March 3, 1997
DAR OPINION NO. 19-97
Atty. Ruben V . Mabagos
Assistant Vice-President
Landowners Compensation Department
Land Bank of the Philippines
314 Sen. Gil J. Puyat Ave.
Makati City
S i r :
This refers to your letter of February 14, 1991 relative to the land transfer claim of Lino Ligason represented by his heir Nino Ligason, over his property covered by TCT No. T-63755 located at Manghanoy, La Castellana, Negros Occidental in which you state the following, to quote: "Per the opinion of our Agrarian Legal Officer, the Bank should not recognize waiver of lease rental in favor of the landowner since this is tantamount to double compensation".
Perusal of the claim folder shows that the landowner had substantially complied with the submission of all necessary requirements for the payment of his property and that the DAR thru then Sec. Benjamin T. Leong in his letter to the President of LBP dated October 19, 1990 requested that the land compensation of landowner Lino Ligason be effected immediately, however, no payment was made due to the opinion of your Legal Officer.
At this juncture, please note that lease rental payments made by tenants of lands under P.D. 27 to be considered as land amortizations due to the landowner must be substantiated by proof or evidence of such payments and the same must be confirmed by the landowner. In the instant case, no where in the record would show that the tenants have proof/evidence that lease rentals were made to the landowner, hence, the waiver of the same cannot be legally considered. Further, the landowner (heir) in his letter stated that neither his father nor he had received any share from the tenant in accordance with the terms of the alleged "waiver".
In the light of the foregoing, it is believed that there is no legal basis to consider that there is double compensation for failure of the tenants to show proof that there were really lease rental payments. It is therefore recommended that land compensation in favor of landowner Lino Ligason (now his heir) be effected immediately.
For your consideration.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) ARTEMIO A. ADASA, JR.
Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, and Policy and Planning
Copy furnished:
Dir. Elmo A. Banares
CESO IV
Regional Director
DAR Region VI
Iloilo City
Gloria J. Fabia
Director, BLAD
Mr. Stephen M. Leonidas
OIC PARO
DAR Provincial Office
San Sebastian Dawis Sts.
Reclamation Area, Bacolod City
Mr. Romeo G. Germinal
Cluster Leader
BINHI HIM LACAS Cluster
Bacolod City
Mrs. Nelda C. Salmorin
OIC MARO
DAR, La Castellana, Negros Occidental