Law Summary
Scope and Coverage
- Covers tenant farmers on lands classified as landed estates and those which are not.
- Tenant farmers deemed owners of a family-size farm portion, defined as:
- Five (5) hectares if not irrigated.
- Three (3) hectares if irrigated.
- Landowners may retain up to seven (7) hectares if they are cultivating or will cultivate the land.
Determination and Payment of Land Cost
- Land value is calculated as two and one-half (2.5) times the average harvest of the three normal crop years before the decree.
- Payment includes interest at six percent (6%) per annum.
- Tenant farmers have fifteen (15) years to pay in fifteen equal amortizations.
Default and Government Support
- In case of payment default, a farmers' cooperative pays the amortizations due.
- The cooperative has a right of recourse against the defaulting tenant.
- The government guarantees the amortizations via shares in government-owned or controlled corporations.
Ownership, Title Issuance, and Transfer Restrictions
- Title is only issued to tenant farmers who become full-fledged members of recognized farmers' cooperatives.
- Land titles acquired under this decree or related programs are non-transferable except:
- By hereditary succession.
- To the government, according to this decree, the Code of Agrarian Reform, and other laws.
Implementation and Legal Adjustment
- The Department of Agrarian Reform Secretary is empowered to issue implementing rules and regulations.
- All laws, orders, decrees, or regulations inconsistent with this decree are repealed or modified accordingly.