Question & AnswerQ&A (DAR MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 04, S. 2013)
The primary objective of the 'One DAR' concept is to unify the entire Department of Agrarian Reform so that its various offices work hand-in-hand to fully achieve the government's agrarian reform program objectives, particularly in delivering the targets of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
The Intrasourcing Program and Job-Sharing Scheme are intended to address the imbalance of workloads and personnel between High-LAD and Low-LAD areas by utilizing personnel from Low-LAD regions to assist High-LAD regions, thereby fast-tracking the resolution of Land Acquisition and Distribution (LAD) issues and Agrarian Law Implementation (ALI) cases.
A General ALI Case is an administrative case involving disputes or controversies in the implementation of agrarian reform laws falling under the exclusive jurisdiction of the DAR Secretary and/or Regional Director, excluding applications for conversion, DAR clearance, and referrals. It includes cases for exemption/exclusion and cancellation of Emancipation Patents and Certificates of Landownership Award as provided in DAR Administrative Orders.
High-LAD areas are provinces or regions with significant LAD balances, as reported by the DAR Field Operations Office, characterized by resistance from landowners or understaffed DAR Provincial or Regional Offices.
Job-Sharing involves detailing qualified personnel from Low-LAD DAR Provincial or Regional Offices to High-LAD areas to share in tasks such as ocular inspections, field investigations, conferences, or hearings to augment personnel in High-LAD areas and help resolve ALI cases.
Qualified Personnel include DAR employees from Low-LAD areas who are lawyers or at least Bachelor of Laws degree holders, employed permanently, temporarily, or contractually with a plantilla position. This includes Provincial and Regional Agrarian Reform Adjudicators whose duties focus on drafting and editing decisions in ALI cases.
The Chief Legal must review, inventory, and validate the Case Folders, ensure their completeness, prepare a Table of Contents identifying original and copied documents, make a Certification of completeness, and then write a request for assistance to the Regional Director specifying the nature and scope of help needed.
The usual detail period is thirty (30) days, which may be extended as necessary depending on the workload and needs.
Qualified personnel assigned to review, draft, or edit narrative investigation reports and decisions are entitled to incentives determined by the DAR Praise Main Committee and receive additional System Performance Evaluation and Employees Development (SPEED) points for completed tasks.
All narrative investigation reports, recommendations, and draft decisions prepared by qualified personnel, including adjudicators, are confidential and exempt from disclosure under DAR MC No. 07, Series of 2011.
At the provincial level, the Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer submits regular monthly reports; at the regional level, the Regional Director monitors and submits monthly reports to the Undersecretaries of the Field Operations Office and Legal Affairs Office, and the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance.
The Regional Director recommends disciplinary action against qualified personnel, except PARADs and RARADs. For violations by PARADs or RARADs, the DAR Secretary through the Legal Service Division may recommend to the Office of the President the filing of disciplinary actions.
Yes, the Undersecretary of the Legal Affairs Office (USEC-LAO) may introduce changes to the mechanics of the programs if warranted by unforeseen circumstances.