QuestionsQuestions (JOINT DAR-LRA MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 02, S. 2013)
Under Section 4 of R.A. No. 6657, as amended, all private lands devoted to or suitable for agricultural purposes are covered under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
These provisions limit retention rights and landownership ceiling to not more than five (5) hectares for any person, natural or judicial, upon the effectivity of the Act on June 1988.
All agricultural lands exceeding the 5-hectare limit are covered under CARP by operation and mandate of law effective 15 June 1988.
Transactions executed prior to 15 June 1988 are valid only when registered with the Registry of Deeds on or before 13 September 1988, in accordance with Section 6 of R.A. No. 6657, as amended.
Where the transfer involves a total area of five (5) hectares and below and is the retention area of or subject of retention by the transferor, and the transferee will not own an aggregate area of more than five (5) hectares as a result of the sale, the transfer is legal and proper, though DAR clearance is still needed for monitoring and as a registration prerequisite.
If more than five (5) hectares are sold/transferred (single or multiple transactions or series), only the first five (5) hectares sold/conveyed and the corresponding titles issued by the ROD in the name of the transferee are considered valid and treated as the retained area. The transferee cannot exceed the 5-hectare ceiling.
The excess beyond five (5) hectares is covered under CARP regardless of the current titleholder, even if the current titleholder owns less than five (5) hectares, because the transferor has no right to dispose of these lands once CARP coverage applies by mandate of law as of 15 June 1988.
It addresses the reported circumvention of CARP retention/ceiling provisions by subdividing agricultural land into smaller lots to sell them and evade the legal limits.
It applies to all applications for approval of subdivision plans by the LRA where the subject properties are agricultural lands, particularly: (1) all titled agricultural lands listed in the CARPER LAD database; and (2) agricultural properties classified as agricultural in the tax declaration in excess of five (5) hectares.
The LRA, within fifteen (15) days from receipt, requires the applicant or geodetic engineer to secure from the Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer (PARO) a Certification that the land/s is/are covered under CARP; if not covered, the PARO issues a certification of no objection to the subdivision application.
When PARO certifies that the subject landholding is covered under CARP and interposes an objection, the LRA (through its Subdivision & Consolidation Division) may deny the application.
Yes. Denial may be subject to reconsideration upon indepth determination on the merits and submission by the applicant of proofs. The DAR Provincial Office must be given the opportunity to be heard or to rebut the applicant’s submissions.
If PARO certifies that the subject landholding/s are not covered under CARP and PARO does not interpose any objection, the application may be approved pursuant to existing provisions of law, rules and regulations.
At the end of each month, PAROs must submit to the LRA-CARP and to the DAR-Bureau of Land Development (DAR-BLD) a list of Certificates of CARP coverage (CCC) or Certificate of Non-CARP Coverage (CNCC) issued under the Joint Circular.
It takes effect ten (10) days after publication in two (2) newspapers of national circulation.