THE COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM LAW (REPUBLIC ACT NO.

6657, AS AMENDED)
II. Introduction
A. Constitutional Basis
1. Article II, Section 21: The State shall promote comprehensive rural
development and agrarian reform.
2. Article XII, Section 1: . . . The State shall promote industrialization and
full employment based on sound agricultural development and agrarian
reform, . . .
3. Article XIII, Section 3: . . . 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 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 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.
aHTDAc

5. Article XIII, Section 5: 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.
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
industrialization, employment creation, 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.
SITCcE

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 communitybased 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 decisionmaking 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.
LibLex

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 arrangements 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 cases before us present 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 farmerbeneficiary. This is definitely an exercise not of the police power but of
the power of eminent domain.
"Classification has been defined as the grouping of persons or things
similar to each other in certain particulars and different from each other
in these same particulars. To be valid, it must conform to the following
requirements: (1) it must be based on substantial distinctions; (2) it must
be germane to the purpose of the law; (3) it must not be limited to
existing conditions only; and (4) it must apply equally to all the
members of the class. The Court finds that all these requisites have been
met by the measures here challenged as arbitrary and discriminatory.
aAcDSC
"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 petitioners 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 enables 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. TDAHCS
"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.
acCETD

B. Exclusions from the Coverage of CARL

1. Under Section 10, 2 excluded from the coverage of the CARL are lands
actually, directly and exclusively used for:
a. Parks;
b. Wildlife;
c. Forest reserves;
d. Reforestation;
e. Fish sanctuaries and breeding grounds;

f. Watersheds and mangroves.

2. Private lands actually, directly and exclusively used for prawn farms
and fishponds shall be exempt from the coverage of this Act: Provided,
That said prawn farms and fishponds have not been distributed and
Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) issued to agrarian reform
beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
In cases where the fishponds or prawn farms have been subjected to
the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, by voluntary offer to sell, or
commercial farms deferment or notices of compulsory acquisition, a
simple and absolute majority of the actual regular workers or tenants must
consent to the exemption within one (1) year from the effectivity of this
Act. When the workers or tenants do not agree to this exemption, the
fishponds or prawn farms shall be distributed collectively to the worker
beneficiaries or tenants who shall form a cooperative or association to
manage the same.
3. Likewise, excluded from the coverage of 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 centers;
d. Church sites and convents appurtenant thereto;
e. Mosque sites and Islamic centers appurtenant thereto;
f. Communal burial grounds and cemeteries;
g. Penal colonies and penal farms actually worked by the inmates;
and
h. Government and private research and quarantine centers.
4. All lands with eighteen percent (18%) slope and over which are not
developed for agriculture are exempted from the coverage of CARL.

* An eighteen percent slope is not equivalent to an eighteen-degree

angle. Eighteen percent slope is obtained by having a 100-meter run
and an 18-meter rise.
5. In the case of Luz Farms v. Secretary of Agrarian Reform, 3 the
Supreme Court has excluded agricultural lands devoted to commercial
livestock, poultry and swine raising from the coverage of CARL.
aSEHDA

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 land devoted to any
growth, including but not limited to crop lands, saltbeds,
fishponds, idle and abandoned land (Record, CONCOM, August
7, 1986, Vol. III, p. 11).
"The intention of the Committee is to limit the application of the
word "agriculture." Commissioner Jamir proposed to insert the
word "ARABLE" to distinguish this kind of agricultural land
from such lands as commercial and industrial lands and
residential properties because all of them fall under the general
classification of the word "agricultural." This proposal, however,
was not considered because the Committee contemplated that
agricultural lands 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 questions 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 in the coverage of agrarian reform.

(Rollo, p. 21). EAHDac
"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.
DTSaHI

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 10, 2008,
to implement principally the rights of farmers and regular farmworkers,
who are landless, to own directly or collectively the lands they till, which
shall be distributed immediately upon the effectivity of this Act, with the
implementation to be completed by June 30, 2012; and
(b)
All remaining private agricultural lands of landowners with
aggregate landholdings in excess of twenty four (24) hectares, regardless as
to whether these have been subjected to notices of coverage or not, with
the implementation to begin on July 1, 2012 and to be completed by June
30, 2013.

Phase Three: All other private agricultural lands commencing with

large landholdings and proceeding to medium and small landholdings
under the following schedule:
(a)
Lands of landowners with aggregate landholdings above ten (10)
hectares up to twenty four (24) hectares, insofar as the excess hectarage
above ten (10) hectares is concerned, to begin on July 1, 2012 and to be
completed by June 30, 2013; and
(b)
Lands of landowners with aggregate landholdings from the
retention limit up to ten (10) hectares, to begin on July 1, 2013 and to be
completed by June 30, 2014; to implement principally the right of farmers
and regular farmworkers who are landless, to own directly or collectively
the lands they till.
The schedule of acquisition and redistribution of all agricultural
lands covered by this program shall be made in accordance with the above
order of priority, which shall be provided in the implementing rules to be
prepared by the PARC, taking into consideration the following: the
landholdings wherein the farmers are organized and understand, the
meaning and obligations of farmland ownership; the distribution of lands
to the tillers at the earliest practicable time; the enhancement of agricultural
productivity; and the availability of funds and resources to implement and
support the program: Provided, That the PARC shall design and conduct
seminars, symposia, information campaigns, and other similar programs
for farmers who are not organized or not covered by any landholdings.
Completion by these farmers of the aforementioned seminars, symposia,
and other similar programs shall be encouraged in the implementation of
this Act particularly the provisions of this Section.
The PARC shall establish guidelines to implement the above
priorities and distribution scheme, including the determination of who are
qualified beneficiaries: Provided, That an owner-tiller may be a beneficiary
of the land he/she does not own but is actually cultivating to the extent of
the difference between the area of the land he/she owns and the award
ceiling of three (3) hectares: Provided, further, That collective ownership
by the farmer beneficiaries shall be subject to Section 25 of Republic Act
No. 6657, as amended: Provided, furthermore, That rural women shall be
given the opportunity to 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.
ATcaID

C.

Exceptions from the Implementation Phases

1. Land acquisition and distribution shall be completed by June 30, 2014
on a province-by-province basis. In any case, the PARC or the PARC
Executive Committee (PARC EXCOM), upon recommendation by the
Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM), may
declare certain provinces as priority land reform areas, in which case the
acquisition and distribution of private agricultural lands therein under
advanced phases may be implemented ahead of the above schedules on the
condition that prior phases in these provinces have been completed:
Provided, That notwithstanding the above schedules, phase three (b) shall
not be implemented in a particular province until at least ninety percent
(90%) of the provincial balance of that particular province as of January 1,
2009 under Phase One, Phase Two (a), Phase Two (b), and Phase Three (a),
excluding lands under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR), have been successfully completed. The
PARC, upon recommendation of the 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 from each
other. In sharehold, the tenant may choose to shoulder, in addition
to labor, any one or more of the items of contributions (such as farm
implements, work animals, final harrowing, transplanting), while in
leasehold, the tenant or lessee always shoulders all items of
production except the land. Under the sharehold system, the tenant
and the landholder are co-managers, whereas in leasehold, the
tenant is the sole manager of the farmholding. Finally, in sharehold
tenancy, the tenant and the landholder divide the harvest in
proportion to their contributions, while in leasehold tenancy, the
tenant or lessee gets the whole produce with the mere obligation to
pay a fixed rental. [People v. Adillo] 5
cCaSHA

Sharehold
Leasehold
Expenses of Production
Tenant

Tenant and Landowner

Management
Tenant

Tenant and Landowner

Payment
Tenant gets the whole

Tenant and landowner

divide the harvest in

produce with the

proportion to their
mere obligation to
contributions.
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 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
and urban

Agricultural lands only

Both rural
properties

Attention and
not have to
Cultivation
cultivate

Tenant must personally

Purpose
purpose

Agriculture only

Governing Law

cultivate

Special laws

Lessee does
personally
Any lawful
Civil Code

4. Purpose of the Leasehold Relation: To protect and improve the tenurial

and economic status of the farmers in tenanted lands. [Section 12]
5. Application [Section 12]
a. Tenanted lands under the retention limit; and
b. Tenanted lands not yet acquired under the CARL.
B. Production Sharing Plan
1. Application [Section 13]
a. Any enterprise adopting the scheme provided for in Section 32;
b. Any enterprise operating under a production venture, lease,
management contract or other similar arrangement;
c. Any farm covered by Section 8 (Private agricultural lands leased
by Multinational corporations) and Section 11 (Commercial
farming); and
d. Corporate farms pending final land transfer.
2. Period for Compliance: Within ninety (90) days from effectivity of
CARL

3. Scheme (Applies to those individuals or enterprises realizing gross

sales in excess of five million pesos per annum, unless the DAR sets a
lower ceiling) [Section 32]
a. Three percent (3%) of the gross sales from the production of
such lands;
TcEaAS

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

qualified 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.
DTEHIA

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 manifests 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]

SDHAcI

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 not concur with the compensation
determined by the DAR, he can bring 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 to 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%

SAHITC

* 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: natural persons who are 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)].
ISAaTH

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: natural persons who are employed on a
recurrent, periodic or intermittent basis by an agricultural enterprise or
farm, whether as permanent or non-permanent laborers, such as "dumaan",
"sacada", and the like [Section 3 (i)];
4. Other farmworkers: farmworkers who are not regular or seasonal
farmworkers [Section 3 (j)];
5. Actual tillers or occupants of public lands;
6. Collectives 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
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]
SacDIE

* 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 purposes. [Section
65]
VIII. Corporate Farms
A. Definition

aSATHE

* Corporate farms are farms which are owned or operated by corporations

or other business associations. [Section 29]
B. Distribution

1. Land Transfer (Voluntarily Offer to Sell or Compulsory Acquisition)

a. General rule: Lands shall be distributed directly to the individual
farmworker-beneficiaries.
b. Exception: However, if it is not economically feasible and sound
to divide the land, then it shall be owned collectively by the
farmworker-beneficiaries 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.
EacHCD

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 postharvest 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;

EcHIAC

2. Facilities, programs and schemes for the conversion or exchange of

bonds issued for payment of the lands acquired with stocks and bonds
issued by the National Government, the Central Bank and other
government institutions and instrumentalities;
3. Marketing of LBP bonds, as well as promoting the marketability of said
bonds in traditional and non-traditional financial markets and stock
exchanges;
4. Other services designed to utilize productively the proceeds of the sale
of such lands for rural industrialization;
5. Incentives granted to a registered enterprise engaged in a pioneer or
preferred area of investment as provided for in the Omnibus Investment

Code or granted by the PARC, the LBP or other government financial

institutions for those who invests in rural-based industries; and
6. Redemption by the LBP of up to thirty percent (30%) of the face value
of its bonds for landowners who will invest the proceeds of the redemption
in a BOI-registered company or in any agri-business or agro-industrial
enterprise in the region where they have previously made investments.
D. Funding
* At least twenty-five percent (25%) of all appropriations for agrarian
reform shall be immediately set aside and made available for support
services. In addition, the DAR shall be authorized to package proposals
and receive grants, aid and other forms of financial assistance from any
source. [Section 36]
X. Special Areas of Concern [Section 40]
A. Subsistence Fishing: Small fisherfolk, including seaweed farmer, shall be
assured of greater access to the utilization of water resources.
B. Logging and Mining Concessions: Subject to the requirement of a balanced
ecology and conservation of water resources, suitable areas in logging, mining and
pasture areas, shall be opened up for agrarian settlements whose beneficiaries
shall be required to undertake reforestation and conservation production methods.
* Certificates of Stewardship Contracts are issued for forest areas under
the Integrated Social Forestry Program.
C. Sparsely Occupied Public Agricultural Lands: Sparsely occupied agricultural
lands of the public domain shall be surveyed, proclaimed and developed as farm
settlements for qualified landless people.
* Agricultural land allocations shall be made for ideal family-size farms.
* Uncultivated lands of the public domain shall be made available on a
lease basis to interested and qualified parties. Priority shall be given to
those who will engage in the development of capital-intensive, traditional
or pioneering crops.
D. Idle, Abandoned, 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.
ESTCHa

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 decisionmaking bodies.
F. Veterans and Retirees: Landless war 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;

DECcAS

c. Schedule the acquisition and distribution of specific agrarian

reform areas; and
d. Control mechanisms for evaluating the owner's declaration of
current fair market value.
3. Executive Committee (EXCOM) of the PARC [Section 42]
a. There shall be an Executive Committee of the PARC which shall
meet and decide on any and all matters in between meetings of the
PARC: Provided, however, That its decision must be reported to the
PARC immediately and not later than the next meeting.
b. Composition: The Secretary of Agrarian Reform shall be the
Chairman and its members shall be designated by the President,
taking into account Article XIII, Section 5 of the Constitution
(Rights of farmers to participate in the planning, organization and
management of the CARP).
4. PARC Secretariat [Section 43]
a. A PARC Secretariat is established to provide general support and
coordinative services such as inter-agency linkages, program and

project appraisal and evaluation and general operations monitoring

for the PARC.
b. Composition: The Secretariat shall be headed by the Secretary of
Agrarian Reform who shall be assisted by an Undersecretary and
supported by a staff whose composition shall be determined by the
PARC Executive Committee.
B. Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM)
1. Composition (Section 44)
a. Chairman: an appointee of the President upon recommendation
of the PARC EXCOM;
b. Executive Officer: Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer;
c. Members:
i. Representative from the Department of Agriculture;
ii. Representative from the Department of Environment and
Natural Resources;
iii. Representative from the Land Bank of the Philippines;
iv. One representative each from existing farmers'
organizations, agricultural cooperatives and nongovernmental 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
CAETcH

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

h. Department of Agriculture official assigned to the area;

i. Department of Environment and Natural Resources
official assigned to the area;
j. DAR Agrarian Reform Technologist assigned to the area;
and
k. Land Bank of the Philippines representative.
2. Functions [EO 229, 1987 and Section 47]
* The BARC shall have the following functions:
a. Mediate and conciliate between parties involved in an
agrarian dispute;
b. Assist in the identification of qualified beneficiaries and
landowners within the barangay;
c. Attest to the accuracy of the initial parcellary mapping of
the beneficiary's tillage;
d. Assist qualified beneficiaries in obtaining credit from
lending institutions;
e. Assist in 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.
TaEIAS

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 matters 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

* Matters 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 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. [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 parties 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
EHASaD

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 Courts
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.
EICScD

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 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]
ETDAaC

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 titled 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 or conveyance by a beneficiary of the right to
use or any other usufructuary's 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
(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.
B. Conversions
1. Authority to Allow Conversion of Agricultural Land to 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 of
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;

ESTCHa

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

Footnotes
1.

175 SCRA 343.

2.

As amended by Republic Act No. 7881.

3.

192 SCRA 51.

4.

142 SCRA 136.

5.

68 SCRA 90.

6.

58 SCRA 590.

7.

7 SCRA 812.