G.R. NO. 157809 - LEONARDO, EMERENCIA, RENATO, VIRGILIO, JESUSA, TERESITA AND RUBEN, ALL SURNAMED DELA CRUZ AND DEPARTMENT OF AGRARIAN REFORM ADJUDICATION BOARD (DARAB), VS. COURT OF APPEALS AND HOME INSURANCE GUARANTY CORPORATION.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Order dated May 13, 1996 is hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE and a new one is rendered as follows: 1. Declaring Plaintiff-Appellant Leonardo dela Cruz to be the bona fide tenant on the subject landholding while his co-Plaintiffs-Appellants are declared illegal occupants for lack of evidence to establish their tenancy status; 2. Directing the reinstatement of Plaintiff-Appellant Leonardo dela Cruz to the landholding in controversy and to pay his lease rental not from the time he was illegally prevented from resuming his farming activities but from the date of actual reinstatement thereon; 3. Directing the Respondents-Appellees to vacate the premises and all other persons who had subsequently taken possession from them, if any; and 4. Allowing Plaintiff-Appellant Leonardo dela Cruz to redeem the subject landholding as encumbered by Respondent-Appellee Jesus Medina and that said Leonardo dela Cruz is hereby authorized to seek legal assistance from the DAR thru its Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance and from the Land Bank of the Philippines to finance the redemption price. SO ORDERED.