DAR Guidelines on Field Investigations

Policy purpose and coverage

The Circular guides field investigations, on-site validations, or ocular inspections involving cases or matters before any Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) office and/or the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) (Section 1).
The terms “validation,” “investigation,” and “inspection” are used interchangeably in the Circular (Section 1).
The guidelines apply to investigations conducted by the DAR or the PARC, including their committees, teams, or task forces (Section 1).
The guidelines govern any and all investigations on agrarian reform matters and cases, except those conducted by the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) (Section 2).

Who may conduct investigations

Any DAR office or PARC committee, task force, or team conducting a field investigation must have an official order, memorandum, instruction, or resolution authorizing the on-site validation, field investigation, or ocular inspection (Section 4).
The authorizing order must be signed by the pertinent responsible DAR or PARC official (Section 4).
The inspection team, committee, or task force must always bring a copy of the authorizing order, memorandum, or resolution during the validation/investigation/inspection (Section 4).
The Circular covers investigations conducted by any field investigation team formed under DAR or PARC authority (Sections 1 and 4).

Oath, interview requirements, and recording

All interviews during the investigations must be done under oath (Section 3).
The rules on administration of oaths by the DAR pursuant to Administrative Order (A.O.) No. 5, Series of 2011 apply to the interview oath requirement (Section 3).
The Public Affairs Staff (PAS) of DAR shall be requested to accompany the field investigation team (Section 7).
The PAS is responsible to document the investigation by video and audio recording and/or photographs (Section 7).
If the PAS is not available, the team must ensure that video/audio recording of the proceedings is undertaken (Section 7).
The travel expenses of the PAS are shouldered by the office ordering the investigation (Section 7).

Notice and pre-investigation briefing

Before any on-site validation, the parties and their counsel, if any, must be notified as much as practicable (Section 5).
The written notice must be signed by the head of the team (Section 5).
The notice must be served at least three (3) days prior to the scheduled investigation (Section 5).
The notice must be posted at the bulletin board of the barangay where the subject landholding is located by the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer (MARO) concerned and a copy must be furnished to the Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC) chairperson (Section 5).
The Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer (PARO) and the MARO where the landholding is located must be informed and must be requested to be present during the investigation (Section 5).
The notice must contain the date, place, and time of the validation and the name of the office conducting the same, and must request parties to prepare and submit documents or other pieces of evidence relevant to the investigation (Section 5).
Before actual investigation, the team must hold a preliminary organizational meeting and be briefed on the issues, elements of the violation, and dynamics in the area (Section 6).
The briefer must be prepared by either Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance (BALA), Special Concerns Staff (SCS), National AVA Evaluation Committee (NAEC), or the PARC Secretariat, depending on the case (Section 6).

Team assignment and language

Before actual investigation, the team must designate a team leader, a minutes taker, and an interpreter, if necessary (Section 8).
As much as practicable, the MARO concerned shall join the validation in view of knowledge of the people (Section 8).
The investigation language may be Filipino, English, or the local dialect (Section 8).

Facts to determine and validation tasks

The investigation must elicit specific facts from petitioners: personal circumstances (name, birth date or age, civil status, address, occupation), whether the farmer is a CLOA holder or not, whether the person is a stockholder or not, and proof of identity (Section 9).
Petitioners must provide the persona’s relation to the issue or land, bases and details of the complaints, elements of the violations, including pieces of evidence presented during the site validation, desired outcome of the case, and pending cases, if any (Section 9).
The answers and statements of petitioners must be under oath and recorded (Section 9).
The investigation must elicit facts from respondents: personal circumstances (and proof of identity), the authority of the person to give statements, comment on the petition/complaint, defenses and counter arguments, and pieces of evidence presented during the site validation, plus pending cases, if any (Section 9).
The answers and statements of respondents must be under oath and recorded (Section 9).
The investigation must elicit facts from other interested parties (including persons affected by the resolution, such as other CLOA holders not petitioners, actual occupants, and LGUs) including personal circumstances (with proof of identity), comment on the case, proof on the elements of the alleged violations, and desired outcome of the case (Section 9).
The team must validate the contested area by determining: the number of farmworkers (who are petitioners and how many are not), the status of farmers/farm workers (employed or not), residence and living conditions (houses, clothes, food, etc.) to ascertain actual general conditions, and the status of the farm size, identity of occupants, crops, farm activities, conditions of surrounding areas, and the identity and nature of structures present on the farm (Section 9).

Minutes, transcript, and narrative report

The minutes of the investigation must be prepared and signed by the interviewees and parties present (Section 10).
The minutes must include, among others: attendees, issues raised, agreements, disagreements, deliverables, follow up actions needed, and other details of what transpired (Section 10).
A transcript of the video/audio recording must be prepared not later than twenty (20) working days from the recording date (Section 11).
The person/s taking the video or audio recording must execute an affidavit stating the recording has not been altered and the transcript is a faithful and accurate account of the proceedings (Section 11).
The person/s taking photographs must execute an affidavit stating the photographs have not been altered and are a faithful and accurate depiction of the scenes photographed at the site where taken (Section 11).
A narrative investigation report must be submitted within thirty (30) working days from the date of completion of the validation (Section 12).
The narrative report must include Background (including statement of facts such as landholding description, party identity, history of CARP coverage, conditions of the SDO or contract if applicable, and circumstances surrounding the controversy), Discussion (issues and factual findings; elements of violations and proof of each, if any; and inclusion of pictures and quotations of pertinent portions of relevant documents submitted and/or transcripts), and Annexes (Section 12).
The narrative report must be signed by the majority of the members of the team (Section 12).
The Annexes required in the narrative report include: Field investigation form(s) (SDO Investigation Form 1 and AVA Investigation Form 2), list of submitted documents, attendance sheet with signatures, video and audio recordings discs/tapes and printed pictures with captions, minutes with signatures, authority to administer oath, and other pertinent documents (Section 12).

Repealing, separability, and implementation effects

All circulars, issuances, or portions inconsistent with the Circular are revoked, cancelled, or modified (Section 13).
Any judicial pronouncement declaring any provision or portion of the Circular unconstitutional does not affect the validity of the other provisions (Section 14).