September 30, 1988

DOF MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 05-88

TO                :     All Regional Directors for Local
                         Government Finance, this
                         Department; Provincial Governors,
                         City Mayors and Municipal Mayors;
                         Members of the Local Sanggunians;
                         Provincial/City/Municipal
                         Treasurers/Assessors; Others Concerned

SUBJECT    :     LISTASAKA II (Compulsory Registration
                         of Agricultural Lands under R.A. 6657)

        Quoted hereunder is Section 14, Chapter IV of Republic Act No. 6657, otherwise known as the "Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988" (which took effect on June 15, 1988):

"SEC. 14.      Registration of Landowners. — Within one hundred eighty (180) days from the effectivity of this Act, all persons, natural or juridical, including government entities, that own or claim to own agricultural lands, whether in their names or in the name of others, except those who have already registered pursuant to Executive Order No. 229, who shall be entitled to such incentives as may be provided for by the PARC, shall file a sworn statement in the proper assessor's office in the form to be prescribed by the DAR, stating the following information:

"(a)       the description and area of the property;

"(b)      the average gross income from the property for at least three (3) years;

"(c)       the names of all tenants and farmworkers therein;

"(d)      the crops planted in the property and the area covered by each crop as of June 1, 1987;

"(e)       the terms of mortgages, leases, and management contracts subsisting as of June 1, 1987; and

"(f)       the latest declared market value of the land as determined by the city or provincial assessor."

        Accordingly, the following guidelines are hereby issued for purposes of implementing the aforequoted provision of R.A. No. 6657:

1.         The accomplished form shall be subscribed under oath, "FREE OF CHARGE", before any public officer authorized to administer oath, and shall be filed in the Office of the Provincial/City/Municipal Assessor in whose territorial jurisdiction the subject property is located.

2.         Sworn statements submitted personally by, or thru representatives of, owners or administrators of agricultural lands shall be acknowledged by stamping the word "RECEIVED" on all copies thereof with the date of receipt and the printed name and initial of the receiving officer of the Assessor's Office duly indicated therein.

3.         Sworn statements sent thru mail shall be deemed duly received and filed if the date of the postmark is within the reglementary period hereinabove mentioned.

4.         Local assessors shall maintain a separate assessment roll for all agricultural lands registered pursuant to Section 4 of E.O. 229 and Section 14 of R.A. No. 6657 hereinabove quoted.

Corollary to the above task, local assessors shall prepare updated lists of landowners, leaseholders and farm managers concerned who filed their sworn statements.

Additionally, they shall assist the DAR field personnel in the preparation of periodic status reports on the extent of compliance with the registration.

5.         Copies of the sworn statements and/or updated lists referred to above shall be furnished the Provincial/City/Municipal Treasurers' Offices, for taxation purposes. Likewise, local treasurers shall maintain a separate tax roll for all agricultural lands herein referred to.

        As the period of LISTASAKA II ends on December 12, 1988, all Provincial Treasurers/Assessors and the District Treasurers/Assessors of Metropolitan Manila are hereby enjoined to reproduce this Memorandum Circular and distribute sufficient copies to all Municipal Treasurers/Assessors under their respective jurisdictions and to see to it that the herein guidelines are fully complied with.

        All Regional Directors are hereby directed to coordinate the activities of the local treasury and assessment offices and to take appropriate measures to ensure the prompt and proper implementation of this Circular.

        Copies of this Circular should also be furnished the local chief executives and other local government officials, who are, in turn, hereby requested to extend their full support and assistance in the dissemination thereof in their respective localities, preferably thru the use of local print and broadcast media facilities.

        Strict enforcement of this Circular by all concerned is hereby enjoined.

(SGD.) VICTOR C. MACALINCAG

Acting Secretary