March 5, 1998

DAR OPINION NO. 30-98

Romulo Quirino M . Fabul

Commissioner and Chief Executive Officer

Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board

HLURB Building, Kalayaan Ave. Cor. Mayaman St.

Diliman, Quezon City

Dear Commissioner Fabul:

This has reference to your letter dated 16 February 1998 seeking opinion on whether or not DAR Conversion Order is still needed if the base station requiring about 300 to 600 square meters will be located in an agricultural area.

As culled from the facts of your letter, you state that the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board is currently finalizing the Locational Guidelines for Base Stations of Cellular Mobile Telephone Service, Paging Service, Trunking Service and Wireless Local Loop Service; that in the process of the guidelines' finalization, agricultural areas will be affected; that HLURB called the DAR Central Office regarding the matter and was informed informally that the compliance of DAR Conversion Order can be dispensed with in agricultural areas with an area of 300 to 600 square meters; and that to dispel any doubt or uncertainty, your Office is requesting the DAR's written position on this regard for reference purposes.

Please be informed that the issuance of DAR Conversion Order by the Department of Agrarian Reform is a mandatory requirement intended to preserve prime agricultural lands for food production purposes, and to give highest priority to the completion of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). In line with this declared policy, the DAR as the agency tasked to implement the agrarian reform program of the government is mandated pursuant to Section 4 (j) of Executive Order No. 129-A, Series of 1987 to approve or disapprove the conversion, restructuring or readjustment of agricultural lands into non-agricultural uses. Clearly, the imposition of DAR Conversion Order as a condition sine qua non before conversion can be legally undertaken is a compulsory one, which exempts no one from compliance therewith including government agencies and government-owned or controlled corporations.

Since the proposed project of the HLURB will definitely change the current use of the land from agricultural to non-agricultural use, the same thus requires DAR Conversion Order to prevent possible indiscriminate land use conversion. Corollarily, to obviate circumvention of Sections 65 and 73 (c) R.A. No. 6657 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law) on illegal conversion, DAR Administrative Order No. 07, Series of 1997 (copy attached) laid down the Procedures and the requirements needed before conversion could be legally effected.

In fine, the HLURB should still file an application for conversion with the nearest DAR Regional Center for Land Use Policy, Planning and Implementation (CLUPPI ) or the Central Office CLUPPI, depending on who has jurisdiction, for immediate processing thereof.

We hope to have clarified the matter with you.

Very truly yours,

(SGD.) ARTEMIO A. ADASA, JR.

Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, and Policy and Planning