Article 96Labor and Agrarian Laws and Social Legislation, p. 96

LABOR LAWS AND SOCIAL LEGISLATION SPECIAL LAWS AND IMPLEMENTING RULES AND REGULATIONS

twenty-four (24) hectares, regardless as to whether these

have been subjected to notices of coverage or not, with

the implementation to begin on July 1, 2012 and to be

completed by June 30, 2013;

Phase

Three:

All

other

private agricultural lands

commencing with large landholdings and proceeding to

medium and small landholdings under the following

schedule:

(a) Lands of landowners with aggregate landholdings

above ten (10) hectares up to twenty- four (24)hectares,

insofar as the excess hectarage above ten (10) hectares is

concerned, to begin on July 1,2012 and to be completed

by June 30, 2013; and

(b) Lands of landowners with aggregate landholdings

from the retention limit up to ten (10) hectares, to begin

on July 1, 2013 and to be completed by June 30, 2014; to

implement principally the right of farmers and regular

farmworkers

who

are

landless,

to

own

directly

or

collectively the lands they till.

The schedule of acquisition and redistribution of all

agricultural lands covered by this program shall be made

in accordance with the above order o f priority, which

shall

be

provided

in the implementing rules to be

prepared by the PARC, taking into consideration the

following:

the landholdings wherein the farmers are

organized and understand ,the meaning and obligations

of farmland ownership; the distribution of lands to the

tillers at the earliest practicable time; the enhancement

of agricultural productivity; and the availability of funds

and resources to implement and support the program:

Provided,

That

the

PARC

shall design and conduct

seminars, symposia, information campaigns, and other

similar programs for farmers who are not organized or

not covered by any landholdings. Completion by these

farmers of the aforementioned seminars, symposia, and

other

similar

programs

shall

be encouraged in the

implementation of this Act particularly the provisions of

this Section.

Land acquisition and distribution shall be completed

by June 30, 2014 on a province-by- province basis. In any

case, the PARC or the PARC Executive Committee (PARC

EXCOM),

upon

recommendation

by

the

Provincial

Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM),

may declare certain provinces as priority land reform

areas, in which case the acquisition and distribution of

private agricultural lands therein under advanced phases

may be implemented ahead of the above schedules on

the condition that prior phases in these provinces have

been completed: Provided, That notwithstanding the

above

schedules,

phase

three

(b)

shall

not

be

implemented in a particular province until at least ninety

percent (90%) of the provincial balance of that particular

province as of January 1, 2009 under Phase One, Phase

Two (a), Phase Two (b),,and Phase Three (a), excluding

lands

under

the

jurisdiction

of

the

Department

of

Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), have been

successfully completed.

The PARC shall establish guidelines to implement the

above priorities and distribution scheme, including the

determination

of

who

are

qualified

beneficiaries:

Provided, That an owner-tiller may be a beneficiary of the

land he/she does not own but is actually cultivating to the

extent of the difference between the area of the land

he/she owns and the award ceiling of three (3) hectares:

Provided, further, That collective ownership by the farmer

beneficiaries shall be subject to Section 25 of Republic

Act No. 6657, as amended: Provided, furthermore, That

rural

women

shall

be

given

the

opportunity

t

o

participate

in

the

development

planning

and

implementation of this Act: Provided, finally, That in no

case

should

the

agrarian

reform

beneficiaries'

sex,

economic, religious, social, cultural and political attributes

adversely affect the distribution of lands.

Section 8. Multinational Corporations . — All lands

of

the

public domain leased, held or possessed by

multinational

corporations or associations, and other

lands

owned

by

the

government

or

by

government-owned

or

controlled

corporations,

associations, institutions, or entities, devoted to existing

and

operational

agri-business

or

agro-industrial

enterprises, operated by multinational corporations and

associations, shall be programmed for acquisition and

distribution immediately upon the effectivity of this Act,

with the implementation to be completed within three

(3) years.

Lands

covered

by

the

paragraph

immediately

preceding, under lease, management, grower or service

contracts, and the like, shall be disposed of as follows:

(a) Lease, management, grower or service contracts

covering such lands covering an aggregate area in excess

of 1,000 hectares, leased or held by foreign individuals in

excess of 500 hectares are deemed amended to conform

with the limits set forth in Section 3 of Article XII of the

Constitution.

(b) Contracts covering areas not in excess of 1,000

hectares

in

the

case

of

such

corporations

and

associations, and 500 hectares, in the case of such

individuals, shall be allowed to continue under their

original terms and conditions but not beyond August 29,

1992, or their valid termination, whichever comes sooner,

after which, such agreements shall continue only when

confirmed by the appropriate government agency. Such

contracts shall likewise continue even after the lands has

been transferred to beneficiaries or awardees thereof,

which transfer shall be immediately commenced and

implemented and completed within the period of three

(3) years mentioned in the first paragraph hereof.

(c) In no case will such leases and other agreements

now being implemented extend beyond August 29, 1992,

when all lands subject hereof shall have been distributed

completely to qualified beneficiaries or awardees.

Such agreements can continue thereafter only under

a new contract between the government or qualified

beneficiaries or awardees, on the one hand, and said

enterprises, on the other.

Lands leased, held or possessed by multinational

corporations, owned by private individuals and private

non-governmental corporations, associations, institutions

and entities, citizens of the Philippines, shall be subject to

immediate compulsory acquisition and distribution upon

the expiration of the applicable lease, management,

grower or service contract in effect as of August 29, 1987,

or otherwise, upon its valid termination, whichever comes

sooner, but not later than after ten (10) years following the

effectivity of the Act. However during the said period of

effectivity, the government shall take steps to acquire

these lands for immediate distribution thereafter.

In general, lands shall be distributed directly to the

individual

worker-beneficiaries.n

case

it

is

not

economically feasible and sound to divide the land, then

they shall form a workers' cooperative or association

which

will

deal

with

the

corporation

or

business

association or any other proper party for the purpose of

entering into a lease or growers agreement and for all

other legitimate purposes. Until a new agreement is

entered into by and between the workers' cooperative or

association and the corporation or business association or

any other proper party, any agreement existing at the

time this Act takes effect between the former and the

previous

landowner shall be respected by both the

workers' cooperative or association and the corporation,

business, association or such other proper party.n no case

shall the implementation or application of this Act justify

or result in the reduction of status or diminution of any

benefits received or enjoyed by the worker-beneficiaries,

or in which they may have a vested right, at the time this

Act becomes effective.

The provisions of Section 32 of this Act, with regard to

production and income-sharing shall apply to farms

operated by multinational corporations.

During the transition period, the new owners shall be

assisted in their efforts to learn modern technology in

production. Enterprises which show a willingness and

commitment and good-faith efforts to impart voluntarily

such advanced technology will be given preferential

treatment where feasible.

In no case shall a foreign corporation, association,

entity or individual enjoy any rights or privileges better

than

those

enjoyed

by

a

domestic

corporation,

association, entity or individual.

© Compiled By RGL

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