of the
EXCOM, the Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer as Executive Officer, and
one representative each from the Departments of Agriculture, and of
Environment and Natural Resources and from the LBP, one representative
each from existing farmers' organizations, agricultural cooperatives and non-
governmental organizations in the province; two representatives from
landowners, at least one of whom shall be a producer representing the
principal crop of the province, and two representatives from farmer and
farmworker-beneficiaries, at least one of whom shall be a farmer or
farmworker representing the principal crop of the province, as members:
Provided, That in areas where there are cultural communities, the latter shall
likewise have one representative. The PARCCOM shall coordinate and
monitor the implementation of the CARP in the province. It shall provide
information on the provisions of the CARP, guidelines issued by the PARC
and on the progress of the CARP in the province.
SECTION 45. Province-by-Province Implementation. — 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 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 46. Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC). — Unless
otherwise provided in this Act, the provisions of Executive Order No. 229
regarding the organization of the Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee
(BARC) shall be in effect.
SECTION 47. Functions of the BARC. — In addition to those provided in
Executive Order No. 229, the BARC shall have the following functions: (a)
Mediate and conciliate between parties involved in an agrarian dispute
including matters related to tenurial and financial arrangements; acd (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 in the initial determination of the value of the
land; (f) Assist the DAR representatives in the preparation of periodic reports
on the CARP implementation for submission to the DAR; (g) Coordinate the
delivery of support services to beneficiaries; and (h) Perform such other
functions as may be assigned by the DAR. (2) The BARC shall endeavor to
mediate, conciliate and settle agrarian disputes lodged before it within thirty
(30) days from its taking cognizance thereof. If after the lapse of the thirty
day period, it is unable to settle the dispute, it shall issue a certificate of its
proceedings and shall furnish a copy thereof upon the parties within seven
(7) days after the expiration of the thirty-day period.
SECTION 48. Legal Assistance. — The BARC or any member thereof may,
whenever necessary in the exercise of any of its functions hereunder, seek
the legal assistance of the DAR and the provincial, city, or municipal
government.
SECTION 49. Rules and Regulations. — The PARC and the DAR shall have
the power to issue rules and regulations, whether substantive or procedural,
to carry out the objects and purposes of this Act. Said rules shall take effect
ten (10) days after publication in two (2) national newspapers of general
circulation.
CHAPTER XII
Administrative Adjudication
SECTION 50. Quasi-Judicial Powers of the DAR. — The DAR is hereby
vested with the primary jurisdiction to determine and adjudicate agrarian
reform matters and shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over all matters
involving the implementation of agrarian reform except those falling under the
exclusive jurisdiction of the Department of Agriculture (DA) and the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR). 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. Toward this
end, it shall adopt a uniform rule of procedure to achieve a just, expeditious
and inexpensive determination for every action or proceeding before it. 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 enforce its writs through sheriffs or other duly
deputized officers. It shall likewise have the power to punish direct and
indirect contempts in the same manner and subject to the same penalties as
provided in the Rules of Court. Responsible farmer leaders shall be allowed
to represent themselves, their fellow farmers, or their organizations in any
proceedings before the DAR: Provided, however, That when there are two or
more representatives for any individual or group, the representatives should
choose only one among themselves to represent such party or group before
any DAR proceedings. Notwithstanding an appeal to the Court of Appeals,
the decision of the DAR shall be immediately executory.
SECTION 51. Finality of Determination. — Any case or controversy before it
shall be decided within thirty (30) days after it is submitted for resolution.
Only one (1) motion for reconsideration shall be allowed. Any order, ruling or
decision shall be final after the lapse of fifteen (15) days from receipt of a
copy thereof.
SECTION 52. Frivolous Appeals. — To discourage frivolous or dilatory
appeals from the decisions or orders on the local or provincial levels, the
DAR may impose reasonable penalties, including but not limited to fines or
censures upon erring parties.
SECTION 53. Certification of the BARC. — The DAR shall not take
cognizance of any agrarian dispute or 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: Provided,
however, That if no certification is issued by the BARC within thirty (30) days
after a matter or issue is submitted to it for mediation or conciliation the case
or dispute may be brought before the PARC.
CHAPTER XIII
Judicial Review
SECTION 54. Certiorari. — 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 this Act and other pertinent
laws on agrarian reform may be brought to the Court of Appeals by certiorari
except as otherwise provided in this Act within fifteen (15) days from the
receipt of a copy thereof. The findings of fact of the DAR shall be final and
conclusive if based on substantial evidence.
SECTION 55. No Restraining Order or Preliminary Injunction. —No court in
the Philippines shall have jurisdiction to issue any restraining order or writ of
preliminary injunction against the PARC or any of its duly authorized or
designated agencies in any case, dispute or controversy arising from,
necessary to, or in connection with the application, implementation,
enforcement, or interpretation of this Act and other pertinent laws on agrarian
reform.
SECTION 56. Special Agrarian Court. — The Supreme Court shall designate
at least one (1) branch of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) within each
province to act as a Special Agrarian Court. The Supreme Court may
designate more branches to constitute such additional Special Agrarian
Courts as may be necessary to cope with the number of agrarian cases in
each province. In the designation, the Supreme Court shall give preference
to the Regional Trial Courts which have been assigned to handle agrarian
cases or whose presiding judges were former judges of the defunct Court of
Agrarian Relations. The Regional Trial Court (RTC) judges assigned to said
courts shall exercise said special jurisdiction in addition t
o the regular jurisdiction of their respective courts. The Special Agrarian
Courts shall have the powers and prerogatives inherent in or belonging to the
Regional Trial Courts. SECTION 57. Special Jurisdiction. — The Special
Agrarian Courts shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over all petitions
for the determination of just compensation to landowners, and the
prosecution of all criminal offenses under this Act. The Rules of Court shall
apply to all proceedings before the Special Agrarian Courts, unless modified
by this Act. The Special Agrarian Courts shall decide all appropriate cases
under their special jurisdiction within thirty (30) days from submission of the
case for decision.
SECTION 58. Appointment of Commissioners. — 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.
SECTION 59. Orders of the Special Agrarian Courts. —No order of the
Special Agrarian Courts on any issue, question, matter or incident raised
before them shall be elevated to the appellate courts until the hearing shall
have been terminated and the case decided on the merits.
SECTION 60. Appeals. — An appeal may be taken from the decision of the
Special Agrarian Courts by filing a petition for review with the Court of
Appeals within fifteen (15) days receipt of notice of the decision; otherwise,
the decision shall become final. An appeal from the decision of the Court of
Appeals, or from any order, ruling or decision of the DAR, as the case may
be, shall be by a petition for review with the Supreme Court within a non-
extendible period of fifteen (15) days from receipt of a copy of said decision.
SECTION 61. Procedure on Review. — Review by the Court of Appeals or
the Supreme Court, as the case may be, shall be governed by the Rules of
Court. The Court of Appeals, however, may require the parties to file
simultaneous memoranda within a period of fifteen (15) days from notice,
after which the case is deemed submitted for decision.
SECTION 62. Preferential Attention in Courts. — All courts in the Philippines,
both trial and appellate, shall give preferential attention to all cases arising
from or in connection with the implementation of the provisions of this Act. All
cases pending in court arising from or in connection with the implementation
of this Act shall continue to be heard, tried and decided into their finality,
notwithstanding the expiration of the ten-year period mentioned in Section 5
hereof.
CHAPTER XIV
Financing
SECTION 63. Funding Source. — The initial amount needed to implement
this Act for the period of ten (10) years upon approval hereof shall be funded
from the Agrarian Reform Fund created under Sections 20 and 21 of
Executive Order No. 229. Additional amounts are hereby authorized to be
appropriated as and when needed to augment the Agrarian Reform Fund in
order to fully implement the provisions of this Act. Sources of funding or
appropriations shall include the following: a) Proceeds of the sales of the
Assets Privatization Trust; b) All receipts from assets recovered and from
sales of ill-gotten wealth recovered through the Presidential Commission on
Good Government; c) Proceeds of the disposition of the properties of the
Government in foreign countries; d) Portion of amounts accruing to the
Philippines from all sources of official foreign grants and concessional
financing from all countries, to be used for the specific purposes of financing
production credits, infrastructures, and other support services required by
this Act; cdt (e) Other government funds not otherwise appropriated. All
funds appropriated to implement the provisions of this Act shall be
considered continuing appropriations during the period of its implementation.
SECTION 64. Financial Intermediary for the CARP. — The Land Bank of the
Philippines shall be the financial intermediary for the CARP, and shall insure
that the social justice objectives of the CARP shall enjoy a preference among
its priorities.
CHAPTER XV
General Provisions
SECTION 65. Conversion of Lands. — 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 urbanized and the land will
have a greater economic value for residential, commercial or industrial
purposes, the DAR, upon application of the beneficiary or the landowner,
with due notice to the affected parties, and subject to existing laws, may
authorize the reclassification or conversion of the land and its disposition:
Provided, That the beneficiary shall have fully paid his obligation.
SECTION 66. Exemptions from Taxes and Fees of Land Transfers. —
Transactions under this Act 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 deductible from the compensation to which the owner
may be entitled.
SECTION 67. Free Registration of Patents and Titles. — 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 the CARP.
SECTION 68. Immunity of Government Agencies from Undue Interference.
— No injunction, restraining order, prohibition or mandamus shall be issued
by the lower courts against the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the
Department of Agriculture (DA), the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR), and the Department of Justice (DOJ) in their
implementation of the program.
SECTION 69. Assistance of Other Government Entities. — 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
governmentowned or -controlled corporations.
SECTION 70. Disposition of Private Agricultural Lands. — The sale or
disposition of agricultural lands retained by a landowner as a consequence of
Section 6 hereof shall be valid as long as the total landholdings that shall be
owned by the transferee thereof inclusive of the land to be acquired shall not
exceed the landholding ceilings provided for in this Act. Any sale or
disposition of agricultural lands after the effectivity of this Act found to be
contrary to the provisions hereof shall be null and void. Transferees of
agricultural lands shall furnish the appropriate Register of Deeds and the
BARC an affidavit attesting that his total landholdings as a result of the said
acquisition do not exceed the landholding ceiling. The Register of Deeds
shall not register the transfer of any agricultural land without the submission
of this sworn statement together with proof of service of a copy thereof to the
BARC.
SECTION 71. Bank Mortgages. —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 13 of this Act. acd
SECTION 72. Lease, Management, Grower or Service Contracts, Mortgages
and Other Claims. — Lands covered by this Act under lease, management,
grower or service contracts, and the like shall be disposed of as follows: (a)
Lease, management, grower or service contracts covering private lands may
continue under their original terms and conditions until the expiration of the
same even if such land has, in the meantime, been transferred to qualified
beneficiaries. (b) Mortgages and other claims registered with the Register of
Deeds shall be assumed by the government up to an amount equivalent to
the landowner's compensation value as provided in this Act.
SECTION 73. Prohibited Acts and Omissions. — The following are
prohibited: (a) The ownership or possession, for the purpose of
circumventing the provisions of this Act, 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
under this Act to avail themselves of the rights and benefits of the Agrarian
Reform Program. (c) The conversion by any landowner of his agricultural
land into any nonagricultural use with intent to avoid the application of this
Act 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 this Act. The date of
the registration of the deed of conveyance in the Register of Deeds with
respect to titled lands and the date of the issuance of the tax declaration to
the transferee of the property with respect to unregistered lands, as the case
may be, shall be conclusive for the purpose of this Act. (f) The sale, transfer
or 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 this Act.

SECTION 74. Penalties. — Any person who knowingly or willfully violates the
provisions of this Act 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 (P1,000.00) and not more than fifteen thousand pesos
(P15,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court. If the offender is a
corporation or association, the officer responsible therefor shall be criminally
liable.

SECTION 75. Suppletory Application of Existing Legislation. — 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 76. Repealing Clause. —Section 35 of Republic Act No. 3834,

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 this Act are hereby repealed or amended
accordingly. cdt

SECTION 77. Separability Clause. —If, for any reason, any section or
provision of this Act is declared null and void, no other section, provision, or
part thereof shall be affected and the same shall remain in full force and
effect.

SECTION 78. Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect immediately
after publication in at least two (2) national newspapers of general circulation.

Approved: June 10, 1988