Section 10August 7, 2009, Sec./Art. 10

Section 25 of Republic Act So. 6657, as amended, is hereby further amended to read as follows:

"SEC.25. Award Ceilings for Beneficiaries. - Beneficiaries shall be awarded an area not exceeding three (3) hectares, which may cover a contiguous tract of land or several parcels of land cumulated up to the prescribed award limits. The determination of the size of the land for distribution shall consider crop type, ,soil type, weather patterns and other pertinent variables or factors which are deemed critical for the success of the beneficiaries.

"For purposes of this Act, a landless beneficiary is one who owns less than three (3) hectares of agricultural land.

"Whenever appropriate, the DAR shall encourage the agrarian reform beneficiaries to form or join farmers' cooperatives for purposes of affiliating with existing cooperative banks in their respective provinces or localities, as well as forming blocs of agrarian reform beneficiaries, corporations, and partnerships and joining other farmers' collective organizations, including irrigators' associations: Provided, That the agrarian reform beneficiaries shall be assured of corresponding shares in the corporation, seats in the board of directors, and an equitable share in the profit.

"In general, the land awarded to a farmer- beneficiary should be in the form of an individual title, covering one (1)contiguous tract or several parcels of land cumulated up to a maximum of three (3) hectares.

"The beneficiaries may opt for collective ownership, such as co-workers or farmers cooperative or some other form of collective organization and for the issuance of collective ownership titles: Provided, That the total area that may be awarded shall not exceed the total number of co-owners or members of the cooperative or collective organization multiplied by the award limit above prescribed, except in meritorious cases as determined by the PARC.

"The conditions for the issuance of collective titles are as follows:

"(a) The current farm management system of the land covered by CARP will not be appropriate for individual farming of farm parcels;

"(b) The farm labor system is specialized, where the farmworkers are organized by functions and not by specific parcels such as spraying, weeding, packing and other similar functions;

"(c) The potential beneficiaries are currently not farming individual parcels hut collectively work on large contiguous areas; and

"(d) The farm consists of multiple crops being farmed in an integrated manner or includes non- crop production areas that are necessary for the viability of farm operations, such as packing plants, storage areas, dikes, and other similar facilities that cannot be subdivided or assigned to individual farmers.

"For idle and abandoned lands or underdeveloped agricultural lands to be covered by CARP, collective ownership shall be allowed only if the beneficiaries opt for it and there is a clear development plan that would require collective farming or integrated farm operations exhibiting the conditions described above. Otherwise, the land awarded to a farmer-beneficiary should be in the form of a n individual title, covering one (1) contiguous tract or several parcels of land cumulated up to a maximum of three (3) hectares.

"In case of collective ownership, title to the property shall be issued in the name of the co- owners or the cooperative or collective organization as the case may be. If the certificates of land ownership award are given to cooperatives then the names of the beneficiaries must also be listed in the same certificate of land ownership award.

"With regard to existing collective certificates of land ownership award, the DAR should immediately undertake the parcelization of said certificates of land ownership award, particularly those that do not exhibit the conditions for collective ownership outlined above. The DAR shall conduct a review and redocumentation of all the collective certificates of land ownership award. The DAR shall prepare a prioritized list of certificates of land ownership award to be parcelized. The parcelization shall commence immediately upon approval of this Act and shall not exceed a period of three (3) years. Only those existing certificates of land ownership award that are collectively farmed or are operated in an integrated manner shall remain as collective."