Home › Podcasts › Land Titles Jurisprudence
Land Titles Jurisprudence · Podcast Episode 3 · 18:27
Agricultural Land Conversion: Pwede Bang Gawing Subdivision ang Palayan?
Once the town reclassifies a rice field, can it be built on, or does the DAR still have to approve a conversion?
A municipality in Camarines Sur reclassified a tenanted rice field as industrial land, and the buyers said the DAR Adjudication Board could no longer hear the tenants’ case. Atty. Jeric Dave Gallardo and Sweet Zel Grace Porras explain the difference between reclassification and conversion, why June 15, 1988 matters, and three Supreme Court decisions, plus a twist, that came out differently.
Four cases, four answers
Same question. Different facts. Different results.
The rule
Reclassifying agricultural land is not the same as converting it: a reclassification by the city or municipality does not, by itself, allow the owner to change how the land is used.
Under Sec. 20 of the Local Government Code, a city or municipality may reclassify agricultural land by ordinance, but Sec. 20(e) leaves R.A. No. 6657 intact. Land reclassified on or after June 15, 1988, when R.A. No. 6657 took effect, must still undergo conversion before the DAR; land reclassified before that date is exempt from conversion, although a DAR exemption clearance is still needed to confirm its exempt status.
Recap
- Reclassification by the LGU and conversion by the DAR are two different things.
- Land reclassified on or after June 15, 1988 still needs conversion by the DAR before it may be used for another purpose.
- Land reclassified before that date is exempt from conversion but still needs a DAR exemption clearance (in Bagumbong, with disturbance compensation for the tenants), and not every kind of zone takes land out of the CARP.
Bar tip
When asked whether land the municipality has reclassified may now be built on, remember CREBA: “Reclassification of agricultural lands is one thing, conversion is another.” Then check the date of the reclassification, who made it and how, and what kind of zone it created.
The law
Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (R.A. No. 6657) and Local Government Code of 1991 (R.A. No. 7160)
“Agricultural Land refers to land devoted to agricultural activity as defined in this Act and not classified as mineral, forest, residential, commercial or industrial land.”R.A. No. 6657, Sec. 3(c)
“A city or municipality may, through an ordinance passed by the sanggunian after conducting public hearings for the purpose, authorize the reclassification of agricultural lands and provide for the manner of their utilization or disposition in the following cases: (1) when the land ceases to be economically feasible and sound for agricultural purposes as determined by the Department of Agriculture or (2) where the land shall have substantially greater economic value for residential, commercial, or industrial purposes, as determined by the sanggunian concerned: …”R.A. No. 7160, Sec. 20(a), opening paragraph (the percentage limits and the proviso on lands distributed to agrarian reform beneficiaries follow)
“Nothing in this Section shall be construed as repealing, amending, or modifying in any manner the provisions of R.A. No. 6657.”R.A. No. 7160, Sec. 20(e)
R.A. No. 6657, full text (LawPhil) · R.A. No. 7160, full text (LawPhil)
Chapters
- 0:00Cold open: reclassified as industrial, so no longer agricultural?
- 1:17Agricultural land conversion: reclassification vs. conversion
- 2:55Case 1: Natalia Realty vs. DAR (a subdivision in Antipolo, 1993)
- 5:58The twist: CREBA vs. Secretary of Agrarian Reform (2010)
- 9:00Case 2: Laynesa vs. Uy (a reclassified rice field and its tenants)
- 12:40Case 3: Farmer-Beneficiaries of the Samahang Magbubukid ng Bagumbong vs. Heirs of Juliana Maronilla (2019)
- 15:50Why the different results? Three questions
- 16:58Recap and bar tip
Cases cited
Each card opens the full text of the decision, or our case digest where we have written one.
Next episode
The husband is a foreigner, and the land is in the name of his Filipina wife. Who really owns it?
All 6 episodes of Land Titles Jurisprudence →
Related episode
