November 3, 1998
DAR OPINION NO. 106-98
JOSE L. ORLINO
Kasoy St., Dadiangas East
General Santos City
Dear Mr. Orlino:
This pertains to your letter dated 08 July 1998 addressed to the Department of Justice which was referred to this Department, requesting opinion on the query posed therein.
Your query is, whether or not a piece of agricultural land donated to the government in 1989 (i.e., 4 hectares out of 9 hectares) is included in the computation of the area to be retained by the landowner under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
Under Section 6 of R.A. No. 6657, the landowner is entitled to retain not more than five (5) hectares of agricultural land, and upon the effectivity of said Act, any sale, disposition, lease or transfer of possession of private lands made by the original landowner in violation thereof shall be null and void. DAR Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 1989 which provides the guidelines governing land transactions reads insofar as pertinent:
"II. RULES ON VALIDITY OF LAND TRANSACTIONS
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"B. The following transactions are not valid:
1. Sale, disposition, lease, management contract or transfer of possession of private lands executed by the original landowner prior to 15 June 1988, which are not registered on or before 13 September 1988 or those executed after 15 June 1988, covering an area in excess of the five (5) hectare retention limit in violation of Republic Act No. 6657."
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Applying the aforequoted provisions to your query, our answer is that the 4 hectare area donated to the DECS cannot be taken from that part of the agricultural land of the landowner which is subject for acquisition and redistribution to qualified beneficiaries under CARP. In other words, the donated 4-hectare portion constitutes and forms part of his retention area.
It should be noted that out of the aggregate area of nine (9) hectares owned by the landowner, only five (5) hectares may be retained by him (inclusive of the 4 hectares donated), while the remaining four (4) hectares are mandated by CARP to be acquired and redistributed to qualified farmer-beneficiaries. Thus, it follows that said remaining 4 hectare portion (which is already beyond his 5-hectare retention area/limit) shall be covered under CARL which took effect way back 15 June 1988 even before the donation took place in 1989.
Finally, notwithstanding the foregoing, the donation of the 4-hectare agricultural property may have been tainted with invalidity or irregularity since the same should have been effected only upon prior issuance of a DAR Clearance pursuant to Section 6, last paragraph of Republic Act No. 6657 (CARL) and the provisions of DAR Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 1989. This is in order to foreclose possible circumvention of the provisions of R.A. No. 6657, particularly Sections 6, 70 and 73 (a) thereof and to ensure that the agricultural productivity of the land is maintained and not otherwise unduly or illegally converted into non-agricultural uses conversion of which is subject to DAR approval pursuant to existing agrarian laws, rules and regulations.
We hope to have clarified the matter with you.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) DANILO T. LARA
Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, and Policy and Planning
Copy furnished:
Teresita Reyes-Domingo
Senior State Prosecutor & Officer-in-Charge
Technical Staff
Department of Justice
Manila
Dir. Alejo Duque
DAR Region XI
Ecoland, Davao City
PARO Saturnino Sibaluca
DAR Provincial Office
Capitol Site, Pagsabangan Road
Mankilam Tagum, Davao del Norte
The Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer
DAR Municipal Office
General Santos City