Question & AnswerQ&A (Acts No. 4054)
The Act is known as the Philippine Rice Share Tenancy Act.
A share tenancy contract is a partnership between a landlord and a tenant for joint agricultural work on rice lands where both share in the profits and losses.
A landlord includes the owner, lessee, usufructuary, or legitimate possessor of the land. A tenant is a farmer or laborer who cultivates or furnishes the labor for the land.
The contract must be in triplicate, written in the language or dialect known to both parties, signed or thumb-marked by the landlord and tenant before two witnesses (one chosen by each party). Copies are retained by both parties and one copy registered with the municipal treasurer.
The municipal treasurer must keep a Registry of Tenancy Contracts, file copies of contracts without charging fees, and annotate outcomes such as renewals or expirations.
It lasts for one agricultural year, which is the time necessary for land preparation, sowing, planting, and harvesting.
If no written stipulation exists, and tenant provides implements and work animals with expenses shared equally, the crop is divided equally between landlord and tenant.
Advances bear an interest rate not exceeding 10% per agricultural year; loans of in-kind items like grain must not inflate prices above 10%, or they are considered usurious.
Within 15 days after threshing, it must be in writing, signed by both parties and witnesses, and is conclusive except in case of fraud.
15% of the tenant's share is exempt from the landlord's lien; the landlord can only enforce lien up to 85% of the tenant's share.
No, the landlord can only dismiss a tenant for just and reasonable causes such as misconduct, negligence, fraud, or criminal acts against the landlord or family.
The tenant can leave only for just causes such as cruel treatment, non-compliance by landlord, forced unrelated work, or commission of a crime by the landlord.
The tenant may build a dwelling on the land cultivated and have a residential lot not exceeding 500 square meters for garden or minor industries, and has 45 days to remove the house if tenancy ends.
The purchaser assumes the rights and obligations of the former landlord in relation to the tenant or farmer.
Violations are punished under Article 318 of the Revised Penal Code; falsification or alteration of documents invokes penalties under Article 172.