QuestionsQuestions (DAR ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 01, S. 2002, FEBRUARY 28, 2002)
The AO requires strict regulation of conversions and allows them only when RA 6657 and/or RA 8435 conditions are present and complied with. It emphasizes preserving prime agricultural lands for food security, ensuring rational and sustainable resource use for economic modernization, and restricting conversion only under lawful grounds.
Agricultural land refers to land devoted to or suitable for cultivation/production of crops, trees, livestock, poultry, fish/aquaculture, and related farm activities, not classified by law as mineral land, forest/timber, national park, etc., and not classified for non-agricultural uses before 15 June 1988. The cutoff helps determine whether a land parcel is considered agricultural for CARP/land use conversion rules.
Non-negotiable areas are categorically not subject to conversion (e.g., within NIPAS protected areas, all irrigated lands per DA/NIA delineation, irrigable lands already covered by firm-funded irrigation projects, and agricultural lands with irrigation facilities). Highly restricted areas may be considered but face heightened conditions (e.g., irrigable lands not covered by firm-funded irrigation, agro-industrial croplands/industrial crop lands, highlands ≥500m with potential high value/semi-temperate crops, lands with notice of land valuation/acquisition or VLT/DPS agreements, and areas within ECA/ECP requiring ECC and additional process).
It is the moratorium under RA 8435 prohibiting conversion for a fixed period (10 Feb 1998 to 9 Feb 2003) of irrigated lands, irrigable lands already covered by irrigation projects with firm funding commitments, and lands with existing or potential for growing high value crops delineated within the Strategic Agriculture and Fisheries Development Zones (SAFDZ).
Conversion may be allowed if the land is not non-negotiable; it may be allowed under RA 6657 when the land has ceased to be economically feasible and sound for agricultural purposes or the locality has become urbanized and the land will have greater economic value for non-agricultural use; and for SAFDZ cases, several additional consistency and social-economic/irrigation-impact factors apply. Also, if land was acquired under RA 6657, conversion is allowed only if the applicant is the ARB and has fully paid obligations under Section 65.
Owners of private agricultural lands or their authorized representatives; ARBs after lapse of five years from award (reckoned from CLOA issuance) who have fully paid obligations and qualify under the rules (or authorized persons); and government agencies/LGUs owning agricultural lands as patrimonial property.
Applicants submit in sextuplicate (one original set and five photocopy sets) with sequentially numbered documents in six bound folders; and maps/development plans in six separate envelopes. The AO also provides a detailed list including title/TCT/OCT copies (or DENR certifications for untitled land), tax declarations, feasibility study, socio-economic benefit-cost study, project narrative, financial/organizational capability proof, photographs, affidavits/undertakings, certifications from MARO/HLURB/DA/DENR (as applicable), ECC for ECA/ECP cases, and maps/sketches.
The billboard enables public participation and notice of the proposed conversion. It must be conspicuous, weather-resistant, of a specified size (4ft x 8ft), written in the local dialect, and include: intent to convert; names of landowner/applicant/developer; total area and exact location; filing date; date of posting; schedule of ocular inspection; protest deadline; addresses where protests can be filed (CLUPPI/RCLUPPI and PARO); address of approving authority; and date of approval/denial to be filled later.
For ordinary applications, protest must be filed within 30 days from billboard posting or within 15 days from ocular inspection, whichever is later.
For housing projects: protest period is within 17 days from billboard posting or within 5 days from ocular inspection, whichever is later.
Grounds include: the area is non-negotiable; displacement adverse effects outweigh benefits; misrepresentation/concealment; illegal or premature conversion; proof conversion was used to evade CARP and dispossess tenant farmers; land has not ceased to be economically feasible/sound for agriculture or locality not yet urbanized and no greater economic value for non-agricultural use; and violations of agrarian laws/rules and other statutes or administrative issuances.
Premature conversion is undertaking development activity that modifies/alter physical characteristics rendering the land suitable for non-agricultural purposes without an approved Conversion Order from DAR. The applicant must undertake not to commence premature development prior to issuance of the Conversion Order, authorize DAR to forfeit the bond if premature development is undertaken, and affirm compliance in the sworn affidavit/undertaking.
Applications with area ≤ 5 hectares (or fraction above 5 hectares per text) are filed with RCLUPPI at the DAR Regional Office; the Regional Director is the approving authority. Applications with area > 5 hectares are filed with CLUPPI at DAR Central Office; the Secretary is approving authority (may delegate to an Undersecretary). The AO also provides rules for adjacent parcels and multiple parcels in the same/adjacent barangays to avoid splitting jurisdiction.
MARO certifies compliance after receiving application form and required attachments. MARO checks CARP coverage status on and around the land, inspects billboard posting, checks presence of farmers/tenants/occupants, and posts notices of application in municipality and barangay. The MARO then issues a certification report as required by the AO.
The Filing Date is the acceptance date of the complete initiatory folders after the RCLUPPI/CLUPPI reviews completeness, after payment of filing fees/inspection cost and posting of the required bond (upon acceptance). It is used to compute timelines in the processing steps.
Applications involving ECA/ECP require an Environmental Compliance Certificate (ECC) from DENR, secured prior to application for ordinary applications, or prior to commencement of actual land development for housing-related applications as specified in the AO.