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Department of Agrarian Reform vs. Carriedo (GR No. 176549 January 20, 2016)
Department of Agrarian Reform vs. Carriedo (GR No. 176549 January 20, 2016)
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* THIRD DIVISION.
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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. (Emphasis supplied) RA No. 6657
implements this directive, thus: 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 farm, such as
commodity produced, terrain, infrastructure, and soil fertility as determined
by the Presidential Agrarian Reform Council (PARC) created hereunder, but
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JARDELEZA, J.:
The Facts
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8 Rollo, p. 165.
9 Id., at p. 166.
10 Id.; DAR-CO Records (A-9999-03-CV-008-03), pp. 500-503.
11 Rollo, p. 166.
12 CA Rollo, pp. 75-78.
13 DAR-CO Records (A-9999-03-CV-008-03), pp. 493-495.
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this shall not apply when the tenant’s failure is caused by a fortuitous event or
force majeure.
(d) When the tenant uses the land for a purpose other than that specified by
agreement of the parties.
(e) When a share-tenant fails to follow those proven farm practices which will
contribute towards the proper care of the land and increased agricultural production.
(f) When the tenant through negligence permits serious injury to the land which
will impair its productive capacity.
(g) Conviction by a competent court of a tenant or any member of his immediate
family or farm household of a crime against the landholder or a member of his
immediate family.
19 Agricultural Land Reform Code. Section 36 of RA No. 3844 reads:
Section 36. Possession of Landholding; Exceptions.—Notwithstanding any
agreement as to the period or future surrender, of the land, an agricultural lessee shall
continue in the enjoyment and possession of his landholding except when his
dispossession has been authorized by the Court in a judgment that is final and
executory if after due hearing it is shown that:
(1) The agricultural lessor-owner or a member of his immediate family will
personally cultivate the landholding or will convert the landholding, if suitably
located, into residential, factory, hospital or school site or other useful nonagricultural
purposes: Provided, That the agricultural lessee shall be entitled to disturbance
compensation equivalent to five years rental on his landholding in addition to his
rights under Sections twenty-five and thirty-four, except when the land owned and
leased by the agricultural lessor, is not more than five hectares, in which case instead
of disturbance compensation the lessee may be entitled to an advanced notice of at
least one agricultural year before ejectment proceedings are filed against him:
Provided, further, That should the landholder not cultivate the land himself for three
years or fail to substantially carry out such conversion within one year after the
dispossession of the tenant, it shall be presumed that he acted in bad faith and the
tenant shall
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have the right to demand possession of the land and recover damages for any loss
incurred by him because of said dispossessions.
(2) The agricultural lessee failed to substantially comply with any of the terms
and conditions of the contract or any of the provisions of this Code unless his failure
is caused by fortuitous event or force majeure;
(3) The agricultural lessee planted crops or used the landholding for a purpose
other than what had been previously agreed upon;
(4) The agricultural lessee failed to adopt proven farm practices as determined
under paragraph 3 of Section twenty-nine;
(5) The land or other substantial permanent improvement thereon is substantially
damaged or destroyed or has unreasonably deteriorated through the fault or
negligence of the agricultural lessee;
(6) The agricultural lessee does not pay the lease rental when it falls due:
Provided, That if the nonpayment of the rental shall be due to crop failure to the
extent of seventy-five per centum as a result of a fortuitous event, the nonpayment
shall not be a ground for dispossession, although the obligation to pay the rental due
that particular crop is not thereby extinguished; or
(7) The lessee employed a sub-lessee on his landholding in violation of the terms
of paragraph 2 of Section twenty-seven.
20 Rollo, p. 75.
21 Id., at pp. 76-83.
22 Id., at pp. 79-80.
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48 Id., at p. 171.
49 Id., at p. 26.
50 Id., at pp. 27, 52-54.
51 Id., at pp. 56-61.
52 Id., at pp. 59-60.
53 Id., at p. 61.
54 Id., at pp. 11-47.
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The Issue
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The sole issue for our consideration is whether Carriedo has the
right to retain the land.
Our Ruling
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60 Id., at p. 18.
61 Id.
62 Id., at pp. 19-20.
63 Id., at p. 20.
64 Id., at p. 21.
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The foregoing rules give Carriedo any time before receipt of the
notice of coverage to exercise his right of retention, or if under
compulsory acquisition (as in this case), within sixty (60) days from
receipt of the notice of coverage. The validity of the notice of
coverage is the very subject of the controversy before this court.
Thus, the period within which Carriedo should exercise his right of
retention cannot commence until final resolution of this case.
Even assuming that the period within which Carriedo could
exercise his right of retention has commenced, Carriedo
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69 Olizon v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 107075, September 1, 1994, 236 SCRA
148, 157-158.
70 Periquet, Jr. v. Intermediate Appellate Court, G.R. No. 69996, December 5,
1994, 238 SCRA 697.
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Citing this provision, petitioners argue that Carriedo lost his right
of retention over the land because he had already
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sion of this sworn statement together with proof of service of a copy thereof to the
BARC.
77 Section 73(a) of RA No. 6657 reads:
Section 73. Prohibited Acts and Omissions.—The following are prohibited:
(a) The ownership or possession, for the purpose of circumventing the
provisions of this Act, of agricultural lands in excess of the total retention limits or
award ceilings by any person, natural or juridical, except those under collective
ownership by farmer-beneficiaries;
xxx
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78 Rollo, p. 245.
79 Id., at pp. 214-236.
80 Id., at p. 227, citing Philippine Petroleum Corp. v. Municipality of Pililla,
Rizal, G.R. No. 90776, June 3, 1991, 198 SCRA 82.
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Sections 6 and 70 are clear in stating that any sale and disposition
of agricultural lands in violation of the RA No. 6657 shall be null
and void. Under the facts of this case, the reasonable reading of
these three provisions in relation to the constitutional right of
retention should be that the consequence of nullity pertains to the
area/s which were sold, or
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the first five hectares is valid. But, it hastens to add that the first five
hectares sold corresponds to the transferor/s’ retained area. Thus,
since the sale of the first five hectares is valid, therefore, the
landowner loses the five hectares because it happens to be, at the
same time, the retained area limit. In reality, Item No. 4 of DAR AO
05-06 operates as a forfeiture provision in the guise of estoppel. It
punishes the landowner who sells in excess of five hectares.
Forfeitures, however, partake of a criminal penalty.82
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The repugnancy between the law and Item no. 4 of DAR AO 05-
06 is apparent by a simple comparison of their texts. The conflict
undermines the statutorily-guaranteed right of the landowner to
choose the land he shall retain, and DAR AO 05-06, in effect,
amends RA No. 6657.
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conferred by statute. Neither the high dignity of the office nor the
righteousness of the motive then is an ac-
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101 Villegas v. Subido, No. L-26534, November 28, 1969, 30 SCRA 498, 511.
102 Rollo, p. 21.
103 2011 ed., p. 758.
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104 Aninao v. Asturias Chemical Industries, Inc., G.R. No. 160420, July 28, 2005,
464 SCRA 526.
105 Bagongahasa v. Romualdez, G.R. No. 179844, March 23, 2011, 646 SCRA
338.
** Designated as regular member of the Third Division per Special Order No.
2311 dated January 14, 2016.
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