THE PHILIPPINE RICE SHARE

TENANCY ACT (PUBLIC ACT 4054)

 From 1903 to 1938 there was increase in tenancy rate and land ownership
decreased. The decreased was directly attributed to the tendency toward
greater concentration of farms in the hands of fewer individuals and in the
rapid increase in the number operated under some form of tenancy.
 As the tenancy problem grew during the 1930s, opposition broke out in the
high tenancy areas. The Sakdalista Movement founded in 1930 by Benigno
Ramos, a high-level government employee, opposed President Quezon and the
forthcoming Commonwealth, since he felt it would merely strengthen the
cacique system. He initiated the so-called ‘ May 2 Uprising’. The uprising was
participated by more than 60,000 Sakdalista with 69 casualties and 1000
injured.
 Indeed , the agrarian problem festered for so long time that the 1935 Constitution
incorporated a cardinal principle on social justice to insure the well being and
economic security of all the people. To give substance and meaning to this principle,
several laws were enacted to protect the working class both in industry and
agriculture (Leano & Corpuz, 2012).

RICE SHARE CONTRACT DEFINED

 A contract of share tenancy is one whereby a partnership between a landlord and a
tenant is entered into, for a joint pursuit of rice agricultural work with common
interest in which both parties divide between them the resulting profits as well as the
losses.
LANDLORD AND TENANT

landlord shall mean and includes either a natural or juridical person who is the real owner
of the land which is the subject-matter of the contract, as well as a lessee, a usufructuary
or any other legitimate possessor of agricultural land cultivated by another.

EXECUTION OF CONTRACT
Under the act, the contract of share tenancy in order to be valid and binding
shall be drawn in triplicate in the language or dialect known to all the parties
thereto, to be signed or thumb-marked both by the landlord or his authorized
representative and by the tenant, before two witnesses, one to be chosen by
each party. The party who does not know how to read and write may request one
of the witnesses to read the content of the document. Each of the contracting
parties shall retain copy of the contract and the third copy shall filed with, and
registered, both the copy of the landlord and that of the tenant shall contain an
annotation made by the municipal treasurer to the effect that same is registered
in his office.