Prohibition Against Ouster, Expulsion and Ejectment of Tenants-Farmers from the Land Tilled by Them

November 16, 1974

LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 226

WHEREAS, some tenant-farmers, through some clever acts, schemes or strategies of landowners by themselves or with the aid of others, including government officials, are still being ousted or ejected from, or dispossessed of, the lands being tilled by them in contravention of decrees, laws, and orders pertaining to the land reform program of the Government;

WHEREAS, these acts against the tenant-farmers cannot be tolerated or sanctioned by the Government.

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, do hereby order:

1. The Secretary of National Defense and the Secretary of Agrarian Reform to strictly enforce the decrees, laws and orders prohibiting the ouster, expulsion and ejectment of tenants and any other acts of dispossessing the tenant-farmers of the land tilled by them;

2. The Secretary of National Defense and the Secretary of Agrarian Reform to take measures to ensure the prompt and speedy prosecution of whoever violates the decrees, laws and orders prohibiting the expulsion, ouster or ejectment of tenants or dispossessing them of the land tilled by them.

DONE in the City of Manila, this 16th day of November, in the year of Our Lord, Nineteen Hundred and Seventy-Four.