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The public respondent also points out that G.R. No. 79744
the constitutional prohibition is against the
payment of public money without the
corresponding appropriation. There is no
rule that only money already in existence The petitioner alleges that the then
can be the subject of an appropriation law. Secretary of Department of Agrarian
Finally, the earmarking of fifty billion pesos as Reform, in violation of due process and the
Agrarian Reform Fund, although requirement for just compensation, placed
denominated as an initial amount, is his landholding under the coverage of
actually the maximum sum appropriated. Operation Land Transfer. Certificates of
The word "initial" simply means that Land Transfer were subsequently issued to
additional amounts may be appropriated the private respondents, who then refused
later when necessary. payment of lease rentals to him.
(1) E.O. Nos. 228 and 229 were invalidly is an unconstitutional taking of a vested
issued by the President of the Philippines. property right. It is also his contention that
the inclusion of even small landowners in the
program along with other landowners with
lands consisting of seven hectares or more is
(2) The said executive orders are violative of
undemocratic.
the constitutional provision that no private
property shall be taken without due process
or just compensation.
In his Comment, the Solicitor General
submits that the petition is premature
because the motion for reconsideration filed
(3) The petitioner is denied the right of
with the Minister of Agrarian Reform is still
maximum retention provided for under the
unresolved. As for the validity of the
1987 Constitution.
issuance of E.O. Nos. 228 and 229, he argues
that they were enacted pursuant to Section
6, Article XVIII of the Transitory Provisions of
The petitioner contends that the issuance of the 1987 Constitution which reads:
E.0. Nos. 228 and 229 shortly before
Congress convened is anomalous and
arbitrary, besides violating the doctrine of
The incumbent president shall continue to
separation of powers. The legislative power
exercise legislative powers until the first
granted to the President under the Transitory
Congress is convened.
Provisions refers only to emergency
measures that may be promulgated in the
proper exercise of the police power.
On the issue of just compensation, his
position is that when P.D. No. 27 was
promulgated on October 21. 1972, the
The petitioner also invokes his rights not to
tenant-farmer of agricultural land was
be deprived of his property without due
deemed the owner of the land he was
process of law and to the retention of his
tilling. The leasehold rentals paid after that
small parcels of riceholding as guaranteed
date should therefore be considered
under Article XIII, Section 4 of the
amortization payments.
Constitution. He likewise argues that, besides
In his Reply to the public respondents, the implementing rules required under the
petitioner maintains that the motion he filed above-quoted decree. They therefore ask
was resolved on December 14, 1987. An the Court for a writ of mandamus to compel
appeal to the Office of the President would the respondent to issue the said rules.
be useless with the promulgation of E.O.
Nos. 228 and 229, which in effect
sanctioned the validity of the public
In his Comment, the public respondent
respondent's acts.
argues that P.D. No. 27 has been amended
by LOI 474 removing any right of retention
from persons who own other agricultural
lands of more than 7 hectares in aggregate
area or lands used for residential,
G.R. No. 78742 commercial, industrial or other purposes
from which they derive adequate income
for their family. And even assuming that the
The petitioners in this case invoke the right of petitioners do not fall under its terms, the
retention granted by P.D. No. 27 to owners regulations implementing P.D. No. 27 have
of rice and corn lands not exceeding seven already been issued, to wit, the
hectares as long as they are cultivating or Memorandum dated July 10, 1975 (Interim
intend to cultivate the same. Their Guidelines on Retention by Small
respective lands do not exceed the Landowners, with an accompanying
statutory limit but are occupied by tenants Retention Guide Table), Memorandum
who are actually cultivating such lands. Circular No. 11 dated April 21, 1978,
(Implementation Guidelines of LOI No. 474),
Memorandum Circular No. 18-81 dated
December 29,1981 (Clarificatory Guidelines
According to P.D. No. 316, which was
on Coverage of P.D. No. 27 and Retention
promulgated in implementation of P.D. No.
by Small Landowners), and DAR
27:
Administrative Order No. 1, series of 1985
(Providing for a Cut-off Date for Landowners
to Apply for Retention and/or to Protest the
No tenant-farmer in agricultural lands Coverage of their Landholdings under
primarily devoted to rice and corn shall be Operation Land Transfer pursuant to P.D. No.
ejected or removed from his farmholding 27). For failure to file the corresponding
until such time as the respective rights of the applications for retention under these
tenant- farmers and the landowner shall measures, the petitioners are now barred
have been determined in accordance with from invoking this right.
the rules and regulations implementing P.D.
No. 27.
In U.S. v. Chandler-Dunbar Water Power Just compensation is defined as the full and
Company,38 it was held: fair equivalent of the property taken from its
owner by the expropriator. 39 It has been
repeatedly stressed by this Court that the
measure is not the taker's gain but the
Congress having determined, as it did by
owner's loss. 40 The word "just" is used to
the Act of March 3,1909 that the entire St.
intensify the meaning of the word
Mary's river between the American bank
"compensation" to convey the idea that the
and the international line, as well as all of
equivalent to be rendered for the property
the upland north of the present ship canal,
to be taken shall be real, substantial, full, Upon receipt by the landowner of the
ample. 41 corresponding payment or, in case of
rejection or no response from the
landowner, upon the deposit with an
accessible bank designated by the DAR of
It bears repeating that the measures
the compensation in cash or in LBP bonds in
challenged in these petitions contemplate
accordance with this Act, the DAR shall
more than a mere regulation of the use of
take immediate possession of the land and
private lands under the police power. We
shall request the proper Register of Deeds to
deal here with an actual taking of private
issue a Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) in the
agricultural lands that has dispossessed the
name of the Republic of the Philippines. The
owners of their property and deprived them
DAR shall thereafter proceed with the
of all its beneficial use and enjoyment, to
redistribution of the land to the qualified
entitle them to the just compensation
beneficiaries.
mandated by the Constitution.
SO ORDERED.
ROXAS v. CO On July 27, 1987, the Congress of the
GR No. 127876, 17 Dec 1999 Philippines formally convened and took over
Puno, J. legislative power from the President. 2 This
Congress passed Republic Act No. 6657, the
This case involves three (3) haciendas in Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law
Nasugbu, Batangas owned by petitioner (CARL) of 1988. The Act was signed by the
and the validity of the acquisition of these President on June 10, 1988 and took effect
haciendas by the government under on June 15, 1988.
Republic Act No. 6657, the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Law of 1988.
On September 26, 1991, the DAR Regional 7th Flr. Cacho-Gonzales Bldg.
Director sent to the LBP Land Valuation
Manager a "Request to Open Trust Account"
in petitioner's name as compensation for
Aguirre, Legaspi Village
234.6493 hectares of Hacienda Banilad. 27
the slope of the land is over 18 degrees and
that the land is undeveloped. 35
Makati, M. M 31
DAR A.O. No. 12, Series of 1989, from a) Identify the land and landowner,
whence the Notice of Coverage first sprung, and determine the suitability for agriculture
was amended in 1990 by DAR A.O. No. 9, and productivity of the land and jointly
Series of 1990 and in 1993 by DAR A.O. No. prepare Field Investigation Report (CARP
1, Series of 1993. The Notice of Coverage Form No. 2), including the Land Use Map of
and letter of invitation to the conference the property.
meeting were expanded and amplified in
said amendments.
5. MARO
"Land Use" refers to the manner of utilization Appeal from the decision of the
of land, including its allocation, Undersecretary shall be made to the
development and management. "Land Use Secretary, and from the Secretary to the
Conversion" refers to the act or process of Office of the President or the Court of
changing the current use of a piece of Appeals as the case may be. The mode of
agricultural land into some other use as appeal/motion for reconsideration, and the
approved by the DAR. 89 The conversion of appeal fee, from Undersecretary to the
agricultural land to uses other than Office of the Secretary shall be the same as
agricultural requires field investigation and that of the Regional Director to the Office of
conferences with the occupants of the the Secretary. 90
land. They involve factual findings and
highly technical matters within the special
training and expertise of the DAR. DAR A.O.
Indeed, the doctrine of primary jurisdiction
No. 7, Series of 1997 lays down with
does not warrant a court to arrogate unto
specificity how the DAR must go about its
itself authority to resolve a controversy the
task. This time, the field investigation is not
jurisdiction over which is initially lodged with
conducted by the MARO but by a special
an administrative body of special
task force, known as the Center for Land
competence. 91 Respondent DAR is in a
Use Policy Planning and Implementation
better position to resolve petitioner's
(CLUPPI-DAR Central Office). The procedure
application for conversion, being primarily
is that once an application for conversion is
the agency possessing the necessary
filed, the CLUPPI prepares the Notice of
expertise on the matter. The power to
Posting. The MARO only posts the notice
determine whether Haciendas Palico,
and thereafter issues a certificate to the
Banilad and Caylaway are non-agricultural,
fact of posting. The CLUPPI conducts the
hence, exempt from the coverage of the
field investigation and dialogues with the
CARL lies with the DAR, not with this Court.
applicants and the farmer beneficiaries to
ascertain the information necessary for the
processing of the application. The Chairman
of the CLUPPI deliberates on the merits of Finally, we stress that the failure of
the investigation report and recommends respondent DAR to comply with the
the appropriate action. This requisites of due process in the acquisition
recommendation is transmitted to the proceedings does not give this Court the
Regional Director, thru the Undersecretary, power to nullify the CLOA's already issued to
or Secretary of Agrarian Reform. the farmer beneficiaries. To assume the
Applications involving more than fifty power is to short-circuit the administrative
hectares are approved or disapproved by process, which has yet to run its regular
the Secretary. The procedure does not end course. Respondent DAR must be given the
chance to correct its procedural lapses in
the acquisition proceedings. In Hacienda
Palico alone, CLOA's were issued to 177
farmer beneficiaries in 1993. 92 Since then
until the present, these farmers have been
cultivating their lands. 93 It goes against the
basic precepts of justice, fairness and equity
to deprive these people, through no fault of
their own, of the land they till. Anyhow, the
farmer beneficiaries hold the property in
trust for the rightful owner of the land.
SO ORDERED.
ALITA v. CA The facts are undisputed. The subject matter
GR No. 78517, 27 Feb 1989 of the case consists of two (2) parcels of
Paras, J. land, acquired by private respondents'
predecessors-in-interest through homestead
Before us is a petition seeking the reversal of patent under the provisions of
the decision rendered by the respondent Commonwealth Act No. 141. Said lands are
Court of Appeals**on March 3, 1987 situated at Guilinan, Tungawan,
affirming the judgment of the court a quo Zamboanga del Sur.
dated April 29, 1986, the dispositive portion
of the trial court's decision reading as
follows;
Private respondents herein are desirous of
personally cultivating these lands, but
petitioners refuse to vacate, relying on the
WHEREFORE, the decision rendered by this provisions of P.D. 27 and P.D. 316 and
Court on November 5, 1982 is hereby appurtenant regulations issued by the then
reconsidered and a new judgment is hereby Ministry of Agrarian Reform (DAR for short),
rendered: now Department of Agrarian Reform (MAR
for short).
As a matter of fact, there was even no need We now determine whether such lands are
for petitioners to secure a clearance or prior covered by the CARL. Section 4 of R.A. 6657
approval from DAR. The NATALIA properties provides that the CARL shall "cover,
were within the areas set aside for the regardless of tenurial arrangement and
Lungsod Silangan Reservation. Since commodity produced, all public and
Presidential Proclamation No. 1637 created private agricultural lands." As to what
the townsite reservation for the purpose of constitutes "agricultural land," it is referred to
providing additional housing to the as "land devoted to agricultural activity as
burgeoning population of Metro Manila, it in defined in this Act and not classified as
effect converted for residential use what mineral, forest, residential, commercial or
were erstwhile agricultural lands provided all industrial land." 16 The deliberations of the
requisites were met. And, in the case at bar, Constitutional Commission confirm this
there was compliance with all relevant rules limitation. "Agricultural lands" are only those
and requirements. Even in their applications lands which are "arable and suitable
for the development of the Antipolo Hills agricultural lands" and "do not include
Subdivision, the predecessor agency of commercial, industrial and residential lands."
HLURB noted that petitioners NATALIA and 17
EDIC complied with all the requirements
prescribed by P.D. 957.