WHEREAS,
under Presidential Decree No. 2, dated September 26, 1972, the whole
country has been declared a land reform area;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, the said Presidential Decree covers only tenanted rice and
corn landholdings;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, while the implementing rules and regulations of presidential
Decree No. 27 have have not yet been issued completely, the status quo
shall be maintained between the parties, that is, the landowner shall
continue to pay the land taxes thereon if the said landholding is not
yet covered by a Certificate of Land Transfer, while on the other hand
the tenant-farmer who is now called agricultural lessee shall continue
to pay the rental to the landowner whether or not his landholding
planted to rice and corn is already covered by a Certificate of Land
Transfer;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, such payment of rental shall continue until and after the
valuation of the property shall have been determined or agreed upon
between the landowner and the determined of Agrarian Reform which, in
turn, will become the basis of computing the amortization payment to be
made by the agricultural lessee in 15 years with 6% interest per annum
under Presidential Decree No. 27; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, it is known that despite the presidential pronouncements that
they shall continue to pay the rentals to the landowners/agricultural
lessors, some agricultural lessees have stopped and refused to pay
their leasehold rentals to their landowners/agricultural lessors on the
assumption that, once the Certificates of Land Transfer are issued in
their favor, they are no longer obliged to pay the said leasehold
rentals;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, this practice is detrimental to the expeditious implementation
of land reform because, as I pointed out on May 7, 1975, it indicates
resistance to the government's land reform program and its goals;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, it has always been the policy of the government to equalize
the rights and obligations of the landowners/agricultural lessors and
the agricultural lessees; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby
decree and order:cralaw:red
Section 1. That the continuing and deliberate refusal
of the agricultural lessees to pay their leasehold rentals to the
landowners/agricultural lessors cannot be countenanced and shall not
remain unchecked or unpunished;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 2. That any agricultural lessee of a rice or
corn land under Presidential Decree No. 27 who deliberately refuses
and/or continues to refuse to pay the rentals or amortization payments
when they fall due for a period of two (2) years shall, upon hearing
and final judgment, forfeit the Certificate of Land Transfer issued in
his favor, if his farmholding is already covered by such Certificate of
Land Transfer, and his farmholding;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 3. That any agricultural lessee whose
landholding is not yet covered by a Certificate of Land Transfer and
who shall continue not to pay his lease rentals or amortization
payments when they fall due for a period of two (2) years to the
landowner/agricultural lessor shall, upon proper hearing and judgment,
lose his right to be issued a Certificate of Land Transfer under
Presidential Decree No. 27 and his farmholding;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 4. That landholdings subject of forfeiture
under the preceding Section shall be turned over to the Samahang Nayon
with which the agricultural lessee is affiliated for assignment to a
qualified member or members of the association whose landholding/s
is/are of uneconomic size in accordance with the policies laid down by
the Department of Agrarian Reform; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 5. That any action for violation of the
provisions of the preceding Sections 2 and 3 shall be cognizable by the
Court of Agrarian Relations which is hereby vested with original and
exclusive jurisdiction to try and decide the same;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 6. All provisions of existing laws, orders,
decrees, and rules and regulations which are inconsistent herewith are
hereby repealed or modified accordingly.
Section 7. This Decree shall take effect immediately.
DONE in the City of Manila,
this 21st day of October, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
seventy-five.
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