QuestionsQuestions (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 140)
It aims to define the administrative organization of the Land Tenure Administration (LTA), delineate the responsibilities of the Chairman, members, and divisions (legal, technical, survey services, financial, collection/accounts), and require formal cooperation and coordination with other land reform agencies for an integrated land reform program.
The Chairman has administrative control and supervision over all officials and employees of the LTA, including the two members when they are not sitting as members of the Administration.
The Legal Staff is primarily charged with performing all legal work, activities, and functions of the Land Tenure Administration.
It is primarily tasked with activities connected with (1) establishing the desirability of purchasing landed estates and selling them to tenants of the public, (2) compiling and analyzing statistics and survey reports of other land reform agencies, and (3) preparing plans for opening virgin public domain land and scheduling areas for family-size farm units.
It is primarily charged with surveying and defining land boundaries, both for lands to be purchased and for subsequent subdivisions to be sold.
The Financial Staff is primarily charged with economic evaluation and the issuance and control of land purchase certificates.
It handles accounts due the Administration arising from the sale or lease of lands to tenants, keeps actual records of every sale where monies remain due the government, and records cash receipts.
Each member (including the Chairman) is responsible for the proper functioning and administration of the division assigned to them by the Chairman.
The Chairmen of the LTA and the Agricultural Tenancy Commission, together with the Administrators of ACCFA and NARRA, must work out in writing a plan to effect economy and achieve more effective, complete, and integrated implementation of the land reform program.
The Agricultural Tenancy Commission, ACCFA (Agricultural Credit and Cooperative Financing Administration/then ACCFA), and NARRA (National Resettlement and Rehabilitation Administration) are expressly mentioned, together with the Land Tenure Administration.
RA 1400 created the LTA’s general structure (a chairman, two members, and three divisions), but EO 140 notes that RA 1400 did not define responsibilities/functions of officials or divisions; EO 140 fills that gap and further creates additional divisions.
EO 140 provides for additional divisions and further specifies roles—adding or specifying units such as Survey Services Staff and Collection and Accounts Staff, and expanding functional delineation beyond the three divisions initially mentioned in RA 1400.
It states that with the organization of the LTA, there is a greater need for formal cooperation and coordination among different land reform agencies to integrate the land reform program.
It takes effect immediately.