G.R. No. 138839 - LAURA SARNE, LORENZO JAUGAN, LOWENA ABANG-JAUGAN, PEDRO JAUGAN, AND JENELYN SUSTIN-JAUGAN, VS. HON. VIVIAN O. MAQUILING, AS PROVINCIAL ADJUDICATOR OF THE DAR ADJUDICATION BOARD, DUMAGUETE CITY, FELISA RAFAL, ESTRELLA R. ELNASIN, CIPRIANO RAFAL, OSCAR RAFAL, AND ROMANA RAFAL.D E C I

Ruling

WHEREFORE, the Honorable Board is most respectfully prayed that after due notice and hearing judgment shall issue in complainants' favor: Ordering the redemption by complainants of the subject lot at a price originally agreed upon by the complainants and respondent Laura Sarne; Canceling the Deed of Sale in so far as it involves and relates to the subject tenanted lot; Ordering the respondents to execute the proper deed of conveyance in favor of the complainants; x x x x x x" On March 5, 1998, petitioners Jaugans filed their "Arguments to Support Special Defense of Lack of Jurisdiction" [3] alleging that another case involving the same nature and subject of the action, i.e., DARAB Case No. VII-115-NO-97, was previously dismissed for lack of jurisdiction after the Provincial Adjudicator found that the land in question was not under the administration and disposition of the Department of Agrarian Reform and the Land Bank of the Philippines; that said order has become final for failure of private respondents to appeal therefrom; that the first and second cases involve the same cause of action; that the change in the title of the action for "Redemption and Damages" and the addition of new defendants in the second case will not change the nature of the action; that the second case was denominated as one for "redemption" in order to make it appear as an agrarian case; and that the tenancy relationship was terminated when the subject lot was mortgaged to private respondent Romana Rafal as creditor. The same defense was raised in the Answer [4] filed by petitioners Jaugans wherein it was additionally alleged that as a mortgagee of the land, private respondent Romana Rafal ceased to be a tenant and became a creditor who enjoyed the produce of the land without sharing with the landowner; and that there is non-joinder of a real party-in-interest because a portion of the land has been donated to the Municipality of Zamboanguita, Negros Oriental. In her Answer [5] , petitioner Sarne alleged that while private respondent Romana Rafal and her husband Jose Rafal were tenants of the subject lot, they ceased to be tenants and became creditors when the subject lot was mortgaged to them. It was further alleged that the purported sale was only partially consummated because private respondent Romana Rafal failed to pay the balance of P34,000.00 when it fell due in March, 1997 and continuously failed to pay until April 10, 1997; and that private respondent Romana Rafal told petitioner Sarne to look for another buyer and requested for reimbursement of what she has paid in advance. By way of special and affirmative defenses, petitioner Sarne likewise raised the defenses of the Jaugans, i.e., lack of jurisdiction, that private respondent Romana Rafal as creditor-mortgagee of the land in question can no longer be considered a tenant, and non-joinder of a real party-in-interest. On May 27, 1998, public respondent Provincial Adjudicator Vivian O. Maquiling issued an Order de