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Case digest · Lands reclassified before June 15, 1988; exemption clearance; secondary classification
Farmer-Beneficiaries Belonging to the Samahang Magbubukid ng Bagumbong vs. Heirs of Juliana Maronilla
A 1981 land use plan of Jalajala, Rizal zoned parts of a 723-hectare estate as residential, institutional, agro-industrial and forest conservation areas. After the farmers had received their emancipation patents and CLOAs, the owner’s heirs asked the DAR to exempt most of the land from agrarian reform.
Facts
The land
Juliana Maronilla was the registered owner of 723.9428 hectares in Bagumbong, Jalajala, Rizal and Casinsin, Pakil, Laguna. Portions were placed under Operation Land Transfer under PD 27, and certificates of land transfer were issued to the petitioner farmer-beneficiaries and others.
1981
The Human Settlements Regulatory Commission approved the Land Use Plan of Jalajala, which zoned portions of the lands as residential, institutional, agro-industrial and forest conservation areas.
1988–1995
Emancipation patents were issued to the farmer-beneficiaries and, after Juliana voluntarily offered the lands for sale under the CARP in 1989, certificates of land ownership award (CLOAs) as well. The titles were registered between October 24, 1988 and October 27, 1995, partially cancelling Juliana’s titles.
1996 onward
Juliana died in March 1996. Her heirs applied to the DAR for an exemption clearance from CARP coverage of a 476.5006-hectare portion, claiming that the lands had been classified as non-agricultural under the 1981 land use plan.
August 29, 2008
The DAR Secretary exempted 447.4025 hectares, on condition that disturbance compensation be paid to the affected tenants, and denied exemption for 29.0981 hectares of ricelands already covered by emancipation patents.
February 20, 2017
The Court of Appeals affirmed, and the farmer-beneficiaries went to the Supreme Court.
Issue
Were the portions zoned in 1981 as residential, institutional, agro-industrial and forest conservation areas exempt from CARP coverage?
Ruling
Only in part. The Court denied the petition but modified the Court of Appeals’ decision. It partially approved the application for exemption clearance only for the portions reclassified as residential and institutional, subject to disturbance compensation set by the DAR Secretary, and remanded the records to the DAR Secretary. It referred to the DAR Secretary whether the forest conservation portions are exempt under Sec. 10(a) of R.A. No. 6657 as lands actually, directly and exclusively used for parks, forest reserves, reforestation or watersheds.
The DAR Secretary has jurisdiction over applications for exemption, but cancelling the farmer-beneficiaries’ emancipation patents and CLOAs requires a separate case before the DAR impleading them, so no titles were cancelled in this case. Lands reclassified to non-agricultural uses before June 15, 1988 by agencies other than the DAR are outside the agrarian laws. But the forest land excluded by Sec. 3(c) of R.A. No. 6657 is land primarily classified as forest by the DENR; an LGU’s forest conservation zone is only a secondary classification, so those portions were not exempt on that ground. The DAR Secretary must still determine whether they are actually, directly and exclusively used for parks, forest reserves, reforestation or watersheds under Sec. 10(a). Agro-industrial land is agricultural land under Sec. 3(c) and stays under the CARP unless it is shown to be not arable, or devoted to exempt activities and accordingly reclassified. Only the residential and institutional portions were exempt. Since the 1981 reclassification came before the patents and CLOAs were issued, no vested rights had accrued to the farmer-beneficiaries before the reclassification; but the tenants must first be paid disturbance compensation, and the farmer-beneficiaries’ usufructuary rights are not diminished pending the cancellation of their titles in the proper proceedings.
“Thus, lands already classified as commercial, industrial or residential before June 15, 1988 no longer need any conversion clearance from the DAR in order to be exempt from CARP coverage.”
Doctrine
Lands classified for residential, commercial or industrial use in town plans and zoning ordinances approved by the HLURB or its precursor agencies before June 15, 1988 are outside the agrarian laws and need no conversion clearance, but “an exemption clearance from the DAR, pursuant to DAR AO No. 6, Series of 1994, is still necessary to confirm or declare their exempt status.” Not every zone qualifies: a forest conservation zone created by an LGU is a secondary classification and does not make the land forest land, and agro-industrial land remains agricultural land under Sec. 3(c) of R.A. No. 6657.
Compare: after June 15, 1988
In Laynesa vs. Uy, G.R. No. 149553, February 29, 2008, a municipality reclassified a tenanted farm in 1995, and the landowners could not prove the requirements: “On the issue of whether there has been a valid reclassification of the subject lot to industrial land, we rule that respondents failed to adduce substantial evidence to buttress their assertion that all the conditions and requirements set by RA 7160 and MC 54 have been satisfied.”
Bar tip
For land reclassified before June 15, 1988, remember two clearances: no conversion clearance is needed, but a DAR exemption clearance still is. Then look at the zone: the residential and institutional portions were exempt, but an LGU’s forest conservation zone is not forest land, and agro-industrial land stays under the CARP.
Hear it explained
Land Titles Jurisprudence Ep. 3, at 12:40
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This digest is general legal information for education, not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the decision. Quoted passages are taken word for word from the full text.