Article 97Labor and Agrarian Laws and Social Legislation, p. 97

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

Section 9. Ancestral Lands . — For purposes of this

Act,

ancestral

lands

of

each

indigenous

cultural

community shall include, but not be limited to, lands in

the

actual,

continuous

and

open

possession

and

occupation of the community and its members: provided,

that the Torrens Systems shall be respected.

The right of these communities to their ancestral

lands shall be protected to ensure their economic, social

and

cultural well-being.n line with the principles of

self-determination and autonomy, the systems of land

ownership, land use, and the modes of settling land

disputes of all these communities must be recognized

and respected.

Any provision of law to the contrary notwithstanding,

the PARC may suspend the implementation of this Act

with

respect

to

ancestral

lands

for the purpose of

identifying and delineating such lands: provided, that in

the autonomous regions, the respective legislatures may

enact their own laws on ancestral domain subject to the

provisions

of

the

Constitution

and

the

principles

enunciated in this Act and other national laws.

Section 10. Exemptions and Exclusions . — a) Lands

actually, directly and exclusively used for parks, wildlife,

forest

reserves,

reforestation,

fish

sanctuaries

and

breeding grounds, watersheds and mangroves shall be

exempt from the coverage of this Act.

b) Private lands actually, directly and exclusively used

for prawn farms and fishponds shall be exempt from the

coverage of this Act: Provided, That said prawn farms and

fishponds have not been distributed and Certificate of

Land Ownership Award (CLOA) issued to agrarian reform

beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform

Program.

In cases where the fishponds or prawn farms have

been subjected to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform

Law by voluntary offer to sell, or commercial farms

deferment or notices of compulsory acquisition, a simple

and absolute majority of the actual regular workers or

tenants must consent to the exemption within one (1)

year from the effectivity of this Act When the workers or

tenants do not agree to this exemption the fishponds or

prawn

farms

shall

be distributed collectively to the

worker-beneficiaries

or

tenants

who

shall

form

a

cooperative or association to manage the same.

In cases where the fishponds or prawn farms have

not

been

subjected

to the Comprehensive Agrarian

Reform Law the consent of the farm workers shall no

longer be necessary’ however, the provision of Section

32-A hereof on incentives shall apply.”

c) Lands actually, directly and exclusively used and

found to be necessary for national defense, school sites

and

campuses, including experimental farm stations

operated by public or private schools for educational

purposes,

seeds

and

seedlings

research

and

pilot

production

center,

church

sites

and

convents

appurtenant thereto, mosque sites and Islamic centers

appurtenant

thereto,

communal

burial

grounds and

cemeteries,

penal

colonies and penal farms actually

worked by the inmates, government and private research

and quarantine centers and all lands with eighteen

percent

(18%)

slope

and

over,

except

those already

developed, shall be exempt from the coverage of this Act.

Section 11. Commercial Farming . — Commercial

farms, which are private agricultural lands devoted to

saltbeds, fruit farms, orchards, vegetable and cut-flower

farms, and cacao, coffee and rubber plantations, shall be

subject

to

immediate

compulsory

acquisition

and

distribution after ten (10) years from the effectivity of this

Act.In the case of new farms, the ten-year period shall

begin from the first year of commercial production and

operation, as determined by the DAR.During the ten-year

period, the Government shall initiate steps necessary to

acquire these lands, upon payment of just compensation

for the land and the improvements thereon, preferably in

favor of organized cooperatives or associations which

shall

thereafter

manage

the

said

lands

for

the

workers-beneficiaries.

CHAPTER III Improvement of Tenurial and

Labor Relations

Section 12. Determination of Lease Rentals . — In

order to protect and improve the tenurial and economic

status

of

the

farmers

in tenanted lands under the

retention limit and lands not yet acquired under this Act,

the DAR is mandated to determine and fix immediately

the lease rentals thereof in accordance with Section 34 of

Republic Act No. 3844, as amended: provided, that the

DAR shall immediately and periodically review and adjust

the rental structure for different crops, including rice and

corn, or different regions in order to improve progressively

the conditions of the farmer, tenant or lessee.

Section

13.

Production-Sharing

Plan .

—

Any

enterprise adopting the scheme provided for in Section

32

or

operating

under

a

production

venture, lease,

management contract or other similar arrangement and

any farm covered by Sections 8 and 11 hereof is hereby

mandated to execute within ninety (90) days from the

effectivity of this Act, a production-sharing plan, under

guidelines prescribed by the appropriate government

agency.

Nothing herein shall be construed to sanction the

diminution of any benefits such as salaries, bonuses,

leaves

and

working

conditions

granted

to

the

employee-beneficiaries under existing laws, agreements,

and voluntary practice by the enterprise, nor shall the

enterprise and its employee-beneficiaries be prevented

from entering into any agreement with terms more

favorable to the latter.

CHAPTER IV Registration

Section 14. Registration of Landowners . — Within

one hundred eighty (180) days from the effectivity of this

Act, all persons, natural or juridical, including government

entities, that own or claim to own agricultural lands,

whether in their names or in the name of others, except

those who have already registered pursuant to Executive

Order No. 229, who shall be entitled to such incentives as

may

be

provided

for

the

PARC,

shall

file a sworn

statement in the proper assessor's office in the form to be

prescribed by the DAR, stating the following information:

(a) the description and area of the property;

(b) the average gross income from the property for at

least three (3) years;

(c) the names of all tenants and farmworkers therein;

(d) the crops planted in the property and the area

covered by each crop as of June 1, 1987;

(e) the terms of mortgages, lease, and management

contracts subsisting as of June 1, 1987, and

(f) the latest declared market value of the land as

determined by the city or provincial assessor.

Section 15. Registration of Beneficiaries . — The DAR

in

coordination

with

the Barangay Agrarian Reform

Committee (BARC) as organized in this Act, shall register

all agricultural lessees, tenants and farmworkers who are

qualified to be beneficiaries of the CARP. These potential

beneficiaries with the assistance of the BARC and the

DAR shall provide the following data:

(a) names and members of their immediate farm

household;

(b) owners or administrators of the lands they work

on and the length of tenurial relationship;

(c) location and area of the land they work;

(d) crops planted; and

(e) their share in the harvest or amount of rental paid

or wages received.

A copy of the registry or list of all potential CARP

beneficiaries in the barangay shall be posted in the

barangay hall, school or other public buildings in the

barangay where it shall be open to inspection by the

public at all reasonable hours.

© Compiled By RGL

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