G.R. No. L-7290. December 29, 1954

An action for recovery of possession of a parcel of land known as lot No. 105 of Tagum Cadastre (accion publiciana or plenaria de posesion)
and damages was filed in the Court of First Instance of Davao by the
petitioner against the respondents excluding the respondent judge
(civil case No. 454), predicated on prior entry upon, possession and
cultivation of, the land since 1935 and application thereof homestead
in 1939, such possession and cultivation having continued until the
outbreak of the Pacific War, when the petitioner was compelled to
abandon the land and seek refuge in another place for his survival and
that of his family, but on his return in October 1946 he found the
respondents squatting and in possession of parts of the land and
profiting by the hills of hemp planted by him.

The hearing of the case was finally set for 8 July 1953. After
learning from the first witness for the plaintiff, Chief, Survey Party
of the Bureau of Lands, that there is a conflict of claims on lot No.
105 between the petitioner and the respondents, plaintiff and
defendants in the court below, and that the conflict is pending
investigation by the Director of Lands, the respondent court issued the
following order:

IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING CONSIDERATIONS, let this
case be held in abeyance until the Director of Lands shall have finally
determined and submitted his report on the conflict between the parties
herein.

A motion for reconsideration praying for the setting aside of the
order and for a setting of a date for the resumption of the trial of
the case was denied. Thereupon, the plaintiff in the court below filed
this petition to compel the respondent court to set aside the order
complained of and to set a date for the resumption of the trial of the
case.

If it were merely a matter of the respondent court’s control of its
calendar, this Court would not interfere with it. But the order
complained of suspends the hearing of the case and makes the resumption
thereof dependent upon action to be taken by the Director of Lands on
the conflict of claims on the land between the petitioner and the
respondents. Such postponement may be for a long stretch of time as it
is made to depend upon the action to be taken by the Director of Lands.
Such action would settle or determine who under the Public Land Act is
entitled to the land as and for homestead. On the other hand, an action
for recovery of possession is an urgent matter which must be decided
promptly to forestall breaches of peace, bodily injury to person,
mayhem, or perhaps loss of life. It is the duty of the Court to act
swiftly and expiditiously in cases of that nature.

The writ prayed for is granted. The respondent Court is directed to
set aside the order complained of and set a date for the resumption of
the hearing of the case, without pronouncement as to costs.

Paras, C.J., Pablo, Bengzon, Reyes, A., Jugo, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepcion and Reyes, J.B.L., JJ., concur