Preamble
WHEREAS, under Proclamation No. 2, dated September 26, 1972, the whole country has been declared a land reform area; WHEREAS, the said proclamation covers only tenanted rice and corn landholdings; WHEREAS, while the implementing rules and regulations of Presidential Decree No. 27 have not yet been issued completely, the status quo shall be maintained between the parties, that is, the landowner shall continue to pay the land taxes thereon if the said landholding is not yet covered by a Certificate of Land Transfer, while on the other hand the tenant-farmer who is now called agricultural lessee shall continue to pay the rental to the landowner whether or not his landholding planted to rice and corn is already covered by a Certificate of Land Transfer; WHEREAS, such payment of rental shall continue until and after the valuation of the property shall have been determined or agreed upon between the landowner and the Department of Agrarian Reform which, in turn, will become the basis for computing the amortization payment to be made by the agricultural lessee in 15 years with 6% interest per annum under Presidential Decree No. 27; WHEREAS, it is known that despite the presidential pronouncements that they shall continue to pay the rentals to the landowners/agricultural lessors, some agricultural lessees have stopped and refused to pay their leasehold rentals to their landowners/agricultural lessors on the assumption that, once the Certificates of Land Transfer are issued in their favor, they are no longer obliged to pay the said leasehold rentals; WHEREAS, this practice is detrimental to the expeditious implementation of land reform because, as I pointed out on May 7, 1975, it indicates resistance to the government's land reform program and its goals; WHEREAS, it has always been the policy of the government to equalize the rights and obligations of the landowners/agricultural lessors and the agricultural lessees; NOW, THEREFORE, I, FERDINAND E. MARCOS, President of the Philippines, by virtue of the powers vested in me by the Constitution, do hereby decree and order: