December 2, 2014

DAR MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 06-14

 

PREFATORY STATEMENT

Section 22 of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 6657, as amended, provides that lands covered by the CARP shall be distributed as much as possible to landless farmer-residents of the same barangay, or in the absence thereof, landless farmer-residents of the same municipality in the following order of priority: a) agricultural lessees and share tenants; b) regular farmworkers; c) seasonal farmworkers; d) other farmworkers; e) actual tillers or occupants of public land; f) collectives or cooperatives of the above beneficiaries; and g) others directly working on the land.

Administrative Order (A.O.) No. 7, Series of 2011, was issued on September 30, 2011 to streamline the Land Acquisition and Distribution (LAD) Process of the DAR and strengthen the due process requirement for CARP coverage, and to ensure the completion of land acquisition and distribution within the prescribed period provided in R.A. No. 6657, as amended.

However, in the course of the implementation of A.O. No. 7, Series of 2011, as amended, some issues and bottlenecks are encountered by field implementers that affect the finalization of the ARB selection in commercial farms/plantation, resulting to the delay in the completion of the LAD process.

In view of the foregoing, this M.C. is issued to further clarify the guidelines with respect to the list of qualified ARBs with respect to commercial farms and plantations.

SECTION 1. Applicability. — These guidelines shall apply to the identification, screening and selection farm worker beneficiaries in haciendas, commercial farms or plantations. ITcCSA

SECTION 2. Definition of Terms. — For purposes of this A.O., the following terms are defined:

2.1. Commercial Farms and/or Plantations refer to large private agricultural lands, such as haciendas, devoted to sugarcane, banana, pineapple, coconut, fruit farms, orchard, vegetables and cut-flowers, and cacao and rubber plantations and have a systematic and integrated operation as cited in Section 11 of R.A. No. 6657, as amended. A commercial farm and/or plantation may traverse the boundaries of municipalities and barangays. It may also be covered by more than one Title.

2.2. Civil law Lessee (Arriendador) refers to a person who leases/rents an agricultural land, or a person who holds a lease contract from a landowner for the purposes of growing crop/s under specific terms and conditions such as payment of rental fee, lease period (i.e., annual or per cropping/production cycle which in the case of sugarcane production is three years) and/or other arrangements. The arriendador usually hires his/her own farmworkers for the operations of the leased farm.

SECTION 3. Policy Guidelines. —

3.1 The LAD process in agricultural landholdings which were issued with Notices of Coverage (NOC) and with Letters of Acceptance in the case of voluntary offer to sell (VOS) on or before 30 June 2014, and, those with pending petition/s for coverage and/or exemption/exclusion as of 30 June 2014 shall continue even after this date until the same have been awarded to qualified beneficiaries.

3.2 The LAD process for hacienda/commercial farm/plantation which may consist of one or several titles shall be undertaken as a whole and not by title or parcel.

3.3 Farmers/tillers and farmworkers who meet the qualifications stated under Section 22 of R.A. No. 6657, as amended, shall be eligible as beneficiaries under CARP, to wit:

i. A farmer tiller or farmworker who owns less than three (3) hectares of agricultural land;

ii. A Filipino citizen;

iii. A resident of the same barangay (or the municipality if there are not enough qualified ARBs in the barangay) as where the landholding is located;

iv. At least fifteen (15) years of age at the time of identification, screening, and selection of farmer-beneficiaries; and

v. Willing, able, and equipped with the aptitude to cultivate and make the land productive.

SECTION 4. Identification, Screening, and Selection of Potential Farmworker Beneficiaries. — The MARPO concerned shall prepare the Preliminary List after ten (10) days from the issuance of the NOC. Thereafter, the Preliminary List shall be submitted to the BSC through the Ex-Officio Chairperson (PARPO). ECTIHa

After the receipt of the Preliminary List, the PARPO shall convene the BSC who shall screen the qualification of the individual farmworkers in the Preliminary List and prepare the Master List of qualified farmworker beneficiaries (FWBs) in hacienda, commercial farms and/or plantations.

The result of the screening process shall be transmitted to the BARC for its certification. Upon its certification, the PARPO shall sign the Master List.

SECTION 5. Posting of the BSC-Approved Master List of FWBs. — The Master List shall also be posted by the MARPO or any other DAR personnel authorized by the PARPO for seven (7) days at the Barangay Hall where the landholding covered is located. In addition to the foregoing, the MARPO or such other DAR personnel authorized by the PARPO shall simultaneously cause the production and installation of a billboard, preferably made of tarpaulin or any visible waterproof and environmentally-friendly material, of said Master List, measuring two (2) by three (3) feet, unless a larger one is deemed necessary, at a conspicuous location within the premises of the landholding. The MARPO or such other DAR personnel shall include in the Claim Folder a report stating the fact and date and time of the posting thereof at the bulletin board of the said Barangay Hall and at the premises, which report shall be accompanied by a certificate of posting (containing, among others, the date when the notice was posted at the bulletin board) to be executed by the Barangay Secretary (or barangay secretaries, concerned, if there is more than one barangay covered by the hacienda).

Within fifteen (15) days after the posting of the Master List, the LO or any of the potential beneficiaries may file a written protest with the BSC. The parties concerned, specially the persons to be excluded shall be duly notified by the PARPO of the proceedings and the decision. The BSC, through the PARPO shall conduct compulsory arbitration within ten (10) days from receipt of said protest to resolve the same. The BSC's decision shall be final insofar as the Master List is concerned, copy of which shall be furnished to the parties concerned.

In case the decision of the BSC in the arbitration results into an amendment of the Master List, the amended Master List shall be posted again for another seven (7) days in the manner and places provided by Section 55 of this A.O. No. 7, Series of 2011.

Other issues related to the qualification under specific issuances shall be filed as an Agrarian Law Implementation (ALI) case to the Regional Director.

SECTION 6. Area of Award. — In determining the area of award to each of the qualified FWBs in the Master List, the following process provided in A.O. No. 7, Series of 2011 shall be observed:

SEC. 91. Agreement as to the Allocation of Awarded Lands. — The qualified beneficiaries may agree among themselves as to how the land shall be allocated to each of them. The agreement must be signed by all the qualified beneficiaries.

If no agreement is made, the equitable allocation of the land shall be observed in the manner provided by Sections 92, 93, 94, and 95 of this A.O.

SEC. 92. Three (3) Hectares to Regular Farmworkers and Tenants. — Unless an agreement among the qualified beneficiaries to the contrary is made, only after the [. . .] regular farmworkers, have each been awarded three (3) hectares pursuant to Section 22 of R.A. No. 6657, as amended, shall the other qualified beneficiaries such as seasonal farmworkers, other farmworkers, [. . .], and others directly working on the land, be accommodated.

SEC. 93. Allocation of Awarded Lands. — The equitable allocation of the land shall be observed in the following manner:

a. Landholdings covered by CARP shall be allocated first to [. . .] regular farm workers of the same landholding up to a maximum of three (3) hectares each. In case the landholding is not sufficient to award each [. . .] regular farm worker three (3) hectares each, it shall be distributed in the manner provided in Section 94 of this A.O.

b. After complying with the three (3)-hectare allocation requirement for [. . .] regular farm workers [. . .] the MARO shall determine the remaining area left for distribution to seasonal farm workers, other farm workers, [. . .] in the manner provided by Section 95 of this A.O.

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SEC. 94. If Land Not Enough for Agricultural Lessees, Tenants, and Regular Farmworkers. — In cases where the land area is not enough to meet the three (3)-hectare award ceiling for each [. . .] regular farmworkers in a particular landholding, then the landholding shall be divided equally among them [. . .]. However, in the extreme cases that the land area is not enough to provide all them one thousand (1,000) square meters each, the names of the said [. . .] regular farmworkers shall be listed from the ARB who has leased/served the most aggregate time to him/her who has leased/served least. Each ARB shall, thereafter, be awarded one thousand (1,000) square meters each starting from the person at the top of the list, until the area remaining is less than one thousand (1,000) square meters. The remaining land area, if any, shall then be distributed equally among those who received one thousand (1,000) square meters each. HTDAac

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SEC. 95. Allocation of Seasonal Farmworkers, Other Farmworkers, Actual Tillers or Occupants of Public Lands, and Others Directly Working on the Land. — The remaining land shall be allocated to the seasonal farmworkers, other farmworkers, [. . .] in the following manner:

(a) The remaining area shall be distributed equally among seasonal farmworkers, but in no case shall each be awarded more than three (3) hectares each. In the extreme cases that the land area is not enough to provide all the seasonal farmworkers one thousand (1,000) square meters each, the names of the said seasonal farmworkers shall be listed from the farmworker who has served the most aggregate time to him/her who has served least. Each seasonal farmworker shall, thereafter, be awarded one thousand (1,000) square meters each starting from the person at the top of the list, until the area remaining is less than one thousand (1,000) square meters. The remaining land area, if any, shall then be distributed equally among those who received one thousand (1,000) square meters each.

(b) If after all the seasonal farmworkers have been allocated three (3) hectares each there still remains a land area, or if there are no seasonal farmworkers, it shall be distributed equally among the other farmworkers, but in no case shall each be awarded more than three (3) hectares each. In the extreme cases that the land area is not enough to provide all the other farmworkers one thousand (1,000) square meters each, the names of the said other farmworkers shall be listed from the farmworker who has served the most aggregate time to him/her who has served least. Each of the other farmworkers shall, thereafter, be awarded one thousand (1,000) square meters each starting from the person at the top of the list, until the area remaining is less than one thousand (1,000) square meters. The remaining land area, if any, shall then be distributed equally among those who received one thousand (1,000) square meters each.

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SECTION 7. Establishment of the Database of Farmworkers of Each Landowner of Hacienda, Commercial Farm or Plantation. — The DARPO shall establish a database of all farmworkers in all haciendas, commercial farms, plantations and other CARPable lands in the province. The database contains the list of all the farmworkers of a landowner in all his/her landholdings regardless of their location within the province. The farmworkers will be classified by type (regular, seasonal and other farmworkers), by employer (landowner or arriendador), and by number of years they are working on the land. Building up the database shall start with gathering the information about the farmworker-applicants in landholdings targeted for distribution in the current year.

This database will facilitate verification of potential farmworker beneficiaries, whether they have already been awarded land under CARP, and whether the award has not exceeded the three (3) hectare award ceiling. The DARPO shall submit an updated database of farmworkers to the Regional Office within the first week of January each year.

SECTION 8. Retroactive Application. — This M.C. shall apply to all landholdings where Master List of ARBs is not yet finalized and those with pending inclusion/exclusion case/s filed at any office of the DAR.

SECTION 9. Repealing Clause. — This M.C. shall modify all issuances inconsistent herewith, including A.O. No. 7, Series of 2011.

SECTION 10. Effectivity. — This M.C. shall take effect on the same day as the effectivity of A.O. No. 10, Series of 2014.

Quezon City, December 2, 2014.

(SGD.) VIRGILIO R. DE LOS REYESSecretaryDepartment of Agrarian Reform

CARPER LAD FORM NO. 76

Joint Sworn Statement

CARPER LAD FORM NO. 31

Masterlist of Qualified Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs) for Commercial Farms/Plantations/Hacienda