RA 9700 was designed to fast-track LAD implementation. It instituted several reforms: n Removal of Voluntary Land Transfer (VLT) and the Stock Distribution Option (SDO) as modes of land acquisition and distribution; n Conferring the indefeasibility under the Torrens title system of land titles (i.e., CLOAs and EPs) issued under CARP; n Making it easier for ARBs to cope with their amortization payments, by moving back the start of amortizations to one year after their possession of the land; n Limiting the role of the Registry of Deeds (ROD) to ministerial duties in the registration of titles issued under CARP; n Prohibition on the conversion of irrigated and irrigable lands; and, n Increased penalties for violators of CARP. RA 9700 also instituted program-wide changes: n Appropriation of at least PhP 150 billion for CARP, with 40 percent of the DAR budget allocated to support services, with equal support services for men and women ARBs, and provision of start-up capital to new ARBs and socialized credit to existing ARBs; n Granting DAR with exclusive jurisdiction over all agrarian cases, and prohibiting lower courts from issuing temporary restraining orders or injunctions on CARP implementation; n Transferring jurisdiction over all cancellation cases from DARAB to the DAR Secretary; n Creation of a Congressional oversight mechanism to monitor CARP implementation; and, n Setting a deadline of 30 June 2014 to commence LAD proceedings on all private lands covered under CARP. However, some provisions in RA 9700 seem to undermine the principle of “land to the tiller.” One is the order of priority for qualified farmer beneficiaries, which is tricky. It states that DAR shall prioritize the award of lands among tenants and regular farmworkers, and only after these beneficiaries have been allocated three hectares each shall the remaining portion of the landholding, if any, be distributed to other qualified beneficiaries. In many cases, this provision is likely to result in the disenfranchisement of non-regular farmworkers. Second is the requirement for a landowner’s attestation to the list of qualified farmer beneficiaries. This enables the landowner to influence the selection of farmer beneficiaries, to the exclusion of qualified farmworkers not loyal to him or her. 40 Status of Land and Resource Tenure Reform in the Philippines 2018