G.R. No. 154654 - JOSEPHINE A. TAGUINOD AND VIC A. AGUILA, VS. COURT OF APPEALS, ANTONINO SAMANIEGO, JOSE DELA CRUZ, JOHN SAMANIEGO, ERNESTO SANTOS, MACARIO DELA CRUZ, ANDRES PASTORIN, BENETRITO DELA CRUZ, JESUS BATAC, AND RODOLFO LAGUISMA. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, ORDER is hereby issued: Granting the petition/application for retention under PD 27 of not more than seven (7) hectares; Placing under OLT coverage the excess area of seven hectares; Directing the MARO concerned to cause the preparation and execution of agricultural Leasehold Contracts between petitioners and tenant-tillers affected within the retention area; Authorizing the petitioners to withdraw in their favor the lease rentals deposited with the Land Bank of the Philippines by the tenants, if any; Directing the tenants outside the retention area to pay the LBP the value of the land. [15] The Regional Director held that the transfer of the subject lots by landowner Salud Aguila to petitioners on January 19, 1976 was a violation of MC Nos. 2, 2-A, and 8, and therefore null and void and of no effect; thus, ownership of the subject lots should revert to Salud Aguila. Nonetheless, since landowner Salud Aguila filed her petition/application for retention on January 26, 1976 in accordance with Administrative Order (AO) No. 4, Subsection B, paragraph 2, which provided that landowners should file their application for retention before August 27, 1985, the deadline set by AO No. 1, Series of 1985, she may retain not more than seven (7) hectares of her landholdings covered by PD 27, regardless of whether or not she complied with Letters of Instruction (LOI) Nos. 41, 45 and 52. From this adverse ruling, private respondents filed their motion for reconsideration denominated as Motion to Set Aside Order dated August 21, 1991 with the DAR Regional Director, [16] where they contended, inter alia , that landowner Salud Aguila was not entitled to a seven (7)-hectare retention over the subject lots, as she was the owner of several other landholdings, specifically 11 parcels of land, at the time the subject lots were placed under the coverage of the OLT program pursuant to PD 27. Private respondents submitted to the DAR a Certification from the Municipal Assessor of Santiago, Isabela, regarding Salud Aguila's ownership of a total of 13 landholdings, including the subject lots covered by TCT Nos. T-90872 and T-65348, with the corresponding copies of Tax Declarations covering the properties. Petitioner Taguinod likewise filed a Motion for Reconsideration [17] of the August 21, 1991 Order, asserting that Salud Aguila was not the real owner of TCT No. T-65348, as such was inherited by Taguinod from her biological mother, Patrocinia Alvarez, and was only mortgaged in 1971 to her adoptive mother, Salud Aguila, for which she executed a deed of sale with a right to repurchase. Petitioner Taguinod further contended that she had already redeemed said property which was allegedly rightly hers. In addition, petitioner Taguinod filed her September 16, 1991 appeal from the August 21, 1991 Order of the Regional Director with the DAR Secretary. The Ruling of the DAR Secretary in ADM Case No. 02-24-90 Isa. On September 28, 1992, the DAR Secretary