November 11, 1998
DAR OPINION NO. 111-98
ATTY . NESTOR R. ACOSTA
Regional Director
DAR — Region I
San Fernando City, La Union
Dear Director Acosta:
This refers to your letter dated 21 July 1998 seeking opinion on whether or not awarded lands acquired under Republic Act No. 6657 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law) can be the subject of a valid transfer or conveyance within the ten (10) year prohibitory period from the award notwithstanding the prohibition under Section 27 of said law.
The instant request is prompted in view of numerous queries posed relative to the issue of disposition of awarded lands. Specifically, it appears to be the belief of farmer-beneficiaries who are recipients of Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) that awarded lands can already be transferred or conveyed even within the ten (10) year prohibitory period for as long as all the supporting documents required under DAR Administrative Order No. 08, Series of 1995 as supplemented by DAR Administrative Order No. 06, Series of 1996 have been duly complied with.
Please be informed that the prohibition relative to transferability of awarded lands under Section 27 of R.A. No. 6657, which provides that lands acquired by beneficiaries under said 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, is mandatory and absolute. This simply means that the prohibition relative to disposition shall stand during the ten (10) year period from the award even if the supporting documents have been complied with, and even if the conditions laid down under Item II-3 of Administrative Order No. 08, Series of 1995 shall be observed and the subject landholding has already been fully paid by the farmer-beneficiaries. To immediately allow the transfer or conveyance during the ten (10) year prohibitory period would circumvent R.A. No. 6657 on the non-transferability of awarded lands, render nugatory the social justice purposes for which the said law had been enacted, and would likewise run counter to the well-entrenched concepts of land to the tiller and owner-cultivatorship. While DAR A.O. No. 08, Series of 1995 as supplemented by DAR A.O. No. 06, Series of 1996 allows the disposition or transfer of awarded lands, the same clearly refers only to transfers or dispositions after the ten (10) year prohibitory period has elapsed. Moreover, even assuming arguendo that said Administrative Order allows the disposition or transfer of awarded lands within the 10-year prohibitory period, it was categorically held by the Supreme Court in the case of Vassar Industries Inc. vs. Vassar Industries Employees Union, 177 SCRA 323, that administrative regulations issued by government agencies to implement a law cannot by any means expand nor supplant a law. The rules must be in harmony with the law and cannot operate to amend it.
Please be guided accordingly.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) DANILO T. LARA
Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, and Policy and Planning
Copy furnished:
Ms. Deogracias Cabrera
Umingan, Pangasinan
Mr. Dexter Dizon
Umingan, Pangasinan