For the Record: Report on the state of Agrarian
Reform, January 2013
officialgazette.gov.ph/2013/02/04/for-the-record-report-on-the-state-of-agrarian-reform-january-2013/
February 4, 2013
In light of the criticism of some sectors that, at current pace, the acquisition and
distribution of agricultural lands under the Agrarian Reform Program will not
be completed by June 30, 2014, please see the following, as previously reported by the
Department of Agrarian Reform:
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I. Report on the Land Acquisition and Distribution Aspect of
Agrarian Reform, January 2013
CHALLENGES, STRATEGIES, AND PROSPECTS
Lands which were easier to distribute make up bulk of past distributed lands.Land
distribution accomplishment of the DAR from 1972-2012 show that more than three-
fourths of distributed lands (76%) are either government-owned lands (GOL/KKK lands
and settlements) or lands distributed through voluntary modes of acquisition (voluntary
land transfers or voluntary offer to sell). Past DAR Secretaries rode the wave of easily
acquired lands and the distribution of collective certificates of land ownership award
(CLOAs) to abbreviate the protocols in achieving targets. Consciously or unconsciously,
the DAR prioritized lands that were easier, less contentious, and less tedious to acquire
and distribute, effectively leaving the hardest for last and resulting in the progressive
increase in the complexity of lands slated for acquisition and distribution.
What is left to distribute is radically different: more difficult, more tedious and
more contentious. It is these more complex lands that government is now acquiring and
distributing. Around 90% of the current land acquisition and distribution (LAD) balance
consists of private agricultural lands, with 83% of lands being compensable by the Land
Bank of the Philippines (LBP) and 61% requiring coverage by compulsory acquisition.
Moreover, 42% are large private agricultural lands of more than 24 hectares. As of
January 1, 2013, the remaining LAD balance to be acquired by DAR is at 879,526
hectares.
Though huge at first glance, completing the land acquisition and distribution
component of the agrarian reform program is by no means impossible. Indeed, if
the target date for completion is June 2016 as per Your Excellency’s commitment
during the Third SONA, this is eminently doable.
a. The 879,526 hectares is the gross area of what it left for acquisitions, i.e. this is the
total area of all landholding from which distributable lands will be segregated and actually
distributed to agrarian reform beneficiaries.
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i. Thus from the gross LAD balance, we have to take away the so-called “non-
CARPABLE” portions such as roads, easements, creeks, undeveloped portions of more
than 18° slope, and others.
ii. Also, landowner retention area will, of course, not be distributed to agrarian reform
beneficiaries. Retention area becomes more significant since the LAD balance consists
mainly of private agricultural lands. This becomes more when we consider that there are
almost 35,000 landholdings (out of a total of 93,926 landholdings) which are of sizes from
5 hectares to 10 hectares and 18,684 landholdings with sizes of more than 10 hectares
up to below 24 hectares. All in all, it is estimated that landowners will claim 175,000
hectares as retention area.
b. The LAD balance is not static. Every year, there are lands deducted and lands
included in the LAD balance. For 2012 alone, 117,432 hectares were newly identified and
included in the LAD balance. On the other hand, 119,319 hectares were deducted from
the LAD balance.
c. Considering the above figures, it is estimated that NET LAD Balance (or actually
distributable lands) amounts to 704,526 hectares. Of the Net LAD balance, 182,121
hectares are tagged as problematic (with pending cases, technical problems, etc.).
This leaves us a Net WORKABLE LAD Balance of 522,405 hectares.
With the NET LAD Balance of 522,405 hectares as basis, and June 2016 as
deadline, the DAR came up with its January 2013–June 2016 Strategic Targets as
follows:
2013 160,000 hectares
2014 180,000 hectares
2015 120,000 hectares
Jan-June 2016 62,406 hectares
This strategic target is realistic and doable.
The DAR will, of course, do its best to resolve the issues facing the problematic
landholdings. In which case, the yearly annual accomplishment from 2013-June
2016 will be:
2013 160,000 hectares
2014 240,707 hectares
2015 180,707 hectares
Jan-June 2016 123,113 hectares
For 2012, the Department completed the processing for acquisition and
distribution of 113,866 hectares for which EP/CLOAs were distributed for 101,858
hectares. A further 21,491 hectares at the LRA for EP/CLOA registration. This
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totals 135,357 hectares which is the true measure of the accomplishment of DAR’s
field personnel.
a. It is important to note that with the generation of EP/CLOAs and its submission to the
LRA for registration, DAR’s land acquisition and distribution work is essentially finished.
b. In addition to the 135,357 hectares, a further 24,352 hectares are at the advanced
stages of the land acquisition and distribution process.
DAR’s 2012 LAD accomplishment is more than the figures above. The DAR
processed 47,858 claim folders of covered landholdings totaling 471,415 hectares
and issued 25,841 Notices of Coverage for 299,337 hectares of private agricultural
lands being covered through compulsory acquisition.
a. In order for the DAR to have a more realistic view of the magnitude and nature of the
LAD balance, the DAR processed 47,858 claim folders of landholdings covering 471,415
hectares. This is the first time in DAR’s history that the processing of claim folders was
done in this massive scale.
b. It is important to issue Notices of Coverage for all landholding under compulsory
acquisition so that even after June 30, 2014, these lands can still be distributed under
Section 30 of RA 9700.
Section 30 of R.A. No. 9700 provides that the DAR can continue its acquisition and
distribution of landholdings with pending cases or proceedings even beyond 2014.
This is the reason why the DAR has been diligently working to issue and validly
serve before June 2014 all Notices of Coverage for lands that will be subjected to
compulsory acquisition.
a. A Notice of Coverage initiates the compulsory acquisition of private agricultural lands
and is similar to summons issued by courts.
b. The new rules of DAR in fact instituted a similar – almost identical – process of serving
Notices of Coverage and summons. As a matter of policy of the DAR, once a Notice of
Coverage is served, the landholding it covers is deemed encompassed by Section 30 of
R.A. No. 9700.
c. It is therefore critical for the DAR to issue and serve all Notices of Coverage before 30
June 2014. As of December 2012, it has issued around 95% of the Notices of Coverage
for all agricultural landholdings above 10 hectares for which DAR has a copy of title in its
possession.
In order to achieve its Strategic Target, the current DAR management thus
instituted policy and operational measures to speed up land distribution. Generally,
there are 22 major steps in the process of acquiring and distributing private LBP-
compensable agricultural lands which take approximately 8.5 months to complete. This
assumes normal conditions. Unfortunately, problems arise in many cases while the
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documentation and processing are being done. These problematic landholdings take
much longer to acquire and they make up 30.7% of all Phase 1-3A lands. The following
strategies and interventions were undertaken.
a) Streamlining of the LAD Process. New rules for land acquisition and distribution
were drafted and issued simplifying the LAD process and shortening time process as well
as providing remedial measures for CARP-covered lands subjected to unauthorized
transfers or conveyances, commonly referred to as chop-chop titles.
b) Inventory and Review of All Claim Folders. Mass inventory and review of ALL claim
folders was undertaken to determine the actual magnitude and status of the LAD
balance, identify the issues and problems that need to be resolved so that timely
interventions can be provided.
c) Intensification of the Monitoring of the Performance of the PAROs and MAROs.
The progress of acquisition is being monitored on a per landholding basis and time
standards and cost parameter per LAD activity have been instituted to track deviations,
immediately identify problems and put in place remedial measures.
d) System-Wide Solutions to Problems Encountered in Land Acquisition. Global
solutions to technical and administrative issues that delay the acquisition process have
been put in place and further solutions are being explored as well. For this, the DAR is
working closely with its partner agencies, the Land Registration Authority (LRA), the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), and the Land Bank of the
Philippines.
II. On issues raised by the CBCP letter, as reported in
the media
1. ISSUE RAISED: At current pace, the acquisition and distribution of agricultural
lands will not be completed by 30 June 2014.
a. It was present DAR Administration who in 2011, after assessing the limitations placed
by the law (CARPER) on land acquisition and distribution and the nature of the remaining
lands to be distributed, revealed that land acquisition and distribution will not be
completed by June 2014. It is being pilloried for telling the truth. But it’s assessment also
revealed that completing land acquisition and distribution is doable before the end of the
President’s term.
b. During his Third State of the Nation Address, the President made a commitment that
the land acquisition and distribution component of the agrarian reform program will be
completed before his term ends.
c. Note that nothing in the law states that the DAR cannot distribute CARP-covered
agricultural lands beyond 2014. In fact, Section 30 of R.A. No. 9700 states that the
implementation of CARP can be conducted even beyond 2014 with respect to those with
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pending case/proceeding. This is the purpose why the DAR has been diligently working
to issue and validlyserve ALL Notices of Coverage before 2014.
i. The Notice of Coverage initiates the compulsory acquisition of private agricultural lands
and is similar to summons issued by courts.
ii. The new rules of DAR in fact put in place a similar – almost identical – process of
serving Notices of Coverage and summons. As a matter of policy of this Department,
once a Notice of Coverage is served, the landholding it covers is deemed encompassed
by Section 30 of R.A. No. 9700.
iii. It is therefore critical for the DAR to issue and serve all Notices of Coverage before 30
June 2014. As of December 2012, it has issued around 95% of the Notices of Coverage
for all agricultural landholdings above 10 hectares which DAR has a copy of title in its
possession. Close cooperation between DAR and LRA allows DAR to obtain,in bulk and
in a speedy manner, the certified true copies of titles that it need for the issuance of
Notices of Coverage. By April of this year, it will start issuing all Notices of Coverage for
all 5-10 hectare landholdings. DAR plans to completely issue all Notices of Coverage by
the end of June 2013.
d. Last January 2012, the gross balance of DAR for land acquisition and distribution is
around 962,000 hectares. However, in order to reflect the real balance for distribution at
this moment, the following must be considered:
i. It is estimated that retention area (portions of the landholdings that, by law, the
landowner can retain) would amount to around 175,000 hectares. This must be deducted
from the balance of actual distributable lands.
ii. Aside from these are deductibles such as timberlands, creeks, and rivers, double
counting and the like. This aspect of the land distribution data was “cleaned” after the
DAR conducted a nationwide evaluation of ALL claim folder some of which had never
been opened again in the preceeding years. This massive claim folder processing was
the first in the agency’s history. DAR opened all claim folders to determine their actual
status any problems that must be fixed. These deductibles amount to 120,000.
iii. There are around 158,000 hectares which the administration cannot be distributed
immediately because of problems that do not have quick solutions – such as titles that
require judicial reconstitution and erroneous technical descriptions in titles.
iv. We also take away from this gross balance the actual accomplishment of DAR for
2012 – 113,000, hectares.
v. We have to include though newly identified landholdings for coverage, around
125,000.
vi. This leaves us around 521,000 hectares that can actually be covered and are actually
distributable at this juncture. The DAR can acquire and distribute 160,000 this year
(2013), 180,000 next year, 120,000 on 2015, and 62,406 on the first half of 2016. The
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DAR can definitely accomplish the distribution of these 521,000 hectares before the
President’s term ends.
e. Furthermore, the landholdings that are easier, less tedious and less contentious to
acquire have mostly been distributed in the past. When the Aquino administration
commenced, the remaining lands left for distribution are the ones that are more tedious
or harder to document and process. More than 60% of the remaining lands will have to
be covered through compulsory acquisition (cf voluntary).
f. Moreover, around 16% of lands still to be distributed have been tagged as problematic
with problems ranging from defective technical descriptions in the title, titles that need to
be reconstituted, ownership issues, and those with pending legal issues or court cases.
g. An important reason why LAD cannot be finished with LAD by June 2014 is the
CARPER itself. Aside from adding two major mandatory requirements in the compulsory
acquisition of private agricultural land, the Phasing mandated by CARPER means that
the DAR cannot distribute until July 1, 2013, some 187,959 hectares of Phase 3B lands
(lands that are 10 hectares and below) and 163,660 hectares of the 10-hectare portion of
Phase 3A land (lands above 10 hectares up to 24 hectares). This totals 351,619 hectares
or about 40% of the remaining undistributed lands and these lands have to be distributed
within one year and only at the last year of CARP extension.
h. Incidentally, the DAR’s work is not limitedto just the acquisition and distribution of
agricultural landholdings. As it is zealously pursuing its acquisition and distribution
balance, it must also simultaneously subdivide collective CLOAs, work on landholdings
under PD 27 that has been distributed without complete documentation during the
Marcos era thereby impeding the release of the landowner’s just compensation, provide
support services to its beneficiaries, assist farmers in agrarian legal cases, and resolve
cases within its jurisdiction.
2. The dismal pace of DAR is further shown by its lowering of its 2012
accomplishment target from 260,000 hectares to 180,000 hectares.
a. The original 260,000 hectares target for 2012 was initially set as indicative annual
targets during the previous administration. While the current administration primarily
adopted this target, it subsequently recalibrated this figure after the DAR conducted its
claim folder days operation (literally, the DAR opened all claim folders to determine their
actual status any problems that must be fixed). With the results of the claim folder days
operation on hand, the DAR reconfigured the annual targets distributing the remaining
balance to 2016 rather than 2014.
b. Take note though that while the DAR has indeed recalibrated its target for 260,000 to
180,000 hectares, the allocated budget was utilized to beef up the activities (i.e. finance
land acquisition activities up to the conduct of land survey) for the 111,000 hectare that
was in the pipeline for that year (landholdings in the pipeline are those where preliminary
activities, such as documentation and survey, are conducted in the year prior to the year
it is poised to be acquired and distributed [i.e. those in the pipeline in 2012 are those that
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are in the targetfor 2013]). We are fortunate that for the first time in history, budget was
released for the DAR to conduct preliminary activities for the acquisition and distribution
of landholdings for the following year.
3. LAD accomplishment should not be reckoned at registration of CLOAs but at the
time the actual possession of the beneficiaries.
a. The manner of reporting by the DAR of its land acquisition and distribution
accomplishments, for purposes of accounting its expenses and budget, has always been
based on the number of CLOAs registered. This has been used not only by this
administration, but all the past administrations as well.
b. The DAR, by no means, is saying that it will not ensure that beneficiaries with CLOAs
have actual possession of their landholdings. It understands that it is its duty to install the
beneficiaries, and thus is continuously conducting this. The DAR however should not be
criticized that this is not used by DAR in determining its accomplishment.
c. Note as well that not all CARP-acquired lands would require that the agrarian reform
beneficiaries be installed into their CARP-acquired lands. In cases where tenancy or
leasehold arrangements obtain, installation is not necessary because the agrarian reform
beneficiaries are in place.
4. DAR’s budget for 2013 is lower than P30 billion requirement of the law.
a. Nothing in the law provides that the DAR must be given a budget of P30 billion
annually. What is stated is that P150B must be allocated for the program. The annual
budget, however, is to be based on the annual targets of the DAR, not on a designated
lump sum regardless of the balance.
b. The DAR’s budget for 2013 under the General Appropriations Act is around P23
billion. Note, however, that funds appropriated under the Department of Agriculture
benefit farmers, most of whom are agrarian reform beneficiaries such as farm-to-market
roads, irrigation projects, credit facility for agrarian reform beneficiaries, etc. All in all, this
amounts to a lot more P30 billion.
5. No funds were appropriated for socialized credit.
a. This is simply not true.
b. The President has directed the DBM to release P1 billion to be used as socialized
credit for agrarian reform beneficiaries. The Agrarian Production Credit Program was
created using the P1 billion released through the DA to be used as socialized credit. This
will be implemented mainly by the Land Bank, with DAR designated as the agency who
will verify if the applicants are agrarian reform beneficiary organizations.
c. Around P300M of the P1billion released is reserved for agrarian reform beneficiaries of
Negros Occidental.
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d. For 2013, another P1 billion was appropriated in the budget of the Department of
Agriculture for credit facility for agrarian reform beneficiaries.
6. DAR’s accomplishment for 2012 is doubtful considering that as of December 13
of that year, its accomplishment was only 53,580 hectares. Does this mean that
DAR distributed more than 63 thousand hectares in the final two weeks of the
year?
a. It is unfortunate that some groups relied on figures that they have obtained in 13
December 2012. It is more unfortunate that these figures are interpreted as the
accomplishment of DAR as of that date. Figures that the DAR had on hand in 13
December 2012 were partial figures of DAR as of November 2012. As with any other
operations, there is a natural time lag between the actual accomplishment and the
consolidation of its figure.
b. Moreover, the LAD process takes around 8 months for private agricultural lands; more
if problems are encountered along the way. Considering the period required to finish the
entire LAD process, landholdings covered during the year usually matures by December.
An examination of the monthly accomplishment of DAR in the past years will bear this
out.
c. Partial figures obtain in the middle of a particular period should not be relied on as a
determination of what will be accomplished therefor.
d. Per the DAR’s records upon collating figures from the field offices, it has accomplished
distributing around 113,000 hectares in 2012.
Systems put in place are too legalistic and has added bureaucratic layers.
7. Systems put in place are too legalistic and has added bureaucratic layers.
a. Systems put in place by the present administration ensure the stability of CLOAs
issued to the beneficiaries. With the systems put in place, such as determining prior to
the issuance of the CLOA whether a landholding to be distributed is indeed covered by
CARP, the beneficiaries are assured that their titles are secured.
b. System introduced also ensured that it is made with a holistic view in mind.
Communication among CARP implementing agencies, such as DAR, DENR, Land Bank,
and LRA, spiked during the present administration resulting in rules which looks not only
at activities that are worked by individual agencies, but the entire government
bureaucracy as a whole. This means that the process is now more efficient, allowing the
government, under normal circumstances, to complete the acquisition and distribution
process within six to ten months, compared to the old system which took up eight to
fourteen months.
8. Provisions in the current land acquisition and distribution rules allow
landowners to delay the acquisition and distribution of their lands.
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a. The present law (CARPER) added a provision that required landlord attestation of
potential agrarian reform beneficiaries. This by no means can be faulted against the
Aquino Administration nor the DAR which can only implement what is provided by law.
b. An issue is being made out of the provision in the current rules which provides that in
case there are pending protests or petitions for exclusion/exemption from CARP
coverage, the DAR shall continue with the process of acquisition right until the actual
payment of just compensation and cancellation of the landowner’s title. Once a decision
by the Regional Director or the Secretary denying the protest/petition becomes final and
executory, or if appealed, once the Office of the President has decided against the
protest/petition, regardless if it is appealed to the courts or not, the process can right after
continue.
c. This criticized provision was enacted for three reasons: (1) it will prevent the premature
release of public funds for the payment of landowner’s just compensation pending the
determination whether or not the landholding is indeed covered; (2) it will also avoid the
situation of having to uproot beneficiaries which was installed prematurely while the issue
of whether or not the landholding is covered under CARP; and finally (3) it will accord due
process to the landowner by allowing a full determination of whether or not the
landholding is indeed covered before his/her/its title is cancelled.
9. No one has been held accountable for the agrarian-related deaths of 13 farmer
leaders of TFM.
During the dialogue with the President, the TFM demanded justice for 13 farmer leaders
that were murdered in previous years. The DAR immediately requested from TFM a list
of the leaders who were allegedly murdered. It took some time for the TFM to submit this
list. As soon as the list was submitted, this was immediately endorsed by the Office of
the Secretary to the Philippine National Police for their investigation. The PNP is
currently investigating these alleged murders.
10. The Multi-Sectoral Task Force was not able to hold the DAR leadership
accountable.
The MSTF was created to monitor the progress of the agrarian reform program and
discuss doables. It has already met three times since the dialogue of some farmer
groups with the President. Its Technical Working Group has also consistently met last
year, which resulted to the fast-tracking of some landholdings – such as the landholding
being followed up by “AlingDorita” Vargas, and the problematic Newsal property in
Negros Occidental.
11. The current DAR leadership has already lost the confidence of its employees.
a. The noise against the DAR leadership is being staged a handful of disgruntled DAR
employees in the Central Office, mostly national officers of the DAR Employees
Association (DAREA). No such mass actions have occurred in the field offices of DAR.
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b. So far, there are no indications that the criticisms of the few DAREA officers are
carried as a common sentiment of the entire DAR employees.
c. Furthermore, the issues raised by this small group – such as the proposed special
provision number 5in the DAR budgetand the disbursement of CNA incentives—had
already been resolved. Special Provision number 5 was deleted from the 2013 budget
and the CNA incentives were released starting January 16 of this year.
Malacanan Palace
State Of the Nation Address 2016
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