Agricultural Tenancy -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 as ascertainable,
either in produce or in money, or in both. (Sec. 3, RA 1199 as amended;
Guerrero vs. Court of Appeals)
Share Tenancy- Exists whenever two persons agree on a joint undertaking
for agricultural production wherein one party furnishes the land and the
other his labor, with either or both contributing any one or equivalent and
regular employment. (Sec.166 [25], RA 3844)
- Share tenancy no longer sanctioned under RA 6657
Leasehold Tenancy- exists when a person who, either personally or with
the aid of labor available from members of his/ her immediate farm
household undertakes to cultivate a piece of agricultural land belonging to or
legally possessed by, another in consideration of a fixed amount in money or
in produce or in both. (Sec 4, RA 1199)
Elements of tenancy relations:
a The parties are the landholder and the tenant;
b The subject is agricultural land;
c There is consent by the landholder for the tenant to work on the
land, given either orally or in writing, expressly or impliedly;
d The purpose is agricultural production;
e There is personal cultivation or with the help of the immediate
farm household; and
f There is compensation in terms of payment of a fixed amount in
money and/or produce.
(Caballes vs. DAR, 168 SCRA 254 [1988]; Gabriel vs.
Pangilinan,
58 SCRA 590 (1974); Oarde vs. CA, 280 SCRA
235, [1997]; Qua vs. CA, 198 SCRA 236 [1991].
Differences between Sharehold Tenancy and Leasehold Tenancy:
Expenses
Production
Management

SHAREHOLD
of Tenant & Landowner
Tenant & Landowner

LEASEHOLD
Tenant
Tenant

Payment

Tenant & Landowner Tenant

gets
whole
divide the harvest in produce
with
mere
proportion
to
their obligation to pay rent
contributions

Agricultural leasehold tenancy distinguished from civil law lease:

a Subject Matter - agricultural leasehold is limited to agricultural
land; while a civil law lease may refer to rural or urban property;
b Attention and Cultivation - leasehold tenant should personally
attend to, and cultivate the agricultural land; whereas the civil
law lessee need not personally cultivate or work the thing
leased;
c Purpose - In leasehold tenancy, the landholding is devoted to
agriculture; whereas in civil law lease, the purpose may be for any
other lawful pursuits;
d Law governing the relationship - Civil law lease is governed by the
Civil Code, whereas leasehold tenancy is governed by special law
(RA 3844 as amended by RA 6389). (Gabriel vs. Pangilinan,
58 SCRA 590 (1974)
IMPLEMENTATION EXTENDED BY RA 9700 to JUNE 30, 2014
Sec. 5: (Amending Sec. 7 of RA 6657)
XXX 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.
Sec. 6: Retention Limits:
Provided, however, that in case the area selected for retention by the
landowner is tenanted, the tenant shall have the option to choose whether
to:

a) Remain in retained area:

he shall be considered a leaseholder and shall lose his right to be a
beneficiary
b) Be a beneficiary in the same or another agricultural land with similar or
comparable features:
he loses his right as a leaseholder to the land retained by the
landowner.
The tenant must exercise this option within a period of (1) year from time the
landowner manifests his choice of the area for retention.
In all cases, the security of tenure of the farmers or farmworkers on the
land prior to the approval of this Act shall be respected.
Upon the effectivity of this Act, any sale, disposition, lease, management,
contract or transfer of possession of private lands executed by the original
landowner in violation of the Act shall be null and void: provided,
However, that those executed prior to this Act shall be valid only when
registered with the Register of Deeds within a period of three (3) months
after the effectivity of this Act.
Thereafter, all Registers of Deeds shall inform the Department of Agrarian
Reform (DAR) within thirty (30) days of any transaction involving
agricultural lands in excess of five (5) hectares.
Law refers to an Agricultural Tenant, not just any settler on the land
Substantial evidence of landlord tenant relationship must exist:
Landowner has engaged a person to personally cultivate an
agricultural land;
Landowner is compensated;
in terms of share in produce (share tenancy) or
in terms of price certain or ascertainable in produce or in money or
both (leasehold tenancy)
mere occupation or cultivation of an agricultural land will not ipso facto
make tiller an agricultural tenant
IF THE TENANT CHOOSES TO REMAIN IN THE RETAINED AREA, HE
BECOMES AN AGRICULTURAL LESSEE

Tenant becomes an Agricultural Lessee, not a tenant and is therefore

no longer qualified to be an agrarian reform beneficiary.
Can a lessee be a tenant in a separate landholding?
Section 27 of RA 3844 includes, as one of the prohibited acts of an
agricultural lessee, the entering into a contract to work additional

landholdings belonging to a different agricultural lessor or to acquire and

personally cultivate an economic family size farm without the knowledge and
consent of the lessor with whom he/she had first entered into leasehold, if
the first landholding is of sufficient size to make him/her and the members of
the immediate farm household fully occupied in its cultivation.
Based on this provision, it is still possible for a lessee to be a tenant in
another landholding. The prohibition applies if the land presently cultivated is
already of sufficient size to fully occupy the lessee or his/her immediate
household in the cultivation. However, even if the size is already sufficient
cultivation of other landholdings is still possible if there is consent of the
original lessor.