Question & AnswerQ&A (Republic Act No. 9700)
The State pursues a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) focusing on the welfare of landless farmers and farmworkers to promote social justice, rural development, industrialization, and establishment of owner cultivatorship of economic-size farms as the basis of Philippine agriculture.
A 'farmer' is a natural person whose primary livelihood is cultivation of land or agricultural production, either by himself/herself or primarily with assistance of immediate farm household, regardless of land ownership, leasehold, or share tenancy arrangements.
It covers all alienable and disposable public agricultural lands, lands of the public domain suitable for agriculture, government-owned lands suitable for agriculture, and private agricultural lands regardless of tenurial arrangement or commodity produced, except landholdings five hectares and below.
Landowners generally have a retention limit of five hectares; however, governmental units acquiring land for direct public uses (e.g., roads, schools) are exempt from this limit provided the lands undergo the land acquisition and distribution process first.
Phase One covers lands above 50 hectares, Phase Two covers lands 24 to 50 hectares and remaining private lands with holdings above 24 hectares, and Phase Three addresses lands 10 to 24 hectares and up to 10 hectares; with specified timelines ending in 2014.
The award ceiling is three hectares per beneficiary. Collective ownership is allowed if individual farming is impractical due to farm management, specialized labor, integrated crop production, or if beneficiaries opt for it on idle/abandoned lands with a clear development plan.
Just compensation is based on acquisition cost, value of standing crops, property values, owner’s sworn valuation, tax declarations, government assessments, and 70% of BIR’s zonal valuation, considering social, economic benefits, and nonpayment of taxes or government loans, subject to court decision.
Beneficiaries pay the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) in 30 annual amortizations at 6% interest, starting one year after registration or occupancy, with reduced payments for the first 3 years and provisions for rate reductions if payments exceed 10% of gross production without fault.
Awarded lands cannot be sold or transferred for 10 years except by hereditary succession, to the government, LBP, or other beneficiaries through DAR. Heirs or spouse have repurchase rights within 2 years. Transfer requires DAR approval and cultivated by transferee.
DAR has exclusive original jurisdiction over agrarian reform matters (except DA and DENR jurisdiction), empowered to hear cases expeditiously without strict procedural rules, summon witnesses, take testimonies, issue subpoenas, punish contempts, and its decisions are immediately executory except on just compensation issues.
Violations can result in imprisonment from 1 month to 12 years and fines from P1,000 to P1 million, depending on the specific offense, including circumvention of retention limits, illegal possession, unlawful conversion, malicious obstruction, and unlawful delays. Corporate officers may be held criminally liable.
The Congressional Oversight Committee on Agrarian Reform (COCAR), composed of chairs and members of congressional agrarian reform committees, oversees implementation, issues reports, and has powers to summon witnesses and require documents to monitor CARP.
The Act recognizes rural women’s rights to own and control land independently, ensures equal support services, allows self-organization, mandates a women’s desk in DAR for rights protection, and requires their participation in community activities and development planning.
Conversion of awarded lands to non-agricultural use is allowed after five years if the land is no longer economically feasible for agriculture or is urbanized, subject to payment and investment conditions, with irrigated lands exempt. Failure to implement conversion plans causes lands to revert to CARP.