DOJ OPINION NO. 103, s. 1996
November 18, 1996

Sec. Ernesto D. Garilao
Vice Chairman
Presidential Agrarian Reform Council
PARC Secretariat, DAR Bldg.,
Elliptical Road, Diliman,
Quezon City

S i r :

        This refers to your request for opinion "on the total amount of Agrarian Reform Fund (ARF), as embodied in Proclamation No. 131, Executive Order No. 229 and Republic Act No. 6657". cdasia

        The pertinent provisions of Proclamation No. 131, s. 1987, Executive Order No. 229, and R.A. No. 6657 provide, respectively, as follows:

Proclamation No. 131

"SEC. 2.        Agrarian Reform Fund. — There is hereby created a special fund, to be known as the Agrarian Reform Fund, an initial amount of FIFTY BILLION PESOS (P50,000,000,000.00) to cover the estimated cost of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program from 1987 to 1992 . . . The amounts collected and accruing to this special fund shall be considered automatically appropriated for the purpose authorized in this Proclamation". (Emphasis supplied.)

Executive Order No. 229

"SEC. 20.      Agrarian Reform Fund. — As provided in Proclamation No. 131 dated July 22, 1987, a special fund is created, known as The Agrarian Reform Fund, an initial amount of FIFTY BILLION PESOS (P50 billion) to cover the estimated cost of the CARP from 1987 to 1992 . . . . The amount collected and accruing to this special fund shall be considered automatically appropriated for the purpose authorized in this Order". (Emphasis supplied.)

"SEC. 21.      Supplemental Appropriations. — The amount of TWO BILLION SEVEN HUNDRED MILLION PESOS (P2.7 billion) is hereby appropriated to cover the supplemental requirements of the CARP for 1987 . . . The amount collected . . . shall accrue to the Agrarian Reform Fund and shall likewise be considered automatically appropriated for the purpose authorized in this Order." (Emphasis supplied.)

Republic Act No. 6657

"SEC. 63.      Funding Source. — The initial amount needed to implement this Act for the period of ten (10) years upon approval hereof shall be funded from the Agrarian Reform Fund created under Sections 20 and 21 of Executive Order No. 229.

Additional amounts are hereby authorized to be appropriated as and when needed to augment the Agrarian Reform Fund in order to fully implement the provisions of this Act.

xxx                    xxx                    xxx. (Emphasis supplied.)

        It is your view that based on the foregoing provisions, the total amount of ARF set aside or allocated for the government's Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) is P52.7 billion appropriated in two (2) separate provisions of law, to wit: (a) the initial amount of P50 billion under Proclamation No. 131, and (b) the supplemental amount of P2.7 billion under E.O. No. 229; and that these two (2) appropriations are to be treated as cumulative because they pertain to two (2) different program periods.

        The clear and explicit language of the abovequoted provisions of the two presidential issuances and R.A. No. 6657 leaves no room for doubt that the total amount of the ARF which is available and can be used in connection with the implementation of the CARP is P52.7 billion plus any and all "additional amount" authorized to be appropriated as and when needed to augment the ARF (Sec. 63, R.A. No. 6657).

        The amount of P52.7 billion represents the amount actually and automatically appropriated for the ARF consisting of the initial amount of P50 billion appropriate under Section 2 of Proclamation No. 131 and as reiterated in Section 20 of E.O. No. 229, and the supplemental amount of P2.7 billion appropriated under Section 21 of the same E.O. No. 229.

        We agree with your view that the amount of P52.7 billion is a cumulative amount. Section 63 of R.A. No. 6657 clearly provides that the initial amount for the implementation of the Act for the period of ten (10) years from the approval thereof shall be "funded from the Agrarian Reform Fund created under Sections 20 and 21 of Executive Order No. 229." Section 20 makes reference to the P50 billion fund created under Section 2 of Proclamation No. 131 "to cover the estimated cost of the CARP from 1987 to 1992", while Section 21 appropriates the amount of P2.7 billion "to cover the supplemental requirements of the CARP for 1987". The word "supplemental" means "additional" or that which completes or augments, and very clearly, the amount P2.7 billion appropriated in Section 21 "to cover the supplemental requirements of the CARP for 1987" is an additional amount and not part and parcel of or to be taken out from the initial amount of P50 billion" appropriated in Section 2 of Proclamation No. 131 and recognized in Section 20 of E.O. No. 229.

        The elementary rule in statutory construction is that when the words and phrases of the statute are clear and unequivocal, their meaning must be determined from the language employed and the statute must be taken to mean exactly what it says (Baranda vs. Gustilo, 165 SCRA 757, 759, citing cases: Fagel Tabin Agricultural Corporation vs. Jacinto, 203 SCRA 189; Sec. of Justice Opn. No. 142, s. 1985).

        A reading of the aforequoted provisions of Proclamation No. 131, E.O. No. 229 and R.A. No. 6657 are clear and unambiguous and leave no room for interpretation as to the true meaning and intent of the said provisions.

        Please be guided accordingly.

Very truly yours,

(SGD.) TEOFISTO T. GUINGONA, JR.

Secretary