Lecture on Agrarian Laws and Social Legislation
II (Declaration of Principles and State Policies)
(New Era University – College of Law)
ATTY. ROBERT NOMAR V. LEYRETANA, CESO II
Deputy Administrator
Land Registration Authority
Agrarian Reform During the American Period:
A Solution to the Friar Land Dilemma
 Malolos Constitution (January 20, 1899) – confiscated friar
lands and restores them to the Filipino State
“ADDITIONAL ARTICLE”
All estates, edifices and other property possessed by the religious
corporations in these islands shall be deemed restored to the Philippine
State as of May 24, 1898 when Dictatorial Government has been
constituted in Cavite.
 Act 1120 (Friar Lands Act) – April 26, 1904 – the first statutory
mechanisms for the transfer of the property from friar estate to
the Republic of the Philippines, for the eventual redistribution to
Filipinos. The beneficiaries were not necessarily tillers of the
land.
 Friar land estates: Philippine Sugar Estate Development
Company, Limited; La Socieded Agricola de Ultramar; the
British-Manila Estates Company, Limited, and Recoleto Order of
the Philippine Islands
 Laguna, Bulacan, Cavite, Bataan, Cebu, Rizal, Isabela and
Mindoro
1935 Constitution (May 14, 1935) – Land to the Landless: Break
up of Landed Estate as a Solution to Peasant Unrest
- Objective was to breakup big landed estates where the
peasant unrest was brewing
- Reaction to oppressive landlords
- Government policy on land acquisition for distribution
during this period was correctly referred to a “land to the
landless” program – precisely because the beneficiaries
were not necessary the tillers of the soil
 Art. II (Bill of Rights)
Section 2. Private property shall not be taken for public use
without just compensation.
 Art. XIII (Conservation and Utilization of Natural Resources)
Section 4. The Congress may authorize, upon payment of just
compensation, the expropriation of lands to be subdivided into
small lots and conveyed at cost to individuals.
Agrarian Reform During Martial Law Period: Tenancy
Emancipation (1973 Constitution, January 17, 1973)
- The objective of the constitution is to alleviate the poverty
of the tillers of the soil through greater productivity of
agricultural lands and industrialization.
- Productivity is a crucial factor
 Art. V (Bill of Rights)
Section 2. Private property shall not be taken for public use
without just compensation.
 Art. XIV (National Economy Patrimony)
Section 12. The state shall formulate and implement an
agrarian reform program aimed at emancipating the tenant
from the bondage of the soil and achieving the goals enunciated
in this Constitution.
Section 13. The National Assembly may authorize, upon
payment of just compensation, the expropriation of public lands
to be subdivided into small lots and conveyed at cost to
deserving citizens.
Very substantial change in the direction of the acquisition for
distribution programs:
- It limit the lands that may be expropriated to private
agricultural land that are tenanted.
- It refocuses the acquisition of land away from acquisition of
private land because of sheer size
- Towards benefiting the tillers of the soil
- “LAND TO THE TILLERS”
Agrarian Reform and the Present 1987 Constitution
Page 1 of 4
 Art.
Section 21. The State shall promote comprehensive rural
development and agrarian reform.
 Art. III (Bill of Rights)
Section 9. Private property shall not be taken for public use
without just compensation.
 Art. XII (National Economy and Patrimony)
Section 1. (Par. 2) 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. However, the State shall protect Filipino
enterprises against unfair foreign competition and trade
practices.
 Art. XIII (Agrarian and Natural Resources Reform)
Section 4. The State shall, by law, undertake an agrarian reform
program founded on the right of farmers and regular
farmworkers who are landless, to own directly or collectively
the lands they till or, in the case of other farmworkers, to receive
a just share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State shall
encourage and undertake the just distribution of all agricultural
lands, subject to such priorities and reasonable retention limits
as the Congress may prescribe, taking into account ecological,
developmental, or equity considerations, and subject to the
payment of just compensation. In determining retention limits,
the State shall respect the right of small landowners. The State
shall further provide incentives for voluntary land-sharing.
Highlighted in Section 4, Article XIII the following:
- The institution of an agrarian reform program must be by
law and not by executive act;
- The constitution authorizes an agrarian program that is
founded on the right of the 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.
Beneficiaries are classified into:
(1) Farmers These are farmers with
tenancy relationship with
(2) Farmworkers the land owners
i.e. seasonal farmworkers,
(3) Other Farmworkers such as planters, harvesters
and threshers
Section 5. The State shall recognize the right of farmers,
farmworkers, and landowners, as well as cooperatives, and
other independent farmers' organizations to participate in the
planning, organization, and management of the program, and
shall provide support to agriculture through appropriate
technology and research, and adequate financial, production,
marketing, and other support services.
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 agricultural estates which shall be distributed to them in
the manner provided by law.
Section 7. The State shall protect the rights of subsistence
fishermen, especially of local communities, to the preferential
use of the 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. Fish workers
shall receive a just share from their labor in the utilization of
marine and fishing resources.
Section 8. The State shall provide incentives to landowners to
invest the proceeds of the agrarian reform program to promote
industrialization, employment creation, and privatization of
public sector enterprises. Financial instruments used as
payment for their lands shall be honored as equity in
enterprises of their choice.
Do landowners also have rights under the agrarian reform Right to information in relation to agrarian law.
program? May DAR or LBP refuse to disclose to landowners the details as to
implementation of CARP?
YES. The inviolable rights of the landowners under the
Constitution are: NO. DAR or LBP cannot refuse to disclose to landowners the
details as to (1) implementation of agrarian reform program in
1. Right to property regard to their lands; (2) who have been identified as potential or
2. Right to due process intended beneficiaries of their land; (3) the procedure or
3. Right to equal protection of the law computation used in arriving the value offered as compensation
4. Right to just compensation used for their lands, (4) the documents relating to the coverage of
5. Prohibition against undue delegation of legislative power their lands under agrarian reform; and (5) the value paid to other
6. Right to information landowners of the same kind. (Valmonte v. Belmonte)

Statutory History of Agrarian Laws in the Philippines

Law Title Salient Feature

- Land reform, or the broader term “agrarian reform,” has been a government policy even before the Commonwealth era. In fact, at the onset of
American regime, initial steps toward land reform were already taken to address social unrest.
- Then, under the 1935 Constitution, specific provisions on social justice and expropriation of land estates for distribution to tenants as a
solution to land ownership and tenancy issues were incorporated.

The Land Reform Act of

- This was considered to be the first legislation directly addressing the issue of agrarian unrest
RA 1400 1955
in the country.
(September 9, 1955)

- Abolished share tenancy system and converted it into leasehold tenancy

- Created LBP to provide support in all phases of agrarian reform
Agricultural Land Reform - Aimed to create a system of ownership and cultivatorship in rice and corn, supposedly to be
RA 3844 Code accompanied by expropriating lands in excess of 75 hectares for their eventual resale to
(August 8, 1963) tenants.
- Limitations: operations were mainly confined to areas in Central Luzon, specifically in Nueva
Ecija

- Amended RA 3844 and created DAR.

- It also declared the entire country as land reform area and mandated automatic conversion of
RA 6389 September 10, 1971
tenancy to leasehold tenancy in all areas.
- From 75 hectares, retention limit was cut down into 7 hectares.

Emancipation of Tenants
from the Bondage of the
Soil, Transferring to them
PD 27
the Land they Till and
Providing Instrument and
Mechanism Thereof.
- Tenant/ farmers, depending on the size of the landholding, can either purchase the land they
till or shift from share to fixed-rent leasehold tenancy
- Limited to tenanted, privately-owned agricultural land planted with palay and corn
- The beneficiary should be the tenant of the land
- Retention limit is not more than 7 hectares, 5 hectares if irrigated, 3 hectares if NOT irrigated
- “Revolutionary”

- 1987 Constitution foreshadowed the establishment of a legal framework for the formulation of an expansive approach to land reform,
affecting all agricultural lands and covering both tenant-farmers and regular farmworkers

Proclamation - Instituting a comprehensive agrarian reform program (CARP) to cover all agricultural lands,
Series of 1987
131 regardless of tenurial arrangement and commodity produced

PD 266 August 4, 1973 - Providing for the Mechanics of Registration of Ownership and/or title to Land Under P.D. 27

- Declaring Full Land Ownership to Qualified Farmers Beneficiaries Covered by PD 27;

Determining the Value of the Remaining Unvalued Rice and Corn Lands Subject to PD 27; and
EO 228 July 17, 1987
Providing for the Manner of Payment by the Farmer Beneficiary and Mode of Compensation to
the Landowner

Providing the mechanisms

- Created PARC as the highest policy-making body that formulates all policies, rules and
EO 229 for implementation of
regulations necessary for the implementation of CARP.
CARP (July 22, 1987)

Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law (CARL or - An act Instituting a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program to Promote Social Justice and
RA 6657
CARP) of 1988 Industrialization, providing the Mechanism for its Implementation and for other purpose.
(July 17, 1987)

An act extending RA
RA 9700 - Amended RA 6657
6657(July 1, 2009)

Page 2 of 4
RA 6657 - CARL
Section 16. Procedure for Acquisition of Private Lands.
There are three (3) modes of land acquisition:
1. Compulsory Acquisition (CA)
2. Voluntary Offer to Sell (VOS)
3. Voluntary Land Transfer (VLT)
Procedure:
1. Identification of land, the landowner and the beneficiaries
- sending of NOTICE by personal delivery or registered mail
(Roxas & Co., v. CA)
2. Landowner should manifest his acceptance or rejection of the
offer
3. If the land owner accepts the offer, LBP shall pay the landowner
- execution of a deed of transfer in favor of the government
and surrender Certificate of Title
4. If rejected or failed to reply, conduct a summary administrative
proceedings to determine just compensation. (Association of
Small Landowner Case)
5. Payment of just compensation by depositing in cash or LBP
bonds for the account of the landowner.
- Immediate taking of possession of the land
- Transfer of title to the land in the name of RP
6. Conduct of subdivision survey for redistribution of the land to
the beneficiaries
7. Generation of individual CLOAs to the beneficiaries
8. Any issue as to just valuation shall be brought to the regular
courts
 Landholdings of landholder s with a total area of 5 hectares and
below shall not be covered for acquisition and distribution to
qualified beneficiaries.
 One year after the issuance of CLOA, it becomes indefeasible and
imprescriptible.
 Should there be erroneous issuance or unlawful issuance of
CLOA, the same shall be brought for cancellation with the
Secretary of DAR.
Section 17. Determination of Just Compensation.
In determining just compensation, the following factors have to be
considered:
1. The cost of acquisition of the land
2. The current value of the like properties
3. Nature of the land
4. Actual use and income
5. Sworn valuation by the owner
6. The tax declarations, and the assessment made by government
assessors
7. The social economic benefits contributed by the farmers and the
farmworkers and by the Government to the property, and
8. Non-payment of taxes or loans secured from any government
financing institution on the said land
9. Value of the standing crop (CARP Extension Law)
10. 70% of zonal valuation of BIR (CARP Extension Law)
What is the meaning of Just compensation in relation to CARP?
 Just compensation has always been understood to be the just
and complete equivalent of the loss which the owner of the thing
expropriated has to suffer by the reason of expropriation.
 The price or value of the land and its character in time it was
taken by the Government are the criteria for determining just
compensation (NAPOCOR v. Gutierrez)
Section 18. Valuation and Mode of Compensation
Can payment of lands taken for agrarian reform program be paid
on the basis of the valuation contained in real property tax
declaration?
NO. Payment of lands taken for agrarian reform program
cannot be paid on the basis of the valuation contained in real
property tax declaration. Any statutory provision that would fix
the amount of just compensation either on the stated value in the
tax declaration or that value given by the landowner whichever is
lower is unconstitutional (Province of Camarines Sur v. CA)
Page 3 of 4
The rule is that the determination should be in accordance
with the Rules of Court which allows the landowner to submit
evidence on what they consider shall be just compensation for
their property, and that such procedure should be within the
jurisdiction of a regular court of competent jurisdiction.
Is the determination of just compensation by the DAR final and
conclusive upon the landowner and other interested parties?
NO. It has been repeatedly held that the determination of
just compensation is a judicial function and may not be usurped
by any branch or official of the Government (Vinzons-Magana v.
Estrella)
If at all, the determination of just compensation in a
summary administrative proceeding conducted by DAR is merely
preliminary.
Section 19. Incentives for Voluntary Offer to Sell (VOS)
 This is when the landowner decides to voluntarily offer to sell
the land to the government, in which case he is given an
additional incentive of 5% of cash payment.
What if the government after accepting the VOS, offered a price
that was rejected by the landowner, or if the landowner has
withdrawn the offer?
The mode of acquisition shall be converted into a
compulsory acquisition, in which case, the government shall
proceed with the taking after depositing the price, and the
transfer of the title shall proceed without surrender of the
owner’s duplicate copy of the title.
Section 20 & 21. Voluntary Land Transfer (VLT) and Payment by
Beneficiary
 Case where a landowner, who has a tenant beneficiary decides
to make mutually acceptable arrangement with said tenant to
sell the land directly to him.
 This straight sale transaction would immediately transfer the
ownership to the land to the farer beneficiary.
What is the difference between VOS and VLT?
In VOS, the landowner offers the land first to DAR, then it
shall redistribute the land to the farmer beneficiaries. Title of the
land is transferred first to the RP before CLOAs are generated
In VLT, the title is immediately transferred to the tenant
beneficiary upon direct payment to the landowner.
Section 22. Qualified Beneficiaries
Who are the qualified beneficiaries?
1. Children of the landowners who are qualified
2. Agricultural lessees and share tenants
3. Regular farmworkers
4. Seasonal farmworkers
5. Other farmworkers
6. Actual tillers or occupants of public lands
7. Collective or cooperatives of the above beneficiaries
8. Other workers directly working on the land.
Who are the disqualified beneficiaries?
1. Those who are not included in the enumeration in Sec. 22
2. Those who failed to meet the qualifications prescribed in Sec. 22
3. Those who culpably sold, disposed and abandoned their land
received under PD 27 or CARP
4. Those whose land have been foreclosed by LBP or repossessed
by the landowner in case of VLT or non-payment of 3
amortizations
5. Those who have converted their land into non-agricultural use
without prior approval by DAR
6. Those guilty of negligence or misuse of the land or any support
extended to him
Minimum/Basic Qualification of Agrarian Beneficiaries under Section
22 of CARP
1. Landless
2. At least 15 y.o. or Head of the Family at the time the property
was transferred in the name of the Republic of the Philippines
3. Must have the willingness, aptitude and ability to cultivate and
make the land as productive as possible.
 Can a landowner entitled to select his beneficiaries?
NO. It is not the landowner who distributes the land, he has
no right to choose who shall be the transferee. Land acquisition
and land distribution are two different transactions. Even under
the VLT scheme, it is till the DAR who should determine whether
the transferee is qualified under the law.
May a squatter be considered landless tiller?
NO. Squatters are disqualified to be CARP beneficiaries
because they are guilty of prohibited acts of forcible entry or
illegal detainer; and therefore do not qualify as beneficiary and
may not avail themselves of the rights and privileges under the
program. Squatters cannot enter the umbrella of CARP, claim
rights to said property as landless peasant. (CMU v. DARAB)
When does ownership transfer to the farmer-beneficiary?
CARP requires the receipt by the landowner of the
corresponding payment of the deposit by the DAR of the
compensation in cash or LBP bonds with the designated bank.
Until then, the title (ownership) remains with the landowner.
(Association of Small Landowner Case)
What if the land was previously mortgaged to a creditor prior to
the enactment of the CARP, can DAR compel the creditor to
deliver the owner’s duplicate copy?
NO. A landowner’s creditor cannot be compelled to
surrender the said owner’s duplicate of title. However, the
registration of the CLOA can still proceed because the transaction
shall be considered as involuntary and therefore, surrender of the
owner’s duplicate title is no longer required. Nevertheless, the
mortgage that was annotated on the title shall be carried over to
the CLOA. (Penticostes v. DBP)
Section 23. Distribution Limit
 No qualified beneficiary may own more than 3 hectares of
agricultural land.
 A person who already owns 3 hectares of residential or
commercial but does not own any agricultural land can still be a
beneficiary and therefore may still be qualified to acquire 3
hectares of agricultural land, provided he is actually tilling the
land.
 If a farmer beneficiary already owns, for instance 2 hectares of
agricultural land, he can still get the additional hectares of the
and he tills
Section 24 as amended by Section 9 of CARPER
 The rights and responsibilities of the beneficiaries 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.
 Pending the registration and award of the CLOA, the moment
DAR took possession of the land, the already identified and
qualified beneficiaries, shall already have the usufructuary right
over the property.
Section 25 as amended by Section 10 of CARPER
 Award ceiling for beneficiary is 3 hectares.
 CLOAs may be awarded individually or collectively
 A collective CLOA may be in two forms:
1. One collective CLOA where all the names of the
beneficiaries are listed on the title as co-owners
2. The farmer-beneficiaries are encouraged to set-up a
farmers’ cooperative, and the CLOA shall be registered
under the name of that cooperative.
Collective CLOAs may only be issued if these conditions are present:
1. The current farm management system of the land covered by
CARP will not be appropriate for individual farming of farm
parcels;
2. The farm labor system is specialized, where the farmers are
organized by functions and not by specific parcels, such as
spraying, weeding, packing ad other similar functions;
Page 4 of 4
3. The potential beneficiaries are currently not farming individual
parcels but collectively working on large contiguous areas; and
4. 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.
Section 26 as amended by Section 11 of CARPER
 Awarded land given to the farmer beneficiary should be paid to
LBP in 30 annual amortizations at 6% interest per annum. The
annual amortization shall start 1 year from the date of
registration of the CLOA.
 Thus, LBP shall have a lien by way of mortgage on the land
awarded to the beneficiary; and this mortgage may be
foreclosed by the LBP for non-payment of an aggregate of 3
annual amortizations.
 A beneficiary whose land, as provided herein, has been
foreclosed shall thereafter be permanently disqualified from
becoming a beneficiary again.
Section 27 as amended by Section 12 of CARPER
Lands acquired by beneficiaries under this act or other agrarian
reform laws shall not be sold, transferred or conveyed, for a period of
10 years from the date of registration of CLOA, except:
1. through hereditary succession
2. to the government
3. to the LBP
4. to another qualified beneficiaries through the DAR
Provided however, that the children or the spouse of the transferor
shall have a right to repurchase the land from the government or LBP
within a period a period of 2 years.
 The title of the land awarded under the agrarian reform must
indicate that it is an emancipation patent or a certificate of land
ownership award and the subsequent transfer title must also
indicate that it is an emancipation patent or a certificate of land
ownership award.
 If the land has not yet been fully paid by the beneficiary, the
rights to the land may be transferred or conveyed, [1] with prior
approval of the DAR [2] to any heir of the beneficiary or to any
other beneficiary who, as a condition for such transfer or
conveyance, [3] shall cultivate the land himself/herself. Falling
compliance herewith, the land shall be transferred to LBP which
shall give due notice of the availability of the land in the manner
specified in the immediate preceding paragraph.
 In the event of such transfer to the LBP, the latter shall
compensate the beneficiary in one lump sum for the amounts
the latter has already paid, together with the value of
improvements he/she has made on the land.
May a CLOA be mortgaged during the prohibitory period?
YES. A CLOA may be mortgaged during the prohibitory
period, since mortgage is not within the contemplated prohibition
of sale, disposition or conveyance. Moreover, the framers of the
law, in not expressly prohibiting mortgage, may have anticipated
circumstances in which the farmer beneficiary is left with no
alternative but to mortgage his land in order to respond to
emergency situation (Torres v. Ventura)
Upon registration of CLOA, can the farmer/beneficiary subdivide
the land, and on the basis of such division, may be able to
subdivide titles named after him?
YES. There is no prohibition for subdivision because there is
no sale, disposition or conveyance in this case.