Question & AnswerQ&A (DAR ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 1)
The conversion shall be guided by the principles and policies in Section 2 of RA 6657 and Executive Order No. 229, Series of 1987.
The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has exclusive authority to approve or disapprove applications for conversion of agricultural lands for residential, commercial, industrial, and other uses as provided by law.
All private agricultural lands whether tenanted or not, regardless of crops or commodity produced, including those owned by the government in its proprietary capacity, except those classified as mineral or forest by DENR or those reclassified before June 15, 1988.
Conversion is the act of authorizing the change of the current use of a piece of land into some other use.
Conversion is allowed when the land ceases to be economically feasible for agriculture, when classified in new or revised town plans approved by Inter-Agency Planning Task Forces, or when the dominant use surrounding the land is no longer agricultural and is supported by ecological certification from DENR.
They are entitled to disturbance compensation of not less than five times the average annual gross harvest value of their landholdings in the last five calendar years, plus homelots and employment efforts by the developer.
Owners of the lands or authorized persons including licensed land developers, farmer-beneficiaries after five years of award and full payment, and government agencies.
Four copies of the application, Special Power-of-Attorney if applicable, certified copy of title, location plan, certification from HLURB that use conforms to approved land use plan, DAR Regional Director or HLURB certification on economic feasibility or urbanization, DENR ecological certification, proof of organizational and financial capability, and payment or undertaking for disturbance compensation.
Such land shall be placed under CARP compulsory coverage and distributed to qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries in accordance with the schedule prescribed in Section 7 of RA 6657.
Approval may be cancelled or withdrawn for misrepresentation or concealment of material facts, failure to complete development within the required timeframe, or other material violations of the rules and regulations.
Development must be completed within one year from the issuance of the development permit for areas five hectares or less, with additional time allowed for larger areas but not exceeding five years.
They may be filed with the Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator, investigated and resolved according to DAR Adjudication Board rules, with appeals decided by the DARAB; however, protests do not bar processing if application complies with the rules.
No application for conversion shall be given due course once the DAR has issued a Notice of Acquisition, received a Voluntary Offer to Sell, or a perfected agreement on land transfer with beneficiaries exists.
Lands devoted to or suitable for agriculture as defined in RA 6657 and owned by natural or juridical persons, including government-owned lands in a proprietary capacity.
The task forces include representatives from DA, DAR, DTI, NEDA, DENR, and in applicable cases, DOT.