G.R. No. 180843 - APOLONIO GARCIA, IN SUBSTITUTION OF HIS DECEASED MOTHER, MODESTA GARCIA, AND CRISTINA SALAMAT, VS. DOMINGA ROBLES VDA. DE CAPARAS.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE , premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of the defendant and against the plaintiffs and Order is hereby issued: ORDERING the dismissal of the case; DECLARING defendant Dominga Robles Vda. de Caparas as lawful successor-tenant; ORDERING plaintiffs to maintain defendant in her peaceful possession and cultivation of the subject landholding; ORDERING the MARO of Malolos, Bulacan to execute a new leasehold contract between the landowner and defendant Dominga Robles Vda. de Caparas; No pronouncement as to costs. SO ORDERED . [17] The PARAD held that Amandas act of executing the July 10, 1996 Affidavit and Kasunduan sa Buwisan ng Lupa amounted to dispossession of Pedros landholding and rights without cause; that Amandas 1996 disclaimer, after having installed Pedro as tenant in 1979, was belated and unjustified; that petitioners have not shown by evidence that they actually cultivated the land, or that they paid rentals to the landowners; that petitioners cause of action has prescribed in accordance with Section 38 of RA 3844; that for failure to timely question Pedros leasehold, his rights were transferred, by operation of law, to Dominga upon his death. Finally, the PARAD held that petitioners July 10, 1996 Kasunduan sa Buwisan ng Lupa is null and void for being issued against Pedros existing 1979 Agricultural Leasehold Contract, which has not been cancelled by competent authority. DARAB Case No. 03-03-10307-99 It appears that sometime after the execution of the July 10, 1996 Kasunduan sa Buwisan ng Lupa and during the pendency of DARAB Case No. R-03-02-3520-96, petitioners entered the land and began tilling the same. For this reason, Dominga filed DARAB Case No. 03-03-10307-99, for maintenance of peaceful possession with injunctive relief, against the landowners and petitioners. On petitioners motion, the case was dismissed. [18] Ruling of the DARAB Petitioners appealed the May 4, 1998 PARAD Decision in DARAB Case No. R-03-02-3520-96 to the DARAB, where the case was docketed as DARAB Case No. 9722 [19] (DCN 9722). Dominga likewise appealed the dismissal of DARAB Case No. 03-03-10307-99, which appeal was docketed as DARAB Case No. 11155 (DCN 11155). On motion, both appeals were consolidated. On June 15, 2005, the DARAB issued its Decision, [20] the dispositive portion of which reads, as follows: WHEREFORE, premises considered, a new judgment is hereby rendered: DECLARING Dominga Robles Vda. de Caparas as the lawful successor-tenant of Pedro Caparas over the subject landholding; ORDERING the plaintiffs in DCN 9722 and the respondents in DCN 11155 or any person acting in their behalves [sic], to maintain Dominga Robles Vda. de Caparas in peaceful possession and cultivation of the subject landholding; ORDERING the MARO of Malolos, Bulacan, to execute a new leasehold contract between the landowner and Dominga Robles Vda. de Caparas; and ORDERING for the dismissal of DCN 11155 for being moot and academic. SO