FARMERS’ groups have asked the Supreme Court (SC) to stop the government from allowing the registration of agricultural land transfers without clearance from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), warning that the move could lead to land consolidation and displacement of farmers.
In a statement dated Oct. 2, the MAGSASAKA Party-list and the Federation of Free Farmers (FFF) said they had filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the high court seeking to strike down DoJ Opinion No. 16, Series of 2026.
The groups also asked the court to issue a temporary restraining order preventing the Land Registration Authority (LRA) and local registrars from registering agricultural land transfers without DAR clearance.
The petition was filed by MAGSASAKA Party-list Chairman Argel Joseph T. Cabatbat and FFF Board Chairman Leonardo Q. Montemayor on Friday.
The groups said the Department of Justice (DoJ) opinion, issued by Justice Secretary Fredderick A. Vida, found that the five-hectare retention limit under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law, or Republic Act No. 6657, was “no longer relevant and required” because the June 30, 2014 deadline for land acquisition under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program Extension with Reforms Law, or Republic Act No. 9700, had lapsed.
The opinion would allow the LRA to bypass the DAR’s Land Transfer Clearance mechanism, according to them.
Justice spokesman Raphael Niccolo L. Martinez did not immediately reply to a Viber message requesting comment.
Mr. Cabatbat and Mr. Montemayor argued that the DoJ committed grave abuse of discretion, saying the lapse of a statutory funding deadline did not remove what they described as a permanent constitutional mandate on agrarian reform.
“By sweeping away the requirement for a DAR clearance in land transfers, the government is opening the floodgates for unregulated land conversion, mass displacement of tillers, and a severe national food security crisis,” the groups said.
They said the removal of the clearance requirement could affect 1.2 million agrarian reform beneficiaries and 1.8 million hectares of privately owned agricultural land, which they said could be exposed to corporate reconsolidation and real estate speculation.
The petitioners also questioned what they described as earlier administrative efforts to remove the DAR clearance requirement. They said the DAR had drafted an unnumbered administrative order in January that sought to remove the requirement, but that the measure faced resistance after it was leaked.
The groups said DAR Secretary Conrado M. Estrella III acknowledged signing the document but described it as a “preparatory” measure. They said the LRA subsequently sought the DoJ’s legal opinion on the matter.
The petitioners argued that only Congress has the authority to remove the five-hectare retention limit or abolish DAR clearance requirements, saying the DoJ’s action violated the separation of powers.
They urged the high tribunal to issue a temporary restraining order or writ of preliminary injunction, warning that agricultural land could continue to be registered and consolidated while the legal dispute remains unresolved.
“Once these lands are registered, reconsolidated, and converted to non-agricultural uses, the injury to the nation’s agrarian architecture becomes absolute and irreversible,” they said. — Erika Mae P. Sinaking