October 24, 1978

MINISTRY MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 23-78

TO                :     All MAR Regional Directors, District Officers, Team Leaders and Fieldmen,                    All Concerned

SUBJECT    :     Implementing Guidelines of Letter of Instruction No. 705

            Under Letter of Instruction No. 705, the President directed the transfer of the homelots actually occupied by tenant-farmers who are, or may be, beneficiaries of the Land Transfer Program under Presidential Decree No. 27.

For the effective implementation of the directive, the following guidelines are to be followed:   STIcEA

I.       Coverage

            This shall apply to homelots actually occupied by tenant-farmers who are or may be, beneficiaries of the Land Transfer Program under P.D. No. 27. For this purpose, a homelot shall mean that contiguous area where the tenant-farmer beneficiary has established his permanent dwelling with the consent of the landowner, including the area utilized for raising vegetables, poultry, pigs and other animals or for engaging in minor home industries.

II.      Location and Size of the Homelot

            The homelot actually occupied by the tenant-farmer beneficiary, whether located inside or outside the farmlot, shall be transferred to him, provided that the area to be transferred shall not exceed one-thousand (1,000) square meters. If the area actually occupied exceeds the maximum area fixed herein, the acquisition of such excess area shall be the subject of a separate private transaction between the landowner and the tenant-farmer beneficiary.

III.    Compensation for the Homelot

1.         The price of the homelot in the following cases shall be computed on the basis of the price of the farmlot transferred or to be transferred to the tenant-farmer beneficiary under Presidential Decree No. 27.

a)         Homelot is located inside the farmlot;

b)         Homelot is located outside the farmlot but on the same landholding of the landowner;

c)         Homelot is located in another parcel of land owned by the same landowner of where same landowner has an interest in fee simple, but within reasonable distance or in the vicinity of the farmlot. For this purpose, "vicinity" or "reasonable distance" shall mean a distance of not more than three (3) kilometers reckoned from the homelot to the farmlot.   SAHEIc

2.         The price of the homelot in the following cases shall be agreed upon between the tenant-farmer and the landowner which price shall in no case be more than the valuation under Presidential Decree No. 76, as amended.

a)         Homelot is far from farmlot, but owned by the same landowner.

b)         Homelot is within the vicinity of the farmlot but owned by another person.

            In case of disagreement, the Ministry of Agrarian Reform may, upon written request of the tenant-farmer beneficiary, acquire or expropriate said homelot for resale at cost to the latter in accordance with the provisions of Republic Act No. 3844 as amended, Presidential Decree No. 76, Presidential Decree No. 251, as amended, and other applicable pertinent laws.

3.         Transfer of ownership of the homelot after October 21, 1972 except to the tenant-farmer beneficiary, shall not in any manner affect the valuation thereof pursuant to LOI No. 705 and this circular.

IV.       Identification and Survey of Homelots

            Identification and survey of homelots shall be made in accordance with MAR existing and approved OLT procedures.

V.        Certificates of Land Transfer Covering Homelots

            Certificates of Land Transfer shall likewise be issued in accordance with MAR existing and approved OLT procedures. CLTs covering homelots shall be issued only to tenant-farmer beneficiaries who have previously been issued CLTs for their farmlots.

VI.       Mode of Payment by Land Bank/Manner and Period of Repayment by Tenant-Beneficiaries

            Payment by Land Bank shall be in accordance with P.D. No. 251 as amended, and such rules and regulations governing payment of land transfer compensation claims as the Land Bank may promulgate.

            The total cost of the homelot including interest at the rate of six (6) percentum per annum shall be paid by the tenant-farmer beneficiary in fifteen (15) years of fifteen (15) equal annual amortizations.   EHScCA

VII.      Previous Agreement/Contracts Regarding Transfer of Homelots

            Agreements/Contracts entered into by and between landowner and the tenant-farmer beneficiaries prior to the issuance of LOI No. 705 effecting the transfer of homelots to the beneficiaries shall be respected. A copy of such contracts/agreements shall be submitted by the tenant-farmer beneficiary to the team office concerned and on the basis of which CLTs or Emancipation Patents as the case maybe shall be issued to the tenant-farmer beneficiary.

VIII.     Payment of Realty Taxes for Homelots

            The tenant-farmer beneficiary shall be liable for the payment of realty tax assessable on the homelot beginning the calendar year following the issuance of the CLT.

IX.       Limitation to ownership of Homelots

            Title to homelots acquired pursuant to LOI No. 705 and this circular shall not be transferable except to the government or by hereditary succession.

X.        Maintenance of Status Quo

            Pending the acquisition of the homelot, the tenant-farmer beneficiary shall not be removed, ejected or ousted therefrom and his peaceful possession thereof shall be preserved and maintained at all times.

XI.       Effectivity

            This Memorandum Circular shall take effect immediately and all Orders, Circulars, Memoranda and rules and regulations or portions thereof inconsistent herewith are hereby revoked, cancelled or modified as the case may be.   EDISTc

            Please be guided accordingly.

            Diliman, Quezon City, October 24, 1978.

(SGD.) CONRADO F. ESTRELLA
Minister