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Also, the matters contained in the following were written in accordance with the law, rules, and jurisprudence prevailing at the time of writing and posting, and do not include any future developments on the subject matter under discussion.
AT A GLANCE:
For tenancy relationship to exist, therefore, the following elements must be shown to concur, to wit:
(1) the parties are the landowner and the tenant;
(2) the subject matter is agricultural land;
(3) there is consent between the parties to the relationship;
(4) the purpose is of the relationship is to bring about agricultural production;
(5) there is personal cultivation on the part of the tenant or agricultural lessee; and
(6) the harvest is shared between landowner and tenant or agricultural lessee.
The presence of all these elements must be proved by substantial evidence; this means that the absence of one will not make an alleged tenant a de jure tenant. Unless a person has established his status as a de jure tenant, he is not entitled to security of tenure or to be covered by the Land Reform Program of the Government under existing tenancy laws. (Romeo Caluzor v. Deogracias Llanillo, G.R. No. 155580, July 01, 2015)
What is an agricultural tenancy?
Republic Act No. 1199 or the Agricultural Tenancy Act of the Philippines defines agricultural tenancy as the physical possession by a person of land devoted to agriculture belonging to, or legally possessed by, another for the purpose of production through the labor of the former and of the members of his immediate farm household, in consideration of which the former agrees to share the harvest with the latter, or to pay a price certain or ascertainable, either in produce or in money, or in both. (Section 3, R.A. No. 1199)
Who is a tenant under the law?
A tenant shall mean a person who, himself and with the aid available from within his immediate farm household, cultivates the land belonging to, or possessed by, another, with the latter’s consent for purposes of production, sharing the produce with the landholder under the share tenancy system, or paying to the landholder a price certain or ascertainable in produce or in money or both, under the leasehold tenancy system. (Section 5, par. a, R.A. No. 1199)
Who is a landowner under the law?
A landholder shall mean a person, natural or juridical, who, either as owner, lessee, usufructuary, or legal possessor, lets or grants to another the use or cultivation of his land for a consideration either in shares under the share tenancy system, or a price certain or ascertainable under the leasehold tenancy system. (Section 5, par. b, R.A. No. 1199)
What is a tenancy relationship?
Tenancy relationship is a juridical tie which arises between a landholder and a tenant once they agree, expressly or impliedly, to undertake jointly the cultivation of land belonging to the former, either under the share tenancy or leasehold tenancy system, as a result of which relationship the tenant acquires the right to continue working on and cultivating the land, until and unless he is dispossessed of his holdings for any of the just causes enumerated in Section 50 or the relationship is terminated in accordance with Section 9. (Section 3, R.A. No. 1199)
Republic Act No. 1199 or the Agricultural Tenancy Act of the Philippines provides that:
“Tenancy relationship may be established either verbally or in writing, expressly or impliedly. Once such relationship is established, the tenant shall be entitled to security of tenure as hereinafter provided.” (Section 7, R.A. No. 1199)
Agricultural tenancy is not presumed. It is well-settled that mere cultivation without proof of the conditions of tenancy does not suffice to establish tenancy relationship.
It is established only by adducing evidence showing that all the essential requisites of concur. (Romeo Caluzor v. Deogracias Llanillo, G.R. No. 155580, July 01, 2015)
Jurisprudence says:
For tenancy relationship to exist, therefore, the following elements must be shown to concur, to wit:
(1) the parties are the landowner and the tenant;
(2) the subject matter is agricultural land;
(3) there is consent between the parties to the relationship;
(4) the purpose is of the relationship is to bring about agricultural production;
(5) there is personal cultivation on the part of the tenant or agricultural lessee; and
(6) the harvest is shared between landowner and tenant or agricultural lessee.
The presence of all these elements must be proved by substantial evidence; this means that the absence of one will not make an alleged tenant a de jure tenant. Unless a person has established his status as a de jure tenant, he is not entitled to security of tenure or to be covered by the Land Reform Program of the Government under existing tenancy laws. (Romeo Caluzor v. Deogracias Llanillo, Id.)
In the case of Sps. Laureto Franco and Nelly Dela Cruz-Franco, et al. v. Sps. Macario Galera, Jr. (G.R. No. 205266, January 15, 2020), the Supreme Court ruled that:
An express agreement is not necessary to establish the existence of agricultural tenancy. The tenancy relationship can be implied when the conduct of the parties shows the presence of all the requisites under the law.
Stated differently, an express agreement of agricultural tenancy is not necessary. The tenancy relationship can be implied from the conduct of the parties.
Our agrarian reform laws are witness to the country’s attempts at reversing unjust structures developed throughout centuries of oppressive land regimes. Agrarian justice aims to liberate sectors that have been victimized by a system that has perpetuated their bondage to debt and poverty. Its goal is to dignify those who till our lands-to give land to those who cultivate them. (Sps. Laureto Franco and Nelly Dela Cruz-Franco, et al. v. Sps. Macario Galera, Jr., Id.)
The protection of tenancy relations is only one of agrarian reform’s significant features. The State, acknowledging that tenancy relations have an inherent imbalance that disadvantages farmer-tenants and privileges landowners, sought to it that this relationship is regulated so that social justice might be achieved. Ultimately, the program aims to remove farmer-tenants from the system that had once oppressed them by making the tenant, once just the tiller, owner of his or her land. (Sps. Laureto Franco and Nelly Dela Cruz-Franco, et al. v. Sps. Macario Galera, Jr., Id.)
It must be remembered that “the protective mantle of the law extending to legitimate farmers is never meant to cover intruders and squatters who later on claim to be a tenant on the land upon which they squat.” (Romeo Caluzor v. Deogracias Llanillo, Id.)
Finally, tenancy relationship can only be created with the consent of the true and lawful landholders through lawful means and not by imposition or usurpation. (Romeo Caluzor v. Deogracias Llanillo, Id.)
Related Articles:
Barrio Farmers’ Week (Proclamation No. 76, Series of 1954)
RICE FESTIVAL WEEK (Proclamation No. 279, s. 1956)
Rural Broadcast Week (Proclamation No. 381, s. 1968)
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