March 5, 1998
DAR OPINION NO. 32-98
ROGELIO B. BALLADARES
OIC-PARO
Provincial Agrarian Reform Office
Dipolog City
Dear PARO Balladares:
This has reference to your letter dated 10 December 1997 seeking opinion on whether Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) derived from Homestead Patents under the Voluntary Land Transfer (VLT) Scheme can be registered with the Register of Deeds despite the fact that the 25-year prohibition for their transferability has not yet elapsed.
As culled from your letter, the subject properties are covered by Homestead Patents issued by the Bureau of Lands; that when the CLOAs were forwarded to the Register of Deeds for registration, the same were denied on the ground that the 25-year prohibition for the patents' transferability has not yet elapsed; and that to facilitate the registration of the aforesaid transaction, you are seeking opinion on the matter.
Please be informed that Voluntary Land Transfer (VLT) is one of the schemes legally recognized under Republic Act No. 6657 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law) which validly transfers the ownership of an agricultural land. Pursuant to this scheme, the landowner and the qualified beneficiaries agree to the direct transfer of the ownership of the land, as provided for under Sections 20 and 21 of R.A. No. 6657. The efficacy of VLT is, however, subject to the terms to be mutually agreed upon by both parties, which shall be binding upon registration with and approval of the DAR. Obviously, the approval of the DAR is a pre-condition to the validity of said scheme to ensure that the terms and conditions of the VLT shall not be less favorable to the ARB than those of the government's standing offer to purchase from the landowner and to resell to the beneficiary, if such offer has been made and is fully known to both parties. In any case, it is incumbent upon the DAR to ensure that the ARBs are made fully aware of and understand the options available to them.
While Section 118 of Commonwealth Act 141 (Public Land Act) as amended expressly prohibits the disposition of homestead lands without the approval of the DENR Secretary within twenty-five (25) years from the issuance of the title, the same admits of exception as clearly provided under the very same provision of law itself (Section 118) when it initially states, quote: "except in favor of the Government or any of its branches, units or institutions, lands acquired under free patent or homestead provisions shall not be subject to encumbrance or alienation . . .". While VLT is a direct transfer from the landowner to the beneficiary and not to the government per se, the spirit and intent of Section 118 of C.A. No. 141 is nonetheless sufficiently complied with. It must be noted that under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, the government covers or acquires agricultural lands which likewise include homestead lands under certain conditions (Paragraph 1, Section 6 of R.A. No. 6657 and DAR M.C. No. 4, Series of 1991) for redistribution to qualified beneficiaries. In agrarian reform, the ultimate beneficiaries are therefore the ARBs themselves, thus, transfer of homestead lands through the VLT scheme may also be deemed contemplated within the exclusionary clause of Section 118 of C.A. No. 141, as earlier quoted. Accordingly, the above prohibition is not absolute so as to practically restrict all kinds of disposition.
Moreover, Section 27 of R.A. No. 6657 expressly provides that "lands acquired by beneficiaries under this Act may not be sold, transferred or conveyed except through hereditary succession, or to the government, or to the LBP, or to other qualified beneficiaries for a period of ten (10) years". From the aforequoted provision of law and by relative application, clearly, what the law seeks to prevent is the indiscriminate disposition made by awardees in favor of third persons and does not in any way include disposition made in favor of qualified beneficiaries since they are excepted from the aforequoted prohibition of law.
In view of the foregoing, it is evident that the disposition of a homestead land in favor of qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries through the Voluntary Land Transfer Scheme is legally feasible both under the spirit and intent of C.A. No. 141 and R.A. No. 6657 regardless of the date of transfer, for the same falls under the exception to the aforementioned rules on prohibitory periods. Consequently, registration must perforce and of necessity eventually follow as a matter of course.
Please be guided accordingly.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) ARTEMIO A. ADASA, JR.
Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, and Policy and Planning
Copy furnished:
Director Gloria J. Fabia
BLAD