RULES AND PROCEDURES GOVERNING THE EXERCISE OF RETENTION RIGHTS BY LANDOWNERS AND AWARD TO CHILDREN UNDER SECTION 6 OF R.A. 6657

I
Prefatory Statement

Section 6 of R.A. 6657 provides that the landowner may retain
not more than five (5) hectares of agricultural land and shall have the
right to choose the area to be retained, which as far as practicable
shall be compact and contiguous. Each child of the landowner may be
awarded three (3) hectares provided he is at least 15 years old and is
actually tilling or directly managing the farm. Landowners whose lands
have been covered by P.D. 27 shall be allowed to keep the area
originally retained by them thereunder. Similarly, owners of original
homesteads, or their direct compulsory heirs, who still own these
original homesteads at the time of the approval of R.A. 6657 can retain
the same areas as long as they continue to cultivate them. The tenants
in the area selected for retention by the landowner shall have the
option to choose, within one (1) year from the time the landowner
manifests his choice of the area for retention, whether to remain
therein as a leaseholder or be a beneficiary in another agricultural
land of the same landowner with similar or comparable features.

II
Policy Statement

A. A landowner whose landholdings are covered under CARP may
retain an area of not more than five hectares thereof. In addition,
each of his children, whether ligitimate, illegitimate, or legally
adopted, may be awarded an area of not more than three (3) hectares
provided that the child was at least 15 years of age as of the
effectivity of R.A. 6657 on June 15, 1988, and that the child was
actually tilling the land or directly managing the farmholding from June
15, 1988 up to the filing of the application for retention and/or at
the time of the acquisition of the landholding under CARP.

B.
The Landowner has the right to choose the area to be retained by him
which shall be compact and contiguous and which shall be least
prejudicial to the entire landholding and the majority of the farmers
thereon.

C. The landowner has the obligation to cultivate
directly or through labor administration, and thereby make productive,
the area he retains.

D. In case the area selected for retention
by the landowner is tenanted, the tenant shall have the option to choose
whether to remain therein as lessee, or be a beneficiary in the same or
another agricultural land with similar or comparable features. The
tenant must exercise this option within the period of one (1) year from
the time the landowner manifests his choice of the area for retention.

E. In case the tenant chooses to remain in the retained area, he shall
be considered a leaseholder and shall lose his right to be a beneficiary
under CARP.

F. For marriages covered by the Civil Code, in the
absence of an agreement for the judicial separation of property, spouses
who own only conjugal properties may retain a total of not more than
five hectares from such properties. However, if either or both of them
are landowners in their own respective rights (capital and/or
paraphernal), they may retain not more than five hectares from their
respective landholdings. In no case, however, shall the total retention
of such a couple exceed 10 hectares (Refer to Table 1).

G. For
marriages covered by the New Family Code, which took effect on 03 August
1988, a husband owning capital property and/or wife owning paraphernal
property may retain not more than five hectares each provided they
executed a judicial separation of properties prior to entering into
marriage. In the absence of such an agreement, all properties (capital,
paraphernal and conjugal) shall be considered to be held in absolute
community, i.e., the ownership relationship is one, and, therefore, only
a total of five hectares may be retained (Refer to Table 1).

H.
In all cases, the security of tenure of the farmers or farmworkers on
the land prior to the approval of R.A. 6657 shall be respected.
Furthermore, actual tenant-tillers in a landholding shall not be ejected
or removed therefrom.

I. The provisions on preemption and redemption under R.A. 3844, as amended, shall apply to the lessee.

J. The original homestead grantees or direct compulsory heirs who
still own the original homestead at the time of the approval of RA 6657
may retain the same area as long as they continue to cultivate the said
homestead.

III
Application for Retention

A. Who may apply — Any person, natural or juridical,
who owns agricultural lands with an aggregate area of more than five
hectares may apply for retention (use Ret. Form No. 1). However, a
landowner who exercised his right of retention under PD 27 may no longer
exercise the same right under RA 6657. Should he opt to retain five
hectares in his other agricultural lands, the seven hectares previously
retained by him shall immediately be placed under CARP coverage.

A landowner who owns five hectares or less of lands which are
not yet subject of coverage based on the schedule of implementation
provided in Section 7, RA 6657 may also file an application for
retention for the purpose of issuance of a Certificate of Retention.

B. Venue of Filing
— Any duly completed application for retention may be filed with any
DAR Office (BLAD), RARO, PARO/MARO). If filed in an Office other than
the MARO, the application shall be forwarded to the MARO having
jurisdiction over the landholding.

C. Criteria/Requirements for Retention and Award —

1. The land is a private agricultural land;

2.
The area chosen for retention shall be compact and contiguous and
shall be least prejudicial to the entire landholding and the majority of
the farmers thereon;

3. The landowner must execute an affidavit as to the aggregate area of his landholding;

4. The landowner must submit a list of his children who were
fifteen (15) years old or over as of June 15, 1988 and who have been
actually cultivating or directly managing the farm since June 15, 1988.

E. Period Within Which to Exercise the Right of Retention —

1. Under Compulsory Acquisition (CA) — The
right of retention and the possibility of award to children, where
applicable, must be availed of by the landowner within a period of sixty
(60) days from the date of receipt of Notice of Coverage from the DAR
that his landholding is subject to compulsory acquisition. Failure to
respond within the specified period and after due notice would mean that
the landowner waives his right to choose which area to retain.

2. Under Voluntary Offer to Sell (VOS) — The
right of retention may be exercised at the time the land is voluntarily
offered for sale. The VOS should indicate the landowner’s choice of
retained area, which should be not more than five (5) hectares, plus the
area/s to be awarded to the qualified children. These areas should be
specifically identified and segregated from the portion covered by the
VOS.

A landowner who voluntarily offered his retained area for CARP coverage may be allowed to withdraw his offer.

IV
Operating Procedures

A. The Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer (MARO) shall —
1. Through a Notice of Coverage, inform the landowner concerned that
his landholding is subject of acquisition under CARP, and that he may
exercise his right of retention over his total properties and that his
qualified children may be awarded not more than three hectares each.

2. Determine whether or not original homestead grantees
or their direct compulsory heirs still own and actually cultivate the
homestead.

3. Conduct field verification and investigation of the following (Ret. Form No. 2):

a. Landholding of the landowner in relation to his application for retention;

b. Qualifications of the applicants and their children as their compulsory heirs;

c. Tenants, farmworkers and/or actual occupants.

4. Identify the tenants opting to be beneficiaries in
another landholding with similar or comparable features of the same
landowner.

5. Identify the tenants opting to be
leaseholders, and execute corresponding leasehold contracts in
accordance with pertinent guidelines (Administrative Order No. 4, Series
of 1989).

6. Prepare a Retention Folder to include his findings and recommendations and submit this to the PARO.

B. The Provincial Agrarian Reform Office (PARO) shall —

1. Review and evaluate the report and recommendation submitted by the MARO.

2. If the documentation of the folder, is in order, forward the
same, together with his findings and recommendations, to the RARO for
appropriate action. Otherwise, return the same to the MARO.

C. The Agrarian Reform Regional Director shall —

1. Review and evaluate the report and recommendations of the PARO.

2. Approve or disapprove the application for retention. If the
decision is approval, issue Certificate of Retention (Ret. Form No. 3).
Otherwise return the same to the PARO for appropriate action.

3. If the application for retention is approved, forward the certificate of retention and the Retention Folder to PARO.

D. Upon receipt of the Retention Folder, the PARO in coordination with
the LMB-DENR, shall segregate the appropriate retained area. The DENR
shall furnish the RARO four (4) copies for distribution to PARO, ROD,
LO’s, MARO, etc.

E. For tenants who opt to become beneficiaries on another land, the MARO shall facilitate the necessary land transfer.

F. On the basis of the owner’s duplicate copy of title, approved
segregation plan and technical description, the PARO shall request the
ROD to prepare two separate titles all in the name of the landowner for
(1) the landholding covered by compulsory acquisition, voluntary offer
to sell or voluntary land transfer/direct payment scheme, as the case
may be, and (2) the landowner’s retained area.

G. The decision
of the Regional Director approving or disapproving the application of
the landowner for the retention and award shall become final after
fifteen (15) days upon receipt of the decision, unless an appeal is made
to the DAR Secretary.

Effectivity

This Administrative Order shall take effect ten (10) days
after publication in two (2) national newspapers or general circulation.
All orders, circulars, memoranda and rules and regulations inconsistent
herewith are hereby revoked, cancelled or modified accordingly.

Adopted: 30 Aug. 1989

(SGD.) BENJAMIN T. LEONG

Secretary