Question & AnswerQ&A (EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 229)
CARP covers all public and private agricultural lands regardless of tenurial arrangement and commodity produced, including, when applicable and in accordance with the law, other lands of the public domain suitable for agriculture.
Lands used and found necessary for national defense, school sites and campuses, religious purposes, penal colonies, and government research and quarantine centers are exempted from CARP coverage.
All owners, lessors, or managers of agricultural lands must file a sworn statement that includes details like property description, estimated income, tenants, crops planted, and declared market value for use in land valuation and compensation under CARP.
DAR must publish and notify the landowner of its decision to acquire land and offer payment; the landowner has 15 days to accept or reject. If accepted, Land Bank of the Philippines pays the price. If rejected or no response, DAR conducts administrative proceedings to determine just compensation, which can be appealed to court.
Compensation is based on the owner's declaration of current fair market value, subject to control by the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC). Payment modes include bond payments over 10 years with an initial 10% cash payment, direct cash or kind payments by beneficiaries, or other modes approved by PARC.
Landowners receive investment information, assistance in bond conversion and exchange to government stocks/assets, and help in marketing their Land Bank of the Philippines bonds.
Landowners may enter into voluntary agreements for direct transfer of lands to beneficiaries under terms approved by DAR, with guidelines ensuring beneficiaries, area transferred, knowledge of government price offers, and binding, irrevocable agreements.
Leases and management contracts registered before CARP's effectivity may continue for up to 5 years, renewable subject to beneficiary agreement and rent renegotiation. Mortgages and claims will be assumed by the government up to compensation value.
Beneficiaries pay land in thirty (30) equal annual installments at 6% interest per annum, starting one year after resale, with a 2% interest rebate for on-time payments. Annual amortizations must not exceed 10% of the land's annual gross production value.
DAR has exclusive original jurisdiction over agrarian reform implementation matters, can adjudicate disputes, punish for contempt, issue subpoenas and writs, and its decisions are immediately executory, though appeal to Regional Trial Courts is allowed.
PARC coordinates CARP implementation and includes the President as Chairman, DAR Secretary as Director-General, key cabinet members, Land Bank of the Philippines, and representatives of beneficiaries and landowners, formulating policies, control mechanisms, and implementation schedules.
BARC participates in supporting agrarian reform implementation, mediates agrarian conflicts, and includes representatives of beneficiaries, cooperatives, landowners, NGOs, government officials, and acts as local support for CARP.
The Fund is created with P50 billion initial allocation sourced from the sale of Asset Privatization Trust assets and recovered ill-gotten wealth for covering CARP implementation costs between 1987 to 1992 and is automatically appropriated for this purpose.
Persons, associations or entities who prevent or obstruct CARP implementation may be liable for contempt, and those who prematurely enter land to claim benefits are permanently disqualified and forfeit their rights under CARP.
It recognizes the rights of indigenous cultural communities to their ancestral lands to ensure their economic, social, and cultural well-being within the framework of national unity and development.
No injunction, restraining order, prohibition, or mandamus shall be issued by lower courts against DAR, DA, DENR, and DOJ in their implementation of CARP, providing them immunity from undue judicial interference.