1 Presided by Judge Fausto H. Imbing.
2 Penned by Associate Justice Luis L. Victor and concurred in by Associate Justices Vicente V. Mendoza and Segundino Chua.
3 Rollo, p. 42.
4 163 SCRA 39.
5 According to petitioners, their motion for reconsideration was filed on 17 April 1990. However, the court order denying said motion states that it was dated 27 April 1990, which means it could not have been filed on an earlier date (Rollo,
p. 43).
6 Sec. 2. Special Civil Action. — Original verified petitions for certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, habeas corpus, quo warranto and other writs may be filed in the Court of Appeals.
Except in cases involving execution of judgment pending appeal, the verification of petitions for certiorari, prohibition, mandamus, habeas corpus, quo warranto and other writs shall include a certification that no other similar petition involving the same subject matter has been previously filed, withdrawn or dismissed in the Supreme Court or in the Court of Appeals.
a. What Should be Filed. — The petition shall be filed in seven (7) legible copies and a copy thereof shall be served on each of the respondents, and must be accompanied by a certified true copy of the decision or order complained of end true copies of the pleadings and other pertinent documents and papers. (As amended by S. Ct. Res., dated November 24, 1992)
b. Processing of Petition. — The provisions of Section 1(b) of this rule shall apply to petitions in special civil actions.
c. Judicial Action. — The Court may either deny due course or dismiss the petition outright, or require the private respondent or respondents to comment on the petition, or give due course thereto.
(1) If the petition is denied due course or dismissed outright, the reasons for such dismissal shall be stated in a resolution. If the resolution is reconsidered, the subsequent disposition shall be embodied in an amended resolution. (As amended by S.Ct. Res., October 20, 1988)
(2) The Court may, without giving due course to the petition, require the private respondent to comment within ten (10) days from notice.
(3) If the petition is given due course, the private respondent shall be required to answer the petition within ten (10) days from receipt of notice
which shall be served on the respondent either by personal service when he is easily accessible or otherwise by registered mail and to serve a copy of his answer on the petitioner. The public respondent shall be served a copy of the petition but need not file an answer unless so required by the Court.
(4) After the expiration of the period for filing the answer or the reply, the case shall be deemed submitted for resolution. (As amended by S. Ct. Res., October 20, 1988).
(5) If it appears that there is need for reception of evidence, the Division to which the Justice to whom the case is assigned for study and report belongs shall conduct the hearing. The Division shall have the power to perform any acts necessary to resolve the factual issues raised in the case.
7 Sec. 12. Jurisdiction over Subject Matter. — The Courts of Agrarian Relations shall have original and exclusive jurisdiction over:
a) Cases involving the rights and obligations of persons in the cultivation and use of agricultural land except those cognizable by the National Labor Relations Commission; Provided, That no case involving the determination of rentals over any kind of tenanted agricultural land shall be taken cognizance of by the Courts of Agrarian Relations unless there has been a prior fixing of provision rental by the Department of Agrarian Reform, except that the tenant-farmer may directly bring the case for immediate determination by the Courts of Agrarian Relations.
b) Questions involving rights granted and obligations imposed by laws, Presidential Decrees, Orders, Instructions, Rules and Regulations issued and promulgated in relation to the agrarian reform program;
Provided, however, That mattes involving the administrative implementation of the transfer of the land to the tenant-farmer under Presidential Decree No. 27 and amendatory and related decrees, orders, instructions rules and regulations, shall be exclusively cognizable by the Secretary of Agrarian Reform, namely:
(1) classification and identification of landholdings;
(2) identification of tenant-farmers and landowners, and determination of their tenancy relationship;
(3) parcellary mapping;
(4) determination of the total production and value of the land to be transferred to the tenant-farmer;
(5) issuance, recall or cancellation of certificates of land transfer in cases outside the purview of Presidential Decree No. 816;
(6) right of retention of the landowner;
(7) right of the tenant-farmer to a home lot;
(8) disposition of the excess area in the tenant's farmholding;
(9) change of crop from rice and/or corn to any other agricultural crop;
(10) issuance of certification for the conversion of tenanted rice and/or corn land for residential, commercial, industrial, or other urban purposes, it being understood that the authority to issue certificates for conversion of other kinds of tenanted agricultural land for the same purposes remains vested in the Secretary of Agrarian Reform;
(11) transfer, surrender or abandonment by the tenant-farmer of his farmholding and its disposition; and
(12) increase of tillage area by a tenant-farmer;
Provided, further, That the decision of the Secretary of Agrarian Reform may be appealed to the President of the Philippines.
(c) Cases involving the collection of amortizations on payments for lands acquired under Presidential Decree No. 27, as amended, Commonwealth Act Numbered twenty, as amended, Commonwealth Act Numbered five hundred thirty-nine, as amended, Republic Act Numbered eleven hundred and sixty, as amended, Republic Act Numbered fourteen hundred, as amended, Republic Act Numbered thirty-eight hundred and forty-four, as amended, and other related laws, decrees, orders, instructions, rules and regulations, as well as payment for residential, commercial and industrial lots within the settlement and resettlement areas under the administration and disposition of the Department of Agrarian.
(d) Cases involving collection of amortizations on payments for farm machineries and implements distributed and sold by the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Land Bank of the Philippines to tenant-farmers, agricultural lessees, settlers, owner-cultivators, amortizing owner-cultivators, amortizing owner-cultivators, the Samahang Nayon, compact farms, farmers' cooperatives, and other registered farmers' associations or organizations, as well as payment for indebtedness of settlers by reason of the assistance given them by the Department of Agrarian Reform in the form of seeds, work animals, houses, subsistence, transportation, medicines, farm implements, tools, and the like;
e) Cases involving collection of amortizations on payments for irrigation systems and/or water rights grants, as well as irrigation fees, charge and/or rentals;
f) Cases involving collection of rentals on agricultural lands leased by the Department of Agrarian Reform or Land Bank and collection of agricultural loans granted to tenant-farmers, agricultural lessees, settlers, owner-cultivators, amortizing owner-cultivators, the Samahang Nayon, compact farms, farmers' cooperatives and other registered farmer associations or organizations;
g) Cases involving the annulment or rescission of lease contracts and deeds of sale, and the cancellation or amendment of titles pertaining to agricultural lands under the administration and disposition of the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Land Bank, as well as emancipation patents issued under Presidential Decree No. 266, homestead patents, free patents, and miscellaneous sales patents to settlers in settlement and resettlement areas under the administration and disposition of the Department of Agrarian Reform;
h) Cases involving boundary disputes over lands under the administration and disposition of the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Land Bank, which are transferred, distributed and/or sold to tenant-beneficiaries and are covered by deeds of sale, patents and certificates of titles;
i) Cases arising out of, or in connection with, membership in the Samahang Nayon, compact farms, farmers' cooperatives and other registered farmers' associations or organizations and the rights and obligations arising from such membership;
j) Cases arising directly or indirectly between corporations or partnerships covered by General Order No. 47 and tenant-farmers, agricultural lessees, settlers, owner-cultivators, amortizing owner-cultivators, the Samahang Nayon, compact farms, farmers' cooperatives, and other registered farmers' associations or organizations, and between such corporation or partnerships and other corporations, partnerships, associations or single proprietorships where the question involved affects the rights and interests of the persons herein mentioned;
k) Cases involving the determination of title to agricultural lands where this issue is raised in an agrarian dispute by any of the parties or a third person in connection with the possession thereof for the purpose of preserving the tenure of the agricultural lessee or actual tenant-farmer and effecting the ouster of the interloper or intruder in one and the same proceeding;
l) Cases involving the sale, alienation, mortgage foreclosure, pre-emption and redemption of tenanted agricultural land;
m) Cases involving expropriation of all kinds of land in furtherance of the agrarian reform program;
n) Expropriation proceedings for public purpose of all kinds of tenanted agricultural land, whether instituted by the State, its political subdivisions and instrumentalities, or corporations and entities authorized by law to expropriate;
o) Cases involving acquisition by the Department of Agrarian Reform of irrigation systems and/or water rights grants for the benefit of tenant-farmers, agricultural lessees, settlers, owner-cultivators, amortizing owner-cultivators, the Samahang Nayon, compact farms, farmers' cooperatives, and other registered farmers' associations or organizations, the Department of Agrarian Reform being hereby vested with the authority to construct irrigation systems and apply for water rights grants for the purpose herein provided;
p) Ejectment proceedings instituted by the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Land Bank involving lands under their administration and disposition, except urban properties belonging to the Land Bank;
q) Cases involving violations of the penal provisions of Republic Act Numbered eleven hundred and ninety-nine, as amended, Republic Act Numbered thirty eight hundred and forty-four, as amended, Presidential Decrees and laws relating to agrarian reform; Provided, however, That violations of the said penal provisions committed by any Judge shall be tried by the courts of general jurisdiction; and
r) Violations of Presidential Decrees Nos. 815 and 816.
No tenant-farmer in agricultural lands primarily devoted to rice and/or corn shall be ejected or removed from his farmholding until such time as the respective rights of the tenant-farmer and the landowner shall have been determined in accordance with the rules and regulations implementing Presidential Decree No. 27.
No Judge of the Courts of Agrarian Relations, Courts of First Instance, municipal or city courts, or any other tribunal or fiscal shall take cognizance of any ejectment case or any other case designed to harass or remove a tenant of an agricultural land primarily devoted to rice and/or corn, unless certified by the Secretary of Agrarian Reform as a proper case for trial or hearing by a court or judge or other officer of competent jurisdiction, and if any such case is filed, the case shall first be referred to the Secretary of Agrarian Reform or his authorized representative in the locality for a preliminary determination of the relationship between the contending parties. If the Secretary of Agrarian Reform or his authorized representative in the locality finds that the case is a proper case for the Court or Judge or other hearing officer to hear, he shall so certify and such court, Judge or other hearing officer may assume jurisdiction over the dispute or controversy.
The preliminary determination of the relationship between the contending parties by the Secretary of Agrarian Reform or his authorized representative, is not binding upon the court, Judge or hearing officer to whom the case is certified as a proper case for trial. Said court, Judge or hearing officer, after hearing, may confirm, reverse or modify said preliminary determination as the evidence and substantial merits of the case may warrant.
8 Circular No. 19-91, which was issued on 13 August 1991 after the petition here was filed, explicitly requires that "(I)f service is made by registered mail, proof shall be made by such affidavit and the registry receipt issued by the mailing office.
9 Circular No. 28-91, which was issued on 03 September 1991 subsequent to the filing of the petition at bench, expressly requires a certification under oath from the petitioner that he has not commenced any other action or proceeding involving the same issues in any other court.
10 Reorganizing the Courts of Agrarian Relations, Streamlining their Procedures, and for Other Purposes.
13 Jurisdiction should be determined by the statute in force at the time of the commencement of the action. (Philippine-Singapore Ports Corporation vs. National Labor Relations Commission, 218 SCRA 79).