Q21. What are rights of the lessee?

1. To have possession and peaceful enjoyment of the

land;
2. To manage and work on the land in a manner and
method of cultivation and harvest which conform to
proven farm practices;
3. To mechanize all or any phase of his farm work;
4. To deal with millers and processors and attend to
the issuance of quedans and warehouse receipts of the
produce due him/her;
5. To continue in the exclusive possession and
enjoyment of any home lot the lessee may have
occupied upon the effectivity of RA 3844;
6. To be indemnified for the costs and expenses
incurred in the cultivation and for other expenses
incidental to the improvement of the crop in case the
lessee surrenders, abandons for a just cause or is
ejected without DARAB/court order from the
landholding;
7. To have the right of pre-emption and redemption;
and
8. To be paid disturbance compensation in case the
conversion in the land use of the farm holding has
been approved.
Security of Tenure
Section 7. Tenure of Agricultural Leasehold Relation The agricultural leasehold relation once established
shall confer upon the agricultural lessee the right to
continue working on the landholding until such
leasehold relation is extinguished. The agricultural
lessee shall be entitled to security of tenure on his
landholding and cannot be ejected therefrom unless
authorized by the Court for causes herein provided.

Section 9. Agricultural Leasehold Relation Not

Extinguished by Death or Incapacity of the Parties - In
case of death or permanent incapacity of the
agricultural lessee to work his landholding, the
leasehold shall continue between the agricultural
lessor and the person who can cultivate the
landholding personally, chosen by the agricultural
lessor within one month from such death or permanent
incapacity, from among the following: (a) the surviving
spouse; (b) the eldest direct descendant by
consanguinity; or (c) the next eldest descendant or
descendants in the order of their age: Provided, That in
case the death or permanent incapacity of the
agricultural lessee occurs during the agricultural year,
such choice shall be exercised at the end of that
agricultural year: Provided, further, That in the event
the agricultural lessor fails to exercise his choice within
the periods herein provided, the priority shall be in
accordance with the order herein established.
In case of death or permanent incapacity of the
agricultural lessor, the leasehold shall bind his legal
heirs.
Section 10. Agricultural Leasehold Relation Not
Extinguished by Expiration of Period, etc. - The
agricultural leasehold relation under this Code shall
not be extinguished by mere expiration of the term or
period in a leasehold contract nor by the sale,
alienation or transfer of the legal possession of the
landholding. In case the agricultural lessor sells,
alienates or transfers the legal possession of the
landholding, the purchaser or transferee thereof shall
be subrogated to the rights and substituted to the
obligations of the agricultural lessor.

Pre-emption vs Redemption
SEC. 11. Lessee's Right of Pre-emption. In case the
agricultural lessor decides to sell the landholding, the
agricultural lessee shall have the preferential right to
buy the same under reasonable terms and
conditions:Provided, That the entire landholding
offered for sale must be pre-empted by the Land
Authority if the owner so desires unless the majority of
the
lessees
object
to
such
acquisitions: Provided, further, That where there are
two or more agricultural lessees, each shall be entitled
to said preferential right only to the extent of the area
actually cultivated by him. The right of pre-emption
under this section may be exercised within ninety days
from notice in writing, which shall be served by the
owner an all lessees affected.
SEC. 12. Lessee's Right of Redemption. In case the
landholding is sold to a third person without the
knowledge of the agricultural lessee, the latter shall
have the right to redeem the same at a reasonable
price and consideration: Provided, That the entire
landholding sold must be redeemed: Provided, further,
That where there are two or more agricultural lessees,
each shall be entitled to said right of redemption only
to the extent of the area actually cultivated by him.
The right of redemption under this Section may be
exercised within two years from the registration of the
sale, and shall have priority over any other right of
legal redemption.

The right of redemption is validly exercised upon

compliance with the following requirements:
a) the redemptioner must be an agricultural lessee or
share tenant;
b) the land must have been sold by the owner to a
third party without prior written notice of the sale
given to the lessee or lessees and the DAR in
accordance with sec. 11, RA 3844, as amended;
c) only the area cultivated by the agricultural lessee
may be redeemed;
d)the right of redemption must be exercised within 180
days from notice; and
e) there must be an actual tender or valid consignation
of the entire amount which is the reasonable price of
the land sought to be redeemed
Basbas v. Entena
The timely exercise of the agricultural lessee's right of
redemption requires: firstly, that the Land Reform
Council
has
previously
proclaimed
that
the
government machineries and agencies in the region
are already operating as required by Section 4 of
Republic Act 3844; and, secondly, there must be either
a tender of the redemption money or valid
consignation thereof within the specified time limit (De
Conejero, et al. v. Court of Appeals, et al., L-21812,
April 29, 1966, 16 SCRA 775), Both under Sections 11
and 12 of Republic Act 3844 and under Article 1620 of
the Civil Code, the right of legal redemption must be
exercised within specified time limits; and the
statutory periods would be rendered meaningless and
of easy evasion unless the redemptioner is required to
make an actual tender in good faith of what he
believed to be the reasonable price of the land sought

to be redeemed. In two cases (De la Cruz v. Marcelino,

84 Phil. 709, and Torio v. Del Rosario, 93 Phil. 800), it
was held that where the redemptioners had consigned
or deposited in court the redemption price when the
action was filed, prior tender could be excused.

The tenant-lessee shall be entitled to disturbance

compensation equivalent to five times the average
gross on his landholding during the last five preceding
calendar years (R.A. No. 6389, Section 7).
Termination of Tenancy Relations

It may be added that unless tender or consignation is

made requisite to the valid 'exercise of the tenant's
right to redeem, everytime a redemption is attempted,
a case must be filed in court to ascertain the
reasonable price. On the other hand, a prior tender by
the tenant of the price that he considers reasonable
affords an opportunity to avoid litigation, for the
landowner may well decide to accept a really
reasonable offer, considering that he would thereby
save the attorney's fees and the expenses of
protracted litigation.
Disturbance Compensation
Q14. On what grounds may a tenant-lessee be
dispossessed of his/ her tillage?
7. If the land is subject of an approved land-use
conversion application under DAR AO No. 1 S. of 2002
and the tenant-lessee receives or has been given a
disturbance compensation equivalent to five times the
average of the gross harvest on his landholding during
the last five preceding calendar years (R.A. No. 6389,
section 7);
8. If the land is covered with exemption or exclusion
order issued by DAR and the tenant-lessee receives or
has been given disturbance compensation as provided
in the said exemption or exclusion order.

Q12. When shall an agricultural tenancy

relationship cease to exist?
1. Abandonment of the landholding without the
knowledge of the agricultural lessor;
2. Voluntary surrender of the landholding by
agricultural lessee; and
3. Absence of forced heir to succeed the agricultural
lessee in the event of his/her death or permanent
incapacity.
Abandonment
In order to sustain a claim of abandonment as alleged
by respondents, it is incumbent that they prove the
following:
(a) a clear and absolute intention to renounce a right
or claim or to desert a right or property; and
(b) an external act by which that intention is expressed
or carried into effect.
The intention to abandon implies a departure, with the
avowed intent of never returning, resuming or claiming
the right and the interest that have been abandoned.
What is critical in abandonment is intent which must
be shown to be deliberate and clear. Moreover, the
intention must be exhibited by a factual failure or
refusal to work on the landholding without a valid
reason. Essentially, therefore, the act of ceasing from

performing labor in the landholding is a manifestation

of the intent to abandon, but the intent must also be
shown as a separate element as clearly as the failure
to work. After taking a second hard look at the records
of this case, we find that both requisites exist in the
case at bar and that petitioner had indeed abandoned
the landholding in question.
Voluntary Surrender
Voluntary surrender, as a mode of extinguishing
agricultural leasehold tenancy relations, must be
convincingly and sufficiently proved by competent
evidence.
Voluntary surrender, as a mode of extinguishment of
tenancy relations, does not require any court
authorization considering that it involves the tenant's
own volition.[15] To protect the tenant's right to security
of tenure, voluntary surrender, as contemplated by
law, must be convincingly and sufficiently proved by
competent evidence. The tenant's intention to
surrender the landholding cannot be presumed, much
less determined by mere implication. Otherwise, the
right of a tenant farmer to security of tenure becomes
an illusory one.[16] Moreover, RA 3844 provides that the
voluntary surrender of the landholding by an
agricultural lessee should be due to circumstances
more advantageous to him and his family. [17]
Dispossession of Tenants (Ejectment)
Garchitorena case

Where the omission in the payment of rentals by

tenants of an agricultural land takes place for several
years and the land normally has a poor yield, by
reason of the condition of its soil, their ejectment
should be ordered. Otherwise, said tenants would hold
the land for life, or, at least, indefinitely, without giving
the owner or landowner any share in its produce, thus
virtually depriving him of one of the main attributes of
ownership, which is the enjoyment of the possession
and use of the thing owned, as well as of the products
thereof, in violation of the Constitution. The principle of
social justice cannot and should not be so construed as
to violate the elementary principles of justice and
bring about a patent injustice.
Ferrer vs Carganillo
Notwithstanding any agreement as to the period or
future surrender of the land, an agricultural lessee
shall continue in the enjoyment and possession of his
landholding except when his dispossession has
been authorized by the Court in a judgment that
is final and executory if after due hearing it is
shown that: x x x x (7) the lessee employed a sublessee on his landholding in violation of the terms
of paragraph 2 of Section twenty seven. (Emphasis
supplied) Sec. 37. Burden of Proof.The burden of
proof to show the existence of a lawful cause for the
ejectment of an agricultural lessee shall rest upon the
agricultural lessor. The prohibition against subleasing
an agricultural lease has already been in our statute
books even prior to the enactment of RA 3844. RA
1199, of The Agricultural Tenancy Act enacted in 1954,
similarly provides that: SECTION 24. Prohibitions to
Tenant:x x x x (2) It shall be unlawful for a sharetenant to employ a sub-tenant to furnish labor

or any phase of the work required of him under

this Act, except in cases of illness or any temporary
incapacity on his part, in which eventuality the tenant
or any member of his immediate farm household is
under obligation to report such illness or incapacity to
the landholder. Payment to the sub-tenant, in whatever
form, for services rendered on the land under this
circumstance, shall be for the account of the tenant.
RA 3844
Section 34. Consideration for the Lease of Riceland
and Lands Devoted to Other Crops - The consideration
for the lease of riceland and lands devoted to other
crops shall not be more than the equivalent of twentyfive per centum of the average normal harvest during
the three agricultural years immediately preceding the
date the leasehold was established after deducting the
amount used for seeds and the cost of harvesting,
threshing, loading, hauling and processing, whichever
are applicable: Provided, That if the land has been
cultivated for a period of less than three years, the
initial consideration shall be based on the average
normal harvest during the preceding years when the
land was actually cultivated, or on the harvest of the
first year in the case of newly-cultivated lands, if that
harvest is normal: Provided, further, That after the

lapse of the first three normal harvests, the final

consideration shall be based on the average normal
harvest during these three preceding agricultural
years: Provided, furthermore, That in the absence of
any agreement between the parties as to the rental,
the maximum allowed herein shall apply: Provided,
finally, That if capital improvements are introduced on
the farm not by the lessee to increase its productivity,
the rental shall be increased proportionately to the
consequent increase in production due to said
improvements. In case of disagreement, the Court
shall determine the reasonable increase in rental.
RA 6657
Section 12. Determination of Lease Rentals. In
order to protect and improve the tenurial and
economic status of the farmers in tenanted lands
under the retention limit and lands not yet acquired
under this Act, the DAR is mandated to determine and
fix immediately the lease rentals thereof in accordance
with Section 34 of Republic Act No. 3844, as amended:
provided, that the DAR shall immediately and
periodically review and adjust the rental structure for
different crops, including rice and corn, or different
regions in order to improve progressively the
conditions of the farmer, tenant or lessee.