G.R. No. 140825 - CIPRIANO CENTENO, LEONILA C. CALONZO, AND RAMONA ADRIANO, VS. IGNACIA CENTENO.R E S O L U T I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, order is hereby issued: Recalling and cancelling CLT No. 10186 covering Farmlot No. 122 containing an area of 2,862 square meters and CLT No. 10185 covering half portion of Home Lot No. 111 issued to Respondent Cipriano Centeno, and CLT No. 10148 (sic) covering the remaining half portion of Home Lot No. 111 issued to Respondent Leonila Calonzo, all under Psd-248725, situated at RCC Malolos Estate, Malolos, Bulacan; and forfeiting in favor of the government whatever payments they have made on account thereof. Directing the generation and issuance of new Certificates of Land Transfer in favor of herein protestant Ignacia Centeno, covering the landholdings at issue. The aforesaid order was affirmed by the Office of the President in its decision dated July 8, 1987, which had become final and executory. The instant case has its roots in a complaint filed by herein respondent Ignacia Centeno with the Department of Agrarian Reform and Adjudication Board (DARAB), Region III, Malolos, Bulacan, for "Maintenance of Peaceful Possession with Prayer for Restraining Order/Preliminary Injunction, Ejectment and Damages." Respondent alleged that, despite the decision of the DAR recognizing her ownership over Lot Nos. 111 and 122, as affirmed by the Office of the President, herein petitioners Cipriano Centeno, Leonila Calonzo and Ramona Adriano have interfered with and prevented respondent from exercising acts of possession over the landholdings earlier adjudicated to her (Lot Nos. 111 and 122) and kept on harassing, molesting and disturbing her peaceful possession as well as the enjoyment of the fruits thereof, to her great damage and prejudice. She prayed that petitioners be restrained from committing acts tending to deprive respondent of her possession, and that they be ordered to vacate the premises. In their answer, petitioners insisted that they are better entitled to the possession of the lots in dispute, having been allegedly in long possession thereof, with their houses thereon. On the other hand, the award of said lots to respondent is unauthorized, not only because she has no possession thereof but also because she has other landholdings in the locality. They averred that the complaint should be dismissed for lack of cause of action and for lack of jurisdiction on the part of the DARAB over the case. On April 14, 1993, the Provincial Adjudicator rendered a decision, after hearing, favorably to respondent, adverting to the decision of the DAR, dated November 15, 1986, which was held to be determinative of the rights of the parties under the principle of res judicata . This decision was affirmed on appeal by the DARAB on September 10, 1997, with the directive "to immediately reinstate petitioner-appellee (respondent herein) to the subject landholdings and for the defendants-appellants (petitioners herein) to respect (her) security of tenure thereon as mandated by law." [1] Not satisfied with the decision of the DARAB, herein