QuestionsQuestions (DAR ADMINISTRATIVE ORDER NO. 01)
The NOC commences the compulsory acquisition of private agricultural lands coverable under RA 6657/CARP. It is a key step in the coverage process, and lack of proper notice is a common ground for landowner resistance.
The Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer (MARO) prepares the NOC after determining the landholding is coverable under CARP and after accomplishing the Pre-Ocular Inspection Report.
Any person may initiate by filing a petition for coverage before the DAR Regional Office (DARRO) or DAR Provincial Office (DARPO) where the subject landholding is located.
DARRO/DARPO transmits the case folder to the MARO of the municipality where the subject landholding is located; from then on, the same rules for service of the NOC to the landowner apply to the service of the petition.
The MARO endorses the NOC to the MARO exercising jurisdiction over the place where the landowner resides; the endorsee MARO then personally serves the NOC.
The MARO must issue NOC and personally serve copies to each and every co-owner. If some co-owners reside outside the landholding’s municipality/city but within the Philippines, endorsements must be made to the respective MARO jurisdictions for personal service.
The MARO arranges service by publication.
The landowner shall receive service of the NOC.
Service is made upon him personally and upon his legal guardian (if any). If none, service is made upon a guardian ad litem whose appointment is applied for by DAR. For minors, service may also be made on the father and/or mother.
Service may be effected by serving any one of the persons or the person in charge of the office/place of business maintained under that name. It shall not individually bind persons whose connection has been severed before the action was brought, after due notice.
Service may be made on the president, managing partner, general manager, corporate secretary, treasurer, or in-house counsel.
When the landowner is designated as an unknown owner or his whereabouts are unknown and cannot be ascertained by diligent inquiry, service may be made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation as DAR orders.
It applies when the landowner does not reside and is not found in the Philippines, or is temporarily out though ordinarily residing in the Philippines. Service is done by publication in a newspaper of general circulation in the places and for the time DAR orders.
Modes include personal service, substituted service (leaving copies at residence or business with a suitable/competent person), and service by publication (registered mail to last known address plus newspaper publication). Publication is used when personal/substituted service is not practicable.
It must include: (1) complete name/s of landowner/s; (2) address/location of the subject landholding (barangay, municipality/city, province); (3) OCT/TCT number or latest Tax Declaration; (4) declaration that the Republic of the Philippines shall cover the landholding under CARP; (5) case/reference number; (6) a reasonable period of at least 60 days to file a response with a warning of waiver of specified rights/privileges if not filed; and (7) the office/custody address for case records/copies as public documents available for photocopying with reasonable charges.
The period must be not less than sixty (60) days from the publication date. Failure to respond within the period means waiver of the right/privilege to: apply for exemption/exclusion or retention, nominate children as beneficiaries, or submit evidence for determining just compensation.
Proof of service must be in writing by the server, state manner/place/date of service, specify papers served and the recipient’s name, and be sworn to when made by a person other than the MARO.
It is proved by affidavits from the printer/foreman/principal clerk or editor/manager, with an attached copy of the publication, and an affidavit showing deposit of a copy of the NOC and order for publication in the post office, postage prepaid, directed to the landowner by registered mail to the last known address.
The landowner’s voluntary appearance is equivalent to service of the NOC.
The PARO sends a Notice of Land Valuation & Acquisition (NLVA) to the landowner, attaching a copy of the MOV-CFPVS, and requiring submission of documents required for payment of claims using CARP Form No. 10.