The House of Representatives has approved on second reading House Bill 6589 seeking to rationalize the requirements imposed by the Department of Agrarian Reform regarding land registration to enable smooth and speedy transactions between DAR agents and the public.
The bill principally authored by Speaker Pantaleon Alvarez provides it is the policy of the State to warrant the efficiency and responsiveness of the government by ensuring the implementation of national policies and procedures that reduce, if not eradicate, bureaucratic red tape, and enable smooth and speedy transactions between government agents and the public.
It mandates that clearance or permits from the DA for registering land shall only apply to those lands which are covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
For the registration of lands not covered by the CARP, as provided for in Section 10 of Republic Act 6657, as amended, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), as well as those lands with a size below the five hectare retention limit imposed by Section 6 of the same Act, no clearance or permit from DAR shall be required.
A Certificate or Order of Exclusion issued by the DAR shall be submitted as adequate proof that the agricultural land still possesses the status of being exempt or excluded from coverage of the CARP as provided for in Section 10 of the CARL.
Moreover, an affidavit of aggregate total agricultural lands by both the transferor and the transferee shall be presented in case of lands with a size below the five hectare retention limit.
No deed of sale of agricultural lands under cultivation by an agricultural lessee or lessees shall be recorded in the Registry of Property unless accompanied by the affidavit required of the vendor as contemplated in Section 13 of RA 3444, otherwise known as the Agricultural Land Reform Code.
Any public officer or employee who violates the Act shall be removed from service and shall suffer the penalty of perpetual absolute disqualification without prejudice to other criminal, civil, or administrative penalties imposable as provided for by law, the bill provides.
Alvarez said it is the State policy to create conditions that eliminate unnecessary red tape that prolong public processes to the prejudice of the interests of the people – and serve as potential areas for corruption.
“One such area exists in the realm of land registration wherein the DAR, which reasonably should be the clearing house before land covered by the CARP could be registered, also serves, unnecessarily, as the clearing house for the registration of lands which are not covered by the CARP,” said the Speaker.
To rationalize the process, the Speaker said he proposed that clearance permits from the DAR for the purpose of land registration shall only apply to lands covered by CARP.
The bill was endorsed for plenary approval by the House committee on agrarian reform chaired by Rep. Rene Relampagos (1st District, Bohol). It is co-authored by Relampagos, Reps. Melencio Yap Jr., Ruwel Peter Gonzaga, Arnolfo Teves, Jesulito Manalo, Roger Mercado, Fernando Gonzalez, Henry Oaminal, Orestes Salon, Wilter Wee Palma, Manuel Jose Dalipe and Delphine Gan Lee. (CONGRESS-PR)
