Q. Good day Attorney, hope you’re doing well. I am seeking an advice regarding the rights of the tenants for an agricultural land. Our parents have cultivated an agricultural land for over 30 years. When my father died in 1986, my mother continued taking care of the farm without the owner registering their consent or objection.
Now our mother has just passed away a month ago and just yesterday the owners or the children who inherited the land informed my sister that they are going to take part in the cultivation of the land .More particularly that portion of the land that our parents have cultivated and planted with coconut trees and leaving a portion planted with rice for us to cultivate.
I spoke with my sister and my sister-in-law who are currently in the Philippines , ( I and my two brother with my 2 brothers are working here in Saudi Arabia for over 15 years) and they do not agree that the part of the land to be turned-over to the owner. My brother has planned to continue in tilling the land as tenant over the same agricultural land tilled by our parents in order to preserve the legacy and memories of our parents.
I understand from your earlier column that the owner of the land who happens to be our relatives have the preference in choosing the retention area reserved to them under the agrarian reform law.
What about our right to refuse? My brother wants to continue the legacy of our parents as tenants. What should we do to discourage the landowners not to take this portion of land that we wish to preserve?
I have spoken with the owner (the eldest daughter) who is the family’s spokesperson. According to her their decision is to retain for themselves the coconut plantations and they will just pay us compensation.
Please give me advice as we don’t want to fight with the owners as regards to money issues. We just want to let the law take its course concerning our rights. I will look forward to hearing your inputs on the above matter. Lando
Ans: In order to have a clear picture of your parent’s status of the agricultural land, whether as a tenant or beneficiary, it is suggested that you confer first with the nearest office of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) where the property is located.
If your parents as tenant is a duly registered beneficiary pursuant to the CARL law(RA 6657), then they or their children as such tenant shall have the option to choose whether to remain in the said area or be a beneficiary in the same or another agricultural land with similar or comparable features.
As stated in my earlier column, where the tenant or their successor-in-interest chooses to remain in the retained area being exercised by the landowner, the tenant shall be considered as a leaseholder and shall lose his right to be a beneficiary under the CARL.
Now, if the tenant chooses to be a beneficiary in another agricultural land, he loses his right as a leaseholder of the land retained by the landowner. Provided finally that the tenant must exercise this option within a period of one (1) year from the time the landowner manifests his choice of the area for retention. In order to exercise this right, it is important that you inform the landowner in writing and that such letter should be duly received by them, to the effect that the option has been exercised by you pursuant to law.
Moreover, you mentioned that your brother intends to continue the legacy of parents over the leased land. In this situation your family has two options: 1) you can insist on choosing the land as a lessee.
If you chose this option, you cannot own the land anymore but will only remain as Lessee; or 2) be a beneficiary of the land or other agricultural land with similar or comparable features. If the tenant chooses this option he loses his right as a Lessee and be considered as beneficiary with a right to own the land through the Land bank of the Philippines (LBP). You have one (1) year within which to exercise the options as explained above.
In brief under this scheme, the Land Bank of the Philippines (LBP), pays the owner of the land a just compensation and the beneficiary in turn will pay the LBP in installments. It is therefore imperative that you confer with the DAR, so that you can personally appraise of the details of the Land Reform program under the law vis-à-vis your options.
Further to the lease issue of your parents. As successor-in-interest of your parents, it should be noted that under the Section 9 of RA 3844 (Agricultural Land Reform Code) as amended, the law provides that neither the death, permanent incapacity nor the expiration of the lease of can terminate the tenancy relationship between the tenant (successor-in-interest-heirs) and the landowner.
As a legitimate tenant of an agricultural land, your parents (now the heirs as successor-in-interest) enjoy the so called Security of Tenure. Which means that the tenants cannot just be dispossessed of the land, even if the said land is sold or conveyed to third party?
In order that tenancy relationship is engendered, the following essential requisites must be present:
a. The parties are the landowner and the tenant; b) the subject matter is an agricultural land; c) there is consent in the cultivation of the land by the tenant; d) the purpose is agricultural production; e) there is personal cultivation by the tenant; and f) that there is sharing of the harvest between the tenant and the landowner.
As to the issue of compensation as other option of your family, it is further suggested that you confer with the DAR. If your parents were the ones who planted the coconut trees and other plants in the land covered by the lease, they are entitled to compensation in exchange of a waiver of their rights as a lessee.