Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Department of Agrarian Reform vs. Cuenca
Department of Agrarian Reform vs. Cuenca
_______________
* THIRD DIVISION.
16
17
PANGANIBAN, J.:
The Case
1
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 2/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
1
Before us is a Petition for Review under Rule2
45 of the Rules of
Court, assailing
3
the March 15, 2002 Decision and the June 18, 2002
Resolution of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 58536. In
the challenged Decision, the CA disposed as follows:
“As previously stated, the principal issue raised in the court below involves
a pure question of law. Thus, it being clear that the court a quo has
jurisdiction over the nature and subject matter of the case below, it did not
commit grave abuse of discretion when it issued the assailed order denying
petitioner’s motion to dismiss and granting private respondent’s application
for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction.
_______________
18
The Facts
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 3/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
_______________
19
tee (PARCOM) as required by R.A. 7905; that Executive Order No. 405
dated 14 June 1990 amends, modifies and/or repeals CARL and, therefore,
it is unconstitutional considering that on 14 June 1990, then President
Corazon Aquino no longer had law-making powers; that the NOTICE OF
COVERAGE is a gross violation of PD 399 dated 28 February 1974.
“Private respondent Cuenca prayed that the Notice of Coverage be
declared null and void ab initio and Executive Order No. 405 dated 14 June
1990 be declared unconstitutional.
“On 05 October 1999, MARO Noe Fortunado filed a motion to dismiss
the complaint on the ground that the court a quo has no jurisdiction over the
nature and subject matter of the action, pursuant to R.A. 6657.
“On 12 January 2000, the respondent Judge issued a Temporary
Restraining Order directing MARO and LBP to cease and desist from
implementing the Notice of Coverage. In the same order, the respondent
Judge set the hearing on the application for the issuance of a writ of
preliminary injunction on January 17 and 18, 2000.
“On 14 January 2000, MARO Fortunado filed a Motion for
Reconsideration of the order granting the TRO contending inter alia that the
DAR, through the MARO, in the course of implementing the Notice of
Coverage under CARP cannot be enjoined through a Temporary Restraining
Order in the light of Sections 55 and 68 of R.A. 6657.
“In an order dated 16 February 2000, the respondent Judge denied
MARO Noe Fortunado’s motion to dismiss and issued a Writ of Preliminary
Injunction directing Fortunado and all persons acting in his behalf to cease
and desist from implementing the Notice of Coverage, and the LBP from
proceeding with the determination of the value of the subject land.
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 4/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
20
“Petitioner contends that by virtue of the above provisions, all lower courts,
such as the court presided over by respondent Judge, ‘are barred if not
prohibited by law to issue orders of injunctions against the Department of
Agrarian Reform in the full implementation of the Notice of Coverage
which is the initial step of acquiring lands under R.A. 6657.’
“Petitioner also contends that the nature and subject matter of the case
below is purely agrarian in character over which the court a quo has no
jurisdiction and that
5
therefore, it had no authority to issue the assailed
injunction order.”
Stressing that the issue was not simply the improper issuance of the
Notice of Coverage, but was mainly the constitutionality of
Executive Order No. 405, the CA ruled that the Regional Trial Court
(RTC) had jurisdiction over the case. Consonant with that authority,
the court a quo also had the power to issue writs and processes to
enforce or protect the rights of the parties.
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 5/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
_______________
21
Issues
_______________
6 The Petition was deemed submitted for decision on June 18, 2003, upon the
Court’s receipt of petitioner’s Supplemental Memorandum signed by Atty. Girlie B.
Rocha of the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance, Department of Agrarian Reform.
Petitioner filed its Memorandum, also signed by Atty. Rocha, on May 22, 2003; while
the Court received private respondent’s Memorandum signed by Atty. Jose J. Diaz on
June 4, 2003.
7 Petitioner’s Memorandum, p. 5; Rollo, p. 161. Original in upper case.
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 6/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
22
First Issue:
Jurisdiction
_______________
8 Alemar’s (Sibal & Sons), Inc. v. Court of Appeals, 350 SCRA 333, 339, January
26, 2001; Saura v. Saura, Jr., 313 SCRA 465, 472, September 1, 1999; Salva v. Court
of Appeals, 364 Phil. 281, 303; 304 SCRA 632, March 11, 1999.
9 Unilongo v. Court of Appeals, 365 Phil. 105, 114; 305 SCRA 561, April 5, 1999;
Abrin v. Campos, 203 SCRA 420, 423, November 12, 1991; Spouses De la Cruz v.
Bautista, 186 SCRA 517, 525, June 14, 1990.
23
Grant of Jurisdiction
Ever since agrarian reform legislations began, litigants have
invariably sought the aid of the courts. Courts
11
of Agrarian Relations
(CARs) were organized under RA 1267 “[f]or the enforcement of
all laws and regulations governing the relation of capital and labor
on all agricultural lands under any system of cultivation.” The
jurisdiction of these courts was spelled out in Section 7 of the said
law as follows:
_______________
10 Unilongo v. Court of Appeals, supra; Garcia v. Court of Appeals, 339 Phil. 433,
441-442; 273 SCRA 239, June 10, 1997.
11 June 14, 1955.
12 §155 of RA 3844 provides:
“Sec. 155. Powers of the Court; Rules and Procedures.—The Courts of Agrarian Relations
shall have all the powers and prerogatives inherent in or belonging to the Court of First
Instance.
“The Courts of Agrarian Relations shall be governed by the Rules of Court: Provided, That
in the hearing, investiga
24
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 8/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
_______________
tion and determination of any question or controversy pending before them, the Courts without
impairing substantial rights, shall not be bound strictly by the technical rules of evidence and
procedure, except in expropriation cases.”
13 §154 of RA 3844.
25
_______________
“Sec. 44. Transitory provisions.—The provisions of this Act shall be immediately carried out in
accordance with an Executive Order to be issued by the President. The Court of Appeals, the
Courts of First Instance, the Circuit Criminal Courts, the Juvenile and Domestic Relations
Courts, the Courts of Agrarian Relations, the City Courts, the Municipal Courts, and the
Municipal Circuit Courts shall continue to function as presently constituted and organized,
until the completion of the reorganization provided in this Act as declared by the President.
Upon such declaration, the said courts shall be deemed automatically abolished and the
incumbents thereof
26
_______________
shall cease to hold office. The cases pending in the old Courts shall be transferred to the
appropriate Courts constituted pursuant to this Act, together with the pertinent functions,
records, equipment, property and the necessary personnel.
xxx xxx x x x” (Italics supplied)
27
“(b) Implement all agrarian laws, and for this purpose, punish for contempt
and issue subpoena, subpoena duces tecum, writs of execution of its
decisions, and other legal processes to ensure successful and expeditious
program implementation; the decisions of the Department may in proper
cases, be appealed to the Regional Trial Courts but shall be immediately
executory notwithstanding such appeal;
xxx xxx xxx
“(h) Provide free legal services to agrarian reform beneficiaries and
resolve agrarian conflicts and land-tenure related problems as may be
provided for by law;
xxx xxx xxx
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 11/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
_______________
28
‘x x x [O]riginal and exclusive jurisdiction over the subject matter vested upon it by
law, and all cases, disputes, controversies and matters or incidents involving the
implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program under Executive
Order No. 229, Executive Order No. 129-A, Republic Act No. 3844, as amended by
Republic Act No. 6289, Presidential Decree No. 27 and other agrarian laws and their
implementing rules and regulations.’
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 12/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
In the same case, the Court also held that the jurisdictional
competence of the DAR had further been clarified by RA 6657 thus:
“x x x. The Act [RA 6657] makes references to and explicitly recognizes the
effectivity and applicability of Presidential Decree No. 229. More
particularly, the Act echoes the provisions of Section 17 of Presidential
Decree No. 229, supra, investing the Department of Agrarian Reform with
original jurisdiction, generally, over all cases involving agrarian laws,
although, as shall shortly be pointed out, it restores to the Regional Trial
Court, limited jurisdiction over two groups of cases. Section 50 reads as
follows:
‘SEC. 50. Quasi-Judicial Powers of the DAR.—The DAR is hereby vested with
primary jurisdiction to determine and adjudicate agrarian reform matters and shall
have exclu
_______________
29
sive original jurisdiction over all matters involving the implementation of agrarian
reform, except those falling under the exclusive jurisdiction of the Department of
Agriculture [DA] and the Department of Environment and Natural Resources
[DENR].
xxx xxx xxx
‘It shall have the power to summon witnesses, administer oaths, take testimony,
require submission of reports, compel the production of books and documents and
answers to interrogatories and issue subpoena and subpoena duces tecum and to
enforce its writs through sheriffs or other duly deputized officers. It shall likewise
have the power to punish direct and indirect contempt in the same manner and
21
subject to the same penalties as provided in the Rules of Court.’ ”
Nonetheless, we have held that the RTCs have not been completely
divested of jurisdiction over agrarian reform matters. Section 56 of
RA 6657 confers special jurisdiction on “Special Agrarian Courts,”22
which are actually RTCs designated as such by the Supreme Court.
Under Section 57 of the same law, these Special Agrarian Courts
have original and exclusive jurisdiction over the following matters:
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 13/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
_______________
30
_______________
31
“10. Executive Order No. 405 dated 14 June 1990 (issued by the
then President Corazon Aquino) is unconstitutional for it
plainly amends, modifies and/or repeals CARL. On 14 June
1990, then President Corazon Aquino had no longer law-
making powers as the Philippine Congress was by then
already organized, existing and operational pursuant to the
1987 Constitution. A copy of the said Executive Order is
hereto attached as Annex ‘B’ forming part hereof.
“11. Our constitutional system of separation of powers renders
the said Executive Order No. 405 unconstitutional and all
valuations made, and to be made, by the defendant Land
Bank pursuant thereto are null and void and without force
and effect. Indispensably and ineludibly, all related rules,
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 15/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
_______________
32
had yet been determined nor proposed by the DAR. Hence, there
was no occasion 28
to invoke the court’s function of determining just
compensation. 29
To be sure, the issuance of the Notice of Coverage constitutes
the first necessary step towards the acquisition of pri-
_______________
under either the Voluntary Offer to Sell (VOS) or Compulsory Acquisition (CA) arrangement
as governed by Republic Act No. 6657. The Department of Agrarian Reform shall make use of
the determination of the land valuation and compensation by the Land Bank of the Philippines,
in the performance of its functions.
After effecting the transfer of titles from the landowner to the Republic of the Philippines,
the Land Bank of the Philippines shall inform the Department of Agrarian Reform of such fact
in order that the latter may proceed with the distribution of the lands to the qualified agrarian
reform beneficiaries within the time specified by law.
“Sec. 2. The Department of Agrarian Reform shall continue to perform its functions under
Republic Act No. 6657, particularly in the identification of the priority landholdings for
coverage under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program.
xxx xxx xxx
“Sec. 4. This Executive Order shall not be construed to diminish the rights and remedies of
the landowners and agrarian reform beneficiaries under Republic Act No. 6657.”
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 16/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
29 §16 of RA 6657 outlines the procedure for acquisition of private lands. The
pertinent provisions provide:
“(a) After having identified the land, the landowners and the beneficiaries, the DAR shall send
its notice to acquire the land to the owners thereof, by personal delivery or registered mail, and
post the same in a conspicuous place in the municipal building and barangay hall of the place
where the property is located. Said notice shall contain the offer of the
33
vate land under the CARP. Plainly then, the propriety of the Notice
relates to the implementation of the CARP, which is under the quasi-
judicial jurisdiction of the DAR. Thus, the DAR could not be ousted
from its authority by the simple expediency of appending an
allegedly constitutional or legal dimension to an issue that is clearly
agrarian.
In view of the foregoing, there is no need to address the other
points pleaded by respondent in relation to the jurisdictional issue.
We need only to point that in case of doubt, the jurisprudential trend
is for courts to refrain from resolving a controversy involving
matters that demand the special competence of administrative
agencies, “even
30
if the question[s] involved [are] also judicial in
character,” as in this case.
Second Issue:
Preliminary Injunction
_______________
DAR to pay a corresponding value in accordance with the valuation set forth in Sections 17,
and 18, and other pertinent provisions hereof.”
xxx xxx xxx
“(d) In case of rejection or failure to reply, the DAR shall conduct summary administrative
proceedings to determine the compensation for the land requiring the landowner, the LBP and
other interested parties to submit evidence as to the just compensation for the land, within
fifteen (15) days from the receipt of the notice. After the expiration of the above period, the
matter is deemed submitted for decision. The DAR shall decide the case within thirty (30) days
after it is submitted for decision.” (Italics supplied)
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 17/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
30 Villaflor v. Court of Appeals, 345 Phil. 524, 559; 280 SCRA 297, 327, October
9, 1997, per Panganiban, J.
34
the light of the express prohibitory provisions of the CARP and this
Court’s Administrative Circular Nos. 29-2002 and 38-2002. These
Circulars enjoin all trial judges to strictly observe Section 68 of RA
6657, which reads:
——o0o——
35
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 18/19
9/7/2018 SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 439
http://www.central.com.ph/sfsreader/session/00000165b320fbc256657e7b003600fb002c009e/t/?o=False 19/19