AN ACT AMENDING CERTAIN PROVISIONS OF REPUBLIC ACT NO.

6657, ENTITLED "AN ACT INSTITUTING A COMPREHENSIVE

AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM TO PROMOTE SOCIAL JUSTICE AND
INDUSTRIALIZATION, PROVIDING THE MECHANISM FOR ITS
IMPLEMENTATION, AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES"

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

SECTION 1. Section 3, Paragraph (b) of Republic Act No. 6657 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"SECTION 3. Definitions.—For the purpose of this Act,
unless the context indicates otherwise:
"(b) Agriculture, Agricultural Enterprise or
Agricultural Activity means the cultivation
of the soil, planting of crops, growing of
fruit trees, including the harvesting of such
farm products, and other farm activities and
practices performed by a farmer in
conjunction with such farming operations
done by persons whether natural or
juridical."
SEC. 2. Section 10 of Republic Act No. 6657 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"SECTION 10. Exemptions and Exclusions. —

"a) Lands actually, directly and exclusively used for

parks, wildlife, forest reserves, reforestation, fish
sanctuaries and breeding grounds, watersheds and
mangroves shall be exempt from the coverage of this
Act.

"b) Private lands actually, directly and exclusively used

for prawn farms and fishponds shall be exempt from the
coverage of this Act: Provided, That said prawn farms
and fishponds have not been distributed and Certificate
of Land Ownership Award (CLOA) issued to agrarian
reform beneficiaries under the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program.

"In cases where the fishponds or prawn farms have

been subjected to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Law, by voluntary offer to sell, or commercial farms
deferment or notices of compulsory acquisition, a
simple and absolute majority of the actual regular
workers or tenants must consent to the exemption
within one (1) year from the effectivity, of this Act.
When the workers or tenants do not agree to this
exemption, the fishponds or prawn farms shall be
distributed collectively. to the worker-beneficiaries or
tenants who shall form a cooperative or association to
manage the same.
 "In cases where the fishponds or prawn farms have not
been subjected to the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform
Law, the consent of the farm workers shall no longer be
necessary, however, the provision of Section 32-A
hereof on incentives shall apply."

"c) Lands actually, directly and exclusively used and

found to be necessary for national defense, school sites
and campuses, including experimental farm stations
operated by public or private schools for educational
purposes, seeds and seedlings research and pilot
production center, church sites and convents
appurtenant thereto, mosque sites and Islamic centers
appurtenant thereto, communal burial grounds and
cemeteries, penal colonies and penal farms actually,
worked by, the inmates, government and private
research and quarantine centers and all lands with
eighteen percent (18%) slope and over, except those
already developed, shall be exempt from the coverage
of this Act."
SEC. 3. Section 11, Paragraph 1 is hereby amended to read as follows:
"SECTION 11. Commercial Farming. — Commercial
farms, which are private agricultural lands devoted to
saltbeds, fruit farms, orchards, vegetable and cut-
flower farms, and cacao, coffee and rubber plantations,
shall be subject to immediate compulsory acquisition
and distribution after ten (10) years from the effectivity
of this Act. In the case of new farms, the ten-year
period shall begin from the first year of commercial
production and operation, as determined by the DAR.
During the ten-year period, the Government shall
initiate steps necessary to acquire these lands, upon
payment of just compensation for the land and the
improvements thereon, preferably in favor of organized
cooperatives or associations, which shall thereafter
manage the said lands for the workers-beneficiaries . "
SEC. 4. There shall be incorporated after Section 32 of Republic Act No. 6657 a new section to read as
follows:
"SECTION 32-A. Incentives. — Individuals or entities
owning or operating fishponds and prawn farms are
hereby mandated to execute within six (6) months from
the effectivity of this Act, an incentive plan with their
regular fishpond or prawn farmworkers or fishpond or
prawn farm workers' organization, if any, whereby
seven point five percent (7.5%) of their net profit before
tax from the operation of the fishpond or prawn farms
are distributed within sixty (60) days at the end of the
fiscal year as compensation to regular and other pond
workers in such ponds over and above the
compensation they currently receive.
 "In order to safeguard the right of the regular fishpond
or prawn farm workers under the incentive plan, the
books of the fishpond or prawn farm owners shall be
subject to periodic audit or inspection by certified
public accountants chosen by the workers.

"The foregoing provision shall not apply to agricultural

lands subsequently converted to fishponds or prawn
farms provided the size of the land converted does not
exceed the retention limit of the landowner."
SEC. 5. There shall be incorporated after Section 65 of Republic Act No. 6657 new sections to read as
follows:
"SECTION 65-A. Conversion into Fishpond and Prawn
Farms. —No conversion of public agricultural lands into
fishponds and prawn farms shall be made except in
situations where the provincial government with the
concurrence of the Bureau of Fisheries and Aquatic
Resources (BFAR) declares a coastal zone as suitable
for fishpond development. In such case, the Department
of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) shall
allow, the lease and development of such
areas: Provided, That the declaration shall not apply to
environmentally critical projects and areas as contained
in title (A) sub-paragraph two, (B-5) and (C-1) and title
(B), number eleven (11) of Proclamation No. 2146,
entitled "Proclaiming Certain Areas and Types of
Projects as Environmentally Critical and Within the
Scope of the Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)
System established under Presidential Decree No.
1586," to ensure the protection of river systems,
aquifers and mangrove vegetations from pollution and
environmental degradation: Provided, further, That the
approval shall be in accordance with a set of guidelines
to be drawn up and promulgated by the DAR and the
BFAR: Provided, furthermore, That small-farmer
cooperatives and organizations shall be given
preference in the award of the Fishpond Lease
Agreements (FLAs).

"No conversion of more than five (5) hectares of private

lands to fishponds and prawn farms shall be allowed
after the passage of this Act, except when the use of the
land is more economically feasible and sound for
fishpond and/or prawn farm, as certified by the Bureau
of Fisheries and Aquatic Resources (BFAR), and a
simple and absolute majority of the regular farm
workers or tenants agree to the conversion, the
Department of Agrarian Reform, may approve
applications for change in the use of the land: Provided,
finally, That no piecemeal conversion to circumvent the
provisions of this Act shall be allowed. In these cases
where the change of use is approved, the provisions of
Section 32-A hereof on incentives shall apply."

"SECTION 65-B. Inventory. —Within one (1) year from

the effectivity of this Act, the BFAR shall undertake and
finish an inventory of all government and private
fishponds and prawn farms, and undertake a program
to promote the sustainable management and utilization
of prawn farms and fishponds. No lease under Section
65 -A hereof may be granted until after the completion
of the said inventory.

"The sustainable management and utilization of prawn

farms and fishponds shall be in accordance with the
effluent standards, pollution charges and other
pollution control measures such as, but not limited to,
the quantity of fertilizers, pesticides and other
chemicals used, that may be established by the
Fertilizer and Pesticide Authority (FPA), the
Environmental Management Bureau (EMB), and other
appropriate government regulatory bodies. and existing
regulations governing water utilization, primarily
Presidential Decree No. 1067, entitled "A Decree
Instituting A Water Code, Thereby Revising and
Consolidating the Laws Governing the Ownership.
Appropriation, Utilization, Exploitation, Development,
Conservation and Protection of Water Resources."

"SECTION 65-C. Protection of Mangrove Areas. — In

existing Fishpond Lease Agreements (FLAS) and those
that will be issued after the effectivity of this Act, a
portion of the fishpond area fronting the sea, sufficient
to protect the environment, shall be established as a
buffer zone and be planted to specified mangrove
species to be determined in consultation with the
regional office of the DENR. The Secretary of
Environment and Natural Resources shall provide the
penalties for any violation of this undertaking as well as
the rules for its implementation."

"SECTION 65-D. Change of Crops. —The change of

crops to commercial crops or high value crops shall not
be considered as a conversion in the use or nature of
the land. The change in crop should however, not
prejudice the rights of tenants or leaseholders should
there be any, and the consent of a simple and absolute
 majority of the affected farm workers, if any, shall first
be obtained."
SEC. 6. There shall be incorporated after Section 73 of Republic Act No. 6657 a new section to read as
follows:
"SECTION 73-A. Exception. -The provisions of Section 73, paragraph (E) , to the
contrary notwithstanding, the sale and/or transfer of agricultural land in cases where
such sale transfer or conveyance is made necessary as a result of a bank's
foreclosure of the mortgaged land is hereby permitted."
SEC. 7. Separability Clause. — If, for any reason, any section or provision of this Act is declared null
and void, no other section, provision, or part thereof shall be affected and the same shall remain in full
force and effect.

SEC. 8. Effectivity Clause. — This Act shall take effect fifteen (15) days after its publication in at least
two (2) newspapers of general circulation.