On June 10, 1988,
the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (Republic Act No. 6657) was enacted. On
October 10, 2000, del Rosario, through her representative Sylvia R. Asperilla
(Asperilla), filed an application for exemption with the Department of Agrarian
Reform, seeking to exempt Lot Nos. 854 and 855 from the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Program (CARP) coverage.
On February 19,
2004, then Secretary of Agrarian Reform, Secretary Pagdanganan issued an order
granting the application for exemption. Citing Department of Justice Opinion
No. 44, Series of 1990, Secretary Pagdanganan stated that lands classified as
non-agricultural before the enactment of CARP are beyond its coverage.
On March 26, 2004,
farmers in del Rosario’s landholdings, led by Espiritu, filed a motion for
reconsideration of the order. They argued that under Zoning Ordinance No.
13, Series of 1978, Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) Resolution
No. 705, Series of 2001, and Angeles City Council Resolution No. 3300, Series
of 2001, the land holdings were classified as agricultural, not
industrial. They argued that as per certifications by the HLURB, the
landholdings were within the agricultural zone, and there was no zoning
ordinance passed that reclassified the area into other land uses.
Secretary
Pangandaman issued an order granting the motion for reconsideration and
revoking the earlier order of then Secretary of Agrarian Reform Pagdanganan. Secretary
Pangandaman found that the certifications issued by the HLURB classified the
landholdings as agricultural before June 15, 1988. Based on the
ocular inspections conducted by the Center for Land Use Policy, Planning and
Implementation (CLUPPI), the land remained agricultural and was planted with
sugar cane and corn.
Del Rosario filed a notice
of appeal before the Office of the President on March 27, 2008. The Office
of the President, through then Deputy Executive Secretary Gaite, rendered the
decision dismissing the appeal for lack of merit.
Q: Is Secretary Pangandaman correct in revoking the earlier order of
then Secretary Pagdanganan?
Yes, Secretary
Pangandaman is correct in revoking the earlier order of then Secretary
Pagdanganan.
Lands classified as
non-agricultural in zoning ordinances approved by the Housing and Land Use
Regulatory Board or its predecessors prior to June 15, 1998 are outside the
coverage of the compulsory acquisition program of the Comprehensive Agrarian
Reform Law. However, there has to be substantial evidence to prove that lands
sought to be exempted fall within the non-agricultural classification.
Accordingly, lands
are considered exempt from the coverage of Republic Act No. 6657 if the
following requisites are present:
1. Lands were zoned
for non-agricultural use by the local government unit; and
2. The zoning
ordinance was approved by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board before June
15, 1998.
In this case, the
above requisites are lacking. The land has ceased to be agricultural by virtue
of reclassification under Ordinance No. 13, series of 1978 cannot be sustained
since the records of the case or the evidence presented thereto are bereft of
any indication showing the same. In fact, based on certification from CPDO-ZAU,
the land was classified as agricultural. Said land as verified with
HLURB-Region III was also classified as agriculture. And lastly, upon ocular
inspection, it was found that the same area remained agricultural as it was
still dominantly planted with sugar cane and corn.
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