June 23, 1998
DAR OPINION NO. 69-98
JOSE C. HIPOLITO
Sitio Toyang, Mascap
Montalban, Rizal
Dear Mr. Hipolito:
This refers to your letter dated 12 May 1998 inquiring whether or not this Office had issued an Order permitting the farmer-beneficiaries under Presidential Decree No. 27 to sell their awarded lands.
You state that you and your son are CARP (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program) beneficiaries; that you are now being surrounded by new occupants who bought adjacent farms and these new occupants are tending to grab a portion of your farm; and that more than fifty percent of the awarded lands had already been sold by the previous owners, particularly in the vicinity of Sitio Toyang, Brgy, Mascap, Montalban, Rizal. You believe that the sale of said awarded lands is a violation of Presidential Decree No. 27 in which our government has the legal right over said lands to redistribute to adjacent tenants who own less than one hectare.
We submit that pursuant to Section 6 of Executive Order No. 228, ownership of lands acquired by farmer-beneficiaries under P.D. No. 27 may be transferred after full payment of amortizations. However, we would like to emphasize that this provision does not serve as a sweeping authority for the injudicious transfer or sale of awarded lands as there are certain criteria that must be satisfied in order that a valid transfer thereof can be made. DAR Administrative Order No. 8, Series of 1995 (copy attached) provides that lands awarded to ARBs pursuant to either P.D. No. 27 or R.A. No. 6657 may be transferred and registered by the Register of Deeds only after the issuance of a DAR Clearance (Item II.1). Moreover, said guideline enumerates the criteria that must be observed in the transfer of awarded lands, to wit:
"a. that the productivity of the land shall be maintained;
b. that the buyer will not exceed the aggregate landowner ceiling provided by law; and
c. that the ownership ceiling of five (5) hectares shall be imposed."
Clearly, therefore, If a farmer-beneficiary and a transferee satisfy all the conditions set forth under DAR A.O. No. 8, Series of 1995, the former could validly transfer or sell the awarded land to the latter. However, non-compliance or violation of any of the conditions may be deemed a valid ground to cancel the EP or CLOA (Item IV-B.5, DAR Administrative Order No. 2, Series of 1994) and/or to forfeit the sale or transfer, the same being null and void, hence, the lands shall be reacquired by DAR for redistribution to other qualified farmer-beneficiaries. Likewise, an awardee who shall dispose of his/her landholding shall no longer be qualified to become a beneficiary under CARP (Item II.9, AO. No. 8, Series of 1995).
The foregoing guidelines were issued to ensure that the productivity of awarded lands is maintained, to foreclose possible circumvention of existing agrarian laws, rules and regulations, and to provide sanctions in case of violations 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
Copy furnished:
Eugenio B. Bernardo
DAR — Regional Director
Eugolio Rodriguez Memorial Building
Capital Compound, Pasig City
Aurelio Leyesa
OIC-PARO
Bagumbayan St.
Teresa Rizal
The Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer
DAR-Municipal Office
Montalban, Rizal