PROHIBITING THE EJECTMENT OF TENANT-TILLERS FROM THEIR FARMHOLDINGS PENDING THE PROMULGATION OF THE RULES AND REGULATIONS IMPLEMENTING PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NO. 27

WHEREAS, notwithstanding my earlier instructions that no
tenant-farmer shall be ejected from the land cultivated by him, many
landowners are ejecting or threatening to eject their tenants;

WHEREAS, numerous complaints for ejectment have been filed
in the courts by landowners against their tenants and orders have been
issued enjoining or restraining the latter from entering and cultivating
their farmholdings or impounding their harvest; and likewise, numerous
criminal cases have been filed by landowners against tenant-tillers
which arise from the possession and cultivation of farmholdings and
other agrarian causes, as a result of which tenant-farmers have been
arrested and detained;

WHEREAS, the aforementioned acts have resulted in strained
relations between landowners and tenant-farmers or tillers of the soil
which threaten to disturb the peace and order conditions in the rural
areas; and

WHEREAS, these ejectment suits or other acts of harassment
by landowners intended to eject or remove their tenants cannot be
sanctioned or condoned by the Government, especially in the light of our
current efforts to bring forth a New Society — a Filipino society that
is more compassionate and that adheres to the basic principle of social
justice;

NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the
Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution as
Commander-in-Chief of all the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and
pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General
Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended, do hereby order and
decree, as part of the law of the land the following:

SECTION 1. No tenant-farmer in agricultural lands primarily
devoted to rice and corn shall be ejected or removed from his
farmholding until such time as the respective rights of the
tenant-farmer and the landowner shall have been determined in accordance
with the rules and regulations implementing Presidential Decree No. 27.

SEC. 2. Unless certified by the Secretary of Agrarian
Reform us a proper case for trial or hearing by a court or judge or
other officer of competent jurisdiction, no judge of the Court of
Agrarian Relations, Court of First Instance, municipal or city court, or
any other tribunal or fiscal shall take cognizance of any ejectment
case or any other case designed to harass or remove a tenant of an
agricultural land primarily devoted to rice and corn, and if any such
cases are filed, these cases shall first be referred to the Secretary of
Agrarian Reform or his authorized representative in the locality for a
preliminary determination of the relationship between the contending
parties. If the Secretary of Agrarian Reform finds that the case is a
proper case for the court or judge or other hearing officer to hear, he
shall so certify and such court, judge or other hearing officer may
assume jurisdiction over the dispute or controversy.

SEC. 3. In all cases, efforts shall be exerted by all
government officials to maintain the status quo in the relation
between tenant-farmers and landowners as already embodied in
Presidential instructions.

SEC. 4. All provisions of existing laws, orders, rules and
regulations, or parts thereof, in conflict or inconsistent herewith are
hereby repealed or modified accordingly.

SEC. 5. This Decree shall lake effect immediately.

Done in the City of Manila, this 22nd day of October, in the year
of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.