January 9, 1997
DAR OPINION NO. 01-97
Mr. Angel L. Arguelles
34 Faith St.
Teresa Village
Quezon City
Dear Mr. Arguelles:
This has reference to your letter dated 6 January 1997 January 1997 seeking clarification on the queries posed therein, to wit:
1. Inasmuch as the lot has been converted as per DAR Order, does this mean that it has also been "reclassified"?
2. Since the lot has been converted, can we now sell the converted lot by executing a Deed of Absolute Sale?
Anent your first query, please be informed that DAR Administrative Order No. 12 Series of 1994 prescribed the requirements in applying for land use conversion. One of the mandatory requirements therein is the issuance of zoning certification from the HLRB Regional Officer when the subject land is within a city/municipality with a land use plan/zoning ordinance approved and certified by the HLRB. Evidently, reclassification takes precedence over conversion. Briefly, reclassification specify how agricultural lands shall be utilized for non-agricultural uses such as residential, industrial, commercial, as embodied in the land use plan. In other words, it merely allocates lands to different activities or classes of land uses, evolved and enacted through the town planning and zoning process. It is not synonymous with conversion under Section 65 of R.A. 6657 for while the authority to reclassify is lodged with the local government units, the authority to convert remains with the DAR.
Anent your last query, the answer is in the affirmative. This is so because after the land has been converted, the same ceases to be agricultural over which the DAR has no more jurisdiction. This interpretation is in consonance with the legal maxim in statutory construction that "when the reason of the law ceases, the law ceases". However, Section 7 of R.A. 6389 (An Act Amending R.A. 3844, As Amended, Otherwise Known As the Agricultural Land Reform Code And For Other Purposes) expressly provides that "the agricultural lessee shall be entitled to disturbance compensation equivalent to five times the average of the gross harvest on his landholding during the last five preceding calendar years". The said law clearly suggests that it is only in cases of land use conversion that displaced tenants are entitled to the payment of disturbance compensation.
We hope to have clarified matters with you.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) ARTEMIO A. ADASA, JR.
Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, and Policy and Planning