Administrative Code of 1987/Book IV/Title XI/Chapter 5

by Corazon Aquino

Layout 2

Chapter 5—Regional and District Offices and Attached Agencies

Sec. 19. Regional Office.—The Regional Office shall be responsible for supporting the field units and supervising program implementation of the Department within the region. It shall:

(1) Implement laws, policies, plans, rules and regulations of the Department in the regional area;

(2) Develop and implement a regional personnel management program;

(3) Prepare, submit, execute and control the budget for the region;

(4) Prepare and properly maintain books of accounts;

(5) Pay salaries and wages and other approved vouchers;

(6) Provide administrative services to the regional and provincial offices;

(7) Prepare and submit plans and programs for the region on:

a. land tenure development

b. information and education

c. land use management and land development

d. legal services

e. agrarian reform beneficiaries development

(8) Provide technical assistance to the provincial offices and agrarian reform teams in the implementation of approved plans and programs;

(9) Extend effective legal assistance, advice or service to agrarian reform beneficiaries;

(10) Conduct operations research and evaluation of agrarian reform program implementation within the region;

(11) Coordinate with other government and private agencies and farmer organizations at the Regional level through the Agrarian Reform Coordinating Council, to carry out programs/projects for the general welfare of the agrarian reform beneficiaries;

(12) Coordinate para-legal services;

(13) Maintain a data-based information system in coordination with the established monitoring system;

(14) Review documents submitted by the Provincial and Team Offices or by the clientele;

(15) Submit periodic feedback and recommend policy changes and/or modification of procedures on program implementation; and

(16) Perform such other functions as may be necessary in the service of the clientele.

Sec. 19. Provincial Offices.—The Agrarian Reform Provincial Office is responsible for the direction and coordination of the operation and activities of the Agrarian Reform Teams operating within the province and has the following functions:

(1) Set priorities, specific targets, schedules and deadlines for the execution of approved plans, programs and projects on:

a. land acquisition, distribution, transfer of land ownership to actual tillers, including land tiller-landowners identification, tenurial security and leasehold arrangements, land surveys, land valuation and landowners compensation;

b. continuing information and education programs on agrarian reform;

c. organization and development of Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Cooperatives and institutionalizing farmers-government partnership in agrarian reform policy formulation and program implementation;

d. landowner’s compensation and diversion of landowner's capital to industrial development;

e. development and implementation of alternative land tenure systems such as cooperative farming, agro-industrial estates and cooperative-cultivatorship schemes;

f. land use management;

g. compact farming, land consolidation, land reclamation, integrated farming systems, sloping agricultural land technology, and other land conservation measures in agrarian reform covered areas;

h. legal services to farmers covered by agrarian reform and resolution of agrarian conflicts and land tenure problems;

(2) Provide administrative services to the Agrarian Reform Teams within the province;

(3) Provide legal services to agrarian reform beneficiaries in cases arising from or are connected with agrarian disputes, handling of expropriation proceedings, registering cooperatives organized by Agrarian Reform Teams and reviewing and acting on all matters initially investigated and elevated by Agrarian Reform Teams;

(4) Provide technical assistance to the Agrarian Reform Teams in the implementation of approved plans and programs;

(5) Coordinate with government, private agencies and farmer organizations at the provincial level to carry out programs;

(6) Conduct periodic performance audit surveys in collaboration with the regional office, and monitor agrarian reform program accomplishments of Agrarian Reform Teams including operational problems and constraints and recommended appropriate remedial measures for effective program implementation; and

(7) Perform such other functions as may be necessary in the service of the clientele.

Sec. 20. Team Offices.—The Agrarian Reform Team shall be responsible for directly implementing the agrarian reform programs and delivering expected results. It shall:

(1) Implement policies and programs on land acquisition, and distribution, and transfer of landownership to actual tillers, including farmer-landowner's identification, leasehold arrangements, land valuation and landowners compensation and transfer actions;

(2) Undertake continuing information and education programs on agrarian reform among the beneficiaries;

(3) Promote the organization and development of agrarian reform beneficiaries and assist in the registration of organized cooperatives;

(4) Institutionalize farmers participation in agrarian reform policy formulation and program implementation;

(5) Organize and establish compact farms, land consolidation, integrated farm systems, sloping agricultural land technology and other cooperative-cultivatorship schemes;

(6) Provide assistance in agrarian reform research;

(7) Provide assistance to various legal services, including legal information and legal counselling, documentation and preliminary processing of applications for free patent and applications to purchase lots, preliminary investigation of conflicting claims on lot boundaries and appraisal of properties, and mediation of different problems arising from tenancy relationship, execution and registration of lease contracts, initial investigation of administrative cases, and other legal services;

(8) Provide assistance on project identification, formulation and development that would uplift the socio-economic status of the beneficiaries including projects that would divert landlord capital to industrial development;

(9) Coordinate with other government and private agencies and farmer organizations within the area of coverage for effective program/project implementation;

(10) Submit periodic reports on program/project accomplishments including problems identified and recommended solutions thereto;

(11) Implement DAR commitment programs supportive of national priority programs; and

(12) Perform such other functions as may be assigned from time to time.

Sec. 21. Attached Agencies.—The following agencies are attached to the Department for administrative supervision and policy coordination:

(1) Land Bank of the Philippines

(2) Agricultural Credit Administration

(3) Agrarian Reform Coordinating Council