June 7, 2002
DAR OPINION NO. 19-02
Mr. Pompeyo Navarro
Columnist
Bandera Publishing Corp.
30 Edsa corner Pioneer St.
Mandaluyong City
Dear Mr. Navarro:
This refers to your letter requesting this Department to assist Mr. Vincent Ans concerning his queries in his letter dated 16 July 2001, to wit:
1) What is the new law governing the sharing of tenants and owners? and,
2) In case the property is sold, does a tenant have a share?
Mr. Vincent Ans stated that his friends are tenants of a small land in Davao del Sur; that the latter planted and maintained it for more than 50 years; and, that since then up to now, they get only forty percent (40%) share and sixty percent (60%) goes to the owner.
Anent your first query, by virtue of Republic Act No. 3844 (Agricultural Land Reform Code), which took effect on 08 August 1963, agricultural share tenancy was declared to be contrary to public policy and was, thereby, abolished. This was further strengthened in Section 4 of Republic Act No. 6389, which provided that agricultural share tenancy throughout the country shall be automatically converted to agricultural leasehold.
Item III.D of DAR Administrative Order No. 05, series of 1993 (Rules and Procedures Governing Agricultural Leasehold and the Determination of Lease Rental for Tenanted Lands) provides, quote: IaAEHD
"The lease rental to be paid by all agricultural lessees shall not be more than the equivalent of twenty-five percent (25%) of the average normal harvest during the three (3) agricultural years immediately preceding 15 June 1988, after deducting the amount used for seeds and the cost of harvesting, threshing, loading, hauling and processing, whichever is applicable."
Regarding the second query, the answer is in the negative. However, it bears underscoring here the following pertinent provisions of R.A. No. 3844, as amended:
"Sec. 7. Tenure of Agricultural Leasehold Relation — The agricultural leasehold relation once established shall confer upon the agricultural lessee the right to continue working on the landholding until such leasehold relation is extinguished. The agricultural lessee shall be entitled to security of tenure on his landholding and cannot be ejected therefrom unless authorized by the Court for cases herein provided.
xxx xxx xxx
Sec. 10. Agricultural Leasehold Relation Not Extinguished by Expiration of Period, Etc. — The agricultural leasehold relation under this Code shall not be extinguished by mere expiration of the term or period in a leasehold contract nor by the sale, alienation or transfer of the legal possession of the landholding. In case the agricultural lessor sells, alienates or transfers the legal possession of the landholding, the purchaser or transferee thereof shall be subrogated to the rights and substituted to the obligations of the agricultural lessor.
Sec. 11. Lessee's Right of Pre-emption. — In case the agricultural lessor decides to sell the landholding, the agricultural lessee shall have the preferential right to buy the same under reasonable terms and conditions . . . . .
Sec. 12. Lessee's Right of Redemption. — In case the landholding is sold to a third person without the knowledge of the agricultural lessee, the latter shall have the right to redeem the same at a reasonable price and consideration. . . . ."
Under Section 7 of Republic Act No. 3844, tenants are entitled to security of tenure. They may not then be ejected from their tillage unless authorized by the court (now DAR Adjudication Board) for causes provided by law. And the tenant continues to enjoy security of tenure on the farmholding despite sale of the property for the leasehold is not extinguished by transfer of legal ownership of the land from one landowner to another. In such cases, the purchaser or transferee shall be subrogated to the rights and substituted to the obligations of the original agricultural lessor. prLL
Likewise, in Sections 11 and 12, it is explicit that in case the agricultural lessor decides to sell the landholding, the agricultural lessee shall have the preferential right to buy the same, and, in case the landholding is sold to a third person without the knowledge of the agricultural lessee, the latter shall have the right to redeem the same at a reasonable price and consideration.
Thank you for communicating with us and we hope to have enlightened you.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) VIRGILIO R. DE LOS REYES
Undersecretary for Policy, Planning and
Legal Affairs Office