ChanRobles Virtual law Library
PHILIPPINE LAWS, STATUTES & CODES
A collection of Philippine laws, statutes and codes not included or cited in the main indices of the Chan Robles Virtual Law Library.
Home > Chan Robles Virtual Law Library > Philippine Laws, Statutes & Codes > :
Search for
www.chanrobles.com
:
LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS
PLEASE CLICK HERE FOR THE LATEST ➔ PHILIPPINE LAWS, STATUTES & CODES
LETTER OF INSTRUCTIONS NO. 143
TO
: Secretary Alejandro Melchor
Executive Secretary
Secretary Conrado Estrella
Department of Agrarian Reform
Secretary Cesar Virata
Department of Finance
Secretary Arturo S. Tanco, Jr.
Department of Agriculture & Natural Resources
(The Director, Bureau of Agricultural Extension)
Governor Gregorio Licaros
Central Bank of the Philippines
Mr. Basilio Estanislao
President, Land Bank
Secretary Jose Roño
Department of Local Governments
& Community Development
(Undersecretary Orlando Sakay
Undersecretary for Cooperatives
Undersecretary Rosendo Marquez
Undersecretary for Community Development)
WHEREAS, I have repeatedly given instructions for the speedy implementation of Presidential Decree No. 27, otherwise known as the Tenant's Emancipation Act, which extended land reform program to the small landholdings devoted principally to rice and corn and tilled by tenant-farmers;
WHEREAS, surveys undertaken by the government show that 95.4% of our landowners are among those holding less than 12 hectares and that 69.9% of our tenant-farmers are tillers in these small landholdings of less than 12 hectares;
WHEREAS, the government, although eager to implement a program of land reform by extending its operations to these small landholdings has been conscious as well of the fact that these landowners holding small parcels of land constitute part of the economic middle class, which we are trying to build and therefore deserve as much consideration as the tenants themselves;
WHEREAS, for this reason studies have been continuing in order not to create an economic dislocation whereby while we are helping the tenants we are impoverishing this particular group of landowners;
WHEREAS, under Presidential Decree No. 27, the mode of payment specified calls for payment by the tenant-farmers to the landowners the total cost of the land, including interest at the rate of six (6) per centum per annum in fifteen (15 ) years in fifteen (15) equal annual amortizations;
WHEREAS, under Presidential Decree No. 251, other modes of payment have been provided, namely:
"1.
Cash payment of 10% and balance in 25-year tax- free 6% Land Bank bonds;
"2. Payment of
30% in preferred shares of stock issued by the bank and balance in
25-year tax-free 6% Land Banks bonds;
"3. Full
guarantee on the payment of the fifteen (15) equal annual amortizations
to be made by the tenant/farmer;
"4. Payment
through the establishment of annuities or pensions with insurance;
"5. Exchange
arrangement for government stocks in government-owned or controlled
corporations or private corporations where the government has holdings;
"6. Such other
modes of settlement as may be further adopted by the Board of Directors
and approved by the President of the Philippines."
WHEREAS, it is my earnest desire that the actual tillers of the land, the tenant-farmers, shall be the actual owners of the land tilled by them soonest, but at the same time the small landowners shall not be impoverished by depriving them of their land which may be their only source of income, and if deprived should receive the assistance of the government;
NOW, THEREFORE, and in view of my earnest desire to implement fully the Land Reform Program as set forth in Presidential Decree No. 27, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers in me vested by the Constitution as Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Philippines, and pursuant to Proclamation No. 1081, dated September 21, 1972, and General Order No. 1, dated September 22, 1972, as amended, hereby prescribe the following policies or guidelines in the implementation of land reform program, especially with respect to the small landholdings:
(1)
That as a basic policy, the actual tillers of the
land, the tenant-farmers, in agricultural land principally devoted to
rice and corn production, shall be the actual owners of the land tilled
by them; subject to the following guidelines:
(a)
That in pursuance of this policy the absentee
landowners shall transfer to their tenants their landholdings
regardless of area, no matter how small; and
(b) That the
absentee landowners shall be compelled
to do so if they (the absentee landowners) are found to have a source
of income other than their landholdings or landholdings.
(2) In determining who is an absentee landlord, the Department of Agrarian Reform shall ascertain if the absence of such landlord is on account of circumstances beyond his control such as having been driven from the land by fortuitous circumstances or forces beyond his control, services in the Armed Forces of the Philippines or other branches of the government.
(a)
If the absentee landowner falling under this
category has been actually tilling the land before being compelled to
abandon the tilling of the land as provided in the immediately
preceding paragraph, then he shall not be considered an absentee
landlord as referred to in this Letter of Instructions;
(b) If in the
apportionment of the land according to
Presidential Decree No. 27, which reserves 7 hectares for the landowner
if he tills part of his landholdings or intends to till part thereof,
and allocates an area not exceeding 5 hectares for the tenant-farmer,
if the land is not irrigated, and 3 hectares if irrigated, there will
not be enough land to be allocated to the tenant or tenants in the same
landholding, the Government shall encourage the organization or
establishment of a cooperative composed of both the landowner himself
and his tenant or tenants with the income from said land apportioned by
them in accordance with their respective participation in its
cooperative effort.
In order to ensure immediate implementation of these policies and guidelines, I direct the Executive Secretary, the Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform, the Secretary of the Department of Finance, the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the Governor of the Central Bank, the President of the Land Bank, the Secretary of the Department of Local Governments and Community Development, the Undersecretary for Cooperatives and the Undersecretary for Community Development and all other agencies of the government whose cooperation is considered necessary by the Secretary of Agrarian Reform and the Agrarian Reform Fund Council to conduct an immediate survey which shall, among others, determine:
(1)
The absentee landowners as envisioned in this
Letter of Instructions;
(2) The
absentee landowners with no other source of
income and those with the other source of income;
(3) The
absentee landowners who have a history of
tilling their own landholdings but were compelled to abandon their
farming activities in view of circumstances beyond their control and as
specified in this Letter of Instructions;
(4) Those
landholdings where the organization of a
cooperative composed of the landowner and his tenant or tenants is the
most feasible measure to resolve conflicting interests of landowners
and tenant-farmer;
(5) Those
landholdings or portions thereof in which
the landowner may have a strong emotional attachments for having been
the site of his home or ancestral home of the landowner;
(6) How many
of these absentee landowners are in the
government service;
(7) How many
of these landowners are retirees from
the government service or from employment in private firms.
You will likewise ascertain:
(1)
Whether or not the 6% per annum income from
agricultural rice and corn land as earlier reported is in fact the
actual earning from these lands;
(2) Whether or
not there has been an increase in
production in areas where the land reform program has been implemented,
in general, and specifically in the small landholdings.
The term "small landholdings" as used in this Letter of Instructions shall mean landholdings of 24 hectares and less than 24 hectares.
Pilot areas shall be established, preferably in one town in Nueva Ecija, one town in Pangasinan, one town in the Ilocos Region and in other municipalities in other provinces where the group may deem it necessary.
The Executive Secretary shall convene a meeting of the officials specified herein immediately to implement these instructions and a report will be submitted to me with the recommendations before the end of November, 1973.
Done in the City of Manila, this 31st day of October, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and seventy-three.
chanrobles virtual law library
Back to Main
Since 19.07.98.