Agricultural Land - refers to land devoted to agricultural
activity as defined in this Act and not classified as mineral,
forest, residential, commercial or industrial land.
Agriculture Enterprise or Agricultural Activity - means
cultivation of soil, planting of crops, growing of fruit trees,
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.
NOTE:
It should be noted that under the Constitution, lands of
the public domain are classified into agricultural, forest
or timber, mineral lands and national parks (CONST., Art.
XII, Sec. 3). These classifications are called primary
classifications or "classification in the first instance."
Secondary classification - The same provision of the
Constitution also provides that agricultural lands of the
public domain may be further classified according to the
uses to which they may be devoted.
The group of lands referred to in Sec. 3 (c) of RA 6657 as
non-agricultural (i.e., mineral, forest, residential,
commercial or industrial) is a mix of primary and
secondary classifications. Forest and mineral lands are,
under the Constitution and Commonwealth Act No.
141(1936), primary classifications, while the rest are
secondary classifications.
If the agricultural land was classified as residential,
commercial or industrial by the LGU and approved by the
Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB), or its
predecessor agencies, prior to 15 June 1988, the land will
be recognized as so classified under Sec. 3 (c) of RA and is
therefore not covered by CARP. However, an exemption
clearance from DAR is still necessary to confirm or declare
its exempt status.
If an agricultural land is reclassified after 15 June 1988, the
provisions on land conversion under CARL and its
implementing rules will apply (Rep. Act No. 6657 [1988],
sec. 65; DAR Adm. O. No. 1 [1999])
Idle or abandoned land – any agricultural land not
cultivated, tilled or developed to produce any crop
continuously for a period of three (3) years immediately
prior to the receipt of notice of acquisition by the
government.
All untitled public alienable and disposable lands are
deemed "private" if the criteria specified in RA 6940 for
the determination of whether or not a person has already
acquired a recognizable private right over a landholding is
met, namely:
a)Continuous occupancy and cultivation by oneself or
through one's predecessors-in-interest for at least thirty
(30) years prior to the effectivity of RA 6940 on 16 April
1990;
b) The land must have been classified as alienable and
disposable for at least thirty (30) years prior to the
effectivity on 16 April 1990;
c) One must have paid the real estate tax thereon; and
d) There are no adverse claims on the land.
Ancestral Lands — Subject to Section 56 hereof, refers to
lands occupied, possessed and utilized by individuals,
families, and clans who are members of the ICCs/IPs
(indigenous cultural communities/indigenous peoples)
since time immemorial.
Agricultural tenancy - the physical possession by a person
of land devoted to agriculture, belonging to or legally
possessed by another for the purpose of production
through the labor of the former and of the members of his
immediate farm household in consideration of which the
former agrees to share the harvest with the latter or to
pay a price certain or ascertainable, whether in produce or
in money, or both.
Agricultural tenancy is classified into share tenancy and
leasehold tenancy:
Share tenancy means the relationship which exists
whenever two persons agree on a joint undertaking for
agricultural production wherein one party furnishes the
land and the other his labor, with either or both
contributing any one or several of the items of production,
the tenant cultivating the land personally with aid of labor
available from members of his immediate farm household,
and the produce thereof to be divided between the
landholder and the tenant.
Leasehold tenancy exists when a person who, either
personally or with the aid of labor available from members
of his immediate farm household undertakes to cultivate a
piece of agricultural land susceptible of cultivation by a
single person together with members of his immediate
farm household, belonging to or legally possessed by,
another in consideration of a fixed amount in money or in
produce or in both.
Leasehold tenancy distinguished from civil law lease:
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 pursuits. As to the law that
governs, the civil law lease is governed by the Civil Code.
The following are the essential requisites for the
existence of a tenancy relation:
a) The parties are the landholder and the tenant;
b) The subject is agricultural land;
c) There is consent by the landholder for the tenant to
work on the land, given either orally or in writing,
expressly or impliedly;
d) The purpose is agricultural production;
e) There is personal cultivation or with the help of the
immediate farm household; and
f) There is compensation in terms of payment of a fixed
amount in money and/or produce.
Termination of Tenancy Relation. Causes for termination
of leasehold relation:
a)Abandonment of the landholding without the knowledge
of the agricultural lessor;
b) Voluntary surrender of the landholding by the
agricultural lessee, written notice of which shall be served
three months in advance; or
c) Absence of an heir to succeed the lessee in the event of
his/her death or permanent incapacity.
Private agricultural lands – those lands devoted to
agricultural activity and not classified as residential,
commercial or industrial owned by persons, whether
natural or juridical, other than the government or its
instrumentalities.
Commercial farms – are private agricultural lands devoted
to commercial livestock, poultry and swine raising.
Modes of Acquisition of Private Agricultural Lands:
First, the land should be privately owned and found
suitable for agriculture.
Second, there are beneficiaries willing to take over the
ownership of the land and make it more productive.
Third, the landowner is paid just compensation or deposit
in cash or LBP bonds is made in his name if the value is
contested.
Finally, title to the land is transferred in the name of the
Republic of the Philippines.
The modes by which private agricultural lands may be
acquired are as follows:
1. Operation Land Transfer
2. Voluntary Offer to Sell
3. Voluntary Land Transfer/ Direct Payment Scheme
4. Compulsory Acquisition (CA)
5. Voluntary Stock Distribution in the case of
corporate farms.
Just compensation – is defined as the full and fair
equivalent of the property taken from its owner by the
expropriator.
Determination of Just Compensation:
a) Cost of acquisition;
b) Current value of like properties;
c) Nature of land;
d) Actual use;
e) Income;
f) Sworn valuation by the landowner;
g) Tax declaration;
h) Assessment by government assessors;
i) Social and economic benefits contributed by farmers
and farmworkers and by the government; and
j) Non-payment of taxes or loans secured from
government financing institutions on land.
Different Categories of Farmworkers:
(a) Regular farmworker is a natural person who is
employed on a permanent basis by an agricultural
enterprise or farm.
(b) Seasonal farmworker is a natural person who is
employed on a recurrent, periodic, or intermittent basis by
an agricultural enterprise or farm, whether as a permanent
or a non-permanent laborer, such as "dumaan" and
"sacada".
(c) Other farmworker is a farmworker who is neither a
regular nor a seasonal farmworker, such as a farmworker
who performs farm activities but is not paid for his or her
labor.
DAR A.O. No. 9, Series of 1998, on the other hand,
identifies two more categories:
(a) Technical farmworker is a natural person employed
by an agricultural enterprise or farm, who is highly
educated and trained and performs functions in scientific,
engineering, medical, teaching, and other fields, but who is
not vested with managerial or supervisory functions, such
as chemists, agronomists, veterinarians, and soil analysts.
(b) Managerial or supervisory farmworker is a natural
person who is employed by an agricultural enterprise or
farm vested with powers and prerogatives
(1) to lay down and execute management policies;
(2) to hire, transfer, suspend, layoff, recall, discharge,
assign, or discipline employees; and/or
(3) to effectively recommend such managerial actions