October 29, 1997
DAR OPINION NO. 120-97
Ms. Shirley C. Gonzales
517 5th St., San Martin Subdivision
Angono, Rizal
Dear Ms. Gonzales:
This refers to your letter dated 29 August 1997 requesting for information or legal opinion on the following, to wit:
1. Do I have to go to court to eject my tenant?
2. Should the court order the ejectment of my tenant, will my riceland be considered untenanted? If so, am I allowed to personally cultivate the same, or manage it through the use of hired labor?
3. Are there steps to take before I can take over planting in my riceland?
Your letter states that your riceland consisting of one hectare, more or less, is under a leasehold agreement; that your tenant often does not complete payment of the agreed rental of sixteen (16) cavans of palay a year; that over a period of many years his arrears have accumulated to at least eighty-eight (88) cavans of palay; that last year, said tenant signed an agreement that if he does not pay his arrears until August 15, 1997 he would voluntarily surrender his right as tenant; that he has not paid his arrears until now; and that on several occasions, said tenant has also mortgaged subject riceland without your knowledge and consent.
Anent your first query, please be informed that the security of tenure of an agricultural lessee once established is supreme and he cannot be ejected from his landholding without authority from the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB), for causes provided for by law. Simply stated, dispossession to be validly carried out requires proofs of existence of a cause for ejectment, and court authority is necessary. Under Section 36 of R.A. No. 3844 it provides that notwithstanding any agreement as to the period or future surrender, of the land, an agricultural lessee shall continue in the enjoyment and possession of his landholding except when his dispossession has been authorized by the Court in a judgment that is final and executory if after due hearing it is shown that there is valid ground to dispossess or order the ejectment of the tenant. Ejectment is premised on an offense committed by the lessee or the exercise of the lessor of his superior right over the use of the land, and in either case, the lessee is entitled to be heard before he is dispossessed.
Anent your second query, any landowner is free to assume the cultivation of his land, directly or through the use of hired labor, after the court (DARAB) orders the ejectment of a tenant. This is in consonance with the right of the owner to use and enjoy his property.
As regards your statement that your tenant undertook in writing to voluntarily surrender his right as tenant in the event that he fails to pay his unpaid rentals up to August 15, 1997, we regret to inform you that future surrender of the landholding is not allowed under Section 36 of R.A. No. 3844 as it is violative of the security of tenure of the tenant. In reiteration, the tenant shall be dispossessed only in a judgment that is final and executory.
We therefore suggest that if you decide to take over the cultivation and/or management of your riceland covered by a lease agreement, you first thresh out the issues (as stated in your letter) with your tenant if it is still possible, otherwise, you have to raise the matter before the DARAB for it to determine the merit of your case.
We hope to have enlightened you on the matter.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) ARTEMIO A. ADASA, JR.
Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, and Policy and Planning
Copy furnished:
Atty. Fe M. Rosario
Chief, Legal Division
DAR Central Office