AGRARIAN SUPERNOTES:

LAND ACQUISITION the transfer of private and public lands to farmer beneficiaries
LANDS NOT COVERED BY LAND ACQUISITION: Retention Rights, Exemptions and
Exclusions
LAND VALUATION the process of determining the just compensation for the land owners, the
modes of payment and the review/appeal process in case the value is deemed too low.
LAND REDISTRIBUTION the awarding of lands to qualified beneficiaries once the property
has been expropriated by the government, the payment by the beneficiaries to the government
and the subsequent sale or transfer of the distributed land to third parties after distribution.
LAND TENURE IMPROVEMENT LTI the improvement of the tenurial and socio-economic
status of the farmers short of transferring full ownership of the land.
CONVERSION The actual change of the land use from agricultural, to residential, industrial or
commercial, of lands which could have potentially been covered under the CARP.
Quasi Judicial Powers of the DAR (Agrarian Justice) the mechanisms to determine the status
of the land, entitlements of beneficiaries, and other agrarian matters and disputes which may
require mediation, conciliation, determination or adjudication. This topic includes actions by the
DAR, the DAR Adjudication Board and the RTC acting as a Special Agrarian Court.
1. What is CARP? What is CARPER?
CARP stands for the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, a government initiative that
aims to grant landless farmers and farmworkers ownership of agricultural lands. It was signed
into law by President Corazon C. Aquino on June 10, 1988, and was scheduled to have been
completed in 1998. On the year of its deadline, Congress enacted a law (Republic Act No. 8532)
appropriating additional funds for the program and extending the automatic appropriation of illgotten wealth recovered by the Presidential Commission on Good Governance (PCGG) for
CARP until 2008.
CARPER, or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms, is the
amendatory law that extends yet again the deadline of distributing agricultural lands to farmers
for five years. It also amends other provisions stated in CARP. CARPER was signed into law on
August 7, 2009.
2. Who are the beneficiaries of CARP?
Landless farmers, including agricultural lessees, tenants, as well as regular, seasonal and other
farmworkers. The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) identifies and screens potential
beneficiaries and validates their qualifications. For example, to qualify, you must be at least 15
years old, be a resident of the barangay where the land holding is located, and own no more
than 3 hectares of agricultural land.