October 29, 1999
DAR OPINION NO. 60-99
Atty. Mariano L. Ordoñez II
No. 71 Gen. Mariano G. Ordonez St.
Marikina Heights, Marikina City
Dear Atty. Ordoñez:
This has reference to your letter dated 19 April 1999 requesting for legal opinion, as to what is the reckoning date of the ten (10) year deferment period. Is it from:
1) The deferment date appearing on the Deferment Order signed by the DAR Regional Director?
OR
2) The date of application for deferment by a landowner?
Please be clarified at the outset that Section 11 of R.A. No. 6657 (as amended by Section 3 of R.A. No. 7881) provides in part: "Commercial farms, which are private agricultural lands devoted to . . . shall be subject to immediate compulsory acquisition and distribution after ten (10) years from effectivity of this Act. In the case of new farms, the ten-year period shall begin from the first year of commercial production and operation, as determined by the DAR." DAR Administrative Order No. 16, Series of 1988, which serves as the implementing guidelines of Section 11, R.A. No. 6657, specifically Section 5 thereof, provides for the following:
"Sec. 5. DETERMINATION OF DEFERMENT PERIOD. — Deferment period for qualified commercial farms shall be as follows:
A. For commercial farms already in commercial production and operation as of June 15, 1988, the deferment period immediately begins as of that date and ends on June 15, 1998. The farm shall then be subject to compulsory land acquisition and distribution by DAR after June 15, 1998.
B. For commercial farms established before June 15, 1988, but which are not yet in commercial production and operation, the deferment starts from the first year of commercial production and operation, or at the end of the gestation periods for that crop or commodity. The allowable gestation period for specific commercial crops/commodities are listed in Annex A.
C. In case of multi-crop farms (i.e., one large farm divided into several areas, each planted or devoted to different crops), the area which are already in commercial production and operation shall follow the deferment period prescribed in Section 5.A above, while areas which are not yet in commercial production and operation shall follow Section 5.B above.
D. Where a commercial crop is intercropped with another commercial crop, the ten (10) year period shall be based on the main crop or the crop most prevalent in that farm area.
E. In case of areas with varying crop ages, the ten (10) year period shall be based on the most prevalent age group in that area."
Put simply, the reckoning date of the 10-year deferment period is the date appearing on the Deferment Order signed by the DAR Regional Director which obviously was fixed after having considered the foregoing criteria. The rationale of the law in giving ten (10)-year deferment period is to allow the landowner the chance to recover his or her investment. It bears stressing at this point, however, that if the DAR determines that the purpose for which the deferment is granted no lodger exists, e.g., the particular farm area ceases to be commercially, productive, the Deferment Order shall be revoked and the land shall immediately be acquired and distributed to qualified beneficiaries.
Thank you for communicating with us and we hope to have clarified you on the matter.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) DANILO T. LARA
Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, and Policy and Planning