Eastern Iguig ARC Water Supply System Completed

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has completed the construction and is ready to turn-over of a Potable  Water Supply System (Level II) at barangay Sta. Barbara, a component barangay of Eastern Iguig Agrarian Reform Community (Eastern Iguig ARC) in Iguig, Cagayan.

The Eastern Iguig ARC  Potable Water Supply project was funded by the Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Project III (ARISP-III)-Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) and the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Iguig, Cagayan with a total project cost of P3,707,530.73 and is expected to benefit some 647 agrarian reform beneficiary households.

The potable water system in the ARC will significantly decrease the incidence of water-borne diseases among school children and will also provide water for vegetable gardening activities and opportunities for rural enterprises among farming household in the area which will provide additional source of income. cds/mtb

Php15M Farm-to-Market Road Completed in Iguig, Cagayan

The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) is scheduled to turn-over sometime in July 2012 in favor of the Local Government Unit (LGU) of Iguig in Cagayan province a 4.536-kilometer Farm-to-Market Road (FMR) traversing the barangays/villages of Minanga Sur, Sta. Barbara and San Esteban, which are also the component barangays of EASTERN IGUIG AGRARIAN REFORM COMMUNITY (Eastern Iguig ARC).

An Agrarian Reform Community (ARC) is a barangay at the minimum or a cluster of contiguous barangays where there is a critical mass of farmers and farm workers awaiting the full implementation of agrarian reform. The farmers and the farm workers will anchor the integrated development of the area.

Farm-to-Market Roads are some of the support services being implemented under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) which traditionally serves to connect rural or agricultural areas to market towns. In this case, from Eastern Iguig ARC to Tuguegarao City, where the major markets and distribution centers are located.

The concrete farm-to-market road will provide the agrarian farmer-beneficiaries, the members of their households  and the community in general with an all-weather barangay road and will also significantly help reduce the farmers’ costs of transporting their goods as well as their travel time to the market and trading centers, also, it will substantially increase their income due to savings from transport costs, lesser damage/spoilage to their goods, etc.

There are approximately 1,083 households who will benefit from the project at a cost of P15,498,684.90 funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)-Agrarian Reform Infrastructure Project-III (ARISP-III), Local Government Unit of Iguig (LGU-Iguig)and the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR).

The completion of the concrete farm-to-market road will not only improve the living conditions of the people in Eastern Iguig ARC and its neighboring barangays/villages but it will also open more opportunities for economic development of the area. cds/mtb

ARB/Agri Coops Are Major Economic Development Players

I have always believed that one way for the Filipinos to rise from poverty is to be an entrepreneur. But I always hear that a major hindrance to becoming an entrepreneur is the perennial lack of capital for those who are interested to engage in some kind of business enterprise. Maybe unknown to them is the alternative of associating or organizing a pool of people who are similarly interested to pursue a business through a cooperative enterprise. In this way, a core number of individuals could pool money, human resources and talent to build capital, and work together to produce more goods and increase income.

            There are more than twenty thousand cooperatives operating in the Philippines as of October 2011 with a total membership of more than eleven million people composed of farmers, fisherfolk, women, workers, vendors, teachers, government employees, the military, rebel-returnees, and from other sectors who are mostly poor and disadvantaged but they believe in cooperativism and seriously desire to build a better life for them and their families through association and cooperation. These cooperatives in the Philippines have a combined assets of PHP158.6 billion.

            On a global perspective, reports from the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA)indicate that over one billion people are members of cooperatives. In Asia, there are 45.3 million members of cooperatives. In Indonesia, 27.5% of families are members of cooperatives. In Japan, 33% of families are members of cooperatives. In Singapore, 50% of the population are members of cooperatives. Membership in cooperatives have increased because of the benefits they derive from being members.

            The contributions of cooperatives into the national economy are also steadily increasing. Agricultural cooperatives in Japan, for instance, agricultural cooperatives generate outputs equivalent to US$90 billion. This may be due to the fact that 91% of the farmers are members of cooperatives. In South Korea, 90% of farmers are members of agricultural cooperatives which have contributed to an output of US$11 billion. Fishery cooperatives in South Korea have a market share of 71%. In Vietnam, cooperatives contribute 8.6% of the country’s gross domestic product. In the Philippines, the cooperative sector is still a growing sector which contributed 4.2% of the country’s gross regional product in 2007. Cooperatives contribute generating and maintaining employment. Worldwide, around one hundred million jobs are provided by cooperatives, which is 20% more than multinational business enterprises.  In the United States, 30,000 cooperatives provide more than 2 million jobs. In Canada, over 155,000 are employed by the sector. In Indonesia, cooperatives provide jobs to 288,600 individuals. Philippine cooperatives, on the other hand, provided jobs to 102, 977 people in 2007, about 0.30% of the country’s labor force. 

            When I attended the Cooperative Regional Conference in Echague, Isabela sometime in  2012, I was awed by the large number of people who are active members of cooperatives in the Cagayan Valley Region. During that meeting, we were provided with information about what is actually happening in Congress, about the efforts and bills introduced to harness and support the collective efforts to strengthen cooperatives of agrarian reform beneficiaries (ARBs), of agricultural cooperatives, and to consolidate these cooperatives to maximize benefits from economies of scale. There was also a suggestion for the cooperative members to support Senatorial candidates  are sympathetic to the cooperative sector (although in hushed tones).

            However, there are were issues that came out, specially local and national officials who are stifling the growth of cooperatives by disregarding or refusing to honor the tax benefits and privileges that cooperatives are expressly entitled to under the laws of the Philippines. Some agencies of the government like the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) and some officials of Local Government Units (LGUs) have various interpretations of the law and deliberately make it difficult for cooperatives to obtain the Tax Exemption Certificate.

            While it is clear that the spirit of the law is for cooperatives to be given preferential tax treatment as expressed in the law, that is, Republic Act No. 6938, now Republic Act No. 9520, this is not happening in some parts of the Philippines. Even the Supreme Court, in the cases that it has decided ruled that, “cooperatives, including their members, deserve a preferential tax treatment because of the vital role they play in the attainment of economic development and social justice. Thus, although taxes are the lifeblood of the government, the State’s power to tax must give way to foster the creation and growth of cooperatives.”  Justice Isagani A. Cruz, as quoted by Rep. Jose R. Ping-Ay in one of his speeches in Congress, said that: “The power of taxation, while indispensable, is not absolute and may be subordinated to the demands of social justice.” 

         After all, it is true that sovereign power resides in the people, and all government authority emanates from them. Is it really? cds

Agrarian Reform Community Products at Aggaw Trade Fair

TUGUEGARAO CITY, June 23, 2012- Products from the Agrarian Reform Communities (ARCs) in Cagayan province were featured among the various LGUs’ trade fair booths participating in the 429^th Aggaw Nac Cagayan, a celebration of the civil government founding anniversary of Cagayan province from June 23 to 29, 2012. 

An ARC is a barangay at the minimum or a cluster of contiguous barangays where there is a critical mass of farmers and farm workers awaiting the full implementation of agrarian reform. The farmers and the farm workers will anchor the integrated development of the area.

           Among the ARC products on display and also being sold at the trade fair booths are: Banana Vinegar from PATASDA ARC in Allacapan; candied Tamarind Balls and Tamango (tamarind with mango) from Nasuerteca ARC in Amulung; Banana Chips fromESTEMARCONBAGA ARC also from Amulung; Mango puree and Banana Chips from MALULANI ARC in Sto Nino; Bamboo Lamps fromROBA ARC in Enrile; Milk Candies from Southcag ARC in Tuguegarao City; Organic Rice from SOWESFACO ARC in Solana; Roasted Peanuts from Greenfields ARC in Alcala; and a lot more organic fruits and vegetables from various ARCs. Most of the featured ARC products are on display by the LGUs because they are also the One-Town, One-Product (OTOP) adopted by the municipalities where the ARCs are located.

         The Aggaw Nac Cagayan is celebrated at the Cagayan Sports Complex where activities such as talents shows, painting exhibits, livelihood seminars, beauty contests, tournaments (Chess, Billiards, etc), concerts and fireworks. cds

SWIP-Based Aquaculture Livelihood Project Launched

Liwan Norte, Enrile, Cagayan -The local government units (LGU) of Cagayan province and Enrile town, in partnership with the Irrigators Association, the Bureau of Soils and Water Management under the Department of Agriculture, established a 20-hectare small water impounding project (SWIP) at Liwan Norte, a once sleepy village in the rural fourth class municipality of Enrile, Cagayan. It has dramatically transformed the lives of subsistence farmers and CARP farmer-beneficiaries.

     The SWIP supplies irrigation water to some 104 hectares of farmlands and also serves as a fishpond which has increased fish production in the area. Presently, the fishpond has a stocking density of 5,000 fingerlings per hectare with a survival rate of 60%. There are also fish cages in the pond (5 x 10 x 2.5 meters) with a stocking density of 25 pieces of fingerlings per cubic meter with a 90% survival rate. According to the members of the Liwan Norte Irrigators Association, they have harvested more than 700 kilos of fish mainly tilapia from the 50-hectare Liwan Norte Small Water Impoundment Project since the start of fishing operation.

     On April 15, 2011, the Small Water Impounding Project (SWIP)-based Aquaculture Livelihood Project was launched here through the Department of Agriculture, represented by Agriculture Assistant Secretary Salvador Salacup, who said that the government will continue to provide financial and technical support to the agricultural producers, but it is the producers who shall have the responsibility to maintain the facilities and sustain production.

     Also present during the launching of the SWIP-Based Aquaculture Livelihood Project were Cagayan Gov. Alvaro T. Antonio and Congressman Randolph S. Ting of Cagayan’s 3rd District. They also encouraged the Enrile-LGU to develop the site into an eco-tourism park where boating, mountain biking, hiking, fishing and other tourism activities can be undertaken by quests and tourists especially during the summer. They gave their full support to the project including the development of farm-to-market roads, as the area is around fifteen kilometers from the national highway over winding and hilly gravel roads. /cds

PRIMER On Agricultural Leasehold System

What are the Laws on Leasehold?

Republic Act No. 1199 – An Act to Govern the Relations Between Landowners and Tenants of Agricultural Lands, August 30, 1954. Under this law, the tenant was given the right to choose a leasehold tenancy arrangement.

Republic Act No. 3844 – An Act known as Agricultural Land Reform Code Instituting Land Reform in the Philippines, including the abolition of Share Tenancy and the Channeling of capital Into Industry, August 8, 1963. Declared agricultural share tenancy to be contrary to public policy and was, thereby, abolished.

Republic Act No. 6389 – an Act amending R.A. No. 3844, known as the AgriculturalLandreform Code, and other purposes, September 10, 1971. Provided for the automatic conversion of agricultural share tenancy to agricultural leasehold.

Republic Act No. 6657 – The Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, June 15, 1998. Mandated DAR to determine and fix immediately the lease rentals. Made all tenanted lands subject to leasehold.

What are the implications of the above-cited laws? The significant implications are: (1) abolition of share tenancy and conversion to agricultural leasehold now covers all agricultural lands without exception; (2) leasehold is no longer just an option, it exists by operation of law; and (3) leasehold can be a preliminary step to land ownership (areas covered by CARP). All share crop tenants were therefore, automatically converted into agricultural lessees as of June 15, 1988 whether or not a leasehold agreement has been executed. Landowners’ share is 25% of the produce while the lessee’s share is 75% of the produce.

What are the conditions set for tenancy relationship to exist? All the following conditions must be present for tenancy relationship to exist: (1) That the parties are the landholder and the tenant; (2) That the subject is agricultural land; (3) That there is consent by the landowner for the tenant to work on the land; (4) That the purpose is agricultural production; (5) That there is personal cultivation or with the help of the immediate farm household; and (6) That there is compensation in terms of payment of a fixed amount in money and/or produce.

What is personal cultivation? There is personal cultivation if the tenant cultivates the land himself/herself or with the aid of the immediate farm household. Immediate farm household refers to the members of the family of the lessee (tenant) and other persons who are dependent upon him/her for support and who usually help him/her in the activities.

What is cultivation? Cultivation is not limited to the plowing and harrowing of the land, but also husbanding of the ground to forward the products of the earth by general industry, the taking care of the land and fruits growing thereon, fencing of certain areas, and the clearing thereof by gathering dried leaves and cutting grasses. In coconut lands, cultivation includes the clearing of the landholding, gathering of coconuts, their piling, husking and handling, as well as the processing thereof into copra, although at times with the aid of hired laborers (Coconut Cooperative Marketing Association, Inc. vs. Court of Appeals, 164 SCRA 568; Hernandez vs. Court of Intermediate Appellate Court, et. Al., 189 SCRA 758).

Is there tenancy relationship where squatters are allowed by the landowner to cultivate the land for free? No, agricultural tenancy does not exist in this case since there is no expressed or implied agreement to undertake the cultivation of the land belonging to the landholder. No agreement exists in terms of share in harvest or payment in a fixed amount. It is, however, possible for the parties to subsequently enter into a leasehold relationship.

When shall tenancy relationship cease to exist? The agricultural leasehold relation is extinguished by any of the following: (1) abandonment of the landholding without the knowledge of the agricultural lessor/landholder; (2) voluntary surrender of the landholding by the tenant-lessee after giving notice to the lessor three (3) months in advance; or (3) absence of an heir to succeed the lessee in the event of his/her death or permanent incapacity. The leasehold relation is likewise extinguished when the lessee’s dispossession of the land is authorized by the DAR Adjudication Board (DARAB) or by the proper court in a judgement that is final and executory, for violations of the leasehold agreement or pertinent provisions of agrarian laws on leashold.

What are the grounds for dispossession/ejectment? (1) The tenant failed to substantially comply with the terms and conditions of the leasehold contract or with laws governing leasehold relations, unless the failure is caused by a fortuitous event or force majeur; (2) He/she planted crops or used the land for a purpose other than what had been previously agreed upon. DAR A.O. No. 05-93, however, now allows the tenant-lessee to intercrop or plant secondary crops after the rentals has been fixed, provided he/she shoulders the expenses; (3) He/she failed to adopt proven farm practices necessary to conserve the land, improve its fertility, and increase its productivity; (4)His/her fault or negligence resulted in the substantial damage, destruction, or unreasonable deterioration of the land or any permanent improvement thereon; (5)He/she does not pay the lease rentals when it falls due except when such non-payment is due to crop failure to the extent of 75% as a result of fortuitous event; or (6) He/she employed a sub lessee. The dispossession shall be by a final and executory judgment.

When is hired labor allowed? The lessee (tenant) can only employ hired labor if he/she is temporarily incapacitated and has no immediate family household who will do the cultivation.

Is the agricultural leasehold relation extinguished by death or permanent incapacity of any of the parties? No, in case the tenant-lessee dies or is permanently incapacitated, the leasehold relation shall continue between the agricultural lessor (landholder) and the member of the lessee’s immediate farm household who can personally cultivate the land. Such person shall be chosen by the lessor within one month from such death or permanent incapacity from the following: (1) the surviving spouse; (2) the eldest direct descendant by consanguinity; or (3) the next eldest descendant or descendants in the order of their age. If the death or personal incapacity of the lessee occurs during the agricultural year, the choice by the lessor shall be done at the end of that agricultural year. If the lessor fails to exercise his choice within the prescribed period, the above-mentioned order of priority shall be followed. In case of death or permanent incapacity of the lessor (landholder), the leasehold relation shall bind his/her legal heirs.

What is the effect of transfer of legal ownership of the land? Leasehold is not extinguished with the transfer of legal ownership of the land from one landowner to another. The law provides that the purchaser or transferee shall be subrogated to the rights and substituted to the obligations of the agricultural lessor.