WHEREAS,
the Department of Agrarian Reform has been created and mandated by law
to implement state policies and decrees of agrarian reform; chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, agrarian reform has been made the cornerstone of reforms in
the New Society, and under Presidential Decree Nos. 2 and 27, the
government was set into motion to overhaul the system of land tenure in
order to fully emancipate the tenant-farmers from their bondage;chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
WHEREAS, to effectively carry this out, there is a need to increase the
capability of the Department of Agrarian Reform in developing and
implementing plans and programs on the various aspects of land tenure
improvement; and
WHEREAS, the implementation of Presidential Decree No. 27 has spawned
complex problems the solutions of which would require greater
concentration of efforts and resources. This can be achieved by
reorienting the functions of the Department's personnel at the field
level. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines,
by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby
order and decree:cralaw:red
Section 1. Creation of the Bureau of Land Tenure
Improvement. — The Bureau of Farm Management in the Department of
Agrarian Reform is hereby converted into the Bureau of Land Tenure
Improvement, to be headed by a Director who may be assisted by an
Assistant Director. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
Section 2. Functions. — The Bureau shall be
responsible for providing staff services for the development of
policies, plans and programs, and standard operating procedures on
land-tiller-landowner identification, tenurial security and leasehold
arrangements, land transactions leading to the transfer of land
ownership to tenant-farmers including related records, land valuation
and landowners compensation, land tenure research, and joint projects
with other government offices and private institutions to be
established in tenanted areas and landed estates that will improve land
tenure and land use; for establishing and operating a monitoring and
information system on land tenure improvement, and for performing such
other functions that the Secretary may assign pertaining to land tenure
improvement.
Section 3. Functional Divisions. — The Bureau shall
have the following divisions:cralaw:red
a. Land Transactions Divisions shall be responsible
for developing programs for the identification and maintenance of a
current inventory of tillers, landowners, landholdings including crops
and production thereon; and for all transactions involving tenurial
security, leasehold arrangements, land transfers and change in land
use. It shall be responsible for developing standards for the valuation
of lands acquired by the government under the agrarian reform program
and the payment of the landowners thereof. It shall establish and
operate a monitoring and information system on land tenure
improvement. chanroblesvirtualawlibrary
b. Land Tenure Research and Projects Division which
shall be responsible for the preparing research designs on land tenure
improvement and the development of joint projects with other government
offices and private institutions in tenanted areas and landed estates
that will improve land tenure and land use.
Section 4. Transfer of Personnel and Appropriations.
— The personnel, appropriations, records, equipment and property of the
converted Bureau of Farm Management shall be transferred to the Bureau
of Land Tenure Improvement.
Section 5. Field Personnel of the Department. — The
field personnel of the Department of Agrarian Reform particularly those
assigned to the Agrarian Reform Project Teams, shall now be reoriented
towards assuming primary responsibility for implementing agrarian
reform programs, particularly the policies, plans and programs on
land-tiller-landowner identification, tenurial security and leasehold
arrangements, land transactions leading to the transfer of land
ownership to tenant-farmers including related records, land valuation
and landowners' compensation, land tenure research and such other
functions that the Office of the Secretary may assign pertaining to
land tenure improvement: Provided, That in order not to disrupt the
on-going process of the integrated approach to agrarian report field
implementation, the Agrarian Reform Project Teams shall continue to
undertake functions and activities pertaining and related to project
identification and formulation; organization of compact and/or
integrated farms; and the establishment of cooperative-cultivatorship
schemes: Provided, further, That in order to avoid duplication of
functions with the Department of Agriculture, the Department of
Agrarian Reform shall not undertake agricultural, home and youth
development extension activities: Provided, furthermore, That the
Department of Agriculture shall assume primary responsibility for
providing the necessary agricultural extension services in agrarian
reform areas: Provided, finally, That in the agrarian reform areas
agricultural extension workers shall be assigned to specific areas of
coverage in consultation with the Department of Agrarian Reform.
Section 6. Repealing Clause. — All laws, rules and
regulations which are inconsistent with this decree are hereby repealed
or modified accordingly.
Done in the City of Manila, on
this 18th day of August, in the year of Our Lord, nineteen hundred and
seventy-six.
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