490 Phil. 137
GARCIA, J.:
The instant petition involves a vast tract of an agricultural land with an area of 716 hectares located at Malalag, Davao del Sur. On July 28, 1924, this land was leased by the Government to Orval Hughes for a period of twenty-five (25) years under Lease Application No. 815 (E-172). The lease actually expired on May 25, 1952, it having been extended for three (3) years. Orval Hughes died and was survived by his five (5) heirs who then filed their Sales Application Nos. V-11538, V-12992, V-13837, V-14586 and V- 15003 with the Bureau of Lands. Teodulo Tocao, et al., filed a protest against the sales application.In a decision dated July 9, 1997,[3] the DAR Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator of Digos, Davao del Sur, Mardonio L. Edica, rendered judgment in favor of the Malalag Ventures Plantation, Inc. and declared the entire 716-hectare property as covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program or CARP. More specifically, the decision dispositively reads:
On August 20, 1957, the Office of the President gave due course to the applications to cover only 317 hectares at 63 hectares per heir as per OCT No. P-4712 but awarded 399 hectares to 133 protesters [led by Teodulo Tocao] at three (3) hectares each.
On September 17, 1981, the Ministry of Natural Resources issued an Order implementing said decision (Annex “N”, Rollo, pp. 160-164). However, the 133 petitioners listed in the said Order were not in possession of the land allotted to them. So, they formed the Malalag Land Petitioners Association, Inc. (The Association) headed by one Cecilio R. Mangubat Sr.
On the other hand, those in possession of the land sought the assistance of the Malalag Ventures Plantation Inc., in its development into a viable banana production project to which the corporation acceded.
Meanwhile, on November 12, 1987, the Supreme Court in Minister of Natural Resources vs. Heirs of Orval Hughes, 155 SCRA 566, sustained the OP decision and it became final and executory.
On December 12, 1991, the association, through its president Mr. Mangubat, sent a letter to the management of Lapanday Group of Companies, Inc. manifesting that they were no longer interested in the government grant under the Order of the Ministry of Natural Resources and offered to transfer and waive whatever interest they have over the subject land for a monetary consideration (Annex “O”, Rollo, p. 165).
Mr. Mangubat was the first to relinquish his right for P54,000.00 (Annex “P”, Rollo, p. 166). The individual respondents allegedly followed suit. He facilitated the relinquishment in the Office of the Commission on the Settlement of Land Problems (COSLAP) (Annex “Q”, Rollo, pp. 167-169).
It therefore came as a surprise when, on January 17, 1995, the individual respondents filed [against Lapanday and/or L.S. Ventures, Inc., the Heirs of Orval Hughes, the DENR/COSLAP and Cecilio Mangubat, Sr.] the following cases: forcible entry, reinstatement, nullification of affidavits of quitclaims, relinquishment, waiver and any other documents on disposition of lands before the Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (PARAD) of Digos, Davao, del Sur. They alleged that since 1947, they had been the share tenants-tillers, openly and continuously, of the late Orval Hughes and his heirs and they remained as such on the 317 hectares land (Annexes “A” & “B”, Rollo, pp. 40-72).
They further averred that on February 11, 1991, petitioner-corporation, Hughes’ heirs and Cecilio Mangubat Sr., conspiring together, misled them to receive P54,000.00 each as rentals on their respective landholdings and deceived to sign receipts in English which turned out to be affidavits of quitclaims in favor of the petitioner (Annex “E”, PARAD Decision dated July 9, 1997, p. 3; Rollo, p. 111).
Petitioner [Lapanday Agricultural & Development Corporation] opposed said actions for being factually and legally baseless, there being no entity by the name of Lapanday and L.S. Ventures Inc. which has agricultural operation in Davao del Sur. The fact is that said company had already merged with Lapanday Agricultural and Development Corporation (Annexes “C” & “M”, Rollo, pp. 73-79 & 159, respectively).
WHEREFORE, premises considered, a decision is hereby rendered declaring that the entire 716 hectares shall be covered by CARP. The portion planted to bananas by the Malalag Plantation Ventures shall be governed by Sections 13 and 32 of Republic Act No. 6657 in favor of Malalag Land Petitioner Association. The Operation Division of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Office shall implement this decision in accordance with existing guidelines, rules and regulations.Upon motion for reconsideration, Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator Mardonio L. Edica, in a Resolution dated October 20, 1997,[4] modified his aforequoted decision of July 9, 1997 by specifically directing “Lapanday and/or L.S. Ventures, Inc.” to turn over the area involved for CARP coverage, and ordering the Hughes heirs to reinstate the members of the Davao del Sur Farmer’s Association (DASUFRA) as leasehold tenants of the subject land. We quote the dispositive portion of the same Resolution:
The heirs of Orval Hughes are hereby ordered to reinstate the Malalag Land Petitioners Association. Leasehold tenancy shall be observed collectively, pending recommendation by the PARO Operations Division, without prejudice to the outcome of the cases still pending with the administrative agencies and the regular courts.
SO ORDERED.
“WHEREFORE, the decision of 9 July 1997 is hereby modified to read:From the aforequoted resolution of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator, “Lapanday and/or L.S. Ventures, Inc.”, went on appeal to the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB), at Quezon City where the appeal was docketed as DARAB Case No. 8117.
Declaring that the entire 716 hectares shall be covered by CARP. The portion planted to bananas by the Malalag Plantation Ventures, Inc. shall be governed by Sections 13 and 32 of Republic Act No. 6657 in favor of qualified members of the Malalag Land Petitioners’ Association (MLPA), and the remaining portion shall be allotted to all deserving and listed members of the Davao del Sur Farmer’s Association (DASUFRA). The LAPANDAY, L.S. Ventures and/or the Malalag Plantation Ventures, Inc. is hereby mandated to turn over the area involved for CARP coverage. The Operations division of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Office of Davao del Sur is likewise mandated to implement this resolution in accordance with existing guidelines, rules and regulations.
The heirs of Orval Hughes are hereby ordered to reinstate the members of the DASUFRA. Leasehold tenancy shall be observed collectively pending documentation of the area by the PARO Operations Division regardless of the outcome of the cases still pending with the administrative agencies and the regular courts.
The local National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines or any of the component units are hereby directed to assist the DAR in the enforcement and/or implementation of this resolution xxx.
This resolution is immediately executory.
SO ORDERED”.
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the appealed Resolution of October 20, 1997, is hereby MODIFIED to read as follows:With their motion for reconsideration of the same decision having been denied by DARAB in its Resolution of March 15, 2002, “Lapanday and/or L.S. Ventures, Inc.”, this time under the name Lapanday Agricultural & Development Corporation (the herein petitioner), elevated the case to the Court of Appeals via a petition for review, thereat docketed as CA-G.R. SP No. 71230.
1. Ordering respondents heirs of Orval Hughes to vacate the premises of the 133 (sic, should be 399) hectares which were long ago awarded to 133 awardees who were identified in the Order of Natural Resources Minister dated September 17, 1981, and turn over the peaceful possession thereof to the said 133 awardees or their heirs;
2. Ordering respondents Lapanday and/or L.S. Ventures and Hughes’ heirs to restore petitioners Maximo Estita, et al., to their respective farmlots within the 317 hectares owned by the Hughes’ Heirs; and
3. Declaring the nullity of the quitclaims allegedly executed by petitioners.
The matter of placing the 317 hectares under CARP shall be pursued in the proper forum which is the Office of the Honorable DAR Secretary.
This decision is immediately executory.
SO ORDERED.
WHEREFORE, in consonance with the Supreme Court’s directive not to further delay the implementation of the August 20, 1957 Decision, the instant petition is hereby DENIED for being dilatory. The assailed Decision of the DARAB dated 17 January 2001 and Resolution dated 15 March 2002 are declared VALID.In time, petitioner moved for a reconsideration, which motion was denied by the same court in the herein equally assailed Resolution dated January 19, 2004[7] for being merely pro forma.
Petitioner and its counsel are warned not to further resort to measures of this nature, otherwise, they shall be dealt with severely for having abused the processes of the courts.
The individual respondents who received the amount of P54,000.00 are ordered to return the same to the petitioner.
SO ORDERED.
“On August 20, 1957 the Office of the President gave due course to applications to cover only 317 hectares at 63 hectares each heir as per OCT No. P-4712 but awarding 399 hectares to 133 awardees at three (3) hectares each” (Emphasis supplied),a finding reechoed on page 3 of the CA decision of September 3, 2003.[11]
“x x x filed an Answer (Annex “D”, Rollo, pp.91-96) thereby submitting to the jurisdiction of the Board. The same answer bears the name “LAPANDAY AND/OR L.S. VENTURES, INC.”, signed by its representative Caesar E. Barcenas and assisted by its counsel Jose V. Yap (Ibid, Rollo, p. 96). This alone negates the petitioner’s stance that there is no entity by the name of Lapanday and that L.S. Ventures, Inc. is seperate and distinct from any company (see Annex “M” Rollo, p. 159 on Merger of Lapanday Agricultural & Development Corporation and L.S. Ventures, Inc.). And such admission made by the petitioner in the course of the proceedings in this case, does not require proof (Sec. 4, Rule 129 of the Revised Rules on Evidence).”Petitioner’s filing of an Answer has thereby cured whatever jurisdictional defect it now raises. As we have said time and again, “the active participation of a party in a case pending against him before a court or a quasi judicial body, is tantamount to a recognition of that court’s or body’s jurisdiction and a willingness to abide by the resolution of the case and will bar said party from later on impugning the court’s or body’s jurisdiction.”[16]
“SEC. 15. Entity without juridical personality as defendant. -When two or more persons not organized as an entity with juridical personality enter into a transaction, they may be sued under the name by which they are generally or commonly known” (Emphasis added).Aware of the hopelessness of its cause, petitioner invariably posits that the herein respondents are not real parties-in-interest and are bereft of any legal personality to file and initiate the complaint for forcible entry, etc. before the office of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator of Digos, Davao del Sur because they are not tenant-tillers of the land in dispute. Consequently, so petitioner argues, respondents are not entitled to be restored thereto.
“As a rule, if the factual findings of the CA coincide with those of the DARAB – an administrative body which has acquired expertise on the matter – such findings are accorded respect and will not be disturbed on appeal”As tenant-tillers of the 317-hectare land owned by the heirs of Orval Hughes, respondents are undeniably parties-in-interest to this controversy. As such, they have the legal personality to institute the action in the office a quo, namely, the office of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator at Digos, Davao del Sur.
“x x x As such [the farmer-beneficiaries] gained the rights to possess, cultivate and enjoy the landholding for himself. Those rights over that particular property were granted by the government to him and no other. To insure his continued possession and enjoyment of the property, he could not, under the law, make any valid form of transfer except to the government or by hereditary succession, to his successors”WHEREFORE, the instant petition is DENIED and the assailed decision and resolution of the Court of Appeals AFFIRMED in toto.