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THE COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM LAW

Republic Act No. 6657, as amended


I. Introduction
A. Constitutional Basis
1. Article II, Section 21: The State shall promote
comprehensive rural development and agrarian reform.
2. Article XII, Section 1: x x x The State shall
promote industrialization and full employment
based on sound agricultural development and
agrarian reform, x x x
3. Article XIII, Section 3: x x x The State shall
regulate the relations between workers and
employers, recognizing the right of labor to its just
share in the fruits of production and the right of
enterprises to reasonable returns on investments,
and to expansion and growth.
4. Article XIII, Section 4: The State shall, by law,
undertake an agrarian reform program founded on
the rights of farmers and regular farmworkers, who
are landless, to own directly or collectively the
lands they till or, in the case of other farmworkers,
to receive a just share of the fruits thereof. To this
end, the State shall encourage and undertake the
just distribution of all agricultural lands, subject to
such priorities and reasonable retention limits as
the Congress may prescribe, taking into account

ecological, developmental, or equity considerations, and subject to the payment of just


compensation. In determining retention limits, the
State shall respect the right of small landowners.
The State shall further provide incentives for
voluntary land-sharing.
5. Article XIII, Section 5: The State shall recognize
the rights of farmers, farmworkers, and landowners, as well as cooperatives, and other
independent farmers' organizations to participate
in the planning, organization, and management of
the program, and shall provide support to
agriculture through appropriate technology and
research, and adequate financial, production,
marketing, and other support services.
6. Article XIII, Section 6: The State shall apply the
principles of agrarian reform or stewardship,
whenever applicable in accordance with law, in the
disposition or utilization of other natural resources,
including lands of the public domain under lease or
concession suitable to agriculture, subject to prior
rights, homestead rights of small settlers, and the
rights of indigenous communities to their ancestral
lands.
The State may resettle landless farmers and
farmworkers in its own agriculture estates which
shall be distributed to them in the manner
provided by law.
7. Article XIII, Section 8: The State shall provide
incentives to landowners to invest the proceeds of
the agrarian reform program to promote industrial-

ization, employment creating, and privatization of


public sector enterprises. Financial instruments
used as payment for their lands shall be honored
as equity in enterprises of their choice.
B. Declaration of Principles and Policies [Section 2]
It is the policy of the State to pursue a
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
The welfare of the landless farmers and farmworkers
will receive the highest consideration to promote
social justice and to move the nation toward sound
rural development and industrialization, and the
establishment
of
owner
cultivatorship
of
economic-size farms as the basis of Philippine
agriculture.
The State shall promote industrialization and full
employment
based
on
sound
agricultural
development and agrarian reform, through industries
that make full and efficient use of human and natural
resources, and which are competitive in both
domestic and foreign markets: Provided, That the
conversion of agricultural lands into industrial,
commercial or residential lands shall take into
account, tillers' rights and national food security.
Further, the State shall protect Filipino enterprises
against unfair foreign competition and trade
practices.
The State recognizes that there is not enough
agricultural land to be divided and distributed to
each farmer and regular farmworker so that each

one can own his/her economic-size family farm. This


being the case, a meaningful agrarian reform
program to uplift the lives and economic status of
the farmer and his/her children can only be achieved
through simultaneous industrialization aimed at
developing a self-reliant and independent national
economy effectively controlled by Filipinos.
To this end, the State may, in the interest of
national welfare or defense, establish and operate
vital industries.
A more equitable distribution and ownership of
land, with due regard to the rights of landowners to
just compensation, retention rights under Section 6
of Republic Act No. 6657, as amended, and to the
ecological needs of the nation, shall be undertaken
to provide farmers and farmworkers with the
opportunity to enhance their dignity and improve the
quality of their lives through greater productivity of
agricultural lands.
The agrarian reform program is founded on the
right of farmers and regular farmworkers, who are
landless, to own directly or collectively the lands
they till or, in the case of other farmworkers, to
receive a just share of the fruits thereof. To this end,
the State shall encourage and undertake the just
distribution of all agricultural lands, subject to the
priorities and retention limits set forth in this Act,
taking into account ecological, developmental, and
equity considerations, and subject to the payment of
just compensation. The State shall respect the right
of small landowners, and shall provide incentive for

voluntary land-sharing.
As much as practicable, the implementation of the
program shall be community-based to assure, among
others, that the farmers shall have greater control of
farmgate prices, and easier access to credit.
The State shall recognize the right of farmers,
farmworkers and landowners, as well as cooperatives
and other independent farmers' organizations, to
participate in the planning, organization, and
management of the program, and shall provide
support
to
agriculture
through
appropriate
technology and research, and adequate financial,
production, marketing and other support services.
The State shall recognize and enforce, consistent
with existing laws, the rights of rural women to own
and control land, taking into consideration the
substantive equality between men and women as
qualified beneficiaries, to receive a just share of the
fruits thereof, and to be represented in advisory or
appropriate decision-making bodies. These rights
shall be independent of their male relatives and of
their civil status.
The State shall apply the principles of agrarian
reform, or stewardship, whenever applicable, in
accordance with law, in the disposition or utilization
of other natural resources, including lands of the
public domain, under lease or concession, suitable to
agriculture, subject to prior rights, homestead rights
of small settlers and the rights of indigenous
communities to their ancestral lands.

The State may resettle landless farmers and farm


workers in its own agricultural estates, which shall be
distributed to them in the manner provided by law.
By means of appropriate incentives, the State shall
encourage the formation and maintenance of
economic-size family farms to be constituted by
individual beneficiaries and small landowners.
The State shall protect the rights of subsistence
fishermen, especially of local communities, to the
preferential use of communal marine and fishing
resources, both inland and offshore. It shall provide
support to such fishermen through appropriate
technology and research, adequate financial,
production and marketing assistance and other
services. The State shall also protect, develop and
conserve such resources. The protection shall extend
to offshore fishing grounds of subsistence fishermen
against foreign intrusion. Fishworkers shall receive a
just share from their labor in the utilization of marine
and fishing resources.
The State shall be guided by the principles that
land has a social function and land ownership has a
social responsibility. Owners of agricultural land have
the obligation to cultivate directly or through labor
administration the lands they own and thereby make
the land productive.
The State shall provide incentives to landowners to
invest the proceeds of the agrarian reform program
to promote industrialization, employment and
privatization of public sector enterprises. Financial

instruments used as payment for lands shall contain


features that shall enhance negotiability and
acceptability in the marketplace.
The State may lease undeveloped lands of the
public domain to qualified entities for the
development
of
capital-intensive
farms,
and
traditional and pioneering crops especially those for
exports subject to the prior rights of the beneficiaries
under this Act.

C. Definition of Agrarian Reform


1. Agrarian Reform means the redistribution of lands,
regardless of crops or fruits produced, to farmers
and regular farmworkers who are landless,
irrespective of tenurial arrangement, to include the
totality of factors and support services designed to
lift the economic status of the beneficiaries and all
other arrangement alternative to the physical
redistribution of lands, such as production or
profit-sharing, labor administration, and the
distribution of stock, which will allow beneficiaries
to receive a just share of the fruits of the lands
they work. [Section 3(a) of RA 6657]
2. Distinguished from Land Reform
* Land Reform is the physical redistribution of land
such as the program under Presidential Decree

No. 27. Agrarian reform means the redistribution of lands including the totality of factors and
support services designed to lift the economic
status of the beneficiaries.
Thus, agrarian
reform is broader than land reform.

D.RA 6657 is Constitutional


In the case of Association of Small Landowners in
the Philippines, Inc. v. Secretary of Agrarian Reform, 1
the Supreme Court held:
"The case before us presents no knotty
complication insofar as the question of compensable
taking is concerned. To the extent that the measures
under challenge merely prescribe retention limits for
landowners, there is an exercise of the police power
for the regulation of private property in accordance
with the Constitution. But where, to carry out such
regulation, it becomes necessary to deprive such
owners of whatever lands they may own in excess of
the maximum area allowed, there is definitely a
taking under the power of eminent domain for which
payment of just compensation is imperative. The
taking contemplated is not a mere limitation of the
use of the land. What is required is the surrender of
the title to and the physical possession of the said
excess and all beneficial rights accruing to the owner
in favor of the farmer-beneficiary. This is definitely
an exercise not of the police power but of the power
of eminent domain.
1

175 SCRA 343.

"Classification has been defined as the grouping of


persons or things similar to each other in certain
particulars and different from each other in these
same particulars. To be valid, it must conform to the
following requirements: (1) it must be based on
substantial distinctions; (2) it must be germane to
the purpose of the law; (3) it must not be limited to
existing conditions only; and (4) it must apply
equally to all the members of the class. The Court
finds that all these requisites have been met by the
measures here challenged as arbitrary and
discriminatory.
"Equal protection simply means that all persons or
things similarly situated must be treated alike both
as to the rights conferred and the liabilities imposed.
The petitioner have not shown that they belong to a
different class and entitled to a different treatment.
The argument that not only landowners but also
owners of other properties must be made to share
the burden of implementing land reform must be
rejected. There is a substantial distinction between
these two classes of owners that is clearly visible
except to those who will not see. There is no need to
elaborate on this matter. In any event, the Congress
is allowed a wide leeway in providing for a valid
classification. Its decision is accorded recognition
and respect by the courts of justice except only
where its discretion is abused to the detriment of the
Bill of Rights.
"It is worth remarking at this juncture that a
statute may be sustained under the police power

only if there is a concurrence of the lawful subject


and the lawful method. Put otherwise, the interests
of the public generally as distinguished from those of
a particular class require the interference of the
State and, no less important, the means employed
are reasonably necessary for the attainment of the
purpose sought to be achieved and not unduly
oppressive upon individuals. As the subject and
purpose of agrarian reform have been laid down by
the Constitution itself, we may say that the first
requirement has been satisfied. What remains to be
examined is the validity of the method employed to
achieve the Constitutional goal.
"Eminent domain is an inherent power of the State
that enable it to forcibly acquire private lands
intended for public use upon payment of just
compensation to the owner. Obviously, there is no
need to expropriate where the owner is willing to sell
under terms also acceptable to the purchaser, in
which case an ordinary deed of sale may be agreed
upon by the parties. It is only where the owner is
unwilling to sell, or cannot accept the price or other
conditions offered by the vendee, that the power of
eminent domain will come into play to assert the
paramount authority of the State over the interest of
the property owner. Private rights must then yield to
the irresistible demands of the public interest on the
time-honored justification, as in the case of the
police power, that the welfare of the people is the
supreme law.
"But for all its primacy and urgency, the power of
expropriation is by no means absolute (as indeed no

power is absolute). The limitation is found in the


constitutional injunction that "private property shall
not be taken for public use without just
compensation" and in the abundant jurisprudence
that has evolved from the interpretation of this
principle. Basically, the requirements for a proper
exercise of the power are: (1) public use and (2) just
compensation.
"[T]he determination of just compensation is a
function addressed to the courts of justice and may
not be usurped by any other branch or official of the
government. EPZA v. Dulay resolved a challenge to
several decrees promulgated by President Marcos
providing that the just compensation for property
under expropriation should be either the assessment
of the property by the government or the sworn
valuation thereof by the owner, whichever was lower.
"With these assumptions, the Court hereby
declares that the content and manner of the just
compensation provided for in the afore-quoted
Section 18 of the CARP Law is not violative of the
Constitution.
We do not mind admitting that a
certain degree of pragmatism has influenced our
decision on this issue, but after all this Court is not a
cloistered institution removed from the realities and
demands of society or oblivious to the need for its
enhancement. The Court is as acutely anxious as the
rest of our people to see the goal of agrarian reform
achieved at last after the frustrations and
deprivations of our peasant masses during all these
disappointing decades.
We are aware that
invalidation of said section will result in the

nullification of the entire program, killing the farmer's


hopes even as they approach realization and
resurrecting the specter of discontent and dissent in
the restless countryside. That is not in our view the
intention of the Constitution, and that is not what we
shall decree today.
"Accepting the theory that payment of the just
compensation is not always required to be made
fully in money, we find further that the proportion of
cash payment to the other things of value
constituting the total payment, as determined on the
basis of the areas of the lands expropriated, is not
unduly oppressive upon the landowner. It is noted
that the smaller the land, the bigger the payment in
money, primarily because the small landowner will
be needing it more than the big landowner, who can
afford a bigger balance in bonds and other things of
value. No less importantly, the government financial
instruments making up the balance of the payment
are "negotiable at any time." The other modes,
which are likewise available to the landowner at his
option, are also not unreasonable because payment
is made in shares of stock, LBP bonds, other
properties or assets, tax credits, and other things of
value equivalent to the amount of just compensation."
II. Scope
A. Lands Covered

1. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988


shall cover, regardless of tenurial arrangement and
commodity produced, ALL PUBLIC AND PRIVATE
AGRICULTURAL LANDS as provided in Proclamation No. 131 and Executive Order No. 229,
including other lands of the public domain suitable
for agriculture: Provided, That landholdings of
landowners with a total area of five (5) hectares
and below shall not be covered for acquisition and
distribution to qualified beneficiaries. [Section 4]
a. Agricultural land refers to land devoted to
agricultural activity and not classified as
mineral, forest, residential, commercial or
industrial land [Section 3(c)].
b. Agricultural activity means the cultivation of
the soil, planting of crops, growing of fruit trees,
raising of fish, including the harvesting of such
farm products, and other farm activities and
practices performed by a farmer in conjunction
with such farming operations done by persons
whether natural or juridical [Section 3(b)].
2. Specifically, the following lands are covered by the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program:
a. All alienable and disposable lands of the public
domain devoted to or suitable for agriculture. No
reclassification of forest or mineral lands to
agricultural lands shall be undertaken after the
approval of this Act until Congress, taking into
account ecological, developmental and equity
considerations, shall have determined by law,

the specific limits of the public domain;


b. All lands of the public domain in excess of the
specific limits as determined by Congress in the
preceding paragraph;
c. All other lands owned by the Government
devoted to or suitable for agriculture; and
d. All private lands devoted to or suitable for
agriculture regardless of the agricultural
products raised or that can be raised thereon.
B. Exclusions from the Coverage of CARL
1. Under Section 102, excluded from the coverage of
the CARL are lands actually, directly and
exclusively used for:
a. Parks;
b. Wildlife;
c. Forest reserves;
d. Reforestation;
e. Fish sanctuaries and breeding grounds;
f. Watersheds and mangroves.
2. Private lands actually, directly and exclusively
used for prawn farms and fishponds shall be
exempt from the coverage of this Act: Provided,
That said prawn farms and fishponds have
not been distributed and Certificate of Land
2

As amended by Republic Act No. 7881.

Ownership Award (CLOA) issued to agrarian


reform
beneficiaries
under
the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
In cases where the fishponds or prawn farms have
been subjected to the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law, by voluntary offer to sell, or
commercial farms deferment or notices of
compulsory acquisition, a simple and absolute
majority of the actual regular workers or tenants
must consent to the exemption within one (1) year
from the effectivity of this Act. When the workers
or tenants do not agree to this exemption, the
fishponds or prawn farms shall be distributed
collectively to the worker-beneficiaries or tenants
who shall form a cooperative or association to
manage the same.
3. Likewise, execluded from the coverage the CARL
are lands actually, directly and exclusively used
and found to be necessary for:
a. National defense;
b. School sites and campuses including experimental farm stations operated by public or private
schools for educational purposes;
c. Seeds and seedling research and pilot production center;
d. Church sites and convents appurtenant thereto;
e. Mosque sites and Islamic centers appurtenant
thereto;
f. Communal burial grounds and cemeteries;
g. Penal colonies and penal farms actually worked
by the inmates; and

h. Government
and
quarantine centers.

private

research

and

4. All lands with eighteen percent (18%) slope and


over which are not developed for agriculture are
exempted from the coverage of CARL.
* An eighteen percent slope is not equivalent to
an eighteen degree angle. Eighteen percent
slope is obtained by having a 100 meter run and
an 18 meter rise.
5. In the case of Luz Farms v. Secretary of Agrarian
Reform,3 the Supreme Court has excluded
agricultural Lands Devoted to Commercial Livestock, Poultry and Swine Raising from the
coverage of CARL.
The Supreme Court said:
"The transcripts of the deliberations of the
Constitutional Commission of 1986 on the meaning
of the word "agricultural," clearly show that it was
never the intention of the framers of the Constitution to include livestock and poultry industry in the
coverage
of
the
constitutionally-mandated
agrarian reform program of the Government.
"The Committee adopted the definition of
"agricultural land" as defined under Section 166 of
RA 3844, as lands devoted to any growth,
including but not limited to crop lands, saltbeds,
fishponds, idle and abandoned land (Record,
3

192 SCRA 51.

CONCOM, August 7, 1986, Vol. III, p. 11).


"The intention of the Committee is to limit the
application of the word "agriculture." Commissioner Jamir proposed to insert the word "ARABLE"
to distinguish this kind of agricultural land from
such lands as commercial and industrial lands and
residential properties because all of them fall
under the general classification of the word "agricultural." This proposal, however, was not considered because the Committee contemplated that
agricultural lands are limited to arable and suitable
agricultural lands and therefore, do not include
commercial, industrial and residential lands (Record, CONCOM, August 7, 1986, Vol. III, p. 30).
"In the interpellation, then Commissioner
Regalado (now a Supreme Court Justice), posed
several questions, among others, quoted as
follows:
xxx xxx xxx
"Line 19 refers to genuine reform program
founded on the primary right of farmers and
farmworkers. I wonder if it means that leasehold
tenancy is thereby proscribed under this
provision because it speaks of the primary right
of farmers and farmworkers to own directly or
collectively the lands they till.
As also
mentioned by Commissioner Tadeo, farmworkers
include those who work in piggeries and poultry
projects.
I was wondering whether I am wrong in my
appreciation that if somebody puts up a piggery

or a poultry project and for that purpose hires


farmworkers therein, these farmworkers will
automatically have the right to own eventually,
directly or ultimately or collectively, the land on
which the piggeries and poultry projects were
constructed. (Record, CONCOM, August 2, 1986,
p. 618).
xxx xxx xxx"
"The question were answered and explained in
the statement of the then Commissioner Tadeo,
quoted as follows:
xxx xxx xxx
"Sa pangalawang katanungan ng Ginoo ay
medyo hindi kami nagkaunawaan. Ipinaaalam
ko kay Commissioner Regalado na hindi namin
inilagay ang agricultural worker sa kadahilanang
kasama rito ang piggery, poultry at livestock
workers.
Ang inilagay namin dito ay farm
worker kaya hindi kasama ang piggery, poultry
at livestock workers (Record, CONCOM, August ,
1986, Vol. II, p. 621).
"It is evident from the foregoing discussion that
Section 11 of RA 6657 which includes "private
agricultural lands devoted to commercial livestock,
poultry and swine raising" in the definition of
"commercial farms" is invalid, to the extent that
the aforecited agro-industrial activities are made
to be covered by the agrarian reform program of
the State. There is simply no reason to include
livestock and poultry lands int he coverage of
agrarian reform. (Rollo, p. 21).

"PREMISES CONSIDERED, the instant petition is


hereby GRANTED. Sections 3(b), 11, 13 and 32 of
R.A. No. 6657 insofar as the inclusion of raising of
livestock, poultry and swine in its coverage as well
as the Implementing Rules and Guidelines
promulgated in accordance therewith, are hereby
DECLARED null and void for being unconstitutional
and the writ of preliminary injunction issued is
hereby MADE permanent."
III.

Schedule of Implementation

A. Period for Implementation [Section 5]


1. The DAR, in coordination with the Presidential
Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) shall plan and
program the final acquisition and distribution of all
remaining
unacquired
and
undistributed
agricultural lands from the effectivity of this Act
until June 30, 2014.
B. Priorities [Section 7]
1. Guiding Principle: In effecting the transfer, priority
must be given to lands that are tenanted.
2. Factors to consider in the Implementation
a. Need to distribute lands to the tillers at the earliest practical time;

b. Need to enhance agricultural productivity; and


c. Availability of funds and resources to implement
and support the program
3. Phases of Implementation
Phase One: During the five (5)-year extension
period hereafter all remaining lands above fifty (50)
hectares shall be covered for purposes of agrarian
reform upon the effectivity of this Act. All private
agricultural lands of landowners with aggregate
landholdings in excess of fifty (50) hectares which
have already been subjected to a notice of coverage
issued on or before December 10, 2008; rice and
corn lands under Presidential Decree No. 27; all idle
or abandoned lands; all private lands voluntarily
offered by the owners for agrarian reform: Provided,
That with respect to voluntary land transfer, only
those submitted by June 30, 2009 shall be allowed:
Provided, further, That after June 30, 2009, the
modes of acquisition shall be limited to voluntary
offer to sell and compulsory acquisition: Provided,
furthermore, That all previously acquired lands
wherein valuation is subject to challenge by
landowners shall be completed and finally resolved
pursuant to Section 17 of Republic Act No. 6657, as
amended: Provided, finally, as mandated by the
Constitution, Republic Act No. 6657, as amended,
and Republic Act No. 3844,as amended, only farmers
(tenants or lessees) and regular farmworkers actually
tilling the lands, as certified under oath by the
Barangay Agrarian Reform Council (BARC) and
attested under oath by the landowners, are the
qualified beneficiaries. The intended beneficiary shall

state under oath before the judge of the city or


municipal court that he/she is willing to work on the
land to make it productive and to assume the
obligation of paying the amortization for the
compensation of the land and the land taxes
thereon; all lands foreclosed by government financial
institutions; all lands acquired by the Presidential
Commission on Good Government (PCGG); and all
other lands owned by the government devoted to or
suitable for agriculture, which shall be acquired and
distributed immediately upon the effectivity of this
Act, with the implementation to be completed by
June 30, 2012.
Phase Two: (a) Lands twenty-four (24) hectares
up to fifty (50) hectares shall likewise be covered for
purposes of agrarian reform upon the effectivity of
this Act. All alienable and disposable public
agricultural lands; all arable public agricultural lands
under agro-forest, pasture and agricultural leases
already cultivated and planted to crops in
accordance with Section 6, Article XIII of the
Constitution; all public agricultural lands which are to
be opened for new development and resettlement:
and all private agricultural lands of landowners with
aggregate landholdings above twenty-four (24)
hectares up to fifty (50) hectares which have already
been subjected to a notice of coverage issued on or
before December 1O, 2008, to implement principally
the rights of farmers and regular farmworkers, who
are landless, to own directly or collectively the lands
they till, which shall be distributed immediately upon
the effectivity of this Act, with the implementation to
be completed by June 30, 2012; and

(b) All remaining private agricultural lands of


landowners with aggregate landholdings in excess of
twenty-four (24) hectares, regardless as to whether
these have been subjected to notices of coverage or
not, with the implementation to begin on July 1, 2012
and to be completed by June 30, 2013
Phase Three: All other private agricultural lands
commencing with large landholdings and proceeding
to medium and small landholdings under the
following schedule:
(a) Lands
of
landowners
with
aggregate
landholdings above ten (10) hectares up to twentyfour (24)hectares, insofar as the excess hectarage
above ten (10) hectares is concerned, to begin on
July 1,2012 and to be completed by June 30, 2013;
and
(b) Lands
of
landowners
with
aggregate
landholdings from the retention limit up to ten (10)
hectares, to begin on July 1, 2013 and to be
completed by June 30, 2014; to implement
principally the right of farmers and regular
farmworkers who are landless, to own directly or
collectively the lands they till.
The schedule of acquisition and redistribution of all
agricultural lands covered by this program shall be
made in accordance with the above order of priority,
which shall be provided in the implementing rules to
be prepared by the PARC, taking into consideration
the following: the landholdings wherein the farmers
are organized and understand ,the meaning and

obligations of farmland ownership; the distribution of


lands to the tillers at the earliest practicable time;
the enhancement of agricultural productivity; and
the availability of funds and resources to implement
and support the program: Provided, That the PARC
shall design and conduct seminars, symposia,
information campaigns, and other similar programs
for farmers who are not organized or not covered by
any landholdings. Completion by these farmers of
the aforementioned seminars, symposia, and other
similar programs shall be encouraged in the
implementation of this Act particularly the provisions
of this Section.

The PARC shall establish guidelines to implement


the above priorities and distribution scheme,
including the determination of who are qualified
beneficiaries: Provided, That an owner-tiller may be a
beneficiary of the land he/she does not own but is
actually cultivating to the extent of the difference
between the area of the land he/she owns and the
award ceiling of three (3) hectares: Provided, further,
That collective ownership by the farmer beneficiaries
shall be subject to Section 25 of Republic Act No.
6657, as amended: Provided, furthermore, That rural
women shall be given the opportunity t o participate
in the development planning and implementation of
this Act: Provided, finally, That in no case should the
agrarian reform beneficiaries' sex, economic,
religious, social, cultural and political attributes
adversely affect the distribution of lands.

C. Exceptions from the Implementation Phases


1. Land acquisition and distribution shall be
completed by June 30, 2014 on a province-byprovince basis. In any case, the PARC or the PARC
Executive Committee (PARC EXCOM), upon
recommendation by the Provincial Agrarian Reform
Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM), may declare
certain provinces as priority land reform areas, in
which case the acquisition and distribution of
private agricultural lands therein under advanced
phases may be implemented ahead of the above
schedules on the condition that prior phases in
these provinces have been completed: Provided,
That notwithstanding the above schedules, phase
three (b) shall not be implemented in a particular
province until at least ninety percent (90%) of the
provincial balance of that particular province as of
January 1, 2009 under Phase One, Phase Two (a),
Phase Two (b),,and Phase Three (a), excluding
lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), have
been
successfully
completed.
PARC,
upon
recommendation of the Provincial Agrarian Reform
Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM), may declare
certain provinces or regions as priority land reform
areas, in which case the acquisition and
distribution of private agricultural lands therein
may be implemented ahead of schedule. [Section
7]
2. The PARC may suspend the implementation of
CARL with respect to ancestral lands for purpose of

identifying and delineating such lands. [Section 9]


IV.

Improvement of Tenurial and Labor Relations

A. Leasehold Tenancy
1. Tenancy in General
a. Definition: Agricultural tenancy is the physical
possession by a person of land devoted to
agriculture, belonging to or legally possessed by
another for the purpose of production through
the labor of the former and of the members of
his immediate farm household in consideration
of which the former agrees to share the harvest
with the latter or to pay a price certain or ascertainable, either in produce or in money, or in
both [Section 3 of RA 1199, Guerrero v. CA 4]
b. Types of Tenancy Relation
i. Sharehold Tenancy; and
ii. Leasehold Tenancy
2. Leasehold vs. Sharehold Tenancy
* The two tenancy systems are distinct and
different form each other. In sharehold, the
tenant may choose to shoulder, in addition to
labor, any one or more of the items of contributions (such as farm implements, work animals, final harrowing, transplanting), while in
4

142 SCRA 136.

leasehold, the tenant or lessee always shoulders


all items of production except the land. Under
the sharehold system, the tenant and the
landholder are co-managers, whereas in
leasehold, the tenant is the sole manager of the
farmholding. Finally, in sharehold tenancy, the
tenant and the landholder divide the harvest in
proportion to their contributions, while in
leasehold tenancy, the tenant or lessee gets the
whole produce with the mere obligation to pay a
fixed rental. [People v. Adillo 5]
Sharehold

Leasehold

Expenses of
Production

Tenant and
Landowner

Tenant

Management

Tenant and
Landowner

Tenant

Payment

Tenant and
landowner
divide the
harvest in
proportion to
their contributions.

Tenant gets the


whole produce
with the mere
obligation to
pay rent.

3. Leasehold vs. Civil Lease


* There are important differences between a
leasehold tenancy and a civil law lease. The
subject matter of leasehold tenancy is limited to
agricultural lands; that of civil law lease may be
5

68 SCRA 90.

either rural or urban property. As to attention and


cultivation, the law requires the leasehold tenant
to personally attend to, and cultivate the
agricultural land, whereas the civil law lessee need
not personally cultivate or work the thing leased.
As to purpose, the landholding in leasehold
tenancy is devoted to agriculture, whereas in civil
law lease, the purpose may be for any other lawful
pursuit. As to the law that governs, the civil law
lease is governed by the Civil Code, whereas
leasehold tenancy is governed by special laws.
[Gabriel v. Pangilinan 6]
Leasehold
Tenancy

Civil Law Lease

Subject Matter

Agricultural
lands only

Both rural and


urban properties

Attention and
Cultivation

Tenant must
Lessee does not
personally culti- have to pervate
sonally cultivate

Purpose

Agriculture only

Any lawful
purpose

Governing Law

Special laws

Civil Code

4. Purpose of the Leasehold Relation: To protect and


improve the tenurial and economic status of the
farmers in tenanted lands. [Section 12]
6

58 SCRA 590.

5. Application [Section 12]


a. Tenanted lands under the retention limit; and
b. Tenanted lands not yet acquired under the CARL
B. Production Sharing Plan
1. Application [Section 13]
a. Any enterprise adopting the scheme provided
for in Section 32;
b. Any enterprise operating under a production
venture, lease, management contract or other
similar arrangement;
c. Any farm covered by Section 8 (Private agricultural lands leased by Multinational corporations) and Section 11 (Commercial farming);
and
d. Corporate farms pending final land transfer.
2. Period for Compliance:
from effectivity of CARL

Within ninety (90) days

3. Scheme
(Applies
to
those
individuals
or
enterprises realizing gross sales in excess of
five million pesos per annum, unless the DAR
sets a lower ceiling) [Section 32]
a. Three percent (3%) of the gross sales from the
production of such lands;
b. Distributed within sixty (60) days of the end of
the fiscal year;
c. Treated as additional compensation to regular

and other farmworkers of such lands;


d. During the transitory period (before the land is
turned over to the farmworker-beneficiaries), at
least one percent (1%) of the gross sales shall
be distributed to the managerial, supervisory
and technical group; and
e. If profit is realized, an additional ten percent
(10%) of the net profit after tax shall be
distributed to the regular and other farmworkers
within ninety (90) days of the end of the fiscal
year.
V. Registration
A. Within 180 days from the effectivity of CARL,
landowners, natural or juridical, shall file a sworn
statement in the assessor's office the following
information:
a. the description and area of the property;
b. the average gross income from the property for at
least 3 years;
c. the names of all tenants and farmworkers therein;
d. the crops planted in the property and the area
covered by the crop as of June 1, 1987;
e. the terms of mortgages, leases and management
contracts subsisting as of June 1, 1987; and
f. the latest declared market value of the land as
determined by the city or provincial assessor.
(Section 14)

B. The DAR, in coordination with the Barangay Agrarian


Reform Committee (BARC) shall register all agricultural lessees, tenants and farmworkers who are
qualifies to be beneficiaries under the CARL. These
potential beneficiaries shall provide the following
data:
a. names and members of their immediate farm
household;
b. owners and administrators of the lands they work
on and the length of tenurial relationship;
c. location and area of the land they work;
d. crops planted; and
e. their share in the harvest or amount of rental paid
or wages received.
VI. Private Land Acquisition
A. Retention Limit [Section 6]
1. Five hectares is the retention limit. No person
may own or retain, directly or indirectly, any public
or private agricultural land, the size of which shall
vary according to factors governing a viable
family-sized farm, such as commodity produced,
terrain, infrastructure, and soil fertility as
determined by the Presidential Agrarian Reform
Council (PARC), but in no case shall the retention
limit exceed five (5) hectares.
2. Additional three hectares may be awarded to
each child, subject to the following qualifications:

a. That the child is at least fifteen (15) years of


age; and
b. That the child is actually tilling the land or
directly managing the farm.
3. Exceptions to the retention limit of five
hectares.
a. Landowners whose lands have been covered by
PD 27; and
b. Original homestead grantees or direct compulsory heirs who still own the original homestead
at the time of the approval of CARL, as long as
they continue to cultivate said homestead.
C. Provincial, city and municipal government ,units
acquiring
private
agricultural
lands
by
expropriation or other modes of acquisition to be
used for actual, direct and exclusive public
purposes, such as roads and bridges, public
markets, school sites, resettlement sites, local
government facilities, public parks and barangay
plazas or squares, consistent with the approved
local comprehensive land use plan, shall not be
subject to the five (5)-hectare retention limit
under this Section and Sections 70 and 73(a) of
Republic Act No. 6657, as amended: Provided,
That lands subject to CARP shall first undergo
the land acquisition and distribution process of
the program: Provided, further, That when these
lands have been subjected to expropriation, the
agrarian reform beneficiaries therein shall be
paid just compensation [Section 6-A].

4. Right to choose the area to be retained.


The right to choose the area to be retained,
which shall be compact or contiguous, shall
pertain to the landowner. If the land retained is
tenanted, the tenant shall have the option to
choose whether to remain therein or be a beneficiary in the same or another agricultural land. In
case the tenant chooses to remain in the retained
area, he shall be considered a leaseholder and
shall lose his right to be a beneficiary under this
Act. In case the tenant chooses to be a beneficiary
in another agricultural land, he loses his right as a
leaseholder to the land retained by the landowner.
The tenant must exercise this option within a
period of one (1) year from the time the landowner
manifest his choice of the area for retention.

B. Procedure
1. Voluntary Land Transfer (VLT) [Section 20]
a. Must be submitted to the DAR within one year
from effectivity of the CARl;
b. Must not be less favorable to the transferee than
those of the government's standing ; and
c. Shall include sanctions for non-compliance by
either party and shall be duly recorded and its
implementation monitored by the DAR.
D.Only those submitted by June 30, 2009 shall be
allowed.

2. Compulsory Acquisition [Section 16]


a. Notice to acquire the land shall be sent to the
landowner and the beneficiaries. The notice
shall also be posted in a conspicuous place in
the municipal building and the barangay hall of
the place where the property is located.
b. Within thirty (30) days from receipt of the
written notice, the landowner shall inform the
DAR of his acceptance or rejection of the offer.
c. If the offer is accepted, the LBP pays the
landowner and within thirty (30) days, the
landowner executes and delivers a deed of
transfer to the Government and surrenders the
Certificate of Title and other muniments of title.
d. In case of rejection or failure to reply, the DAR
shall
conduct
summary
administrative
proceedings to determine the compensation. If
he does concur with the compensation determined by the DAR, he can the matter to the
Courts.
e. Payment of the just compensation as determined
by the DAR or the Court.
f. Registration with the Register of Deeds for the
issuance of Transfer Certificate of Title in the
name of the Republic of the Philippines.
g. Standing Crops: The landowner shall retain
his share of any standing crops unharvested at
the time the DAR shall take possession of the
land and shall be given reasonable time to
harvest the same (Section 28).
C. Compensation

1. Determination of Just Compensation.


In determining just compensation, the cost of
acquisition of the land, the value of the standing
crop, the current: value of like properties, its
nature, actual use and income, the sworn valuation
by the owner, the tax declarations, the assessment
made by government assessors, and seventy
percent (70%) of the zonal valuation of the Bureau
of Internal Revenue (BIR), translated into a basic
formula by the DAR shall be considered, subject to
the final decision of the proper court. The social
and economic benefits contributed by the farmers
and the farmworkers and by the Government t o
the property as well as the nonpayment of taxes or
loans secured from any government financing
institution on the said land shall be considered as
additional factors to determine its valuation
[Section 17].
2. Under EO 405 (1990), Land Bank of the Philippines
shall be primarily responsible for the determination of the land valuation and compensation.
3. Mode of Payment [Section 18]
a. Cash under the following scheme:
i. For lands above 50 hectares
: 25%
ii. For lands above 24 and up to 50
: 30%
iii. For lands 24 and below
: 35%

* In case of VOS, the landowner shall be entitled


to an additional 5% cash payment. [Section
19]
b. Balance in any of the following:
i. Shares of stock in government-owned or controlled corporations, LBP preferred shares,
physical assets or other qualified investments;
ii. Tax credits which can be used against any tax
liability;
iii. Land Bank of the Philippines Bonds which
shall have the following features:
* Market interest rates aligned with 91-day
treasury bill rates;
* Ten percent (10%) of the face value of the
bonds shall mature every year from the
date of issuance until the tenth year; and
* Transferability and negotiability
c. Set-off
* All arrearages in real property taxes, without
penalty or interest, shall be deductible from
the compensation to which the owner is entitled. [Section 66]
D.Exemptions from Taxes and Fees
1. Transactions under CARL involving a transfer of
ownership, whether from natural or juridical persons, shall be exempted from taxes arising from
capital gains. These transactions shall also be

exempted from the payment of registration fees,


and all other taxes and fees for the conveyance or
transfer thereof; Provided, That all arrearages in
real property taxes, without penalty or interest,
shall be deducted from the compensation to which
the owner may be entitled. [Section 66]
2. All Registers of Deeds are hereby directed to
register, free from payment of all fees and other
charges, patents, titles and documents required for
the implementation of CARP. [Section 67]
VII. Land Redistribution
A. Beneficiaries [Section 22]
Beneficiaries, in their order of priority, are:
1. Agricultural lessees and share tenants;
2. Regular Farmworkers: a natural person who is
employed on a permanent basis by an agricultural
enterprise or farm [Section 3(h)];
a. Farmer refers to a natural person whose primary
livelihood is cultivation of land or the production
of agricultural crops, livestock and/or fisheries
either by himself/herself, or primarily with the
assistance of his/her immediate farm household,
whether the land is owned by him/her, or by
another person under a leasehold or share
tenancy agreement or arrangement with the
owner thereof [Section 3(f)].

b. Farmworker is a natural person who renders


service for value as an employee or laborer in an
agricultural enterprise or farm regardless of
whether his compensation is paid on a daily,
weekly, monthly or "pakyaw" basis. It includes
an individual whose work has ceased as a
consequence of, or in connection with, a pending
agrarian dispute and who has not obtained a
substantially equivalent and regular farm
employment [Section 3(g)].
3. Seasonal farmworkers: a natural person who is
employed on a recurrent, periodic or intermittent
basis by an agricultural enterprise or farm, whether as a permanent or an non-permanent laborer,
such as "dumaan", "sacada", and the like [Section
3(i)];
4. Other farmworkers: a farmworker who is not a
regular nor a seasonal farmworker [Section 3(j)];
5. Actual tillers or occupants of public lands;
6. Collective or cooperatives of the above beneficiaries; and
* Cooperatives shall refer to organizations
composed primarily of small agricultural
producers, farmers, farmworkers, or other
agrarian reform beneficiaries who voluntarily
organize themselves for the purpose of pooling
land, human, technological, financial or other
economic resources, and operated on the
principle of one member, one vote. A juridical

person may be a member of a cooperative, with


the same rights and duties as a natural person
[Section 3(k)].
7. Others directly working on the land.
Before any award is given to a farmer, the
qualified children of the landowner must receive
their three hectare award.
Rural women refer to women who are engaged
directly or indirectly in farming and/or fishing as their
source of livelihood, whether paid or unpaid, regular
or seasonal, or in food preparation, managing the
household, caring for the children, and other similar
activities [Section 3(l)].
B. Disqualifications of Beneficiaries [Section 22]
1. Beneficiaries under Presidential Decree No. 27 who
have culpably sold, disposed of, or abandoned
their land;
2. Beneficiaries guilty of negligence or misuse of the
land or any support extended to them;
* The mere fact that the expected quantity of harvest, as visualized and calculated by agricultural
experts, is not actually realized, or that the
harvest did not increase, is not a sufficient basis
for concluding that the tenants failed to follow
proven farm practices. [Belmi v. CAR 7]
7

7 SCRA 812.

3. Beneficiaries with at least three (3) hectares of


agricultural land; and
* Under the CARL, a beneficiary is landless if he
owns less than three (3) hectares of agricultural
land. [Section 25]
4. Beneficiaries whose land have been the subject of
foreclosure by the Land Bank of the Philippines.
[Section 26]
* Under the CARL, the LBP may foreclose on the
mortgage for non-payment of the beneficiary of
an aggregate of three (3) annual amortizations.
[Section 26]
C. Awards
1. Emancipation Patents (EPs) are issued for lands
covered under Operation Land Transfer (OLT) of
Presidential Decree No. 27.
2. Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs)
are issued for private agricultural lands and
resettlement areas covered under Republic Act No.
6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Law of 1988.
3. Free Patents are issued for public agricultural
lands.
* Under Section 15 of EO 229 (1987), all alienable

and disposable lands of the public domain


suitable for agriculture and outside proclaimed
settlements shall be redistributed by the
Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR).
4. Certificates of Stewardship Contracts are
issued for forest areas under the Integrated Social
Forestry Program.
D.Manner of Payment [Section 26]
1. Lands awarded shall be paid by the beneficiaries
to the LBP in thirty (30) annual amortizations at six
percent (6%) interest per annum. The payments
for the first three (3) years after the awards may
be at reduced amounts as established by the
PARC: Provided, That the first five (5) annual
payments may not be more than five percent (5%)
of the value of the annual gross production as
established by the DAR. Should the scheduled
annual payments after the fifth year exceed ten
percent (10%) of the annual gross production and
the failure to produce accordingly is not due to the
beneficiary's fault, the LBP may reduce the interest
rate or reduce the principal obligation to make the
repayment affordable.
2. Payment shall be:
a. Thirty (30) annual amortizations (First 3 years
may be at reduced amounts);
b. Six percent (6%) interest per annum; and
c. First five (5) annual payments may not be more

than five percent (5%) of the value of the annual


gross production.

E. Ownership Limitations on the Awarded Lands


1. Transferability of Awarded Lands. - Lands
acquired by beneficiaries may not be sold,
transferred or conveyed except through hereditary
succession, or to the government, or to the Land
Bank of the Philippines, or to other qualified
beneficiaries for a period of ten (10) years.
[Section 27]
* If the land is sold to the government or to the
LBP, the children or the spouse of the transferee
shall have a right to repurchase within a period
of two (2) years.
2. Conversions of Lands. - An application for
conversion may be entertained only after the lapse
of five (5) years from the award, when the land
ceases to be economically feasible and sound for
agricultural purposes or the locality has become
urbanized and the land will have a greater economic value for residential, commercial or
industrial purpose. [Section 66]
VIII. Corporate Farms
A. Definition

* Corporate farms are farms which are owned or


operated by corporations or other business
associations. [Section 29]
B. Distribution
1. Land Transfer (Voluntarily Offer to Sell or Compulsory Acquisition)
a. General rule: Lands shall be distributed directly
to the individual farmworker-beneficiaries.
b. Exception: However, if it is not economically
feasible and sound to divide the land, then it
shall be owned collectively by the farmworkerbeneficiaries through a workers' cooperative or
association. [Section 29]
c. In case the land is transferred to a cooperative
or association, the individual members of the
cooperatives shall be provided with homelots
and small farmlots for their family use, to be
taken from the land owned by the cooperative.
[Section 30]
2. Capital Stock Transfer [Section 31]
a. This is a non-land transfer. Corporations or
associations which voluntarily divest a proportion of their capital stock, equity or
participation in favor of their workers or other
qualified beneficiaries shall be deemed to have
complied with CARL.
b. Amount to be divested: Corporations owning

agricultural lands may give their qualified


beneficiaries the right to repurchase such
proportion of the capital stock of the corporation
that the agricultural land, actually devoted to
agricultural activities, bears in relation to the
company's total assets.
* Agricultural activity means the cultivation of
the soil, planting of crops, growing of fruit
trees, raising of fish, including the harvesting
of such farm products, and other farm
activities and practices performed by a farmer
in conjunction with such farming operations
done by persons whether natural or juridical
[Section 3(b)].
c. Conditions of the Capital Stock Transfer.
i. The books of the corporation shall be subject
to periodic audit by certified public accountants chosen by the beneficiaries;
ii. The beneficiaries shall be assured of at least
one (1) representative in the board of directors, or in a management or executive
committee, if one exists;
iii. Any share acquired by the beneficiaries
shall have the same rights and features as all
other shares; and
iv.Any transfer of shares of stock by the original
beneficiaries shall be void ab initio unless said
transaction is in favor of a qualified and
registered beneficiary within the same
corporation.

d. Period for Compliance: If within TWO (2) YEARS


from the approval of CARL or from the approval
of the PARC of the plan for stock distribution, the
stock transfer is not made or realized, the
agricultural land shall be subject to compulsory
coverage of the CARL.
IX. Support Services
A. General Support and Coordinative Services
[Section 35]
1. Irrigation facilities;
2. Infrastructure development and public works projects in areas and settlements that come under
agrarian reform;
3. Government subsidies for the use of irrigation
facilities;
4. Price support and guarantee for all agricultural
produce;
5. Extending the necessary credit;
6. Promoting, developing and extending financial
assistance to small and medium scale industries in
agrarian reform areas;
7. Assigning sufficient numbers of agricultural extension workers to farmers' organizations;
8. Undertaking
research,
development
and
dissemination of information on agrarian reform
and low-cost and ecologically sound farm inputs
and technologies to minimize reliance on
expensive and imported agricultural inputs;

9. Development of cooperative management through


intensive training;
10. Assistance in the identification of ready markets
for agricultural produce and training in other
various aspects of marketing; and
11. Administration, operation, management and
funding of support service programs and projects
including pilot projects and models related to
agrarian reform.
B. Support Services to Beneficiaries [Section 37]
1. Land surveys and titling;
2. Liberalized terms on credit facilities and production loans;
3. Extension services by way of planting, cropping,
production and post-harvest technology transfer,
as well as marketing and management assistance
and support to cooperatives and farmers'
organizations;
4. Infrastructure such as access trail, mini-dams,
public utilities, marketing and storage facilities;
and
5. Research, production and use of organic fertilizers
and other local substances necessary in farming
and cultivation.
C. Support Services to Landowners [Section 38]
1. Investment information, financial and counselling
assistance;
2. Facilities, programs and schemes for the

conversion or exchange of bonds issued for


payment of the lands acquired with stocks and
bonds issued by the National Government, the
Central Bank and other government institutions
and instrumentalities;
3. Marketing of LBP bonds, as well as promoting the
marketability of said bonds in traditional and nontraditional financial markets and stock exchanges;
4. Other services designed to utilize productively the
proceeds of the sale of such lands for rural industrialization;
5. Incentives granted to a registered enterprise
engaged in a pioneer or preferred area of investment as provided for in the Omnibus Investment
Code or granted by the PARC, the LBP or other
government financial institutions for those who invests in rural-based industries; and
6. Redemption by the LBP of up to thirty percent
(30%) of the face value of the its bonds for
landowners who will invest the proceeds of the
redemption in a BOI-registered company or in any
agri-business or agro-industrial enterprise in the
region where they have previously made
investments.
D.Funding
* At least twenty-five percent (25%) of all appropriations for agrarian reform shall be immediately set
aside and made available for support services. In
addition, the DAR shall be authorized to package
proposals and receive grants, aid and other forms
of financial assistance from any source. [Section

36]
X. Special Areas of Concern [Section 40]
A. Subsistence Fishing: Small fisherfolk, including
seaweed farmer, shall be assured of greater access
to the utilization of water resources.
B. Logging and Mining Concessions: Subject to the
requirement of a balanced ecology and conservation
of water resources, suitable areas in logging, mining
and pasture areas, shall be opened up for agrarian
settlements whose beneficiaries shall be required to
undertake reforestation and conservation production
methods.
* Certificates of Stewardship Contracts are issued
for forest areas under the Integrated Social Forestry Program.
C. Sparsely Occupied Public Agricultural Lands:
Sparsely occupied agricultural lands of the public
domain shall be surveyed, proclaimed and
developed as farm settlements for qualified landless
people.
* Agricultural land allocations shall be made for
ideal family-size farms.
* Uncultivated lands of the public domain shall be
made available on a lease basis to interested and

qualified parties. Priority shall be given to those


who will engage in the development of capitalintensive, traditional or pioneering crops.
D.Idle, Abandoned, Forecloses and Sequestered
Lands:
Idle,
abandoned,
foreclosed
and
sequestered lands shall be planned for distribution
as home lots and family-size farmlots to actual
occupants.
If land area permits, other landless
families shall be accommodated in these lands.
E. Rural Women: All qualified women members of the
agricultural labor force must be guaranteed and
assured equal rights to ownership of the land, equal
shares of the farm's produce, and representation in
advisory or appropriate decision-making bodies.
F. Veterans and Retirees: Landless ware veterans
and veterans of military campaigns, their surviving
spouses and orphans, retirees of the Armed Forces of
the Philippines and the Integrated National Police,
returnees, surrenderees and similar beneficiaries
shall be given due consideration in the disposition of
agricultural lands of the public domain.
G.Agriculture Graduates: Graduates of agricultural
schools who are landless shall be assisted by the
government in their desire to own and till agricultural
lands.

XI. Program Implementation

A. Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC)


1. Composition [Section 41]
a. Chairman: President of the Philippines
b. Vice-Chairman: Secretary of Agrarian Reform
c. Members:
i. Secretary of Agriculture;
ii. Secretary of Environment and Natural
Resources;
iii. Secretary of Budget and Management;
iv. Secretary of Local Government;
v. Secretary of Public Works and Highways;
vi. Secretary of Trade and Industry;
vii. Secretary of Finance;
viii. Secretary of Labor and Employment;
ix. Director-General of National Economic and
Development Authority;
x. President of Land Bank of the Philippines;
xi. Administrator of National Irrigation Authority;
xii. Three (3) representatives of affected landowners to represent Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao;
and
xiii. Six (6) representatives of agrarian reform
beneficiaries, two (2) each from Luzon,
Visayas and Mindanao, provided that one of
them shall be from cultural communities.
2. Functions and Duties [EO 229, 1987]
a. Formulate and implement policies, rules and
regulations necessary to implement the CARP;
b. Recommend small farm economy areas;

c. Schedule the acquisition and distribution of


specific agrarian reform areas; and
d. Control mechanisms for evaluating the owner's
declaration of current fair market value.
3. Executive
[Section 42]

Committee

(EXCOM)

of

the

PARC

a. There shall be an Executive Committee of the


PARC which shall meet and decide on any and all
matters in between meetings of the PARC:
Provided, however, That its decision must be
reported in the PARC immediately and not later
than the next meeting.
b. Composition: The Secretary of Agrarian Reform
shall be the Chairman and its members shall be
designated by the President, taking into account
Article XIII, Section 5 of the Constitution (Rights
of farmers to participate in the planning,
organization and management of the CARP).
4. PARC Secretariat [Section 43]
a. A PARC Secretariat is established to provide
general support and coordinative services such
as inter-agency linkages, program and project
appraisal and evaluation and general operations
monitoring for the PARC.
b. Composition: The Secretariat shall be headed
by the Secretary of Agrarian Reform who shall
be assisted by an Undersecretary and supported
by a staff whose composition shall be determined by the PARC Executive Committee.

B. Provincial
Agrarian
Committee (PARCCOM)

Reform

Coordinating

1. Composition (Section 44)


a. Chairman: an appointee of the President upon
recommendation of the PARC EXCOM;
b. Executive Officer: Provincial Agrarian Reform
Officer;
c. Members:
i. Representative from the Department of
Agriculture;
ii. Representative for the Department of Environment and Natural Resources;
iii. Representative for the Land Bank of the
Philippines;
iv.One representative each from existing
farmers'
organizations,
agricultural
cooperatives
and
non-governmental
organizations in the province;
v. Two representatives from the landowners, at
least one of whom shall be a producer representing the principal crop of the province;
vi. Two representatives from farmers and farmworker beneficiaries, at least one of whom
shall be a farmer or farmworker representing
the principal crop of the province; and
vii. In
areas
where
there
are
cultural
communities, there shall be one representative from them.
2. Functions and Duties

a. Coordinate and monitor the implementation of


the CARP in the province;
* The PARC shall provide the guidelines for a
province-by-province implementation of the
CARP. The ten-year program of distribution of
public and private lands in each province shall
be adjusted from year to year by the
province's PARCCOM, in accordance with the
level of operations previously established by
the PARC, in every case ensuring that support
services are available or have been
programmed before actual distribution is
effected. [Section 45]
b. Provide information on the following:
i. Provisions of the CARP;
ii. Guidelines issued by the PARC; and
iii. Progress of the CARP in the province.
C. Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC)
1. Composition [EO 229, 1987]
* The BARC shall be operated on a self-help basis
and will be composed of the following:
a. Representatives
beneficiaries;
b. Representatives
beneficiaries;
c. Representatives
d. Representatives
e. Representatives
f. Representatives

of

farmer

and

farmworker

of farmer and farmworker nonof agricultural cooperatives;


of other farmer organizations;
of the Barangay Council;
of non-governmental organiza-

tion (NGOs);
g. Representatives of landowners;
h. Department of Agriculture official assigned to
the area;
i. Department of Environment and Natural
Resources official assigned to the area;
j. DAR Agrarian Reform Technologist assigned to
the area; and
k. Land Bank of the Philippines representative.
2. Functions [EO 229, 1987 and Section 47]
* The BARC shall have the following functions:
a. Mediate and conciliate between parties involved
in an agrarian dispute;
b. Assist in the identification of qualified beneficiaries and landowners within the barangay;
c. Attest to the accuracy of the initial parcellary
mapping of the beneficiary's tillage;
d. Assist qualified beneficiaries in obtaining credit
from lending institutions;
e. Assist n the initial determination of the value of
the land;
f. Assist the DAR representative in the preparation
of periodic reports on the CARP implementation;
g. Coordinate the delivery of support services to
beneficiaries;
h. Participate and give support in the implementation of CARP; and
i. Perform such other functions as may be assigned by the PARC and DAR.

D.Others
1. No injunction, restraining order, prohibition or
mandamus shall be issued by the lower courts
against the DAR, DA, DENR and DOJ in their
implementation of CARP. [Section 68]
* This does not apply to the Supreme Court.
2. The PARC, in the exercise of its functions, is hereby
authorized to call upon the assistance and support
of other government agencies, bureaus and
offices, including government-owned or controlled
corporations. [Section 69]
XII. Administrative Adjudication
A. Jurisdiction
1. The Department of Agrarian Reform is hereby
vested with primary jurisdiction to determine
and adjudicate agrarian reform matters and
shall have exclusive original jurisdiction over
all matter involving the implementation of
agrarian reform, except those falling under the
exclusive jurisdiction of the Department of
Agriculture and the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources. [Section 50]
2. DAR Adjudicator

a. Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication


Board (DARAB)
i. Exercises both original and appellate jurisdiction
ii. Exercises functional supervision over the
RARADs and PARADs
b. Regional Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (RARAD)
i. Executive Adjudicator in his region
ii. Receives, hears and adjudicates cases which
the PARAD cannot handle because the latter is
disqualified or inhibits himself or because the
case is complex or sensitive
c. Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (PARAD)
3. Exclusive Jurisdiction of the Secretary of Agrarian
Reform
* Matter involving strictly the administrative
implementation of the CARP and agrarian
laws and regulations shall be the exclusive
prerogative of and cognizable by the Secretary
of Agrarian Reform
B. BARC Certification Requirement
1. The DAR shall not take cognizance of any agrarian
dispute of controversy unless a certification from
the BARC that the dispute has been submitted to it
for mediation and conciliation without any success
of settlement is presented. [Section 53]

* Failure to present a BARC certification is not a


ground for dismissal of the action.
The
complainant or petitioner will be given every
opportunity to secure the BARC certification.
[Rule III, Section 1(c) of the DARAB Rules]
2. Exceptions to the BARC Certification Requirement:
a. Failure of the BARC to issue a certification within
thirty (30) days after a matter or issue is
submitted to it;
b. The required certification cannot be complied
with for valid reasons like the non-existence or
non-organization of the BARC or the impossibility
of convening it. A certification to that effect
may be issued by the proper agrarian reform
officer in lieu of the BARC certification; [Rule III,
Section 1(b) of DARAB Rules]
c. The issue involves the valuation of the land to
determine just compensation; [Rule III, Section 2
of DARAB Rules]
d. The parties reside in different barangays, unless
they adjoin each other;
* Where the lands involved in the dispute straddles two or more barangays, the BARC of the
Barangay where the biggest portion lies, shall
have the authority to conduct the mediation or
conciliation proceeding.
e. One of the party is a public or private corporation, a partnership, association or juridical
person, or a public officer or employee and the
dispute relates to the performance of his official
functions;
f. The issue involves merely the administrative

implementation of agrarian reform law, rule,


guideline or policy; and
g. The issue is beyond the pale of mediation,
conciliation or compromise, as determined by
the Secretary of Agrarian Reform.
C. Rules of Procedure
1. It shall not be bound by technical rules of procedure and evidence but shall proceed to hear and
decide all cases, disputes or controversies in a
most
expeditious
manner,
employing
all
reasonable means to ascertain the facts of every
case in accordance with justice and equity and the
merits of the case. [Section 50]
2. Responsible leaders shall be allowed to represent
themselves, their fellow farmers, or their organizations in any proceedings before the DAR [Section
50]
3. To discourage frivolous or dilatory appeals from
the decision or order on the local or provincial
levels, the DAR may impose reasonable penalties,
including but not limited to fines or censures upon
erring parties. [Section 52]
D.Enforcement Powers
1. It shall have the power to summon witnesses,
administer
oaths,
take
testimony,
require
submission of reports, compel the production of

books and documents and answers to interrogatories and issue subpoena, and subpoena duces
tecum and to enforce its writs through sheriffs or
other duly deputized officers. It shall likewise have
the power to punish direct and indirect contempt
in the same manner and subject to the same
penalties as provided in the Rules of Court.
[Section 50]
2. The DAR has executed a Memorandum of
Agreement with the Philippine National Police, in
order that the latter may assist the DAR in the
enforcement of its orders.
E. Judicial Review
1. Any decision, order, award or ruling of the DAR on
any agrarian dispute or on any matter pertaining
to the application, implementation, enforcement or
interpretation of the CARL and other pertinent laws
on agrarian reform may be brought to the Court
of Appeals by certiorari within fifteen (15)
days from receipt of a copy thereof. [Section
54]
2. The findings of fact of the DAR shall be final and
conclusive if based on substantial evidence.
3. Notwithstanding an appeal to the Court of Appeals,
the decision of the DAR shall be immediately
executory. [Section 50]

XIII. Special Agrarian Court


A. Jurisdiction [Section 57]
1. The Special Agrarian Courts (Regional Trial Courts)
shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction
over:
a. All petitions for the determination of just
compensation to landowners; and
b. The prosecution of all criminal offenses under
the CARL.
2. The Special Agrarian Courts, upon their own
initiative or at the instance of any of the parties,
may appoint one or more commissioners to
examine, investigate and ascertain facts relevant
to the dispute, including the valuation of properties and to file a written report thereof with the
court.
B. Appeals
1. Appeal from the Decision of the Special Agrarian
Court
* Within fifteen (15) days from the receipt of the
decision of the Special Agrarian Court, an appeal
may be taken by filing a petition for review
with the Court of Appeals.
2. Appeal from the Decision of the Court of Appeals

* Within a non-extendible period of fifteen (15)


days from the receipt of the decision of the Court
of Appeals, an appeal may be taken by filing a
petition for review with the Supreme Court.
XIV. Prohibited Acts and Omissions
A. Prohibited Acts and Omissions
1. Section 73. The following are prohibited.
a. The ownership or possession, for the purpose of
circumventing the provisions of CARL, of
agricultural lands in excess of the total retention
limits or award ceilings by any person, natural or
juridical,
except
those
under
collective
ownership by farmer-beneficiaries.
b. The forcible entry or illegal detainer by persons
who are not qualified beneficiaries to avail
themselves of the rights and benefits of the
CARP.
c. The conversion by any landowner of his
agricultural land into non-agricultural uses with
intent to avoid the application of CARL to his
landholdings and to dispossess his tenant
farmers of the land tilled by them.
d. The willful prevention or obstruction by any
person,
association
or
entity
of
the
implementation of the CARP.
e. The sale, transfer, conveyance or change of the
nature of lands outside of urban centers and city

limits either in whole or in part after the


effectivity of CARL.
i. Upon the effectivity of CARL, any sale,
disposition, lease, management contract or
transfer of possession of private lands
executed by the original landowner in
violation of CARL shall be null and void;
Provided, however, that those executed prior
to CARL shall be valid only when registered
with the Register of Deeds within a three (3)
months after the effectivity of CARL. [Section
6]
* Exception:
Banks and other financial
institutions allowed by law to hold mortgage
rights or security interests in agricultural lands
to secure loans and other obligations of
borrowers, may acquire title to these
mortgaged properties, regardless of area, subject to existing laws on compulsory transfer of
foreclosed
assets
and
acquisition
as
prescribed under Section 16 of CARL [Section
71]
ii. Disposition of private lands is in violation of
CARL if it is over the retention limit.
iii. The date of registration of the deed of
conveyance in the Register of Deeds with
respect to title lands and the date of the
issuance of the tax declaration to the
transferee of the property with respect to
untitled lands shall be conclusive for this
purpose.

f. The sale, transfer of conveyance by a


beneficiary of the right to use or any other
usufructuary right over the land he acquired by
virtue of being a beneficiary, in order to
circumvent the provisions of CARL. [Refer to
VII(E) of this Outline]
2. Any person who knowingly or willfully violates the
provisions of CARL shall be punished by
imprisonment of not less than one (1) month to not
more than three (3) years or a fine of not less than
one thousand pesos (P 1,000.00) and not more
than fifteen thousand pesos (P 15,000.00), or both
at the discretion of the court.
If the offender is a corporation or association, the
officer responsible therefor shall be criminally
liable.
B. Conversions
1. Authority to Allow Conversion of Agricultural Land
for Non-agricultural Uses
a. Under Executive Order No. 129-A, Series of
1987, the Department of Agrarian Reform is
authorized to:
i. Approve or disapprove the conversion,
restructuring or readjustment of agricultural
lands into non-agricultural uses; [Section 4(j)]
ii. Have exclusive authority to approve or
disapprove conversion of agricultural lands for
residential, commercial, industrial and other

land uses as may be provided for by law.


[Section 5(l)]
b. The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law
provides that the DAR ... may authorize the
reclassification or conversion on the land and its
disposition. [Section 65]
2. Conversion
a. After the lapse of five (5) years from its award,
when the land ceases to be economically
feasible and sound for agricultural purposes, or
the locality has become highly urbanized and
the land will have greater economic value for
residential, commercial or industrial purposes,
the DAR, upon application of the beneficiary or
the
landowner,
may
authorize
the
reclassification or conversion on the land and its
disposition: Provided, That the beneficiary shall
have fully paid his obligation. [Section 65]
b. Grounds for conversion
i. Five (5) years had lapsed from the award of
the land;
ii. The land ceases to be economically feasible
and sound for agricultural purposes, or the
locality has become highly urbanized and the
land will have greater economic value for
residential, commercial or industrial purposes;
and
iii. Beneficiary shall have fully paid his
obligation.

c. Administrative Order No. 20, Series of 1992


[Took effect on 30 December 1992]
* President Fidel V. Ramos directed the
observance by all agencies and local
government units the following interim
guidelines on agricultural land use conversion.
i. All irrigated or irrigable agricultural lands
shall not be subject to and non-negotiable
for conversion;
ii. All other agricultural lands may be
converted only upon strict compliance with
existing laws, rules and regulations.
3. Disturbance Compensation
* Section 36(1) of Republic Act No. 3844, as
amended provides: the agricultural lessee shall
be entitled to disturbance compensation
equivalent to five years rental on his
landholding.
* Displaced farmers are entitled to disturbance
compensation which varies depending on the
agreement between the farmers and the
landowners.

XV. Relation to Other Laws

A. Suppletory Application: The provisions of Republic


Act No. 3844, as amended, Presidential Decree Nos.
27 and 266, as amended, Executive Order Nos. 228
and 229, both Series of 1987; and other laws not
inconsistent with this Act shall have suppletory
effect. [Section 75]
B. Repealing Clause: Section 35 of Republic Act No.
3844, Presidential Decree No. 316, the last two
paragraphs of Section 12 of Presidential Decree No.
946, Presidential Decree No. 1038, and all other
laws,
decrees, executive orders, rules and
regulations, issuances or parts thereof inconsistent
with CARL are hereby repealed or amended accordingly.
XVI. Effectivity
* CARL takes effect immediately after publication in at
least two (2) national newspapers of general
circulation. CARL was printed 15 June 1988.

Prepared by: Atty. Ferdinand M. Casis

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