AGRARIAN SUPERNOTES:
LAND ACQUISITION the transfer of private and public lands to
farmer beneficiaries
LANDS NOT COVERED BY LAND ACQUISITION: Retention Rights,
Exemptions and Exclusions
LAND VALUATION the process of determining the just compensation
for the land owners, the modes of payment and the review/appeal
process in case the value is deemed too low.
LAND REDISTRIBUTION the awarding of lands to qualified
beneficiaries once the property has been expropriated by the
government, the payment by the beneficiaries to the government and
the subsequent sale or transfer of the distributed land to third
parties after distribution.
LAND TENURE IMPROVEMENT LTI the improvement of the tenurial and
socio-economic status of the farmers short of transferring full
ownership of the land.
CONVERSION The actual change of the land use from agricultural,
to residential, industrial or commercial, of lands which could have
potentially been covered under the CARP.
Quasi Judicial Powers of the DAR (Agrarian Justice) the
mechanisms to determine the status of the land, entitlements of
beneficiaries, and other agrarian matters and disputes which may
require mediation, conciliation, determination or adjudication.
This topic includes actions by the DAR, the DAR Adjudication Board
and the RTC acting as a Special Agrarian Court.
1. What is CARP? What is CARPER?
CARP stands for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, a
government initiative that aims to grant landless farmers and
farmworkers ownership of agricultural lands. It was signed into law
by President Corazon C. Aquino on June 10, 1988, and was scheduled
to have been completed in 1998. On the year of its deadline,
Congress enacted a law (Republic Act No. 8532) appropriating
additional funds for the program and extending the automatic
appropriation of ill-gotten wealth recovered by the Presidential
Commission on Good Governance (PCGG) for CARP until 2008.
CARPER, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension
with Reforms, is the amendatory law that extends yet again the
deadline of distributing agricultural lands to farmers for five
years. It also amends other provisions stated in CARP. CARPER was
signed into law on August 7, 2009.
2. Who are the beneficiaries of CARP?
Landless farmers, including agricultural lessees, tenants, as
well as regular, seasonal and other farmworkers. The Department of
Agrarian Reform (DAR) identifies and screens potential
beneficiaries and validates their qualifications. For example, to
qualify, you must be at least 15 years old, be a resident of the
barangay where the land holding is located, and own no more than 3
hectares of agricultural land.
