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 comprehen-
sive rural development and agrarian reform.
2. Article XII, Section 1: x x x The State shall promote indus-
trialization 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 farm-
workers, 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 con-
siderations, 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 industrialization, 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.
"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

1 175 SCRA 343.

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 substan-
tial 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 re-
quirements 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 Constitu-
tion, 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 Compre-
hensive Agrarian Reform Program:
a. All alienable and disposable lands of the public domain
devoted to or suitable for agriculture. No reclassification of
forest or mineral lands to agricultural lands shall be
undertaken after the approval of this Act until Congress,
taking into account ecological, developmental and equity
considerations, shall have determined by law, the specific
limits of the public domain;
 b. All lands of the public domain in excess of the specific limits
as determined by Congress in the preceding paragraph;
c. All other lands owned by the Government devoted to or
suitable for agriculture; and
d. All private lands devoted to or suitable for agriculture
regardless of the agricultural products raised or that can be
raised thereon.
B. Exclusions from the Coverage of CARL
1. Under Section 102, excluded from the coverage of the CARL are
lands actually, directly and exclusively used for:
a. Parks;
b. Wildlife;
c. Forest reserves;
d. Reforestation;
e. Fish sanctuaries and breeding grounds;
f. Watersheds and mangroves.
2. Private lands actually, directly and exclusively used for prawn
farms and fishponds shall be exempt from the coverage of this
Act: Provided, That said prawn farms and fishponds have not
been distributed and Certificate of Land Ownership Award
(CLOA) issued to agrarian reform beneficiaries under the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
In cases where the fishponds or prawn farms have been

2 As amended by Republic Act No. 7881.

 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 private research and quarantine centers.
4. All lands with eighteen percent (18%) slope and over which are
not developed for agriculture are exempted from the coverage
of CARL.
 * An eighteen percent slope is not equivalent to an eighteen
degree angle. Eighteen percent slope is obtained by having a
100 meter run and an 18 meter rise.

5. In the case of Luz Farms v. Secretary of Agrarian Reform,3 the

Supreme Court has excluded agricultural Lands Devoted to
Commercial Livestock, Poultry and Swine Raising from the
coverage of CARL.
The Supreme Court said:
"The transcripts of the deliberations of the Constitutional
Commission of 1986 on the meaning of the word "agricultural,"
clearly show that it was never the intention of the framers of
the Constitution to include livestock and poultry industry in the
coverage of the constitutionally-mandated agrarian reform
program of the Government.
"The Committee adopted the definition of "agricultural land"
as defined under Section 166 of RA 3844, as lands devoted to
any growth, including but not limited to crop lands, saltbeds,
fishponds, idle and abandoned land (Record, CONCOM, August
7, 1986, Vol. III, p. 11).
"The intention of the Committee is to limit the application of
the word "agriculture." Commissioner Jamir proposed to insert
the word "ARABLE" to distinguish this kind of agricultural land
from such lands as commercial and industrial lands and
residential properties because all of them fall under the general
classification of the word "agricultural." This proposal,
however, was not considered because the Committee
3 192 SCRA 51.
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 twenty- four (24)hectares, insofar as the
excess hectarage above ten (10) hectares is concerned, to begin
on July 1,2012 and to be completed by June 30, 2013; and
(b) Lands of landowners with aggregate landholdings from the
retention limit up to ten (10) hectares, to begin on July 1, 2013
and to be completed by June 30, 2014; to implement principally
the right of farmers and regular farmworkers who are landless,
to own directly or collectively the lands they till.
The schedule of acquisition and redistribution of all agricultural
lands covered by this program shall be made in accordance with
the above order of priority, which shall be provided in the
implementing rules to be prepared by the PARC, taking into
consideration the following: the landholdings wherein the farmers
are organized and understand ,the meaning and obligations of
farmland ownership; the distribution of lands to the tillers at the
earliest practicable time; the enhancement of agricultural
productivity; and the availability of funds and resources to
 implement and support the program: Provided, That the PARC
shall design and conduct seminars, symposia, information
campaigns, and other similar programs for farmers who are not
organized or not covered by any landholdings. Completion by
these farmers of the aforementioned seminars, symposia, and
other similar programs shall be encouraged in the implementation
of this Act particularly the provisions of this Section.
The PARC shall establish guidelines to implement the above
priorities and distribution scheme, including the determination of
who are qualified beneficiaries: Provided, That an owner-tiller may
be a beneficiary of the land he/she does not own but is actually
cultivating to the extent of the difference between the area of the
land he/she owns and the award ceiling of three (3) hectares:
Provided, further, That collective ownership by the farmer
beneficiaries shall be subject to Section 25 of Republic Act No.
6657, as amended: Provided, furthermore, That rural women shall
be given the opportunity t o participate in the development
planning and implementation of this Act: Provided, finally, That in
no case should the agrarian reform beneficiaries' sex, economic,
religious, social, cultural and political attributes adversely affect
the distribution of lands.

C. Exceptions from the Implementation Phases

1. Land acquisition and distribution shall be completed by June 30,
2014 on a province-by- province basis. In any case, the PARC or
the PARC Executive Committee (PARC EXCOM), upon
recommendation by the Provincial Agrarian Reform
Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM), may declare certain
provinces as priority land reform areas, in which case the
 acquisition and distribution of private agricultural lands therein
under advanced phases may be implemented ahead of the
above schedules on the condition that prior phases in these
provinces have been completed: Provided, That
notwithstanding the above schedules, phase three (b) shall not
be implemented in a particular province until at least ninety
percent (90%) of the provincial balance of that particular
province as of January 1, 2009 under Phase One, Phase Two (a),
Phase Two (b),,and Phase Three (a), excluding lands under the
jurisdiction of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR), have been successfully completed. PARC,
upon recommendation of the Provincial Agrarian Reform
Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM), may declare certain prov-
inces or regions as priority land reform areas, in which case the
acquisition and distribution of private agricultural lands therein
may be implemented ahead of schedule. [Section 7]
2. The PARC may suspend the implementation of CARL with
respect to ancestral lands for purpose of identifying and
delineating such lands. [Section 9]
IV. Improvement of Tenurial and Labor Relations
A. Leasehold Tenancy
1. Tenancy in General
a. Definition: Agricultural tenancy is the physical possession by
a person of land devoted to agriculture, belonging to or
legally possessed by another for the purpose of production
through the labor of the former and of the members of his
immediate farm household in consideration of which the
former agrees to share the harvest with the latter or to pay a
price certain or ascertainable, either in produce or in money,
 or in both [Section 3 of RA 1199, Guerrero v. CA4]
b. Types of Tenancy Relation
i. Sharehold Tenancy; and
ii. Leasehold Tenancy
2. Leasehold vs. Sharehold Tenancy

* The two tenancy systems are distinct and different form each
other. In sharehold, the tenant may choose to shoulder, in
addition to labor, any one or more of the items of contri-
butions (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. Adillo5]

Sharehold Leasehold

4 142 SCRA 136.

5 68 SCRA 90.
 Expenses of Production Tenant and Landowner Tenant

Management Tenant and Landowner Tenant

Payment Tenant and landowner Tenant gets the whole

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

3. Leasehold vs. Civil Lease

* There are important differences between a leasehold tenancy
and a civil law lease. The subject matter of leasehold tenancy is
limited to agricultural lands; that of civil law lease may be either
rural or urban property. As to attention and cultivation, the law
requires the leasehold tenant to personally attend to, and
cultivate the agricultural land, whereas the civil law lessee need
not personally cultivate or work the thing leased. As to
purpose, the landholding in leasehold tenancy is devoted to
agriculture, whereas in civil law lease, the purpose may be for
any other lawful pursuit. As to the law that governs, the civil
law lease is governed by the Civil Code, whereas leasehold
tenancy is governed by special laws. [Gabriel v. Pangilinan6]

Leasehold Tenancy Civil Law Lease

6 58 SCRA 590.
Subject Matter Agricultural lands Both rural and
only urban properties

Attention and Culti- Tenant must Lessee does not

vation personally cultivate have to personally
cultivate

Purpose Agriculture only Any lawful purpose

Governing Law Special laws Civil Code

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

tenurial and economic status of the farmers in tenanted lands.
[Section 12]
5. 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;
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 home-
stead.
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 baran-
gay 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-perma-
nent 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, techno-
logical, financial or other economic resources, and operated
on the principle of one member, one vote. A juridical person
may be a member of a cooperative, with the same rights and
duties as a natural person [Section 3(k)].
7. Others directly working on the land.
Before any award is given to a farmer, the qualified children of
the landowner must receive their three hectare award.
 Rural women refer to women who are engaged directly or
indirectly in farming and/or fishing as their source of livelihood,
whether paid or unpaid, regular or seasonal, or in food
preparation, managing the household, caring for the children, and
other similar activities [Section 3(l)].
B. Disqualifications of Beneficiaries [Section 22]
1. Beneficiaries under Presidential Decree No. 27 who have
culpably sold, disposed of, or abandoned their land;
2. Beneficiaries guilty of negligence or misuse of the land or any
support extended to them;
* The mere fact that the expected quantity of harvest, as
visualized and calculated by agricultural experts, is not
actually realized, or that the harvest did not increase, is not a
sufficient basis for concluding that the tenants failed to
follow proven farm practices. [Belmi v. CAR7]
3. Beneficiaries with at least three (3) hectares of agricultural land;
and
* Under the CARL, a beneficiary is landless if he owns less than
three (3) hectares of agricultural land. [Section 25]
4. Beneficiaries whose land have been the subject of foreclosure
by the Land Bank of the Philippines. [Section 26]
* Under the CARL, the LBP may foreclose on the mortgage for
non-payment of the beneficiary of an aggregate of three (3)
annual amortizations. [Section 26]
C. Awards

7 7 SCRA 812.
 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 dispos-
able 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 bene-
ficiaries 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 Acquisi-
tion)
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' coopera-
tive 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 corpo-
ration 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 agri-
cultural 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 instru-
mentalities;
3. Marketing of LBP bonds, as well as promoting the marketability
of said bonds in traditional and non-traditional financial
markets and stock exchanges;
4. Other services designed to utilize productively the proceeds of
the sale of such lands for rural industrialization;
5. Incentives granted to a registered enterprise engaged in a
pioneer or preferred area of investment as provided for in the
Omnibus Investment Code or granted by the PARC, the LBP or
other government financial institutions for those who invests in
 rural-based industries; and
6. Redemption by the LBP of up to thirty percent (30%) of the face
value of the its bonds for landowners who will invest the pro-
ceeds of the redemption in a BOI-registered company or in any
agri-business or agro-industrial enterprise in the region where
they have previously made investments.
D. Funding
* At least twenty-five percent (25%) of all appropriations for
agrarian reform shall be immediately set aside and made
available for support services. In addition, the DAR shall be
authorized to package proposals and receive grants, aid and
other forms of financial assistance from any source. [Section 36]
X. Special Areas of Concern [Section 40]

A. Subsistence Fishing: Small fisherfolk, including seaweed farmer,

shall be assured of greater access to the utilization of water
resources.
B. Logging and Mining Concessions: Subject to the requirement of a
balanced ecology and conservation of water resources, suitable
areas in logging, mining and pasture areas, shall be opened up for
agrarian settlements whose beneficiaries shall be required to
undertake reforestation and conservation production methods.
* Certificates of Stewardship Contracts are issued for forest areas
under the Integrated Social Forestry Program.
C. Sparsely Occupied Public Agricultural Lands: Sparsely occupied
agricultural lands of the public domain shall be surveyed,
 proclaimed and developed as farm settlements for qualified
landless people.
* Agricultural land allocations shall be made for ideal family-size
farms.
* Uncultivated lands of the public domain shall be made available
on a lease basis to interested and qualified parties. Priority shall
be given to those who will engage in the development of
capital-intensive, traditional or pioneering crops.
D. Idle, Abandoned, Forecloses and Sequestered Lands: Idle,
abandoned, foreclosed and sequestered lands shall be planned for
distribution as home lots and family-size farmlots to actual
occupants. If land area permits, other landless families shall be
accommodated in these lands.
E. Rural Women: All qualified women members of the agricultural
labor force must be guaranteed and assured equal rights to
ownership of the land, equal shares of the farm's produce, and
representation in advisory or appropriate 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 Committee (EXCOM) of the PARC [Section 42]
a. There shall be an Executive Committee of the PARC which
shall meet and decide on any and all matters in between
meetings of the PARC: Provided, however, That its decision
must be reported in the PARC immediately and not later than
the next meeting.
b. Composition: The Secretary of Agrarian Reform shall be the
Chairman and its members shall be designated by the
President, taking into account Article XIII, Section 5 of the
Constitution (Rights of farmers to participate in the planning,
organization and management of the CARP).
4. PARC Secretariat [Section 43]
a. A PARC Secretariat is established to provide general support
and coordinative services such as inter-agency linkages,
program and project appraisal and evaluation and general
operations monitoring for the PARC.
 b. Composition: The Secretariat shall be headed by the
Secretary of Agrarian Reform who shall be assisted by an
Undersecretary and supported by a staff whose composition
shall be determined by the PARC Executive Committee.
B. Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM)
1. Composition (Section 44)
a. Chairman: an appointee of the President upon recom-
mendation 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' orga-
nizations, 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 bene-
ficiaries, at least one of whom shall be a farmer or
farmworker representing the principal crop of the
province; and
 vii. In areas where there are cultural communities, there
shall be one representative from them.
2. Functions and Duties
a. Coordinate and monitor the implementation of the CARP in
the province;
* The PARC shall provide the guidelines for a province-by-
province implementation of the CARP. The ten-year
program of distribution of public and private lands in each
province shall be adjusted from year to year by the
province's PARCCOM, in accordance with the level of
operations previously established by the PARC, in every
case ensuring that support services are available or have
been programmed before actual distribution is effected.
[Section 45]
b. Provide information on the following:
i. Provisions of the CARP;
ii. Guidelines issued by the PARC; and
iii. Progress of the CARP in the province.
C. Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC)
1. Composition [EO 229, 1987]
* The BARC shall be operated on a self-help basis and will be
composed of the following:
a. Representatives of farmer and farmworker beneficiaries;
 b. Representatives of farmer and farmworker non-beneficiaries;
c. Representatives of agricultural cooperatives;
d. Representatives of other farmer organizations;
e. Representatives of the Barangay Council;
f. Representatives of non-governmental organization (NGOs);
g. Representatives of landowners;
h. Department of Agriculture official assigned to the area;
i. Department of Environment and Natural Resources official
assigned to the area;
j. DAR Agrarian Reform Technologist assigned to the area; and
k. Land Bank of the Philippines representative.
2. Functions [EO 229, 1987 and Section 47]
* The BARC shall have the following functions:
a. Mediate and conciliate between parties involved in an
agrarian dispute;
b. Assist in the identification of qualified beneficiaries and
landowners within the barangay;
c. Attest to the accuracy of the initial parcellary mapping of the
beneficiary's tillage;
d. Assist qualified beneficiaries in obtaining credit from lending
institutions;
e. Assist n the initial determination of the value of the land;
 f. Assist the DAR representative in the preparation of periodic
reports on the CARP implementation;
g. Coordinate the delivery of support services to beneficiaries;
h. Participate and give support in the implementation of CARP;
and
i. Perform such other functions as may be assigned by the
PARC and DAR.

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