It bears stressing that the Transfer Certificate of Title evidencing the conveyance in favor of herein petitioners-appellants was registered only on 25 June 1992, hence the subject land is still considered under the ownership of Spouses Ortiz Luis (pursuant to Memorandum dated January 9, 1973 and Department Memorandum Circular No. 8, Series of 1974) insofar as coverage under OLT is concerned.
x x x x
Upon conducting a careful investigation of the records presented, this Office concludes beyond any iota of doubt that the landholding in issue was indeed conveyed to petitioners-appellants after October 21, 1972 which is a clear violation of agrarian laws, rules and regulations.4 (underscoring supplied)
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered as follows:
- Declaring the private respondents[-herein petitioners] as lessees over the retained area of the petitioner;
- Declaring [herein petitioners'] TCT Nos. EP 74278 and 74276 to have lost its force and effect upon the rendition of this decision;
- Declaring the Municipal Agrarian Reform Office of Cabiao, Nueva Ecija to cause the execution of leasehold contract between the petitioner and the private respondents[-herein petitioners];
- Directing the Register of Deeds for the Province of Nueva Ecija to cancel the TCT Nos. EP 74278 and 74276 registered in the names of Celestino Santiago and Isidro Gutierrez."8
Under Administrative Order No. 4, Series of 1991, the authority to issue a certificate of retention on landholdings covered under R.A. 6657 lies exclusively with the Regional Director. It likewise provides that "the Order of the Regional Director approving or denying the application for retention shall become final fifteen (15) days from receipt of the same, unless appeal is made to the DAR Secretary." In the case at bar, Private Respondents (petitioners) were able to appeal the Order of Retention issued by Regional Director Atty. Acosta to the DAR Secretary. The appeal is still pending before the Office of the Director of the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance (BALA), Department of Agrarian Reform, Diliman, Quezon City, as per certification dated February 21, 2005.
In view thereof, the cancellation of subject EPs is not warranted on the ground that the Order of Retention has not attained finality.9 (emphasis and underscoring supplied)
It must be stressed that when spouses Juan and Amada Ortiz-Luis filed an Application for Retention on 14 July 1999, PARO Rogelio M. Chavez of South Nueva Ecija recommended for the denial of the said Application for Retention pursuant to M.C. No. 18-81 and A.O. No. 4, Series of 1991, considering the fact also that the spouses owned an aggregate landholding of 178.8092 hectares where the 7.1358 hectare subject landholdings from the aggregate 88. 5413 hectares of which are rice and corn land were already covered under OLT pursuant to P.D. No. 27 and E.O. No. 228.
L.O.I. No. 474 clearly finds application to the present case, and, having established that applicants-appellees own other agricultural lands seven (7) hectares or more, there can be no question that they are not entitled to retention under P.D. No. 27.13
x x x in the implementation of this Decision, the Department of Agrarian Reform through the Municipal Agrarian Reform Office (MARO) is hereby ORDERED to fully accord ARBs Celestino Santiago and Isidro Gutierrez as substituted by Lauro Santiago and Rogelio Gutierrez, respectively, their rights under Section 6 of Republic Act No. 6657 and DAR Administrative Order No. 05-00 as already discussed.[14] (underscoring supplied)
SEC. 9. Retention Area - The area allowed to be retained by the landowner shall be as follows:
(a) Landowners covered by PD 27 are entitled to retain seven (7) hectares, except those whose entire tenanted rice and corn lands are subject of acquisition and distribution under OLT. An owner of tenanted rice and corn lands may not retain those lands under the following cases:
- If he, as of 21 October 1972, owned more than twenty-four (24) hectares of tenanted rice and corn lands; or
- By virtue of Letter of Instruction (LOI) No. 474, if he, as of 21 October 1972, owned less than twenty-four (24) hectares of tenanted rice and corn lands but additionally owned the following:
- other agricultural lands of more than seven (7) hectares, whether tenanted or not, whether cultivated or not, and regardless of the income derived therefrom; or
- lands used for residential, commercial, industrial or other urban purposes from which he derives adequate income to support himself and his family.
x x x x
(d) Landowners who filed their applications after the 27 August 1985 deadline and did not comply with LOI No. 41, 45 and 52 shall only be entitled to a maximum of five (5) hectares as retention area. Landowners who failed to qualify to retain under paragraph (a) of this Section shall also be allowed to retain a maximum of five (5) hectares in accordance with RA 6657. (underscoring supplied)
Section 6. Retention Limits. - Except as otherwise provided in this Act, no person may own, or retain, directly or indirectly, any public or private agricultural land, the size of which shall vary according to factors governing a viable family-size, such as commodity produced, terrain, infrastructure, and soil fertility as determined by the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) created hereunder, but in no case shall retention by the landowner exceed five (5) hectares. Three (3) hectares may be awarded to each child of the landowner, subject to the following qualifications: (1) that he is at least fifteen (15) years of age; and (2) that he is actually tilling the land or directly managing the farm; Provided, That landowners whose land have been covered by Presidential Decree No. 27 shall be allowed to keep the area originally retained by them thereunder, Provided further, That the original homestead grantees or direct compulsory heirs who still own the original homestead at the time of the approval of this Act shall retain the same areas as long as they continue to cultivate said homestead.
The right to choose the area to be retained, which shall be compact or contiguous, shall pertain to the landowner. Provided, however, That in case the area selected for retention by the landowner is tenanted, the tenant shall have the option to choose whether to remain therein or be a beneficiary in the same or another agricultural land with similar or comparable features. In case the tenant chooses to remain in the retained area, he shall be considered a leaseholder and shall lose his right to be a beneficiary under this Act. In case the tenant chooses to be a beneficiary in another agricultural land, he loses his right as a lease-holder to the land retained by the landowner. The tenant must exercise this option within a period of one (1) year from the time the landowner manifests his choice of the area for retention. (underscoring supplied)
To: The Secretary of Agrarian Reform.
WHEREAS, last year I ordered that small landowners of tenanted rice/corn lands with areas of less than twenty-four hectares but above seven hectares shall retain not more than seven hectares of such lands except when they own other agricultural lands containing more than seven hectares or land used for residential, commercial, industrial or other urban purposes from which they derive adequate income to support themselves and their families;
WHEREAS, the Department of Agrarian Reform found that in the course of implementing my directive there are many landowners of tenanted rice/corn lands with areas of seven hectares or less who also own other agricultural lands containing more than seven hectares or lands used for residential, commercial, industrial or other urban purposes where they derive adequate income to support themselves and their families;
WHEREAS, it is therefore necessary to cover said lands under the Land Transfer Program of the government to emancipate the tenant-farmers therein.
NOW, THEREFORE, I, PRESIDENT FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, do hereby order the following:
"1. You shall undertake to place under the Land Transfer Program of the government pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 27, all tenanted rice/corn lands with areas of seven hectares or less belonging to landowners who own other agricultural lands of more than seven hectares in aggregate areas or lands used for residential, commercial, industrial or other urban purposes from which they derive adequate income to support themselves and their families." (underscoring supplied)
Tenanted rice/corn lands with areas of seven hectares or less shall be covered by Operation Land Transfer if those lands belong to the following landowners:
a.) Landowners who own other agricultural lands of more than seven hectares in aggregate areas, whether tenanted or not, cultivated or not, and regardless of the income derived therefrom;
b.) Landowners who own lands used for residential, commercial, industrial or other urban purposes from which they derive an annual gross income of at least five thousand (P5,000.00) pesos. (underscoring supplied)
Endnotes:
1 This petition only pertains to G.R. No. 186184. As per inquiry with the Court's Docket Section, G.R. No. 186988 was inadvertently assigned since the challenged decision of the Court of Appeals stemmed from consolidated cases.
* Additional member per Special Order No. 885 dated September 1, 2010 in lieu of Associate Justice Arturo D. Brion.
2 Penned by Associate Justice Portia Aliño-Hormachuelos with the concurrence of Associate Justices Hakim S. Abdulwahid and Teresita Dy-Liacco Flores, rollo, pp. 17-41.
3 Otherwise known as "Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law."
4 CA rollo (CA-G.R SP. No. 100439), pp. 54-55.
5 CA rollo (CA-G.R SP. No. 100439), p. 58.
6 Id. at 58-59.
7 CA rollo (C.A. - G.R. SP No. 97071), pp. 46-50.
8 Id. at 49.
9 DARAB records, p. 196.
10 CA rollo (CA-G.R SP. No. 100439), pp. 62-67.
11 Id. at 15.
12 Id. at 74-81.
13 Id. at 78-79.
14 Rollo, p. 40.
15 REVISED RULES AND PROCEDURES FOR THE EXERCISE OF RETENTION RIGHT BY LANDOWNERS.
16 Article XIII, Sec. 4. 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.
17 G.R. No. 136466, November 25, 2009, 605 SCRA 294.
18 Issued on April 21, 1978.
19 G.R. Nos. 78742, 79310, 79744 and 79777, July 14, 1989, 175 SCRA 343.
20 Id. at 392
21 CA rollo, (CA-G.R. S.P. 100439), p. 73.
22 Vide note 17, at 305, citing Association of Small Landowners in the Philippines, Inc. v. Secretary of Agrarian Reform, G.R. No. 78742, July 14, 1989, 175 SCRA 343, 362.
23 Commissioner of Internal Revenue v. Fortune Tobacco Corporation, G.R. Nos. 167274-75, July 21, 2008, 559 SCRA 160.