October 16, 2000

DAR OPINION NO. 30-00

MARO Manuel A. Sanoy

DAR Municipal Office

Island Garden City of Samal

Davao del Norte

Dear MARO Sanoy:

This refers to your letter dated 18 February 1999 addressed to Director Gloria J. Fabia of the Bureau of Land Acquisition and Distribution, this Department, requesting the Office of the Secretary to assist you in convincing Mr. Wesley Magnaye of the Land Valuation Office, Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), Davao City to just deposit in trust the payment of the landholding of Antolin Diaz Agricultural Corporation while the issue of ownership is in question.

Your letter stated that in 1990, the landholding of Antolin Diaz Agricultural Corporation located at Aumbay, Island Garden City of Samal, with an aggregate area of 57.7575 hectares, was offered for sale under the Voluntarily Offer to Sell (VOS) scheme to the government through the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR); that subject landholding was surveyed and approved under modular survey in favor of the individual beneficiaries on October 4, 1994; that the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP) found that the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) had issued a Certification sometime in June 1996 to the effect that Mr. Pablito Colmenares has an adverse claim over the said property and, as a consequence, the processing of the VOS was affected; that it turned out later that said Mr. Colmenares is one of the incorporators of the Antolin Diaz Agricultural Corporation; and that you were informed by one of the personnel of LBP, Valuation Office in Davao City that in the event ownership is in question, the payment for compensation of the land shall be deposited in trust so that the title of the land can be transferred to the Republic of the Philippines (RP) subject to the confirmation of the Bank Manager.

Per information given by the LBP personnel, payment for the compensation of the land shall be deposited in trust so that the title to the land can be transferred to the RP, subject to the confirmation of the Bank Manager.

We agree.

The provision of Section 16 (e) of Republic Act No. 6657 is very explicit on the matter, quote:

"(e)    Upon receipt by the landowner of the corresponding payment or, in case of rejection or no response from the landowner, upon the deposit with an accessible bank designated by the DAR of the compensation in cash or in LBP bonds in accordance with this Act, the DAR shall take immediate possession of the land and shall request the proper Register of Deeds to issue a Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) in the name of the Republic of the Philippines. The DAR shall thereafter proceed with the redistribution of the land to the qualified beneficiaries." (emphasis and emphasis supplied)

From the aforequoted provision of law, it could be inferred that question of ownership is not a bar in the coverage of an agricultural land under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) especially so if it is clear that no matter what the outcome of the litigation may be, the land is still covered under CARP. Thus, the DAR could immediately take possession of the land and proceed with the coverage upon deposit in cash or in LBP bonds of the compensation for the land pending the resolution of the ownership dispute. Furthermore, it bears stressing likewise that in Republic of the Philippines vs. Eduardo M. Cojuangco, Jr., et al., Sandiganbayan Resolution No. 0033 dated January 16, 1996, the Sandiganbayan had ruled that in cases where ownership of the land is under litigation, the DAR may proceed without leave of Court to implement R.A. No. 6657, as well as related laws and implementing regulations under its own authority over agricultural lands covered by CARP.

Please be guided accordingly.

Very truly yours,

(SGD.) FEDERICO A. POBLETE

Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, and Policy and Planning

Copy furnished:
Mr. Wesley Magnaye
Land Valuation Office
Land Bank of the Philippines
Davao City

Dir. Gloria J. Fabia
BLAD

Dir. Alejo V. Duque, MNSA, CESO III
DAR Regional Office No. XI
Ecoland, Davao City

PARO Saturnino D. Sibbaluca
DAR Provincial Office
Tagum, Davao del Norte

Marcelino Epifanio
Aumbay Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Association
Aumbay, Island Garden City of Samal