Agra integral arguments

The CARPers bias in favor of landlords is in the tradition of past land reform programs bearing the premise that landlords are entitled to just compensation in exchange for land distribution as opposed to distributing for free both landholdings and all rural wealth justly to farmers who have been tilling and making the land productive. Since 1972-2008, landlords have received P289 billion in payments for 1,619,513 hectares by virtue of these land reform programs. An additional 19,133 hectares compensable by the Land Bank of the Philippines have been distributed from January 2009 to June 2010. The nature of the program coupled with the absence of political will for real and redistributive agrarian reform resulted in the requirement for just compensation which, in turn, has created the conditions for land reform to drag on and be subverted. Under the CARPer, the required down payment for such compensation has even been raised from 25% to 50 percent. The CARPer also requires landlords testimonies that prospective farmer beneficiaries indeed worked on the land in question before the issuance of titles. Data from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) show that as of July 2010, 106 landowners nationwide either would not attest to tenants, leaseholders or farmworkers or have pending protests over 3,318.4 hectares of land targeted for 1,602 Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries (ARBs). Moreover, 5,703.1 hectares owned by 54 landlords and targeted for 2,703 ARBs are listed by the DAR as problematic landholdings involving land disputes, more cases of revocation of emancipation patents and certificates of landownership award, and criminal cases filed by landowners versus farmers, as well as several complications in contacting landowners, locating markers, land valuation by the Land Bank of the Philippines and transferring titles of landholdings with many claimants. In its 2010 report, DAR reported its land distribution accomplishment from 1972-June 2010 to have already reached 4,183,524 hectares or 81% of its target. During CARPers first year, 64,329 hectares or 39.5% of 163,014 target hectares were distributed. From January-June 2010, of 17,501 hectares distributed, only 1,061.51 hectares or 6% were distributed through CA.. This shows that the CARPer itself has allowed the bigger landowners to work around genuine land distribution. Under the CARPer, the conversion of hundreds to thousands of agricultural lands to non-agricultural use persists, which puts the livelihood of thousands of farmers families and the countrys food security at risk. This includes 200

hectares of Araneta-owned land for the MRT7 project in Tungkong Mangga, San Jose Del Monte, Bulacan and 375 hectares of land planted to rice, fruits and vegetables for lawmaker Luis Villafuertes Green Earth Heritage Foundation and export cash crops. The CARPer also retained CARPs provision allowing multinational corporations to control and operate the countrys agricultural lands through lease, management, grower or service contracts for a period of 25 years and renewable for another 25 years. In the case of transnational companies Dole and Del Monte, 220,000 hectares of agricultural lands in Mindanao are devoted for export production and geared for further expansion. In spite of the efforts by the CARPers lawmaker proponents to drumbeat the extended and reformed CARP, its provision on the creation of the Congressional Oversight Committee on Agrarian Reform (COCAR) has not been implemented. Led by the Chairpersons of the Agrarian Reform Committees of both Houses, the COCAR could have been vital in recommending and monitoring the progress of land acquisition and distribution under the CARPer. In the case of Araneta V Hill, it was held actual existence of a statute. Prior to such a determination of constitutionality, is an operative fact which has consequences that cannot be ignored. The past cannot always be erased by a new judicial declaration. The effect of a subsequent ruling as to invalidity may have to be considered in various aspects, with respect to particular relations, individual, or corporate. And particular conduct private or official. Section 17. Determination of Just Compensation. In determining just compensation, the cost of acquisition of the land, the current value of the like properties, its nature, actual use and income, the sworn valuation by the owner, the tax declarations, and the assessment made by government assessors shall be considered. The social and economic benefits contributed by the farmers and the farmworkers and by the Government to the property as well as the non-payment of taxes or loans secured from any government financing institution on the said land shall be considered as additional factors to determine its valuation.

Section 19. Incentives for Voluntary Offers for Sales. Landowners, other than banks and other financial institutions, who voluntarily offer their lands for sale shall be entitled to an additional five percent (5%) cash payment. Section 20. Voluntary Land Transfer. Landowners of agricultural lands subject to acquisition under this Act may enter into a voluntary arrangement for direct transfer of their lands to qualified beneficiaries subject to the following guidelines: (a) All notices for voluntary land transfer must be submitted to the DAR within the first year of the implementation of the CARP. Negotiations between the landowners and qualified beneficiaries covering any voluntary land transfer which remain unresolved after one (1) year shall not be recognized and such land shall instead be acquired by the government and transferred pursuant to this Act. (b) The terms and conditions of such transfer shall not be less favorable to the transferee than those of the government's standing offer to purchase from the landowner and to resell to the beneficiaries, if such offers have been made and are fully known to both parties. (c) The voluntary agreement shall include sanctions for non-

compliance by either party and shall be duly recorded and its implementation monitored by the DAR. Section 21. Payment of Compensation by Beneficiaries Under Voluntary Land Transfer. Direct payments in cash or in kind may be by the farmerbeneficiary to the landowner under terms to be mutually agreed upon by both parties, which shall be binding upon them, upon registration with the approval by the DAR. Said approval shall be considered given, unless notice of disapproval is received by the farmer-beneficiary within thirty (30) days from the date of registration.

In the event they cannot agree on the price of land, the procedure for compulsory acquisition as provided in Section 16 shall apply. The LBP shall extend financing to the beneficiaries for purposes of acquiring the land. Section 8. Multinational Corporations. All lands of the public domain leased, held or possessed by multinational corporations or associations, and other lands owned by the government or by government-owned or controlled corporations, associations, institutions, or entities, devoted to existing and operational agri-business or agro-industrial enterprises, operated by multinational corporations and associations, shall be programmed for acquisition and distribution immediately upon the effectivity of this Act, with the implementation to be completed within three (3) years. Lands covered by the paragraph immediately preceding, under lease, management, grower or service contracts, and the like, shall be disposed of as follows: (a) Lease, management, grower or service contracts covering such lands covering an aggregate area in excess of 1,000 hectares, leased or held by foreign individuals in excess of 500 hectares are deemed amended to conform with the limits set forth in Section 3 of Article XII of the Constitution. (b) Contracts covering areas not in excess of 1,000 hectares in the case of such corporations and associations, and 500 hectares, in the case of such individuals, shall be allowed to continue under their original terms and conditions but not beyond August 29, 1992, or their valid termination, whichever comes sooner, after which, such agreements shall continue only when confirmed by the appropriate government agency. Such contracts shall likewise continue even after the lands has been transferred to beneficiaries or awardees thereof, which transfer shall be immediately commenced and implemented and

completed within the period of three (3) years mentioned in the first paragraph hereof. (c) In no case will such leases and other agreements now being implemented extend beyond August 29, 1992, when all lands subject hereof shall have been distributed completely to qualified beneficiaries or awardees. Section 17. Determination of Just Compensation. In determining just compensation, the cost of acquisition of the land, the current value of the like properties, its nature, actual use and income, the sworn valuation by the owner, the tax declarations, and the assessment made by government assessors shall be considered. The social and economic benefits contributed by the farmers and the farmworkers and by the Government to the property as well as the non-payment of taxes or loans secured from any government financing institution on the said land shall be considered as additional factors to determine its valuation. Section 19. Incentives for Voluntary Offers for Sales. Landowners, other than banks and other financial institutions, who voluntarily offer their lands for sale shall be entitled to an additional five percent (5%) cash payment. Section 20. Voluntary Land Transfer. Landowners of agricultural lands subject to acquisition under this Act may enter into a voluntary arrangement for direct transfer of their lands to qualified beneficiaries subject to the following guidelines: (a) All notices for voluntary land transfer must be submitted to the DAR within the first year of the implementation of the CARP. Negotiations between the landowners and qualified beneficiaries covering any voluntary land transfer which remain unresolved after one (1) year

shall not be recognized and such land shall instead be acquired by the government and transferred pursuant to this Act. (b) The terms and conditions of such transfer shall not be less favorable to the transferee than those of the government's standing offer to purchase from the landowner and to resell to the beneficiaries, if such offers have been made and are fully known to both parties. (c) The voluntary agreement shall include sanctions for non-

compliance by either party and shall be duly recorded and its implementation monitored by the DAR. Section 21. Payment of Compensation by Beneficiaries Under Voluntary Land Transfer. Direct payments in cash or in kind may be by the farmerbeneficiary to the landowner under terms to be mutually agreed upon by both parties, which shall be binding upon them, upon registration with the approval by the DAR. Said approval shall be considered given, unless notice of disapproval is received by the farmer-beneficiary within thirty (30) days from the date of registration. In the event they cannot agree on the price of land, the procedure for compulsory acquisition as provided in Section 16 shall apply. The LBP shall extend financing to the beneficiaries for purposes of acquiring the land.