AgraSocialLegis-Finals
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.
Meanwhile, Administrative Order No. 10 (Rules and
Procedures Governing the Registration of Beneficiaries),
Series of 1989, provides:
SUBJECT: I. PREFATORY STATEMENT
Pursuant to Section 15, Chapter IV, of the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988,
the DAR, in coordination with the Barangay
Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC), as
organized pursuant to RA 6657, shall register all
agricultural lessees, tenants and farmworkers
who are qualified beneficiaries of the CARP. This
Administrative Order provides the Implementing
Rules and Procedures for the said registration.
...
B. Specific
1. Identify the actual and potential farmer-
beneficiaries of the CARP.
In Lercana vs. Jalandoni,76 the Court categorically stated
that:
… the identification and selection of CARP
beneficiaries are matters involving strictly the
administrative implementation of the CARP, a
matter exclusively cognizable by the Secretary of
the Department of Agrarian Reform, and beyond
the jurisdiction of the DARAB.77
The farmer-beneficiaries have already been identified in
this case. Also, the DAR Secretary has already issued
Notices of Coverage and Notices of Acquisition pertaining
to the subject property. It behooves the courts to exercise
great caution in substituting its own determination of the
issue, unless there is grave abuse of discretion
committed by the administrative agency,78 which in these
cases the Court finds none.
SRRDC questions the constitutionality of Section 22 of
R.A. No. 6657, which reads in part:
SECTION 22. Qualified Beneficiaries. The lands
covered by the CARP shall be distributed as
much as possible to landless residents of the
same barangay, or in the absence thereof,
landless residents of the same municipality in the
following order of priority.
(a) agricultural lessees and share tenants;
(b) regular farmworkers;
(c) seasonal farmworkers;
(d) other farmworkers;
(e) actual tillers or occupants of public lands;
(f) collectives or cooperatives of the above
beneficiaries; and
(g) others directly working on the land.
...
SRRDC argues that Section 22 "sweepingly declares
landless residents as beneficiaries of the CARP (to mean
also squatters)," in violation of Article XIII, Section 4 of
the Constitution, which aims to benefit only the landless
farmers and regular farmworkers.79
The Court cannot entertain such constitutional challenge.
The requirements before a litigant can challenge the
constitutionality of a law are well-delineated, viz.:
(1) The existence of an actual and appropriate
case;
(2) A personal and substantial interest of the party
raising the constitutional question;
(3) The exercise of judicial review is pleaded at
the earliest opportunity; and
(4) The constitutional question is the lis mota of
the case.80 (Emphasis supplied)
There is no question that the power to determine whether
a property is subject to CARP coverage lies with the DAR
Secretary. Section 50 of R.A. No. 6657 provides that:
SEC. 50. Quasi-Judicial Powers of the DAR. -
The DAR is hereby vested with primary
jurisdiction to determine and adjudicate agrarian
reform matters and shall have exclusive original
jurisdiction over all matters involving the
implementation of agrarian reform, except those
falling under the exclusive jurisdiction of the
Department of Agriculture (DA) and the
Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR).
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AgraSocialLegis-Finals
Sta. Rosa v. Amante et al
The DAR’s jurisdiction under Section 50 of R.A. No. 6657
is two-fold. The first is essentially executive and pertains
to the enforcement and administration of the laws,
carrying them into practical operation and enforcing their
due observance, while the second is judicial and involves
the determination of rights and obligations of the parties. 87
Pursuant to its judicial mandate of achieving a just,
expeditious and inexpensive determination of every
action or proceeding before it,88 the DAR adopted the
DARAB Revised Rules, Rule II (Jurisdiction of the
Adjudication Board) of which provides:
SECTION 1. Primary, Original and Appellate
Jurisdiction. – The Agrarian Reform Adjudication
Board shall have primary jurisdiction, both original
and appellate, to determine and adjudicate all
agrarian disputes, cases, controversies, and
matters or incidents involving the implementation
of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program
under Republic Act No. 6657, Executive Order
Nos. 229, 228 and 129-A, Republic Act No. 3844
as amended by Republic Act No. 6389,
Presidential Decree No. 27 and other agrarian
laws and their implementing rules and
regulations.
Specifically, such jurisdiction shall extend over but
not be limited to the following:
a) Cases involving the rights and obligations of
persons engaged in the cultivation and use of
agricultural land covered by the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) and other
agrarian laws;
b) Cases involving the valuation of land, and
determination and payment of just compensation,
fixing and collection of lease rentals, disturbance
compensation, amortization payments, and
similar disputes concerning the functions of the
Land Bank;
c) Cases involving the annulment or cancellation
of orders or decisions of DAR officials other than
the Secretary, lease contracts or deeds of sale or
their amendments under the administration and
disposition of the DAR and LBP;
d) Cases arising from, or connected with
membership or representation in compact farms,
farmers’ cooperatives and other registered
farmers’ associations or organizations, related to
land covered by the CARP and other agrarian
laws;
e) Cases involving the sale, alienation, mortgage,
foreclosure, pre-emption and redemption of
agricultural lands under the coverage of the
CARP or other agrarian laws;
f) Cases involving the issuance of Certificate of
Land Transfer (CLT), Certificate of Land
Ownership Award (CLOA) and Emancipation
Patent (EP) and the administrative correction
thereof;
g) And such other agrarian cases, disputes,
matters or concerns referred to it by the Secretary
of the DAR.
Provided, however, that matters involving
strictly the administrative implementation of
the CARP and other agrarian laws and
regulations, shall be the exclusive prerogative
of and cognizable by the Secretary of the
DAR. (Emphasis supplied)
On the other hand, Administrative Order No. 06-
00,89 which provides for the Rules of Procedure for
Agrarian Law Implementation (ALI) Cases, govern the
administrative function of the DAR. Under said Rules of
Procedure, the DAR Secretary has exclusive jurisdiction
over classification and identification of landholdings for
coverage under the CARP, including protests or
oppositions thereto and petitions for lifting of coverage.
Section 2 of the said Rules specifically provides, inter
alia, that:
SECTION 2. Cases Covered. - These Rules shall
govern cases falling within the exclusive
jurisdiction of the DAR Secretary which shall
include the following:
(a) Classification and identification of
landholdings for coverage under the
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program
(CARP), including protests or oppositions
thereto and petitions for lifting of coverage;
(b) Identification, qualification or
disqualification of potential farmer-
beneficiaries;
(c) Subdivision surveys of lands under CARP;
(d) Issuance, recall or cancellation of Certificates
of Land Transfer (CLTs) and CARP Beneficiary
Certificates (CBCs) in cases outside the purview
of Presidential Decree (PD) No. 816, including the
issuance, recall or cancellation of Emancipation
Patents (EPs) or Certificates of Land Ownership
Awards (CLOAs) not yet registered with the
Register of Deeds;
(e) Exercise of the right of retention by landowner;
. . . (Emphasis supplied)
Thus, the power to determine whether a property is
agricultural and subject to CARP coverage together with
the identification, qualification or disqualification of
farmer-beneficiaries lies with the DAR Secretary.
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