A.M. No. MTJ-03-1513 - SPOUSES JAIME AND PURIFICACION MORTA, COMPLAINANTS VS. JUDGE ANTONIO C. BAGAGÑAN, MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURT, GUINOBATAN, ALBAY; AND SHERIFF DANILO O. MATIAS, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, BRANCH 14, LIGAO, ALBAY.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing considerations, judgment is rendered in favor of the plaintiffs and against the defendants in both cases as follows: 1) Ordering the defendants not to molest and disturb the peaceful possession of the plaintiffs in the lands in question situated at San Rafael, Guinobatan; 2) Condemning the defendants in Civil Case No. 481 to jointly and severally pay the plaintiffs the total amount of P8,130.00 representing the value of the coconuts, pili nuts and anahaw leaves and for the destroyed plants; 3) Ordering the defendants in Civil Case No. 481 jointly and severally to reimburse the plaintiffs the amount of P202.00 as legal expenses incurred in filing their suit; 4) Condemning the defendants in Civil Case No. 482 jointly and severally to pay the plaintiffs the total amount of P9,950.00 representing the value of the coconuts and anahaw leaves; 5) Ordering the said defendants in Civil Case No. 482 to jointly and severally reimburse the plaintiffs the sum of P202.00 as legal expenses in filing this suit.' "The defendants appealed to the Regional Trial Court [of] Ligao, Albay. In its decision dated August 10, 1994, the Regional Trial Court [RTC] dismissed the aforesaid cases on the ground that the claims for damages are tenancy-related problems which fall under the original and exclusive jurisdiction of the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudicatory Board (DARAB). On September 9, 1994, the plaintiffs filed a petition for review with the Court of Appeals assailing the decision of the RTC. However, in its decision dated May 31, 1995, the Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's ruling that the cases fall within the original and exclusive jurisdiction of DARAB. Thereafter, the First Division of this Court, acting on the petition for review on certiorari filed by the plaintiffs, rendered its decision dated June 10, 1999 in G.R. No. 123417 affirming the decision of the Municipal Trial Court, Guinobatan, Albay in Civil Case Nos. 481 and 482 and thereby setting aside the decision of the Court of Appeals in CA-GR SP No. 35300 and that of the Regional Trial Court in Civil Cases Nos. 1751 and 1752. "They now complain that despite the fact that the decision of the Supreme Court in the aforesaid case had already become final and executory, the respondent Judge still refused to issue a writ of possession in their favor. "Complainants further allege that on June 6, 2000 they filed a motion to cite Jaime Occidental for contempt of court. Although more than one (1) year had already elapsed since the motion was filed in the respondent Judge's sala, the same had remained unresolved up to the filing of the instant complaint. "As against the respondent Sheriff, the complainants aver[red] that through his ignorance, negligence and connivance with the defendants, he failed to execute in full the writ of execution that had been previously issued by the court in Civil Case Nos. 481 and 482. Moreover, it took respondent Sheriff a long time be