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EN BANC

[G.R. No. 86889 : December 4, 1990.]


192 SCRA 51
LUZ FARMS, Petitioner, vs. THE HONORABLE SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRARIAN REFORM,
Respondent

Paras, J (Ponente)

Facts:

1.) On 10 June 1988, RA 6657 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) was approved by the
President of the Philippines, which includes, among others, the raising of livestock, poultry
and swine in its coverage. In the following year, the secretary of DAR promulgated the
Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) of Section 11,13, and 32 of the said law.
2.) The Petitioner Luz Farms, a corporation engaged in the livestock and poultry business, avers
that it would be adversely affected by the enforcement of several sections of the CARP.

3.) Luz Farms questions the following provisions of R.A. 6657, insofar as they are made to apply
to it:
a) Section 3(b) which includes the "raising of livestock (and poultry)" in the definition of
"Agricultural, Agricultural Enterprise or Agricultural Activity.
b) Section 11 which defines "commercial farms" as "private agricultural lands devoted to
commercial, livestock, poultry and swine raising . . ."
c) Section 13 which calls upon petitioner to execute a production-sharing plan.
d) Section 16(d) and 17 which vest on the Department of Agrarian Reform the authority to
summarily determine the just compensation to be paid for lands covered by the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law
e) Section 32 which spells out the production-sharing plan mentioned in Section 13
f) ". . . (W)hereby three percent (3%) of the gross sales from the production of such lands
are distributed within sixty (60) days of the end of the fiscal year as compensation to
regular and other farmworkers in such lands over and above the compensation they
currently receive xxx
4.) On the other hand, the public respondent argued that livestock and poultry raising is
embraced in the term "agriculture" and the inclusion of such enterprise under Section 3(b) of
R.A. 6657 is proper. He cited that Webster's International Dictionary, Second Edition (1954),
defines the following words: Agriculture, Livestock, Farms to which it includes raising of
livestock and poultry.
Issues:

- Whether or not the CARP law should include the raising of livestock, poultry and swine in its
coverage. – questioning its constitutionality with Article XIII Section 4 of the 1987 Constitution
being the main consideration.
- Whether or not the requirement in Sections 13 and 32 of RA 6657 directing “corporate farms”
to execute and implement “production-sharing plans” is unreasonable for being confiscatory
and violative of due process, with respect to livestock and poultry raisers.
Ruling:

1. NO. Sec. 3 (b) and Sec. 11 of RA 6657 are unconstitutional in so far as they include lands devoted
to raising livestock, swine and poultry within its coverage. The use of land is incidental to but not
the principal factor or consideration of productivity in this industry. It was never the intention of
the framers of the Constitution to include the livestock and poultry industry in the coverage of
the agrarian reform program of the government. The intention of the Constitutional Committee
was to limit the application of the word “agriculture”. Thus, Section II 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 afforested agro-industrial
activities are made to be covered by the agrarian reform program of the State.

2. YES. As there is no reason to include livestock and poultry lands in the coverage of agrarian reform,
there is no need to call upon them to distribute from 3% of their gross sales and 10% of their net
profits to their workers as additional compensation.

Decision:

- 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 the 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.
- Concurring Opinion (Sarmiento, J)
- The instant controversy, I submit, boils down to the question of whether or not the assailed
provisions violate the equal protection clause of the Constitution (Article II, section 1) which
teaches simply that all persons or things similarly situated should be treated alike, both as to
rights conferred and responsibilities imposed.
- There is merit in the contention of the petitioner that substantial distinctions exist between
land directed purely to cultivation and harvesting of fruits or crops and land exclusively used
for livestock, poultry and swine raising, that make real differences,

o There are no tenants nor landlords in livestock and poultry businesses;


o Livestock and poultry do not sprout from land;
o Land is not a primary resource;
o Livestock and poultry production are industrial activities;
o Livestock and poultry farmworkers are covered by minimum wage law rather than by
tenancy law.
In view of the foregoing, both kinds of lands are not similarly situated and hence, cannot be
treated alike. Therefore, the assailed provisions which allow for the inclusion of livestock and
poultry industry within the coverage of the agrarian reform program constitute invalid
classification and must accordingly be struck down as repugnant to the equal protection
clause of the Constitution

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