G.R. NO. 132361 VS. HON. COURT OF APPEALS, REMMAN ENTERPRISES, INC., AND HON. ERNESTO D. GARILAO, IN HIS CAPACITY AS SECRETARY OF AGRARIAN REFORM.

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, and after having found that the instant application lacks merit, Order is hereby issued denying the same and placing the herein properties involving seventeen (17) parcels of land with an aggregate area of 46.9180 hectares located at Brgy. San Jose, Dasmariñas, Cavite under CARP coverage. [8] REMMAN filed a Motion for Reconsideration thereon. On 4 September 1996, the DAR Secretary Ernesto D. Garilao issued an Order, modifying the Order of 5 June 1996. The DAR Secretary held that when Presidential Decree No. 27 took effect, the subject parcels of land were owned in common by the Saulog family. The same law applies to lands primarily devoted to rice and corn under a system of share-crop or lease tenancy. The issue as to the type of crops planted in the subject parcels of land and the tenancy relationship not having been controverted, the DAR Secretary applied the rules on retention limits as specified in Presidential Decree No. 27 and Letter of Instruction No. 474. [9] Ruling on the retention limits, the DAR Secretary reached the following conclusion, viz [10] Name of Co-owner Tenanted R/C lands owned Other Agri. Lands PD 27 Coverage Area Retained of Tenanted R/C Lands Nieves 15.31915 has. 10.48575 has. 15.31915 has. 0.0 has. Ignacio 1.39265 has. 0.95325 has. 0.0 has. 1.39265 has. Luciano 1.39265 has. 0.95325 has. 0.0 has. 1.39265 has. Virginia 1.39265 has. 0.95325 has. 0.0 has. 1.39265 has. Teodoro 1.39265 has. 0.95325 has. 0.0 has. 1.39265 has. Melquiades 1.39265 has. 0.95325 has. 0.0 has. 1.39265 has. Maura 1.39265 has. 0.95325 has. 0.0 has. 1.39265 has. Ruben 1.39265 has. 0.95325 has. 0.0 has. 1.39265 has. Lilia 1.39265 has. 0.95325 has. 0.0 has. 1.39265 has. Marietta 1.39265 has. 0.95325 has. 0.0 has. 1.39265 has. Further, it was held that the farmer-tenants occupying the retained area of the children of Nieves vda. de Saulog shall remain therein, subject to the option of the farmers to accept disturbance compensation, in which case, they can vacate the retained lands. The remaining lands were declared to be outside of the coverage of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law by virtue of Section 3(c) [11] of Republic Act No. 6657, subject to the payment of disturbance compensation to qualified farmer-beneficiaries. In the same vein, the DAR Secretary ruled that Presidential Decree No. 27 has not been expressly repealed by Republic Act No. 6657; hence, the tenant-farmers' vested rights should still be respected. Thus, the municipal reclassification of the subject parcels of land cannot remove the vested rights of the tenant-farmers granted to them by statute. Finally, on the issue of lack of standing on the part of REMMAN to file the application for exemption, the DAR Secretary, instead of strictly applying the procedural rules, relaxed the same. The DAR Secretary disposed, thus: PREMISES CONSIDERED, after having gone through all arguments, this Order is hereby issued: Confirming the coverage of the 15.31915 hectare