December 13, 1996
DAR OPINION NO. 105-96
ATTY. LOLITA M. GAVIOLA
15 Road 5, Project 6
Quezon City
Dear Atty. Gaviola:
This has reference to your letter seeking opinion on whether or not an undeveloped and untenanted agricultural land with 18% slope or over and exempt from the coverage of R.A. 6657 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law), may be sold to one who already owns an agricultural land of five (5) hectares or more.
At the outset, we wish to clarify that the law set at five (5) hectares the landownership ceiling that every person may own or retain. Section 6 of R.A. 6657 expressly provides that "no person may own or retain, directly or indirectly, any public or private agricultural land, . . . but in no case shall retention by the landowner exceed five (5) hectares". Clearly, the aforequoted provision underscores that any excess thereof is subject to compulsory acquisition by the government thru DAR for distribution to qualified farmer-beneficiaries.
Moreover, the prohibition under CARL relative to retention limit in excess of five (5) hectares applies only if the subject landholding is agricultural, the reason being that only agricultural lands are subject to CARP coverage. A land which is undeveloped and untenanted and with slope of 18% or over is deemed already out of the purview of agricultural lands over which the DAR has no more jurisdiction. However, DAR Administrative Order No. 13, Series of 1990 requires that an application for exemption should still be filed by persons or representatives of persons owning, administering or managing lands believed to be actually, directly and exclusively used and necessary for any of the purposes mentioned in Section 10 of R.A. 6657. In other words, while the subject landholding is undeveloped and untenanted with 18% slope or over, the DAR as the agency tasked to implement the agrarian reform program of the government should still make a declaration that the subject landholding is indeed exempt from CARP coverage through an Order of Exemption to be issued by the Regional Director. Consequently, any person whether natural or juridical, can acquire exempt landholdings which are not classified as agricultural in nature by any of the recognized modes of acquiring ownership because the acquisition thereof does not circumvent the provision of CARL on retention.
We hope to have clarified the matter with you.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.) LORENZO R. REYES
OIC-Undersecretary
LAFMA