Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
THIRD DIVISION
G.R. No. 176942 August 28, 2008
NICORP MANAGEMENT AND DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, petitioner,
vs.
LEONIDA DE LEON, respondent.
x ------------------------------------------------------ x
G.R. No. 177125 August 28, 2008
SALVADOR R. LIM, petitioner,
vs.
LEONIDA DE LEON, respondent.
D E C I S I O N
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:
These consolidated petitions assail the November 8, 2006 Decision1 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 92316, finding respondent Leonida de Leon as a bonafide tenant of the subject property, thereby reversing and setting aside the Decision of the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) in DARAB Case No. 135022 which affirmed the Decision3 of the Regional Adjudicator in DARAB Case No. 0402-031-03. Also assailed is the March 1, 2007 Resolution4 denying the motions for reconsideration.
On August 26, 2004, respondent filed a complaint before the Office of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (PARAD) of Region IV- Province of Cavite, praying that petitioners Salvador R. Lim and/or NICORP Management and Development Corporation (NICORP) be ordered to respect her tenancy rights over a parcel of land located in Barangay Mambog III, Bacoor, Cavite, registered under TCT No. T-72669 in the name of Leoncia De Leon and Susana De Leon Loppacher (De Leon sisters), who were likewise impleaded as parties-defendants in the suit.
Respondent alleged that she was the actual tiller and cultivator of the land since time immemorial with full knowledge and consent of the owners, who were her sisters-in-law; that sometime in 2004, petitioners circulated rumors that they have purchased the property from the De Leon sisters; that petitioners ignored respondent’s requests to show proof of their alleged ownership; that on August 12, 2004, petitioners entered the land and uprooted and destroyed the rice planted on the land and graded portions of the land with the use of heavy equipment; that the incident was reported to the Municipal Agrarian Reform Office (MARO) which issued a Cease and Desist Order5 but to no avail.
Respondent thus prayed that petitioners be ordered to respect her tenancy rights over the land; restore the land to its original condition and not to convert the same to non-agricultural use; that any act of disposition of the land to any other person be declared null and void because as a tenant, she allegedly had a right of pre-emption or redemption over the land; and for actual damages and attorney’s fees.6
Petitioner Lim denied that respondent was a tenant of the subject property under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). He alleged that respondent is a septuagenarian who is no longer physically capable of tilling the land; that the MARO issued a certification7 that the land had no registered tenant; that respondent could not be regarded as a landless tiller under the CARP because she owns and resides in the property adjacent to the subject land which she acquired through inheritance; that an Affidavit of Non-Tenancy8 was executed by the De Leon sisters when they sold the property to him.
Moreover, Lim claimed that respondent and her family surreptitiously entered the subject land and planted a few crops to pass themselves off as cultivators thereof; that respondent tried to negotiate with petitioner Lim for the sale of the land to her, as the latter was interested in entering into a joint venture with another residential developer, which shows that respondent has sufficient resources and cannot be a beneficiary under the CARP; that the land is no longer classified as agricultural and could not thus be covered by the CARP. Per certification issued by the Office of the Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator of Bacoor, Cavite, the land is classified as residential pursuant to a Comprehensive Land Use Plan approved by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan.9
For its part, petitioner NICORP asserted that it was not a proper party to the suit because it has not actually acquired ownership of the property as it is still negotiating with the owners. However, it joined in petitioner Lim’s assertion that respondent is not a qualified tenant; and that the subject land could not be covered by the CARP since it is below the minimum retention area of five hectares allowed under the program.10 Eventually, NICORP purchased the subject property from Lim on October 19, 2004.11
The De Leon sisters did not file a separate answer to respondent's complaint.
Meanwhile, Provincial Adjudicator Teodoro A. Cidro, to whom the case was assigned, died. Thus, the case was referred to the Office of the Regional Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (RARAD) for resolution.
In compliance with the directive of the RARAD, respondent submitted as evidence an Extra-Judicial Settlement of Estate12 dated February 20, 1989 to prove that, as a result of her relationship with her sisters-in-law, she was made a tenant of the land; a tax declaration13 showing that the land was classified as irrigated riceland; several affidavits14 executed by farmers of adjacent lands stating that respondent and her family were tenants-farmers on the subject land; and several documents and receipts15 to prove the agricultural activities of respondent and her family.
Respondent likewise submitted a handwritten letter16 of Susana De Leon addressed to respondent’s daughter Dolores, showing that the former purportedly acknowledged respondent's son, Rolando, as the legitimate tenant-lessee on the land. However, Rolando died on September 1, 2003 as evidenced by his death certificate.17
On December 6, 2004, the RARAD rendered a Decision dismissing the complaint for failure of respondent to prove by substantial evidence all the requisites of an agricultural tenancy relationship.18 There was no evidence to show that the De Leon sisters constituted respondent as tenant-lessee on the land; neither was it proved that there was sharing of harvests with the landowner.
The DARAB affirmed the decision of the RARAD.19
On appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed and set aside the findings of the RARAD/DARAB stating that there was sufficient evidence to prove the elements of an agricultural tenancy relationship; that the letter of Susana De Leon to Dolores clearly acknowledged respondent’s son, Rolando, as a tenant, as well as respondent’s share in the proceeds of the sale of the land; and that the sharing of produce was established by the affidavits of neighboring farmers that were not controverted by petitioners.
The appellate court further held that the reclassification of the land by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan as residential cannot be given weight because it is only the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) that can reclassify or convert an agricultural land to other uses or classifications; and that the sale of the land by the De Leon sisters to petitioner Lim is void because it violated Section 70 of Republic Act (R.A.) No. 665720 or the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL).
Petitioners filed a motion for reconsideration but it was denied.21 Hence, petitioners Lim and NICORP separately filed petitions under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, which were consolidated per resolution of the Court dated June 4, 2007.22
Petitioners allege that respondent failed to prove by substantial evidence all the elements of a tenancy relationship; hence the Court of Appeals erred in finding that respondent has tenancy rights over the subject land.
The petitions are meritorious.
There is a tenancy relationship if the following essential elements concur: 1) the parties are the landowner and the tenant or agricultural lessee; 2) the subject matter of the relationship is an agricultural land; 3) there is consent between the parties to the relationship; 4) the purpose of the relationship is to bring about agricultural production; 5) there is personal cultivation on the part of the tenant or agricultural lessee; and 6) the harvest is shared between landowner and tenant or agricultural lessee.23 All the foregoing requisites must be proved by substantial evidence and the absence of one will not make an alleged tenant a de jure tenant.24 Unless a person has established his status as a de jure tenant, he is not entitled to security of tenure or covered by the Land Reform Program of the Government under existing tenancy laws.25
In the instant case, there is no substantial evidence to support the appellate court’s conclusion that respondent is a bona fide tenant on the subject property. Respondent failed to prove the third and sixth elements cited above. It was not shown that the De Leon sisters consented to a tenancy relationship with respondent who was their sister-in-law; or that the De Leon sisters received any share in the harvests of the land from respondent or that the latter delivered a proportionate share of the harvest to the landowners pursuant to a tenancy relationship.
The letter of Susana De Leon to Dolores, which allegedly proved consent of the De Leon sisters to the tenancy arrangement, partially reads:
Nuong ako ay nandiyan, hindi nagkaayos ang bukid kasi ang iyong Kuya Roly ay ayaw na si Noli ang ahente. Pero bago ako umalis ay nagkasundo kami ni Buddy Lim (Salvador) na aayusin niya at itutuloy ang bilihan at siya ang bahala sa Kuya Roly mo.
Kaya nagkatapos kami at ang kasama ng Kuya mo ngayon ay si Buddy Lim. Ang pera na para sa kasama ay na kay Buddy Lim. Ang kaparte ng Nanay Onching (Leoncia) mo ay nasa akin ang karamihan at ako na ang mag-aasikaso.
The Court cannot agree with the appellate court’s conclusion that from the tenor of the letter, it is clear that Susana acknowledged respondent's deceased son as "kasama" or tenant, and recognized as well respondent’s share in the proceeds of the sale, thus proving the existence of an implied leasehold relations between the De Leon sisters and respondent.26 The word "kasama" could be taken in varying contexts and not necessarily in relation to an agricultural leasehold agreement. It is also unclear whether the term "kasama" referred to respondent's deceased son, Rolando, or some other person. In the first sentence of the second paragraph, the word "kasama" referred to petitioner Lim while the second sentence of the same paragraph, did not refer by name to Rolando as "kasama."
Likewise, "Nanay Onching," as mentioned in the letter, referred to Leoncia, one of the De Leon sisters, on whose behalf Susana kept part of the proceeds of the sale, and not herein respondent as understood by the Court of Appeals, who had no right to such share. It is Leoncia who co-owned the property with Susana and who is therefore entitled to a part of the sale proceeds.
Significantly, respondent was not mentioned at all in Susana’s letter, but only her son, Rolando. However, even if we construe the term "kasama" as pertaining to Rolando as a tenant of the De Leon sisters, respondent will not necessarily be conferred the same status as tenant upon her son’s death. A direct ascendant or parent is not among those listed in Section 9 of Republic Act No. 3844 which specifically enumerates the order of succession to the leasehold rights of a deceased or incapacitated agricultural tenant, to wit:
In case of death or permanent incapacity of the agricultural lessee to work his landholding, the leasehold shall continue between the agricultural lessor and the person who can cultivate the landholding personally, chosen by agricultural lessor within one month from such death or permanent incapacity, from among the following: a) the surviving spouse; b) the eldest direct descendant by consanguinity; or (c) the next eldest descendant or descendants in the order of their age. x x x Provided, further that in the event that the agricultural lessor fails to exercise his choice within the period herein provided, the priority shall be in accordance with the order herein established.
There is no evidence that the De Leon sisters consented to constitute respondent as their tenant on the subject land. As correctly found by the RARAD/DARAB, even the Extra-Judicial Settlement of Estate that respondent offered in evidence to prove the alleged consent does not contain any statement from which such consent can be inferred.27 Absent any other evidence to prove that the De Leon sisters consented to the tenurial arrangement, respondent’s cultivation of the land was by mere tolerance of her sisters-in-law.
The appellate court found that the element of sharing in the produce of the land was established by the affidavits of neighboring farmers attesting to the fact that respondent cultivated the land since time immemorial.28 However, perusal of the said affidavits reveals that there is nothing therein that would indicate a sharing of produce between the De Leon sisters and respondent. The affidavits did not mention at all that the De Leon sisters received a portion of the harvests or that respondent delivered the same to her sisters-in-law. The affidavits failed to disclose the circumstances or details of the alleged harvest sharing; it merely stated that the affiants have known respondent to be the cultivator of the land since time immemorial. It cannot therefore be deemed as evidence of harvest sharing.
The other pieces of evidence submitted by respondent likewise do not prove the alleged tenancy relationship. The summary report of the Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation, the official receipts issued by the National Food Authority and the certificate of membership in Bacoor Agricultural Multi-Purpose Cooperative,29 only prove that respondent and her family engaged in agricultural activities but not necessarily her alleged status as tenant of the De Leon sisters. Besides, these documents are not even in the name of respondent but were issued in favor of her daughter Dolores.
That respondent was allowed to cultivate the property without opposition, does not mean that the De Leon sisters impliedly recognized the existence of a leasehold relation with respondent. Occupancy and continued possession of the land will not ipso facto make one a de jure tenant.30 The principal factor in determining whether a tenancy relationship exists is intent. Tenancy is not a purely factual relationship dependent on what the alleged tenant does upon the land but is, moreso, a legal relationship.31 Thus, the intent of the parties, the understanding when the farmer is installed, and their written agreements, provided these are complied with and are not contrary to law, are more important.32
Finally, the sale of the subject land to petitioners did not violate Sections 6533 and 7334 (c) of R.A. No. 6657. There was no illegal conversion of the land because Sec. 65 applies only to lands which were covered by the CARP, i.e. those lands beyond the five-hectare retention limit allowed to landowners under the law, which were distributed to farmers-beneficiaries. In the instant case, it was not shown that the subject land was covered by the CARP. Neither was it shown that the sale was made to circumvent the application of R.A. 6657 or aimed at dispossessing tenants of the land that they till.
The sale of the land to petitioners likewise did not violate R.A. No. 3844 or the Agricultural Tenancy Act. Considering that respondent has failed to establish her status as de jure tenant, she has no right of pre-emption or redemption under Sections 1135 and 1236 of the said law. Even assuming that respondent’s son Rolando was a tenant of the De Leon sisters, his death extinguished any leasehold on the subject land. Section 837 of R.A. 3844 specifically provides for the extinction of an agricultural leasehold relation, in the absence of persons enumerated under Section 9 of the law who are qualified to succeed the deceased tenant.
WHEREFORE, the petitions are GRANTED. The Decision of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 92316 and the Resolution denying the motions for reconsideration are REVERSED and SET ASIDE. The Decision of the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board in DARAB Case No. 13502, which affirmed in toto the Decision of the Regional Adjudicator in DARAB Case No. 0402-031-03, dismissing the complaint of respondent Leonida De Leon for lack of merit, is REINSTATED and AFFIRMED.
SO ORDERED.
Austria-Martinez, Chico-Nazario, Nachura, Reyes, JJ., concur.
Footnotes
1 Rollo in G.R. No. 177125, pp. 42-49; penned by Associate Justice Santiago Javier Ranada and concurred in by Associate Justices Conrado M. Vasquez, Jr. and Jose C. Mendoza.
2 Id. at 34-41.
3 Id. at 21-31.
4 Id. at 61-62; penned by Associate Justice Conrado M. Vasquez, Jr. and concurred in by Associate Justices Jose C. Mendoza and Rosalinda Asuncion-Vicente.
5 CA rollo, p. 156.
6 Id. at 33-37.
7 Id. at 54.
8 Id. at 57.
9 Id. at 47-50.
10 Id. at 59.
11 Rollo in G.R. No. 176942, pp. 27-28.
12 CA rollo, p. 128.
13 Id. at 132.
14 Id. at 133-135.
15 Id. at 137-143.
16 Id. at 146-147.
17 Id. at 145.
18 Rollo in G.R. No. 177125, pp. 27-31.
19 Id. at 34-41.
20 Id. at 46-48.
21 Id. at 61-62.
22 Id. at 63.
23 Dalwampo v. Quinocol Farm Workers and Settlers’ Association, G.R. No. 160614, April 25, 2006, 488 SCRA 208, 221.
24 Suarez v. Saul, G.R. No. 166664, October 20, 2005, 473 SCRA 628, 634.
25 Ambayec v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 162780, June 21, 2005, 460 SCRA 537, 543.
26 Rollo in G.R. No. 177125, p. 47.
27 Rollo in G.R. No. 176942, p. 36.
28 CA rollo, pp. 133-136.
29 Id. at 137-142.
30 Ambayec v. Court of Appeals, supra note 25 at 545.
31 Sialana v. Avila, G.R. No. 143598, July 20, 2006, 495 SCRA 501, 507-508.
32 Heirs of Nicolas Jugalbot v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 170346, March 12, 2007, 518 SCRA 202, 210.
33 SECTION 65. Conversion of Lands.- After the lapse of five (5) years from its award, when the land ceases to be economically feasible and sound for agricultural purposes, or the locality has become urbanized and the land will have greater economic value for residential, commercial or industrial purposes, the DAR, upon application of the beneficiary or the landowner, with due notice to the effected parties, and subject to existing laws, may authorize the reclassification or conversion of the land and its disposition: Provided, That the beneficiary shall have fully paid his obligation.
34 SECTION 73. Prohibited Acts and Omissions. – The following are prohibited:
x x x x
(c) The conversion by any landowner of his agricultural land into any non-agricultural use with intent to avoid the application of this Act to his landholdings and to dispossess his tenant farmers of the land tilled by them.
35 SEC. 11. Lessee’s Right of Pre-emption. – In case the agricultural lessor decides to sell the landholding, the agricultural lessee shall have the preferential right to buy the same under reasonable terms and conditions: Provided That the entire landholding offered for sale must be pre-empted by the Land Authority if the landowner so desires unless the majority of the lessees object to such acquisition: x x x.
36 SEC. 12. Lessee’s Right of Redemption. – In case the landholding is sold to a third person without the knowledge of the agricultural lessee, the latter shall have the right to redeem the same at a reasonable price and consideration: Provided, That the entire landholding sold must be redeemed: x x x.
37 SEC. 8. Extinguishment of Agricultural Leasehold Relations. – The agricultural leasehold relation established under this Code shall be extinguished by:
x x x x
(3) Absence of the persons under Section nine to succeed to the lessee, in the event of death or permanent incapacity of the lessee.
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