April 24, 1997

DAR OPINION NO. 47-97

PARO Mittaman T . Arumpac

DAR-Provincial Office

Tubod Highway, Iligan City

Dear PARO Arumpac:

This refers to your letter requesting clarification on the following, to wit:

1.         With the establishment of the MIRAIC, does the Sangguniang Bayan (SB) of Linamon still need to reclassify into non-agricultural uses the 344-hectare site of the MIRAIC?

2.         Within the above mentioned 344-hectare site of the MIRAIC is the 87-hectare proposed Linamon Airport Site which was shelved, owned by the Bureau of Air Transportation. Will the MARO be justified in insisting to cover the area under E.O. No. 407, as amended by E.O. No. 448?

3.         Can the Sangguniang Bayan of Linamon reclassify an area already issued Notice of Coverage? And when a vast portion of its agricultural land (the 344-hectare site of the MIRAIC) has already been identified for industrial/commercial uses?

Your letter states that a portion of the 344-hectare proposed site for the Metro-Iligan Regional Agro-Industrial Center (MIRAIC) comprising 87 hectares is owned by the Bureau of Air Transportation (BAT); that the plan for the establishment of an airport failed; that farmer-occupants of said area are clamoring for the coverage thereof under CARP pursuant to Executive Order No. 407, as amended by E.O. No. 448; and that said farmer-occupants contend that even if this area is to be used for the MIRAIC, in the meantime that no investor is available to make use of the land, the same should be distributed to the potential CARP beneficiaries and when the investors arrive, then they will deal with the CARP Beneficiaries who are now the owners of this land.

Your letter likewise states that Project Director Cynthia S. Viajar-Abanil of the Cagayan de Oro-Iligan Corrigidor Special Development Project (CIC-SDP) informed you through a letter that Barangay Samburon, which is not included in the identified area for MIRAIC, is intended to be packaged as the commercial/eco-tourism component of the MIRAIC; that situated within Brgy. Samburon are the properties of the Guevara Group; Resins, Inc., JAKA and Ayala Corporation which are targeted for CARP coverage under the Compulsory Acquisition Scheme and that Notice of Coverage had already been issued as early as 1993; that in November 1996, the Sangguniang Bayan of Linamon passed a Resolution reclassifying the 21-hectare Ayala property in Samburon from agricultural to commercial tourism uses; that the Ayala Group filed an application for conversion of the 21-hectare lot which is now with the DAR Regional Office XII.

Your letter further says that the Ayala property has been programmed for survey, however, the survey was not realized due to the opposition of the Administratrix and her children; that the Municipal Mayor interposed vehement opposition in the conduct of the survey and the ultimate coverage under CARP of the Ayala property since coverage thereof will hinder the industrial, commercial/eco-tourisms development of the area; and that the NGOs are pressing for the immediate conduct of the survey and distribution of the property to the identified beneficiaries.

At the outset, we wish to clarify that properties which are involved in an actual case cannot be subject of an opinion, such as the application for conversion of the Ayala Group which is now under consideration before the Regional Office.

The answer to your first query is in the affirmative. R.A. No. 7160 (Local Government Code of 1991), Section 20 thereof grants to the Local Government Units (LGUs) the power to reclassify lands. Note, however, that under the law and existing rules and regulations, it is still the DAR which has the exclusive authority and jurisdiction to order the conversion of agricultural lands to non-agricultural uses. Clearly, therefore, before the establishment of the MIRAIC as industrial area, the SB of Linamon must first reclassify the area and thereafter, the concerned landowners must apply for DAR conversion clearance. Reclassification of lands by LGUs is not tantamount nor synonymous to the conversion of agricultural lands into non-agricultural uses by the DAR.

Anent to your second query, since the provision of Executive Order No. 407, as amended by Executive Order No. 448 directs all government instrumentalities, such as the BAT, to immediately transfer to DAR landholdings suitable for agriculture for immediate distribution to qualified beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), it is submitted that the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer (MARO) is justified in covering the 87-hectare property of the BAT pursuant to said Executive Order.

Anent your last query, a property already subjected to compulsory acquisition pursuant to CARP, the same being indisputably coverable under the provisions of R.A. No. 6657, can no longer be the subject of reclassification by Local Government Units. To do so or to allow it would disturb vested rights, have tremendous unsettling effects in the current state of things, would serve as a bad precedent, will give rise to violent conflict and social tension, and would in the end eventually and effectively derail the successful implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.

We hope to have clarified the matter with you.

Very truly yours,

(SGD.) ARTEMIO A. ADASA, JR.

Undersecretary for Legal Affairs, and Policy and Planning

Copy furnished:

Hon. Alejandro C. Alfeche

Municipal Mayor

Linamon, Lanao del Norte