449 Phil. 742
CARPIO MORALES, J.:
Petitioners opposed the requests of respondents for survey and resurvey of the subject lots and the submission of the required reports on the ground that they are within a parcel of land which had been withdrawn from entry, sale, disposition or settlement by Presidential Proclamation (PP) No. 932.Claiming that the Regional Office of the DENR has neglected to perform a duty entrusted to it by law, which is to conduct surveys and ocular inspections of areas subject of applications for registration, Viking Management & Development Corp., et al filed with the court a quo Special Civil Action No. CEB-15503 against public respondents Jeremias L. Dolino in his capacity as Regional Director, Victorino V. Rendon, OIC, Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO), Virgilio L. Laurel, OIC, Land Management Bureau, all of the DENR, Region 7, in which they pray for, among others, a writ of mandamus commanding respondents to execute the requisite survey or resurvey of their lots, and to render the necessary reports thereon as required by the LRA with respect to Lots 13131, 13138, 13216 and 13158, and as will be needed to initiate the proper land registration proceedings for the rest of the lots.[6] (Emphasis and italics supplied).
- In Cadastral Case No. 10, LRC Record No. 9466, CAD-12 Ext., entitled Director of Lands, Petitioner, versus Faustino Abacahan, et al., Claimants, judgment[1] was rendered on January 2, 1992 by the Regional Trial Court, Branch 5, Cebu City (cadastral court) adjudicating Lot 13131 located in Cebu City, to claimants, spouses Romeo Archival and Imelda Tabal, and Lot 13138 located in Cebu City, to claimants Paterna, Leonardo, Anastacio, Delfina, Marcial, Jr., D[a]nita, Lilian and Sarah Arceo. The said judgment having acquired final and executory character, the cadastral court in its Order dated December 3, 1992 directed the issuance of the corresponding decree of registration in favor of the adjudicatees.[2]
- In another judgment[3] dated September 28, 1990 in the same cadastral proceeding, Lot 13216 located in Cebu City, was likewise adjudicated to claimants, spouses Zacarias Inocando and Juliana Molera, Adelina Inocando, Concepcion Famador and Socita Inocando. Similarly, upon finality of said judgment,[4] the cadastral court [x x x] directed the issuance of a decree of registration in favor of the aforesaid claimants.
- It appears that Lots 13131 and 13138 were later sold by the adjudicatees to Pine Grove Management & Development Corp., while Lot 13216 was subdivided into several portions by the adjudicatees who subsequently sold them to Kurit Management & Development Corp., St. Agustine Management & Dev. Corp., Cri[s]to Rey Management & Development Corp., St. Matthew Management & Development Corp., Dapay Management & Development Corp., and Ralip Management & Development Corp.
- It appears further that as a prerequisite to the issuance of the corresponding decrees of registration the Land Registration Authority (LRA) has required that Lots 13131, 13138, and 13216 be surveyed or resurveyed by surveyors of the Land Management Sector (then Bureau of Lands), which is under the Department of Environment & Natural Resources (DENR). For that purpose, the aforementioned owners of the lots requested the Land Management Sector, through the Regional Office of the DENR, to have the lots surveyed or resurveyed and to submit corresponding reports thereon.
- In the same cadastral case the claimants of Lot 13158[5] located in Cebu City, namely: Erdimer, Emilia, Sinforoso and Epifanio Soquib, have already presented to the cadastral court evidence of ownership as would entitle them to a favorable judgment. Thereafter, said lot was similarly acquired by Pine Grove Management & Development Corp., from the aforesaid claimants.
- Meanwhile, the following entities who claim to have been, by themselves or by their predecessors-in-interest in open, continuous and adverse possession since June 12, 1945 of the following lots or portions thereof, are set to initiate land registration proceedings with the proper court, to wit:
(1) Cherry Blossom Park Management Corp. – Lot 15970, Cebu Cadastre, Sirao, Cebu City; Lot 15962-A-part, Cebu Cadastre, Sirao, Cebu City; Lot 15962-[PT], Cebu Cadastre, Sirao, Cebu City;
(2) Country Homes Management & Development Corp. – Lot 15966, Cebu Cadastre, Taptap, Cebu City; Lot 15968, Cebu Cadastre, Taptap, Cebu City;
(3) Florentino Management & Development Corp. – Lot 15967-[PT], Cebu Cadastre, Taptap, Cebu City;
(4) Viking Management & Development Corp. – Lot 15967-part, Cebu Cadastre, Taptap, Cebu City;
(5) St. Jerome Corporation – Lot 15885, Cebu Cadastre, Sirao, Cebu City;
(6) Big Sur Heights Management Co., Inc. – Lot 15962-[PT], Cebu Cadastre, Sirao, Cebu City
(7) Chrysanthemum Valley Corp. – Lot 15962-[PT], Cebu Cadastre, Sirao, Cebu City; and
(8) River Walk Management & Development Corp. – Lot 15962-[PT], Cebu Cadastre, Sirao, Cebu City.- Pine Grove Management & Development Corp., as present owner of Lots 13131 and 13138 and Kurit Management & Development Corp., Cristo Rey Management & Development Corp., St. Matthew Management & Development Corp., Dapay Management & Development Corp. and Ralip Management & Development Corp., as current owners of definite portions of Lot 13216 have made representations with the Land Management Sector and/or Regional Office of the DENR for the resurvey of the aforesaid lots and/or portions thereof, and for said Office to submit their reports thereon as required by the LRA, but the latter repeatedly failed and/or refused to act on their request;
- In the meantime, anticipating the need for such survey, resurvey and report by the Land Management Sector as required by the LRA, Pine Grove Management & Development Corp. likewise requested the aforesaid government offices to undertake the same for Lot 13158, but the latter has continuously refused to accede to its request;
- On the other hand, similar requests made by Cherry Blossom Park Management Co., Country Homes Management & Development Corp., Florentino Management & Development Corp., Viking Management & Development Corp., St. Jerome Company (sic), Big Sur Heights Management Co. Inc., Chrysanthemum Valley Corp., and River Walk Management & Development Corp. for the survey or resurvey of their respective lots or portions thereof as mentioned in paragraph 6 hereof, were turned down by the aforesaid government offices, thus preventing them from filing the corresponding land registration proceedings for their lots.
[T]he issuance of the decrees of registration had already been entered by the court in certain parcels of land while all of the other parcels of land, subject of this petition, have been in (the) open, continuous and adverse possession of the petitioners and their predecessors-in-interest since June 12, 1945. Incontrovertibly, the possession of the petitioners and their predecessors-in-interest have long ripened into ownership by operation of law; hence, petitioners herein have already acquired vested rights over the lots or parcels of land, subject of this petition x x x[7] (Italics supplied).On the contention of petitioners that the subject lots are forest lands or reserves withdrawn from entry, sale, disposition or settlement by PP No. 932, the trial court held that ownership thereto had been vested in respondents long before the issuance of said proclamation, hence, they are not covered thereby.
The first assigned error fails. The Court of Appeals did not base its ruling on any such supposed admission by petitioners. The appellate court classified the subject lots into 1) those that had already been adjudicated to the private claimants by final judgment of the cadastral court prior to the issuance of PP No. 932; 2) those where the claimants have already presented evidence of their ownership before the cadastral court; and 3) those where the claimants still need to present evidence of their private rights before the cadastral court or the proper land registration court to determine whether they have already acquired vested rights over the claimed lots.I
RESPONDENT COURT OF APPEALS ERRED ON A QUESTION OF LAW IN AFFIRMING THE DECISION OF THE TRIAL COURT HOLDING THAT PRIVATE RESPONDENTS HAVE A VESTED RIGHT OVER SUBJECT LANDS BECAUSE PETITIONERS ALLEGEDLY ADMITTED THAT DECREES OF REGISTRATION HAD ALREADY BEEN RENDERED OVER CERTAIN PARCELS OF SUBJECT LANDS AND THAT AS TO THE REST OF THE LANDS, PRIVATE RESPONDENTS AND THEIR PREDECESSORS-IN-INTEREST HAVE BEEN IN OPEN, CONTINUOUS AND ADVERSE POSSESSION OF THE SAME.
II
RESPONDENT COURT OF APPEALS ERRED ON A QUESTION OF LAW BY AFFIRMING THE GRANT OF THE WRIT OF MANDAMUS BY THE LOWER COURT, CONSIDERING THAT THE SURVEY OF SAID LANDS IS NOT MINISTERIAL ON THE PART OF PETITIONERS.
[N]ot that we find appellees Pine Grove Management & Development Corporation, et al. as having acquired private rights over Lots 13158, [15962], 15966, 15967, 15068, [15885] and 15970 or portions thereof, since they have yet to establish such fact before the cadastral and/or land registration court at the proper time.[9],is in order.