July 2, 1996

DAR OPINION NO. 53-96

Mr. Placido O. Urbanes, Jr.

P.O. Box 3454, Manila

Dear Mr. Urbanes:

This has reference to your letter requesting for a definitive ruling on whether the transfer of titles of two parcels of land in your name is covered by the requirements of CARL.

You state the following as a background to your queries:

On 13 May 1970, you bought a 14.8-hectare landholding located at Mallig, Isabela. On 25 September 1971, you bought a second parcel of land in the same place consisting of 8.2 hectares. Both acquisitions are evidenced by respective deeds of sale, but you failed to have the titles to said properties transferred to your name because you misplaced the documents. Recently, you located the same and are now in the process of effecting said transfer of title. You are, however, being required to execute and submit a sworn statement of your aggregate landholdings.

You contend that since the purchase of the lands were made even prior to the effectivity of PD 27, the same should not be covered by the requirements of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law. You now seek for DAR clarification regarding the matter.

At the outset, we wish to clarify that you are mandated to submit a sworn statement regarding your agricultural lands pursuant to Section 14 of Republic Act No. 6657 (The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law or CARL) which requires all persons owning or claiming to own agricultural lands to file a sworn statement regarding said lands. Said Section 14 of CARL provides:

"SECTION 14.         Registration of Landowners. — Within one hundred eighty (180) days from the effectivity of this Act, all persons, natural or juridical, including government entities, that own or claim to own agricultural lands, whether in their names or in the name of others, except those who have already registered pursuant to Executive Order No. 229, who shall be entitled to such incentives as may be provided for by the PARC, shall file a sworn statement in the proper assessor's office in the form to be prescribed by the DAR stating the following information:

(a)        the description and area of the property;

(b)        the average gross income from the property for at least three (3) years;

(c)        the names of all tenants and farmworkers therein;

(d)        the crops planted in the property and the area covered by each crop as of June 1, 1987;

(e)        the terms of mortgage, leases, and management contracts subsisting as of June 1, 1987; and

(f)         the latest declared market value of the land as determined by the city or provincial assessor."

Please be further informed that under Section 6 of CARL, landowners are allowed to retain a maximum of 5 hectares of their agricultural lands, while the rest shall be subject to acquisition and redistribution to qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries. Moreover, the last paragraph of Section 6 of CARL provides (insofar as pertinent) that any sale or disposition executed prior to its effectivity "shall be valid only when registered with the Register of Deeds within a period of three (3) months after the effectivity" of said Act. The intent of said registration requirement is to prevent the antedating of transactions to circumvent the mandate of CARL to redistribute agricultural lands to qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries. It is submitted, however, that the registration requirement may be substituted with other convincing evidence that the sale was in fact made prior to CARL (that is, not antedated), such as a court case having said sale as subject matter thereof. In such a case, DAR may consider the transfer valid, for purposes of determining the CARP coverage of the property involved.

With specific reference to the 23-hectare landholdings sold to you, the same fall squarely within the redistribution mandate of CARL, being in excess of the 5-hectare landownership ceiling under said law. And since you evidently failed to comply with the registration requirement explained above, you will have to submit to DAR convincing proof that the sales were not antedated. Please note that it is only when DAR is convinced that the sales were not antedated that you can exercise your option to choose your 5-hectare retention from said landholdings. Without said proof, DAR will acquire and redistribute the entire 23-hectare properties under CARL.

We hope to have clarified matters with you. We wish to add, however, that the foregoing is merely advisory, and does not constitute a decision in any case that may be filed on the same subject.

Very truly yours,

(SGD.) LORENZO R. REYES

OIC-Undersecretary
LAFMA

Copy furnished:

OSEC

Doc. No. 96030372