493 Phil. 776
CHICO-NAZARIO, J.:
The primordial issue to by (sic) resolved is the jurisdiction of the DARAB which defendants-movants argue to have jurisdiction over the case. Under Rule 11, Section 1(F) of the DARAB New Rules of Procedure the board has jurisdiction over cases “involving the issuance, correction and cancellation of Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs) and Emancipation Patents (EPs) which are registered with the Land Registration Authority.” The present case was filed by plaintiff SSS precisely to annul Certificate of Title Nos. 1259, 1260 and 1261 which, as pointed out by defendants-movants, emanated from CLOAs issued by the Department of Agrarian Reform. The present case ultimately involves CLOAs and is, therefore, within the jurisdiction of the DARAB. In fine, since SSS seeks annulment of the above-mentioned titles which emanated from CLOAs, the proper venue for the present case is the DARAB.The Petition lacks merit.
As to the argument raised by the SSS regarding the nature of the land, suffice it to say that since plaintiff itself has filed a petition with the DAR for conversion of the classification of the subject parcel of land from agricultural to residential land, it has expressly recognized that said parcels of land to be agricultural land. This being the case, said parcels of land are under the jurisdiction of DARAB because under Section 4 of R.A. 6657 “all public and private agricultural land” are covered by CARP and all disputes involving lands covered by the CARP are within the jurisdiction of the DARAB.
SSS should not be allowed in one breath to invoke the jurisdiction of the DARAB and then, after failing to obtain the relief it sought, assail the same and now claim that jurisdiction rests with the regular courts. It should be noted at this point that the application for conversion filed by the SSS had been finally disposed off by no less tha[n] the Supreme Court.[18]
Section 1. Primary And Exclusive Original and Appellate Jurisdiction. – The board shall have primary and exclusive jurisdiction, both original and appellate, to determine and adjudicate all agrarian disputes involving the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) under Republic Act No. 6657, Executive Order Nos. 228, 229, and 129-A, Republic Act No. 3844 as amended by Republic Act No. 6389, Presidential Decree No. 27 and other agrarian laws and their implementing rules and regulations. Specifically, such jurisdiction shall include but not be limited to cases involving the following:Thus, taking its bearings from the above provision, Centeno v. Centeno[20] explicitly and compellingly validated the jurisdiction of the DARAB over cases involving issuance of CLOAs, and went on further:
a) The rights and obligations of persons, whether natural or juridical engaged in the management, cultivation and use of all agricultural lands covered by the CARP and other agrarian laws.
. . .
Specifically, such jurisdiction shall extend over but not limited to the following:
. . .f) Cases involving the issuance of Certificate of Land Transfer (CLT), Certificate of landownership Award (CLOA) and Emancipation Patent (EP) and the administrative correction thereof; (Italics added)
. . . under Section 50 of R.A. 6657 (the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988), the DAR is vested with primary jurisdiction to determine and adjudicate agrarian reform matters and shall have the exclusive jurisdiction over all matters involving the implementation of the agrarian reform program. The rule is that the DARAB has jurisdiction to try and decide any agrarian dispute or any incident involving the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. (Italics supplied)In the relatively recent case of Rivera v. Del Rosario,[21] this Court cited Section 1, Rule II, 2002 DARAB Rules of Procedure and reiterated that:
Section 1, Rule II of the Revised Rules of Procedure of the DARAB provides:
Section 1. Primary, Original and Appellate Jurisdiction. – The Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board shall have primary jurisdiction, both original and appellate, to determine and adjudicate all agrarian disputes, cases, controversies, and matters or incidents involving the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program under Republic Act No. 6657, Executive Orders Nos. 229, 228 and 129-A, Republic Act No. 3844 as amended by Republic Act No. 6389, Presidential Decree No. 27 and other agrarian laws and their implementing rules and regulations.
The DARAB has exclusive original jurisdiction over cases involving the rights and obligations of persons engaged in the management, cultivation and use of all agricultural lands covered by the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law.Again in David v. Rivera,[22] this Court pointed out that the jurisdiction over agrarian reform matters is now expressly vested in the DAR through the DARAB.
Indeed, Section 50 of R.A. 6657 confers on the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) quasi-judicial powers to adjudicate agrarian reform matters. In the process of reorganizing the DAR, Executive Order No. 129-A created the DARAB to assume the powers and functions with respect to the adjudication of agrarian reform cases. Section 1, Rule II of the DARAB Rules of Procedure enumerates the cases falling within the primary and exclusive jurisdiction of the DARAB.In an earlier ruling rendered in the case of Vda. de Tangub v. Court of Appeals,[23] reiterated in Morta, Sr. v. Occidental[24] and Heirs of the late Herman Rey Santos v. Court of Appeals,[25] this Court decreed:
Section 1 of Executive Order No. 229 sets out the scope of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP); it states that the program –In Nuesa v. Court of Appeals,[27] the Court, in addition to re-echoing the jurisdiction of the DARAB, puts emphasis on the extent of the coverage of the term “agrarian dispute,” thus:
“. . . shall cover, regardless of tenurial arrangement and commodity produce, all public and private agricultural land as provided in Proclamation No. 131 dated July 22, 1987, including whenever applicable in accordance with law, other lands of the public domain suitable to agriculture.”
Section 17 thereof
1) vested the Department of Agrarian Reform with “quasi-judicial powers to determine and adjudicate agrarian reform matters,” and
2) granted it “jurisdiction over all matters involving implementation of agrarian reform, except those falling under the exclusive original jurisdiction of the DENR and the Department of Agriculture (DA), as well as `powers to punish for contempt and to issue subpoena, subpoena duces tecum and writs to enforce its orders or decisions.’”[26]
As held by this Court in Centeno v. Centeno [343 SCRA 153], “the DAR is vested with the primary jurisdiction to determine and adjudicate agrarian reform matters and shall have the exclusive jurisdiction over all matters involving the implementation of the agrarian reform program.” The DARAB has primary, original and appellate jurisdiction “to determine and adjudicate all agrarian disputes, cases, controversies, and matters or incidents involving the implementation of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program under R.A. 6657, E.O. Nos. 229, 228 and 129-A, R.A. 3844 as amended by R.A. 6389, P.D. No. 27 and other agrarian laws and their implementing rules and regulations.”In the light of the foregoing, and guided by the pronouncements made by this Court in the cases cited above, we find that the trial court correctly ruled that the DARAB has jurisdiction to hear and decide the case of herein petitioner SSS.
Under Section 3(d) of R.A. 6657 (CARP Law), “agrarian dispute” is defined to include “(d). . . any controversy relating to tenurial arrangements, whether leasehold, tenancy, stewardship or otherwise over lands devoted to agriculture, including disputes concerning farmworkers associations or representation of persons in negotiating, fixing, maintaining, changing or seeking to arrange terms or conditions of such tenurial arrangements. It includes any controversy relating to compensation of lands acquired under this Act and other terms and conditions of transfer of ownership from landowners to farmworkers, tenants and other agrarian reform beneficiaries, whether the disputants stand in the proximate relation of farm operator and beneficiary, landowner and tenant, or lessor and lessee.” (Underlining ours)