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Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES = TIM
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS}
First Regular Session

3051

REGISTRATION UNIT
DEX SERVICE

House Bill No.

Introduced by REP. KAKA BAG-AO, REP. GABRIEL BORDADO,
and REP. TOMASITO VILLARIN

EXPLANATORY NOTE

Itis the policy of the State to promote social justice in all phases of national development." It is
also the policy of the State to promote comprehensive rural development and agrarian reform.?

Art XII, Sec. 4 of the 1987 Constitution mandates that the State shall, by law, undertake an
agrarian reform program founded on the right of farmers and regular farmworkers who are
landless, to own directly or collectively the lands they till or, in the case of other farmworkers,
to receive a just share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State shall encourage and
undertake the just distribution of all agricultural lands, subject to such priorities and reasonable
retention limits as the Congress may prescribe, taking into account ecological, developmental,
or equity considerations, and subject to the payment of just compensation. In determining
retention limits, the State shall respect the right of small landowners. The State shall further
provide incentives for voluntary land-sharing.

Pursuant to such mandate, Rep. Act No. 6657 otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law (CARL) was passed in June 10, 1988, The law covered all agricultural lands to be
distributed to qualified agrarian reform beneficiaries. As different from the previous land reform
program, the CARL included not merely the land tenure improvement component but also
delivery of support services and program beneficiary development. The initial amount needed to
implement the law for ten years was funded from the Agrarian Reform Fund created under
Sections 20 and 21 of Executive Order No. 229 which appropriated Php 50 Billion for the
program. The land acquisition and distribution (LAD) component of the program was initially
targeted to be completed within ten (10) years or until June 1998.

' Section 10, Article II 1987 Constitution,
® Section 21, Article 11, 1987 Constitution.


After ten years of implementation of CARL, the LAD component of the program was not
completed. Rep. Act No, 8532 was passed by Congress to augment the Agrarian Reform Fund
for another Php50 Billion to allow the continuation of the agrarian reform program until June
2008.

In June 2008, however, approximately 1.3 million hectares of agricultural lands remained to be
covered and distributed to agrarian reform beneficiaries, Thus, Republic Act No 9700 was
passed by Congress extending the program for another five years for the final acquisition and
distribution of all agricultural lands to be completed by June 30, 2014, Unlike R.A. 8532 which
merely augmented ARF, the new law amended several provisions of Republic Act 6657
instituting reforms that would accelerate the implementation of CARP. The Congressional
Oversight Committee on Agrarian Reform (COCAR) was also established under the new law to
oversee and monitor the implementation of CARL. R.A. 9700 also appropriated at least P150
billion for the period of implementation of the program.

‘As of February 2014, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) reported to the House
Committee on Agrarian Reform that 790,671 hectares of agricultural lands remain to be covered
under CARP. Additionally, there are still approximately 283,473 hectares of agricultural lands
without Notices of Coverage (NOCs) as of January 2014. These lands are mostly large
landholdings under compulsory acquisition or 10 hectares and below. The issuance of Notice of
Coverage to landowners starts the proceeding of implementation of CARP. Section 73 (a) of
R.A. 6657 as amended still punishes the ownership or possession, for the purpose of
circumventing the provisions of the Act, of agricultural lands in excess of the total retention
limits or award ceilings by any person, natural or juridical, except those under collective
ownership by farmer-beneficiaries.

Studies’ have revealed that ARBs especially those in established Agrarian Reform Communities
who have started making productive of the awarded lands experienced significantly higher farm
incomes. In order to fulfil the mandate of the Constitution on social justice which is one of the
cornerstones of our constitutional democracy, there is a need to continue and complete the
land acquisition and distribution process for all private and public agricultural lands.

In view of the foregoing, the immediate passage of the bill is urged.

REP. TOMASITO VILLARIN
‘Akbayan Party-List

3 Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Impact Assessment: Study on the Impact of CARP on Poverty Reduction
and Prospects for Long Term Growth. Asia Pacific Policy Center. October 2007.


Republic of the Philippines
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
Quezon City, Metro Manila

SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
First Regular Session

8051

House Bill No.

Introduced by REP. KAKA BAG-AO, REP. GABRIEL BORDADO,
and REP. TOMASITO VILLARIN

AN ACT
MANDATING THE COMPLETION OF THE LAND ACQUISITION AND DISTRIBUTION
(LAD) COMPONENT OF THE COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM
(CARP) PURSUANT TO REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6657, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE
“COMPREHENSIVE AGRARIAN REFORM LAW”, AS AMENDED

Be it enacted by the Senate and the House of Representatives of the Philjppines in Congress
assembled:

SECTION 1. The land acquisition and distribution component of the comprehensive agrarian
reform program shall be completed within two years from the effectivity of this act.

SEC. 2. Section 30 of Republic Act No. 9700 is hereby amended to read as follows:

Section 30, [Resolution of Cases] ISSUANCE OF NOTICES OF COVERAGE,
ACCEPTANCE OF VOLUNTARY OFFER TO SELL AND RESOLUTION OF
CASES AND/OR PROCEEDINGS. - THE DAR SHALL CONTINUE TO ISSUE
NOTICES OF COVERAGE AND ACCEPT VOLUNTARY OFFERS TO SELL BY
LANDOWNERS OF AGRICULTURAL LANDS COVERED BY REPUBLIC ACT
NO, 6657, AS AMENDED WITHIN TWO YEARS FROM THE EFFECTIVITY OF
THIS ACT. SUCH ISSUANCE OF NOTICE OF COVERAGE OR
ACCEPTANCE OF VOLUNTARY OFFER TO SELL STARTS THE
PROCEEDINGS IN THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE PROVISIONS OF
REPUBLIC ACT NO. 6657, AS AMENDED.


Any case and/or proceeding, AS INITIATED BY THE ISSUANCE OF A NOTICE
OF COVERAGE OR ACCEPTANCE OF A VOLUNTARY OFFER TO SELL,
involving the implementation of the provisions of Republic Act No. 6857, as
amended, which may remain pending [on June 30, 2014] TWO YEARS AFTER
THE EFFECTIVITY OF THIS ACT shall be allowed to proceed to its finality and
be executed even beyond such date.

SEC. 3. Section 26 of Republic Act No. 9700 is hereby amended to read as follows:
Section 26. Congressional Oversight Committee.
Xxx

The term of the COCAR shall end six (6) months after the expiration of the
[extended period of five (5) years] EFFECTIVITY OF THIS ACT.

SEC. 4. The funding source provided under Section 21 of Republic Act No. 9700 shall further
be utilized from the effectivity of this Act until the complete acquisition and distribution of all
agricultural lands covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). Provided,
‘that after the completion of the land acquisition and distribution component of the CARP, the
yearly appropriation shall be allocated fully to support services, agrarian justice delivery and
operational requirements of the DAR and the other CARP implementing agencies.

SEC. 5. Repealing Clause. - All other laws, decrees, executive orders, issuances, rules and
regulations, or part thereof inconsistent with this Act are hereby likewise repealed or amended
accordingly.

SEC. 6, Separability Clause. - If, for any reason, any section or provisions of this Act is
declared unconstitutional or invalid, the other sections or provisions not affected thereby shall
remain in full force and effect.

SEC. 7. Effectivity. - This Act shall take effect after fifteen (15) days upon publication in at
least two (2) newspapers of general circulation.

Approved,