Restrictions on purchasing land under CLOA

A CLOA is a legal document issued by the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) to farmer-beneficiaries as proof of ownership of agricultural land awarded to them under the government’s Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Republic Act (RA) 6657, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988 (CARP Law), was enacted to allow landless farmers and farmworkers to own, directly or jointly, the lands they till or to receive a just share of the fruits thereof. To this end, the State redistributed the ownership of all agricultural lands to landless farmers, subject to the landowners’ retention limits and with due regard to their right to just compensation.

However, farmer-beneficiaries under the CARP are subject to certain limitations in terms of sale, transfer or disposal of the land awarded to them. Sections 26 and 27 of the CARP Law, strictly provide a 10-year holding period, the requirement of a prior DAR clearance or approval, and fully-settled amortization payments, before an awarded land may be validly sold to another person, to wit:

Section 26. Payment by Beneficiaries. — Lands awarded pursuant to this Act shall be paid for by the beneficiaries to the LBP in thirty (30) annual amortizations at six percent (6%) interest per annum.

The LBP shall have a lien by way of mortgage on the land awarded to the beneficiary; and this mortgage may be foreclosed by the LBP for non-payment of an aggregate of three (3) annual amortizations. The LBP shall advise the DAR of such proceedings and the latter shall subsequently award the forfeited landholdings to other qualified beneficiaries. A beneficiary whose land, as provided herein, has been foreclosed shall thereafter be permanently disqualified from becoming a beneficiary under this Act.

Section 27. Transferability of Awarded Lands. — Lands acquired by beneficiaries under this Act may not be sold, transferred or conveyed except through hereditary succession, or to the government, or the LBP, or to other qualified beneficiaries for a period of ten (10) years: provided, however, that the children or the spouse of the transferor shall have a right to repurchase the land from the government or LBP within a period of two (2) years. Due notice of the availability of the land shall be given by the LBP to the Barangay Agrarian Reform Committee (BARC) of the barangay where the land is situated. The Provincial Agrarian Reform Coordinating Committee (PARCCOM) as herein provided, shall, in turn, be given due notice thereof by the BARC.

If the land has not yet been fully paid by the beneficiary, the rights to the land may be transferred or conveyed, with prior approval of the DAR, to any heir of the beneficiary or to any other beneficiary who, as a condition for such transfer or conveyance, shall cultivate the land himself. Failing compliance herewith, the land shall be transferred to the LBP which shall give due notice of the availability of the land in the manner specified in the immediately preceding paragraph.

In the event of such transfer to the LBP, the latter shall compensate the beneficiary in one lump sum for the amounts the latter has already paid, together with the value of improvements he has made on the land.

Thus, while the law permits the sale of land under CLOA, it is necessary that the conveyance must comply with the conditions set by the DAR and the provisions of the CARP Law.

Source: Manila Times

21.8% of agri population obtained land ownership, rights in 2022

Only 21.8 percent of the total agricultural population obtained ownership or rights over their agricultural land in 2022, according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

In its 2022 Census of Agriculture and Fisheries, the statistics agency said in a report that only 4.3 million of the total agricultural population of 19.68 million owned or had secured rights during the reference period.

Agricultural population refers to individuals aged 18 and above who were members of households with at least one agricultural operator between January and December 2022, as defined by the statistics agency.

Of these, 10.13 million or 51.5 percent are males while 9.55 million or 48.5 percent are females.

Among individuals with ownership or rights, approximately 3.01 million or 70.1 percent are males and the remaining 1.28 million or 29.9 percent are female.

The PSA noted that approximately 29.8 percent (3.01 million) held rights among males belonging to the agricultural population. In the case of females, only 13.4 percent (1.28 million) have ownership or rights.

“This highlights a significant gender disparity, with women being 16.4 percentage points less likely than men to own or have secure rights to agricultural land,” the report said.

On a regional basis, the Cordillera Administrative Region recorded the highest number of agricultural population with a share of 28.6 percent.

“This reflects the region’s strong emphasis on land ownership, which aligns with its cultural and historical practices,” it said.

On the other hand, Bicol posted the lowest proportion of the agricultural population with secure land rights at 16.8 percent.

The PSA also said males significantly outnumber females across all regions. Among females, Cordillera had the highest proportion of agricultural landowners and right bearers with 18.9 percent.

Central Visayas and the National Capital Region followed with 18.2 percent and 17.1 percent, respectively.

“These regions exhibit comparatively stronger representation of women in agricultural land ownership than other regions of the country,” it added.

Regions that are at the bottom of the list are Eastern Visayas (10.8 percent), Bicol (11.1 percent) and Ilocos (11.5 percent).

At the provincial level, Bohol topped the list of agricultural population with ownership or secure rights with 191,867 individuals, followed by Isabela (153,409) and Pangasinan (149,863).

Source: Inquirer

Land parcelization, title distribution increased – DAR

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) said land parcelization and electronic title distribution have increased over the past 15 months.

"The record 1.87 percent increase in parcelization and electronic title distribution performance for the last 15 months compared to the record of the prior 15 months gives us a firm hope that we can meet our target," said DAR Secretary Conrado Estrella 3rd. Agrarian Reform Secretary Conrado Estrella 3rd. Screengrab from House of Representatives

The distribution of e-titles and land subdivision is under the Support to Parcelization of Lands for Individual Titling (Split) Project of the DAR.

Estrella said they aim to complete the parcelization of the remaining 1.2 million hectares (ha) in five years, which will benefit an estimated 1.074 million farmers-beneficiaries.

From January to October 2023, Estrella said that they were able to distribute 17,379 titles to 16,843 beneficiaries covering 15,817 ha of land.

For 2023, DAR aims to complete the subdivision of about 345,089 hectares of land and issue 134,000 individual titles to beneficiaries.

During a Senate hearing last week, Estrella said that the government's Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program has been "derailed" in the past 20 years but vowed that they will work hard in addressing the situation.

"We are drowning with tremendous problems, but we are still breathing fine, and there are so many challenges, but there's no problem because, with the help of the Lord Almighty, the solutions are within reach," he said.

A review and assessment conducted by the Central Planning and Management Office regarding the target landholdings for the Split Project has revealed the need to intensify field data verification to ensure that individual electronic titles are delivered to qualified farmer-beneficiaries.

"As long as we remain focused on intensifying data verification and consolidation to establish the integrity of CCLOAs (Collective Certificates of Land Ownership Awards) and the data contained therein together with streamlining coordinative mechanisms with partner agencies and providing needed resources for the swift processing and issuance of electronic titles, we will succeed in giving our beneficiaries electronic land titles for their own parcels of land," said Estrella.

Source: The Manila Times