AGRARIAN REFORM IN THE PHILIPPINES—EVER FORWARD, NOW AND FOREVER

(Second Series)

Yes, Agrarian Reform is always ever forward, now and forever in the Philippines. It has no ending but continues forever. This is clearly provided in RA 9700, otherwise known as CARPER (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Extension with Reforms) as follows:

Section 21. “the amount needed to further implement the carp as provided in this act, until [the year 2008] June 30, 2014, upon expiration of funding under republic act no. 8532 and other pertinent laws, shall be funded from the agrarian reform fund and other funding sources in the amount of at least one hundred fifty billion pesos (p150,000,000,000.00)…”

Section 21. “…that after the completion of the land acquisition and distribution component of the carp, the yearly appropriation shall be allocated fully to support services, agrarian justice delivery and operational requirements of the DAR and the other carp implementing agencies.”

Section 30. Resolution Of Cases. – any case and/or proceeding involving the implementation of the provisions of republic act no. 6657, as amended, which may remain pending on June 30, 2014 shall be allowed to proceed to its finality and be executed even beyond such date

Therefore, what expires all the time is only the funding, which Congress would have to provide through another law to continue the agrarian reform program, and so on, and so forth.

RA 6657, the original CARP law (CARL), has not been superseded by the CARPER law, meaning everything found in RA 6657 is still applicable except the amendments which I will enumerate and explain below.

POLICY ON CONVERSION

In the CARPER LAW, there is now a Clear Policy against Conversion of Agricultural Lands. The landowners cannot anymore file application for conversion of their agricultural lands into non-agricultural uses now and forever. Only LGUs can file conversion but only for infrastructure projects. The LGUs are not exempted from the application of the Conversion Order from DAR. This amendment rendered the decisions of the Supreme Court in the cases of PROVINCE OF CAMARINES SUR, ET AL. VS. COURT OF APPEALS, ET AL. (G.R. No. 103125, May 17, 1993 (222 SCRA 173, 182 [1993]); FORTICH vs. CORONA, G.R. No. 131457, November 27, 1998; and PASONG BAYABAS FARMERS ASSOCIATION, ET AL. vs. CA, ET AL., G.R. No. 142359 & 142980, May 25, 2004, not controlling anymore as far as the automatic effect of reclassification of the land by the LGUs is concerned.

EQUAL RIGHTS OF MEN AND WOMEN

Another amendment is that the CARPER law institutionalizes reforms recognizing the rights of rural women to be beneficiaries of the CARP and to have meaningful participation in its planning and implementation. Therefore, women can now be identified directly as FBs.

NO MORE VOLUNTARY LAND TRANSFER (VLT)

There is no more Voluntary Land Transfer (VLT) in the CARPER. Do not misconstrue the Voluntary Land transfer from Voluntary Offer to sell (VOS). Voluntary Land Transfer occurs when the landowner goes to the DAR and expresses his intention to have his land covered by CARP and the farmer beneficiaries (FBs) will be the people of his own choice, who will pay his land directly to him (not to LBP) through harvest from the farm produce in the amount or value as agreed by the landowner and the FBs. Therefore, since the landowner can choose who the FBs are, he can make his own children FBs of his land. Also, the landowner can dictate the price of his land, which is usually much higher than the market value. That is why, The VLT/DPS is one of the most often criticized modes of distribution under CARP. In the amendment, there is no more such thing as VLT/DPS scheme.

PRIORITY OF TENANTS AND REGULAR FARMWORKERS

Another amendment is that tenants and regular farmworkers are first priority beneficiaries. The provision provides that in a certain landholding the qualified beneficiaries who are tenants and regular farmworkers will receive 3 hectares each before distributing the remaining land, if any, to the other qualified beneficiaries like seasonal farmworkers and other farmworkers under Section 22 of CARL. Consequently, with this amendment, a number of seasonal farmworkers will only become FBs if after the tenants and regular farmworkers have been distributed/given 3 hectares each, there is still a balance in the land area covered.

NEW PROCEDURE IN THE FB IDENTIFICATION

In this connection, a new procedure for the identification of agrarian reform beneficiaries requires the Barangay Agrarian Reform Council (BARC) to first certify that the potential beneficiaries are Farmers or Regular Farmworkers actually tilling the lands and the list should be attested under oath by the Landowner and lastly the potential beneficiaries will state under oath before a judge that he/she is willing to work on the land and make it productive and assume the obligation of paying the amortization.

Section 25 provides penalties to the landowner who will cause undue delay in complying with the obligation of attestation and/or falsification of the certification or attestation required is prohibited and is punishable with 6 to 12 years imprisonment or up to 1 million pesos penalty.

ENCOURAGE FARMER GROUPS AND ASSOCIATIONS

There is also an amendment to encourage empowerment and organizing of Farmer Beneficiaries. The CARPER law has favoritism for organized farmers to be beneficiaries. This is so, because Congress believes that the success rate of organized farmers is high and can make their awarded lands productive. The DAR is mandated to conduct seminars and trainings for the farmers to organize. The DAR shall also assist the farmers form or join cooperatives.

INDIVIDUAL TITLES OF AWARD TO FARMER BENEFICIARIES (FBs)

There is also an amendment to issue Individual Titles of Award to FBs. The CARPER law now mandates that individualized Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) and Emancipation Patent (EP) is beneficial for the farmer beneficiaries. This will encourage farmers to invest in the awarded land and will have a sense of ownership. As a matter of policy in the CARPER law, land awarded should be in the form of individual title. The DAR will do the parcelization of the existing collective CLOAs and must be completed within three (3) years from the effectivity of the law. However, this is without prejudiced to collective CLOAs that are effective and need not be parcelized. A group of farmer beneficiaries can also decide to have a collective CLOA subject to the conditions in section 10 of CARPER. Their collective CLOA must indicate the names of the beneficiaries.

SHORTENED PERIOD FOR INSTALLATION OF FBs

There is also a provision to Shortened Period for Installation of Farmer Beneficiaries. The CARPER law mandates that the award of the land must be completed within 180 days from the date of registration of title in the name of the Republic of the Philippines. Such period is shorter than that of the CARL. Another reform that can help shorten the period for installation is the inclusion of the standing crop in the computation of the just compensation for the land. From experiences in the past that delay in the installation of FBs to their awarded land causes violence and insecurity to the farmers, that is why the FBs has to be installed within 180 days from the time the title of the land is transferred in the name of the Republic of the Philippines even and regardless of any litigation pending over the awarded land.

The CARPER law emphasize that farmer beneficiaries will only start payment of amortization if they have been physically installed on the awarded land for one (1) year.

Another amendment is that it is now Ministerial Duty for the Registry of Deeds To Register Land in the Name of the Republic of the Philippines and CLOA.

These provisions are:

Section 8. Order of Priority. – a landholding of a landowner shall be distributed first to qualified beneficiaries under section 22, subparagraphs (a) and (b) of that same landholding up to a maximum of three (3) hectares each. only when these beneficiaries have all received three (3) hectares each, shall the remaining portion of the landholding, if any, be distributed to other beneficiaries under section 22, subparagraphs (c), (d), (e), (f), and (g).”

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;

Section 10. “the conditions for the issuance of collective titles are as follows:

“(a) the current farm management system of the land covered by carp will not be appropriate for individual farming of farm parcels;

“(b) the farm labor system is specialized, where the farmworkers are organized by functions and not by specific parcels such as spraying, weeding, packing and other similar functions;

“(c) the potential beneficiaries are currently not farming individual parcels but collectively work on large contiguous areas; and

“(d) the farm consists of multiple crops being farmed in an integrated manner or includes non-crop production areas that are necessary for the viability of farm operations, such as packing plants, storage areas, dikes, and other similar facilities that cannot be subdivided or assigned to individual farmers.

“for idle and abandoned lands or underdeveloped agricultural lands to be covered by carp, collective ownership shall be allowed only if the beneficiaries opt for it and there is a clear development plan that would require collective farming or integrated farm operations exhibiting the conditions described above. otherwise, the land awarded to a farmer-beneficiary should be in the form of an individual title, covering one (1) contiguous tract or several parcels of land cumulated up to a maximum of three (3) hectares.

“in case of collective ownership, [t]title to the property shall be issued in the name of the co-owners or the cooperative or collective organization as the case may be. if the certificates of land ownership award are given to cooperatives then the names of the beneficiaries must also be listed in the same certificate of land ownership award.

“With regard to existing collective certificates of land ownership award, the DAR should immediately undertake the parcelization of said certificates of land ownership award, particularly those that do not exhibit the conditions for collective ownership outlined above. the DAR shall conduct a review and redocumentation of all the collective certificates of land ownership award. the DAR shall prepare a prioritized list of certificates of land ownership award to be parcelized. the parcelization shall commence immediately upon approval of this act and shall not exceed a period of three (3) years. only those existing certificates of land ownership award that are collectively farmed or are operated in an integrated manner shall remain as collective.”

Section 7: 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, [and] 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 9. “rights and responsibilities shall commence from their receipt of a duly registered emancipation patent or certificate of land ownership award and their actual physical possession of the awarded land. such award shall be completed in not more than one hundred eighty (180) days from the date of registration of the title in the name of the Republic of the Philippines…”

Section 9. “…that the emancipation patents, the certificates of land ownership award, and other titles issued under any agrarian reform program shall be indefeasible and imprescriptible after one (1) year from its registration with the office of the registry of deeds, subject to the conditions, limitations and qualifications of this act, the property registration decree, and other pertinent laws. the emancipation patents or the certificates of land ownership award being titles brought under the operation of the Torrens system, are conferred with the same indefeasibility and security afforded to all titles under the said system, as provided for by presidential decree no. 1529.”

Section 11.the payments for the first three (3) years after the award [may] shall 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 (5^th) 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] shall reduce the interest rate and/or reduce the principal obligation to make the repayment affordable.

VIOLATIONS OF THE PROVISIONS OF THE CARPER

There is a penalty for imprisonment of six (6) to twelve (12) years, or a penalty of fine of 200,000 pesos to 1 million pesos against any person who violates any provisions of the CARPER. The law provides:

section 25. Penalties. – any person who knowingly or willfully violates the provisions of this act shall be punished by imprisonment of not less than one (1) month to not more than three (3) years or a fine of not less than one thousand pesos (p1,000.00) and not more than fifteen thousand pesos (p15,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court: provided, that the following corresponding penalties shall be imposed for the specific violations hereunder:

“(1) imprisonment of three (3) years and one (1) day to six (6) years or a fine of not less than fifty thousand pesos (p50,000.00) and not more than one hundred fifty (p150,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court upon any person who violates section 73 subparagraphs (a), (b), (f), (g), and (h) of republic act no. 6657, as amended; and

“(2) imprisonment of six (6) years and one (1) day to twelve (12) years or a fine of not less than two hundred thousand pesos (p200,000.00) and not more than one million pesos (p1,000,000.00), or both, at the discretion of the court upon any person who violates section 73 subparagraphs (c), (d), (e), and (i) of republic act no. 6657, as amended.

INTERLUDE

NO TWO DAYS ARE THE SAME AND NO DAY IS OVER BUT ANOTHER WILL ALWAYS COME, AND AS THE CYCLE CONTINUES, EVERY TIME WE STARE THE APPROACHING SUNRISE ANYTHING CAN HAPPEN (abeto a. salcedo, jr.).

Continuation on my next post…..