FIRST SESSION: OVERVIEW OF THE COURSE ON Art XII Sec 2: All lands of the public domain, waters,
AGRARIAN LAW AND SOCIAL LEGISLATION minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral oils, all
DEFINITION OF TERMS
A. CONSTITUTIONAL PROVISIONS
a. ON SOCIAL JUSTICE
Art. II Sec 9:The State shall promote a just and dynamic
social order that will ensure the prosperity and
independence of the nation and free the people from
poverty through policies that provide adequate social
services, promote full employment, a rising standard of
living, and an improved quality of life for all
Art. II Sec 10: The State shall promote social justice in all
phases of national development.
Art XIII Sec 1:The Congress shall give highest priority to
the enactment of measures that protect and enhance the
right of all the people to human dignity, reduce social,
economic, and political inequalities, and remove cultural
inequities by equitably diffusing wealth and political
power for the common good.
To this end, the State shall regulate the acquisition,
ownership, use, and disposition of property and its
increments.
Art XIII Sec 2:The promotion of social justice shall include
the commitment to create economic opportunities based
on freedom of initiative and self-reliance.
b. ON AGRARIAN REFORM
Art II Sec 21:The State shall promote comprehensive rural
development and agrarian reform
Art XII Sec 1:nThe goals of the national economy are a
more equitable distribution of opportunities, income,
and wealth; a sustained increase in the amount of goods
and services produced by the nation for the benefit of
the people; and an expanding productivity as the key to
raising the quality of life for all, especially the under-
privileged.
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.
In the pursuit of these goals, all sectors of the economy
and all regions of the country shall be given optimum
opportunity to develop. Private enterprises, including
corporations, cooperatives, and similar collective
organizations, shall be encouraged to broaden the base
of their ownership.
forces of potential energy, fisheries, forests or timber,
wildlife, flora and fauna, and other natural resources are
owned by the State. With the exception of agricultural
lands, all other natural resources shall not be alienated.
The exploration, development, and utilization of natural
resources shall be under the full control and supervision
of the State. The State may directly undertake such
activities, or it may enter into co-production, joint
venture, or production-sharing agreements with Filipino
citizens, or corporations or associations at least sixty per
centum of whose capital is owned by such citizens. Such
agreements may be for a period not exceeding twenty-
five years, renewable for not more than twenty-five
years, and under such terms and conditions as may be
provided by law. In cases of water rights for irrigation,
water supply fisheries, or industrial uses other than the
development of water power, beneficial use may be the
measure and limit of the grant.
The State shall protect the nation's marine wealth in its
archipelagic waters, territorial sea, and exclusive
economic zone, and reserve its use and enjoyment
exclusively to Filipino citizens.
The Congress may, by law, allow small-scale utilization of
natural resources by Filipino citizens, as well as
cooperative fish farming, with priority to subsistence
fishermen and fish- workers in rivers, lakes, bays, and
lagoons.
The President may enter into agreements with foreign-
owned corporations involving either technical or financial
assistance for large-scale exploration, development, and
utilization of minerals, petroleum, and other mineral oils
according to the general terms and conditions provided
by law, based on real contributions to the economic
growth and general welfare of the country. In such
agreements, the State shall promote the development
and use of local scientific and technical resources.
The President shall notify the Congress of every contract
entered into in accordance with this provision, within
thirty days from its execution.
Art XII Sec 3:nLands of the public domain are classified
into agricultural, forest or timber, mineral lands and
national parks. Agricultural lands of the public domain
may be further classified by law according to the uses to
which they may be devoted. Alienable lands of the public
domain shall be limited to agricultural lands. Private
corporations or associations may not hold such alienable
lands of the public domain except by lease, for a period
not exceeding twenty-five years, renewable for not more
than twenty-five years, and not to exceed one thousand
hectares in area. Citizens of the Philippines may lease not
more than five hundred hectares, or acquire not more
than twelve hectares thereof, by purchase, homestead, or
grant.
Taking into account the requirements of conservation,
ecology, and development, and subject to the
requirements of agrarian reform, the Congress shall
determine, by law, the size of lands of the public domain
which may be acquired, developed, held, or leased and
the conditions therefor.
Art XIII Sec 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.
Art XIII Sec 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.
Art XIII Sec 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.
Art XIII Sec 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.
Fishworkers shall receive a just share from their labor in
the utilization of marine and fishing resources.
Art XIII Sec 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
Art XVIII Sec 22: At the earliest possible time, the
Government shall expropriate idle or abandoned
agricultural lands as may be defined by law, for
distribution to the beneficiaries of the agrarian reform
program.
B. GENERAL CONCEPTS OF AGRARIAN REFORM AND
SOCIAL LEGISLATIONS
UNGOS:
AGRARIAN
- Derived from the Latin word ager, which means a
field.
- Lexically, it means relating to land or to the ownership
or division of land
AGRARIAN LAW
- Basically refers to the distribution of public agricultural
lands, large estates, and regulation of the relationship
between the landowner and the farmer who works on
the land.
- It embraces all laws that govern and regulate the rights
and relationship over the agricultural lands between
landowners, tenants, lessees or agricultural workers.
SOCIAL LEGISLATION
- So broad that it covers labor laws, agrarian laws, and
welfare laws.
- Laws or statutes enacted pursuant to the social justice
clause of the Constitution.
AGRARIAN REFORM
- Redistribution of lands, regardless of crops or fruits
produced to farmers and regular farmworkers who are
landless, irrespective of tenurial arrangement, to
include the totality of tactors and support services
designed to lift the economic status of the
beneficiaries and all other arrangements alternative to
the physical redistribution of lands, such as production
or profit-sharing, labor administration, and the
distribution of shares of stocks, which will allow
beneficiaries to receive a just share of the fruits of the
lands they work.
- It is NOT confined to land distribution to landless
farmers and regular farmworkers; other alternatives:
a. Labor administration
b. Profit-sharing
c. Stock distribution
Reason: It is not feasible to confine it with just land
distribution as there is not enough agricultural lands
that can be distributed.
 SECOND SESSION: HISTORICAL BACKGROUND
PROGRESSIVE DEVELOPMENT OF SOCIAL LEGISLATION
Recaredo Barte, Law on Agrarian Reform, 2003 Edition
RA 3844 as amended by RA 6389 (Agrarian Land Reform
Code)
PD 27 (Emancipation of Tenants from the bondage of the
Soil
EO 228 (Declaring full land ownership to qualified
beneficiaries covered by PD 27)
EO 129-A (Modifying EO 129 Reorganizing and
Strengthening DAR)
Proclamation 131 (Instituting a Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program)
RA 6657 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program)
RA 7881 (Amending CARP
RA 9700 (CARP Extension)
History of Philippine Agrarian Reform (UNGOS)
5. MARTIAL LAW
- Tenant Emancipation Law- provided for the transfer of
lands primarily devoted to rice and corn to the tenants.
- PD 946- reorganized the Court of Agrarian Relations
- PD 1038- promulgated to strengthen the security of
tenure of tenants in non-rice or corn agricultural lands.
- PD 251, 444, 1039 & 1817- amended the Code of
Agrarian Reform
6. DURING CORY AQUINOS TERM
- EO 228 declaring full land ownership in favor of
beneficiaries under PD 27
- EO 229 providing the mechanics for its
implementation
- PD 131 instituted a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Program
- Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988
enacted on June 10, 1988.
- RA 7881, 7905, 8532 & 9700 amended certain
provisions of CARL

1. SPANISH ERA
- Relationship between landowners and tenants was
governed by the Civil Code particularly by the Special
Provisions for Rural Lease

2. AMERICAN REGIME
- Rice Share Tenancy Act- regulated the relationship
between landlords and tenants on rice lands.
- Sugar Tenancy Act- enacted to regulate the
relationship between landlords and tenants on lands
planted to sugar cane.

3. COMMONWEALTH PERIOD
- Commonwealth Act 53- recognized the testimony of
the tenant as prima facie evidence of the terms of a
tenancy contract that was not reduced in writing in a
language known to him.
- Commonwealth Act 271- enacted to amend Act No.
4113 by extending its application to sugar farm
workers.
- Commonwealth Act 461- enacted to provide security
of tenure to agricultural tenants. (later amended by
Commonwealth Act No. 34)

4. AFTER THE GRANT OF INDEPENDENCE

- RA 34- enacted to amend the Rice Share Tenancy Act
by introducing changes in crop division
- Agricultural Share Tenancy Act- repealed all the earlier
tenancy laws except the Sugar Tenancy Act
(Subsequently amended by RA 2263)
- RA 1400- setting in motion the expropriation of all
tenanted estates.
- Agricultural Land Reform Code enacted on August
13, 1963. It abolished share tenancy and replaced it
with the agricultural leasehold system. (Later amended
by RA 6389 and was denominated as the Code of
Agrarian Reforms)
 THIRD SESSION: LAND ACQUISITION
Doctrine on States exercise of police power and eminent
domain
Police Power
- The power of promoting public welfare by restraining
and regulating the use of liberty and property
- Eminent domain may be used as an implement to
attain the police objective [Association of Small
Landowners v. Secretary of Agrarian Reform, 175 SCRA
343].
Scope/Characteristics: Police power is the most pervasive,
the least limitable, and the most demanding of the three
powers. The justification is found in the Latin maxims: salus
populi est suprema lex, and sic utere tuo ut alienum non
laedas
Who may exercise the power. The power is inherently
vested in the Legislature. However, Congress may validly
delegate this power to the President, to administrative
bodies and to lawmaking bodies of local government units.
Local government units exercise the power under the
general welfare clause
Limitations:
a. Lawful Subject- the activity or property sought to be
regulated affects the general welfare
b. Lawful Means- The means employed are reasonably
necessary for the accomplishment of the purpose, and
not unduly oppressive on individuals
Power of Eminent Domain
- Also known as the power of expropriation
- inherent right of the State to condemn private
property to public use upon payment of just
compensation
- Jurisdiction over a complaint for eminent domain is
with the Regional Trial Court.
Who may exercise the power Congress and, by delegation,
the President, administrative bodies, local government
units, and even private enterprises performing public
services.
Requisites for exercise:
a. Necessity- genuine necessity and that necessity must
be of public character
b. Private Property
c. Taking
d. Public Use
e. Just compensation
f. Due process of law
Procedures for Land Acquisition (Sec 16)
Sec 3a- Definition of Agrarian Reform
Agrarian Reform- redistribution of lands, regardless of
crops or fruits produced, to farmers and regular farm
workers who are landless, irrespective of tenurial
arrangement, to include the totality of factors and support
services designed to lift the economic status of the
beneficiaries and all other arrangements alternative to the
physical redistribution of lands, such as production or
profit-sharing, labor administration, and the distribution of
shares of stock which will allow beneficiaries to receive a
just share of the fruits of the lands they work.
Sec 4- Scope of the program
Lands covered:
a) All public and private agricultural lands; and
b) Other lands of the public domain suitable for
agriculture.
Sec 7- Priorities of coverage
DEADLINE: June 30, 2014
Order of Priority:
a. LANDS W/ MORE THAN 50 HECTARES (June 30, 2012)
1. Those which have already been subjected to a
Notice of Coverage on or before Dec 10, 2008.
2. Rice & corn lands;
3. Idle or abandoned lands
4. Private lands voluntarily offered by the owners
for agrarian reforms;
5. Lands foreclosed by government financial
institutions;
6. Lands acquired by the PCGG
7. All other lands owned by the government
devoted to or suitable for agriculture.
b. 24 TO 50 HECTARES (June 30, 2012)
1. All alienable and disposable public agricultural
lands;
2. All alienable public agricultural lands under
agro-forest pasture and agricultural leases
already cultivated and planted to crops in
accordance with Sec 6, Art XIII of the
Constitution.
3. All public agricultural lands which are to be
opened for new development and resettlement.
4. All private agricultural lands which have already
been subjected to a Notice of Coverage issued
on or before Dec 10, 2008.
5. All remaining private agricultural lands
regardless as to whether they have been
subjected to notices of coverage.
c. 10 TO 24 HECTARES (June 30, 2013)
d. RETENTION LIMIT UP TO 10 HECTARES (June 30, 2013)
 Sec 8- Multinational Corporations
- Agricultural lands leased, held or possessed by
multinational corporations are also subject to
compulsory acquisition and distribution.
- The land shall be distributed directly to the individual
worker-beneficiaries.
- If it is not economically feasible to divide the land, the
individual worker-beneficiaries shall form a workers
cooperative or association which will deal with the
corporation by way of lease or growers agreement
and other legitimate purposes.
Sec 9- Ancestral Lands
- Lands of public domain that have been in open,
continuous, exclusive and notorious occupation and
cultivation by members of the National cultural
communities by themselves or through their ancestors,
under a bona fide claim of acquisition of ownership
according to their customs and traditions for a period
of at least 30 years before the date of approval of PD
410.
- Lands occupied, possessed and utilized by individuals,
families and clans who are members of the indigenous
cultural communities or indigenous people since time
immemorial by themselves or through their
predecessors-in-interest, under claims of individual or
traditional group ownership, continuously, to the
present except when interrupted by war, force
majeure, deceit, stealth or as a consequence of
government projects and other voluntary dealings
entered into by the government and private
individuals/corporations, including but not limited to
residential lots, rice terraces or paddies, private
forests, swidden farms and tree lots
- EXEMPTED from Agrarian reform
Sec 16- Land Acquisition (Compulsory acquisition)
The Compulsory Acquisition Process
1. Identification by the DAR of the land, landowner and
beneficiary;
2. Notice by the DAR to the landowner about the compulsory
acquisition and the price offer, thru the following means:
a. Personal notice or by registered mail; and
b. Posting of the notice in a conspicuous place in the
barangay hall and municipal hall where the land is
located.
3. Reply by the landowner about his acceptance or rejection
to the offered price:
a. If the landowner accepts the offered price- the
Land Bank will pay the landowner within 30 days
from execution and delivery of Deed of Transfer;
b. If the landowner rejects the offer- the DAR will
determine the just compensation thru summary
administrative proceedings;
c. If the landowner disagrees with the decision of the
DAR, he may bring the matter to the regular courts
of justice for final determination of just
compensation.
4. Taking of immediate possession of the land by the DAR:
a. If the landowner receives the corresponding
payment; or
b. If the landowner does not respond to the Notice
of Acquisition.
5. Request by the DAR to the Register of Deeds to issue a TCT
to the Republic of the Philippines
6. Distribution of the land to the qualified beneficiaries.
Sec 19- Land Acquisition (Voluntary Offer to Sell)
Incentives for Voluntary Offers for Sale
- Additional 5% cash payment (for landowners OTHER
THAN banks and other financial institutions)
Documentary requirements for voluntary offers for sale
a. Title or proof of ownership, if untitled;
b. Tax declaration; and
c. Approved survey plan.
- If landowner fails to submit the documentary
requirements, the land will be subjected to compulsory
acquisition.
Constitutionality of CARP
- It is CONSTITUTIONAL because it is a VALID exercise of
POLICE POWER of the State.
Transferability of Awarded Lands (Sec 27)
Agrarian reform beneficiaries cannot, within a period of 10
years, sell or transfer ownership of the land awarded to them
except:
1. Through hereditary succession;
2. To the Government;
3. To the Land Bank of the Philippines
4. To other qualified beneficiaries.
Hereditary Succession
- Succession by intestate succession or by will to the
compulsory heirs, it does not pertain to succession to
other persons.
- Objective of prohibition: Policy of the Government to
develop generations of farmers to attain its avowed
goal to have an adequate and sustained agricultural
production with certitude.
Effect of Sale or Transfer to the Government or the Land Bank
- The children or spouse of the transferor can
repurchase the land within 2 years from date of
transfer.
Can a beneficiary lease the land to the former landowner?
- YES, what the law prohibits is transfer of ownership
not transfer of possession.
- PROVIDED the lease is also for agricultural purposes.
- If the lease is for non-agricultural purpose, the
beneficiary must seek the approval of the DAR.
Can the beneficiary lease the land to the former landowner?
- YES, however, this is only done after obtaining
approval from the DAR through the PARC (Provincial
Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee)

Land Acquisition of Corporate Farms (Sec 29)

Corporate Farms
- Farms owned or operated by corporations or other
business associations.

Modes of Distribution:
1. Direct; or
2. Indirect

- GEN: Corporate farms are to be distributed directly to

the individual worker-beneficiaries.
- If it is not economically feasible and sound to divide
the land, then it shall be distributed indirectly to the
worker-beneficiaries through a workers cooperative or
association.

Collective Ownership
- Sanctioned by the Constitution, in recognition of the
fact that land reform may become successful even if it
is done through the medium of juridical entities
composed of farmers.
- Practically, an individual farmer will often face
ownership in a collective manner through a
cooperative or corporation. The former is too often left
to his own devices when faced with failing crops and
bad weather, or compelled to obtain usurious loans in
order to purchase costly fertilizers or farming
equipment (Hacienda Luisita, Inc. v. PARC)
 FOURTH SESSION: RETENTION, EXEMPTION AND
EXCLUSION
Land Covered by Land Acquisition
Sec 6 RA 6657- Retention Rights
Retention Right of the Landowner
- The landowner has the right to retain not more than 5
hectares of his landholdings.
- Retained area need not be personally cultivated by the
landowner- the cultivation can be done indirectly
through labor administration. (can be managed by the
landowner)
If the landowner has already exercised his retention rights
under PD 27 (homestead), he can no longer exercise the
retention right under CARL.
- However, if the landowner chooses to retain 5
hectares under CARL, the 7 hectares previously
retained by him under PD 27 shall be immediately
placed under the coverage of CARL.
Can spouses retain 5 hectares each under the agrarian reform
law?
a) CONJUGAL or ABSOLUTE COMMUNITY- only 5 hectares
for the both of them
b) SEPARATION OF PROPERTY- 5 hectares each
Who has the right to choose the retention area
- LANDOWNER
- Chosen area must be (1) Compact or contiguous and
(2) does not exceed the retention ceiling of 5 hectares.
- Landowner should exercise is right of retention within
60 days from receipt of the Notice of Coverage.
Otherwise, the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer
(MARO) will designate the retained area for the
landowner. If the landowner disagrees with the area
selected, he may file a protest with the MARO.
Can a landowner exercise his right to retention over the land
which has already been covered by an Emancipation Patent
(EP) or Certificate of Land Ownership Award (CLOA)?
- YES, the issuance of EP or CLOA to beneficiaries does
not bar the landowner from retaining the area covered
thereby.
- If he has been deprived of his right to retention, he
may file a petition for cancellation of the EP or CLOA.
- Administrative Order No. 2 series of 1994: an EP or
CLOA may be cancelled if the land covered is later
found to be part of the landowners retained area.
Suppose the retention area chosen by the landowner is
tenanted, what happens to the tenant?
- The tenant may choose on whether to remain therein
or to be a beneficiary in the same or another
agricultural land with similar or comparable features.
- Tenant must exercise this option within 1 year from
the time the landowner manifests his choice of the
area for retention.
- NOTE: TENANT and not just any settler of the land. The
relationship of landlord-tenant must exist. Mere
occupation or cultivation of an agricultural land will not
ipso facto make the tiller an agricultural tenant.
- Person claiming to be an agricultural tenant must
prove by substantial evidence the existence of
landlord-tenant relationship.
Said relationship can be determined by the following
elements:
1. The landowner has engaged a person to personally
cultivate an agricultural land; and
2. The landowner is compensated in terms of share
in the produce (share tenancy), or in terms of a
price certain or ascertainable in produce or in
money or both (leasehold tenancy)
Effect if the tenant chooses to remain in the retained area
- He will no longer be considered as a tenant but an
agricultural lessee and he will no longer qualify as an
agrarian reform beneficiary.
- Rights of an Agricultural Lessee:
1. Peaceful possession and enjoyment of the land;
2. Manage and work on the land in a manner and
method of cultivation and harvest which conform
to proven farm practice;
3. Mechanize all or any phase of his farm work;
4. Deal with the millers and processors and attend to
the issuance of quedans and warehouse receipts
for the produce due to him;
5. Be afforded a homelot;
6. Be indemnified for the cost and expenses incurred
in the cultivation, planting or harvesting and other
expenses incidental to the improvement of his
crop in case he surrenders or abandons his
landholding for just cause or ejected therefrom;
7. Buy the agricultural landholding under reasonable
terms and conditions in case the agricultural lessor
decides to sell the same;
8. Redeem the landholding at a reasonable price and
consideration in case the agricultural lessor sold
the same to a third person without his knowledge;
Obligations of an Agricultural Lessee:
1. To cultivate and take care if the farm, growing
crops, and other improvements on the
landholding as a good father of a family and
perform all the work therein in accordance with
proven farm practices;
2. Inform he agricultural lessor within a reasonable
time of any trespass committed by third persons
upon the farm, without prejudice to his direct
action against the trespasser;
3. Take reasonable care of the work animals and
farm implements delivered to him by the
agricultural lessor and see that they are not used
 for purposes other than those intended or used by
another without the knowledge and consent of
the agricultural lessor;
4. Keep his farm and growing crops attended to
during work season;
5. Notify the agricultural lessor at least 3 days before
the date of harvesting or, whenever applicable, of
threshing; and
6. Pay the lease rental to the agricultural lessor when
it falls due.
Term of the Lease
- Once the agricultural leasehold is established, it
continues until such leasehold relation is extinguished
by:
1. Abandonment o voluntary surrender of the
landholding by the lessee; or
2. Absence of successor (i.e. surviving spouse, eldest
descendant by consanguinity, or nest eldest
descendant or descendants in the order of their
age) in the event of death or permanent incapacity
of the lessee.
- The leasehold relationship is not extinguished by the
death or permanent disability or incapacity of the
lessee, the lessor can choose from among the
following:
a. The surviving spouse;
b. The eldest descendant by consanguinity;
c. The next eldest descendant or descendants in
the order of their age.
- It is likewise not terminated or extinguished by the
mere expiration of the term or period of the lease
contract.
- It is neither terminated by the transfer of ownership or
legal possession of the landholding. If the agricultural
lessor transfers the ownership or legal possession of
the landholding, the transferee becomes the
agricultural lessor.
- 1. Private lands with a total area of 5 hectares and below;
Effect if Tenant Chooses to be a Beneficiary
- He loses his right to be a lessee of the land retained by
the landowner
Children of the Landowner are Entitled to 3 Hectares Each
- If the landowner owns more than 5 hectares, the
excess area may be awarded to his children at 3
hectares for each child under the following conditions:
1. The child is at least 15 years old;
2. The child is actually tilling the land or directly
managing the farm.
- A qualified child who owns less than 5 hectares of
agricultural land is still entitled to an award of his
parents landholding provided that his total area,
including the area to be awarded, does not exceed the
5-hectare ownership ceiling.
- Land awarded to qualified children of landowners
cannot be sold, transferred or conveyed within a
period of 10 years, EXCEPT:
a. Through hereditary succession;
b. To the government;
c. To the Land Bank of the Philippines; or
d. To other qualified beneficiaries.
o The children or the spouse of the transferor
can repurchase the land from the
Government or the Land Bank of the
Philippines within a period of 2 years from the
date of transfer.
o Rule is same with Sec 27
Right of Homesteaders vis-a-cis Right of Tenants
- See Sec 6 Art XIII of the Constitution
- Both the Constitution and the Agrarian Reform Law
respect the superiority of the rights of homesteaders
over the rights of tenants.
- Thus, owners (or their compulsory heirs) of lands
acquired through homestead grants or Free Patents
under CA 141 are entitled to retain the entire area
(even if exceeds 5 hectares) PROVIDED that:
a. They were cultivating the same at the time of the
approval of the CARL (June 15, 1988)
b. They continue to cultivate the same.
Sec 6-A Exception to Retention Limits
- Expropriation of Private Agricultural Lands by Local
Government Units
Sec 6-B Review of Limits of Land Size
- DAR shall submit a comprehensive study on the land
size appropriate for each type of crop to Congress for a
possible review of limits of land sizes within 6 months
from effectivity of this Act.
Sec 10- Exemptions and Exclusions
Lands NOT Covered:
2. Lands actually, directly and exclusively used for parks,
wildlife, forest reserves, reforestation, fish sanctuaries
& breeding grounds, watersheds & mangroves.
3. Private lands actually, directly and exclusively used for
prawn farms and fishponds;
4. Lands actually, directly and exclusively used and found
to be necessary for:
a. National defense
b. School sites and campuses
c. Experimental far stations operated for
educational purposes;
d. Seeds and seedling research and pilot
production center;
e. Church sites and convents appurtenant
thereto;
f. Communal burial grounds and cemeteries;
 g. Penal colonies and penal farms actually
worked on by the inmates;
h. Research and quarantine centers; &
i. All lands with 18% slope and over except
those already developed.
- Land classification in the tax declaration is not
conclusive.
- Lands already classified as non-agricultural prior to the
effectivity of the CARL are not covered. (residential,
commercial or industrial)
- The Secretary of Agrarian Reform has the jurisdiction
and authority to exempt or exclude a property from
the coverage of the agrarian reform program.
Sec 3(c) in relation to DOJ Opinion No. 44 series 1990
FIFTH SESSION- DETERMINATION OF JUST COMPENSATION
Just Compensation
- The full and fair equivalent of the property taken from
its owner by the expropriator
- The measure is not the takers gain, bu the owners
loss
- just- equivalent to be rendered for the property to
be taken shall be real, substantial, full and ample.
- Also embrace prompt payment
Factors used in valuation of lands
1. Capitalized Net Income (CNI)
2. Comparable Sales (CS)
3. Market Value (MV)

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.

RA 7881 (1995) Exempting Prawn Farms and Fishponds

from CARP
- AN ACT AMENDING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF REPUBLIC
ACT NO. 6657, ENTITLED "AN ACT INSTITUTING A
COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM TO
PROMOTE SOCIAL JUSTICE AND INDUSTRIALIZATION,
PROVIDING THE MECHANISM FOR ITS
IMPLEMENTATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES"