gr_148967_2007

AZCUNA, J.:

This is a petition for certiorari1 seeking the nullification of the resolutions of the Court of Appeals, dated November 23, 2000 and May 8, 2001, dismissing a petition filed under Rule 43 of the Rules of Court due to procedural defects,2 in CA-G.R. SP No. 60203 entitled, "Paulino Reyes, et al. v. Fil-Estate Properties, Inc." Central to the controversy is a portion of Hacienda Looc consisting of ten parcels of land with an aggregate area of 1,219.0133 hectares which was previously awarded to petitioners as evidenced by their Certificates of Land Ownership Award (CLOAs). At the instance of private respondent Fil-Estate Properties, Inc. (Fil-Estate), however, which sought the exclusion of the parcels of land from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP), the CLOAs were cancelled by the Regional Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (RARAD) on the ground that the lands were agriculturally undeveloped and had an average slope of more than 18%.

The facts are as follows: Petitioners are the tenants of the disputed portion of Hacienda Looc which has been the subject of application for exclusion from CARP coverage pursuant to Administrative Order No. 10, Series of 1994.3 Hacienda Looc is an 8,650-hectare property located in Nasugbu, Batangas registered under Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. T-28719 of the Registry of Deeds for the Province of Batangas. It is comprised of four barangays, namely, Calayo, Looc, Papaya and Bulihan, and has a total population of more than 10,000. By virtue of Presidential Decree No. 27 issued by President Ferdinand E. Marcos on October 21, 1972, a portion of the hacienda with an aggregate area of 1,282.9767 hectares that were planted with rice and corn were distributed to the farmers, and emancipation patents (EPs) were accordingly issued.

The hacienda was acquired by the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) from the Magdalena Estate, Inc. through a Deed of Cession in Payment of Debt on May 19, 1971, and by a Deed of Assignment executed by the Philippine National Bank in favor of DBP on February 8, 1973. Pursuant to Executive Order No. 14 issued on February 3, 1987 by President Corazon C. Aquino, certain assets and liabilities of DBP were transferred to the Government of the Republic of the Philippines. Among the properties that were transferred was Hacienda Looc.

On February 27, 1987, DBP executed a Deed of Transfer of the properties in favor of the government. On the same date, a Trust Agreement was entered into by the government and the Asset Privatization Trust (APT) whereby the latter was constituted trustee of Hacienda Looc. On July 15, 1987, Republic Act (R.A.) No. 6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), was enacted.

Under the law, a Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP) was to be undertaken by the government which shall cover, regardless of tenurial arrangement and commodity produced, all public and private agricultural lands as provided in the Constitution, including whenever applicable in accordance with law, other lands of the public domain suitable to agriculture. On June 28, 1990, APT entered into a Memorandum of Agreement (MOA) with the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). Under the agreement, APT signified its intention to sell to DAR portions of the hacienda under the Voluntary Offer to Sell (VOS) scheme of R.A. No. 6657 on the condition that DAR will return to APT non-CARPable portions of the property.

APT ceded possession and control of the entire property to DAR for the latter to undertake a field verification and coverage of the CARPable areas of the hacienda. Between 1991 and 1993, DAR generated 25 Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs) to the farmers of the hacienda. On December 10, 1993, APT conducted a public bidding involving the property in question.

Bellevue Properties, Inc. tendered the highest cash bid. It thereafter assigned the right to purchase the property to Manila Southcoast Development Corporation (MSDC), subrogating to the latter all its rights, claims and benefits under the DAR-APT memorandum of agreement. On March 7, 1995, MSDC filed an adverse claim over Hacienda Looc before the Register of Deeds of Nasugbu, Batangas.

In the same year, MSDC was able to register the disputed ten parcels of land of the hacienda with an aggregate area of 1,219.0133 hectares. These are as follows: TCT No. Lot No. Area (has.) R.O. 72098 780-5 117.2230 MSDC 72099 780-6 50.6760 MSDC 73000 780-11 135.2297 MSDC 73001 780-12 133.4841 MSDC 73002 780-13 79.4639 MSDC 73003 780-14 113.0728 MSDC 73004 780-15 30.6594 MSDC 73005 780-32 58.0232 MSDC 73006 780-19 266.8548 MSDC 73007 780-16 234.3264