August 25, 1988
DAR MEMORANDUM CIRCULAR NO. 07-88
TO : The BALA Director, Regional Directors, Hearing Officers, DAR Lawyers and Others
Concerned such as the Fiscal's Offices and the Courts
SUBJECT : Disposition of Referral Cases Upon the Effectivity of RA 6657
Upon the approval of Republic Act No. 6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL-88), PD No. 316, PD No. 946 (Section 12, (r), the last two paragraphs thereof, and PD No. 1038 have been repealed by Section 76 of the said law.
Therefore, upon the effectivity of the said RA 6657 on June 15, 1988, —
1. Those cases that have been referred to the DAR pursuant to the said decrees before June 15, 1988 and are still pending for resolution, are to be resolved and returned to the courts of origin and/or Fiscal's offices with the proper certification within thirty (30) days from the receipt hereof;
2. All cases that have been filed with the courts and/or the Fiscal's offices and were referred to the DAR after June 15, 1988, shall be returned to the courts of origin and/or Fiscal's offices for their proper disposition;
3. Henceforth, all cases, civil and criminal, which are within the coverage of the aforesaid decrees, and are filed with the courts and/or the Fiscal's offices shall no longer be referred to the DAR.
With the grant of the quasi-judicial powers to the DAR by RA 6657, the original and exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate and settle if possible, all agrarian matters, conflicts, concerns and suits on the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program, is now vested in the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), except those involving the determination of the just compensation for the land to the landowners, natural and juridical, and the prosecution of criminal offenses or cases arising out of the violation or infringement of the CARL-88, RA 6657.
Diliman, Quezon City, August 25, 1988.
(SGD.) PHILIP ELLA JUICO
Secretary