MARIANO C. ATEGA, PETITIONER, VS. HON. MONTANO A. ORTIZ, DISTRICT JUDGE OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF AGUSAN, RESPONDENT.

Appeal interposed by Mariano C. Atega
from an order issued by the respondent judge dismissing Civil Case No. 186 of
the Court of First Instance of Agusan “motu proprio for want of
jurisdiction”.

It appears that on December
13, 1930 Atega filed Sales Application
No. 14768 with the Bureau of Lands.  On May 15, 1941, after proper
proceedings in connection there­with, the parcel of land applied for was sold
at public auction to Atega.  Actual award, however, was executed in his
favor only on August 2 of the same year.

It appears further that several persons, amongst them Pablo Sarnillo, Macario Sarnillo, Baldomero Diez and others occupied different portions of the same
parcel of land, some of them during the war years and the others after the
war.  Resolving their respective claim to
the different portions occupied by them (B.L. Claim No. 111) the Bureau of
Lands, on May 26, 1949,
dismissed their claims and they were ordered to vacate the land respective­ly
occupied by each of them within sixty days from notice of the decision.  Their appeal from this decision to the
Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources was dis­missed on December 31, 1949, and their
subsequent appeal to the Office of the President was likewise dismissed on October 9, 1951.  On May
31, 1956, upon their petition, the case was reopened by order of
the Undersecretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, but this order was re­voked
on July 31, 1959 and the
decision of the Bureau of Lands of May
26, 1949 was reinstated.  To
enforce this decision the Director of Lands issued an order of execution on August 17, 1960.  As, apparently, the claimants or con­testants
defied said order, the Director of Lands requested the Department of Justice to
have them prosecuted for vio­lation of the provisions of Section 2753 of the
Administra­tive Code, as amended. 
Accordingly, they were prosecuted in the City Court of Butuan, but they were acquitted on the
ground of reasonable doubt on January
30, 1964.

In view of the failure of the prosecution mentioned above, on
February 9, 1965 Atega filed in the Court of First
Instance of Agusan, then presided by the respondent
judge, Civil Case No. 186 of said court entitled “CONTEMPT, DAMAGES AND
WRIT OF POSSESSION” against Serafia Bacolot and fifteen other persons, the relief prayed in his
com­plaint being as follows:

“WHEREFORE, plaintiff most respectfully pray:

1.  For the immediate
issuance, ex-parte, of the writ of possession of the
subject and, pending hearing on the merits of the case, upon plaintiff’s filing
a bond in such amount as the Honorable Court may fix;

2.  That after the defendants
have been given a chance to be heard by themselves or
counsel, said defendants be declared in con­tempt for disobedience of the
decision of the Honorable Director of Lands dated May 26, 1949, and in addition:

a) ordering the defendants to vacate the
premises;

b) ordering the defendants to pay the plaintiff, jointly and solidarily, the sum of P5,000.00 yearly from 1961 up to the
time the possession of the premises is restored to the plaintiff; and

c) ordering the defendants to pay the
plaintiff the sum of P10,000.00 in concept of moral damages, attorney’s fees,
expenses of litigation, and the costs and such other and further relief as the
Honorable Court may deem just and equitable.”

On February 22, 1965,
even before the defendant named in the complaint could be served with summons,
the res­pondent judge, motu proprio,
issued the appealed order which is of the following tenor:

“It appearing from the allegations in the petition filed by
Atty. Virgilio N. Atega,
the said petition arose out of pure­ly administrative case between the parties
from the Bureau of Lands and not from a case instituted in this Court, this
Court therefore acquires no jurisdiction over the subject matter.

“Noticing, this defect, the Court notices the limits of its authority, con­sequently it dismisses this action motu proprio for want of
jurisdiction, with­out costs.”

As Atega’s motion to have the above
order recon­sidered was denied by the respondent judge, he filed the present
petition for certiorari on July
22, 1965.

It is obvious from the order appealed from that His Honor
erroneously considered Civil Case No. 186 merely as a proceeding for
contempt when, in truth and in fact, the complaint showed that it was
principally an action to recover possession of land and for the recovery of
yearly damages at the rate of P5,000 from 1961 up to
the recovery of possession, and moral damages in the sum of P10,000, plus
attorney’s fees and expenses of litigation. 
It is therefore manifest that His Honor committed a serious error in
dismissing the case, motu proprio,
on the ground of lack of jurisdiction, because the action was clearly with­in
the original and exclusive jurisdiction of his Court.

PREMISES CONSIDERED, the order appealed from is hereby set
aside and the respondent judge or his successor as presiding judge of the Court
of First Instance of Agusan is hereby ordered to
conduct the proper proceedings in Civil Case No. 186 of said Court in
accordance with law.

Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, JBL, Makalintal, Zaldivar, Sanchez, Ruiz
Castro, Fernando, Capistrano, Teehankee, and Barredo, JJ., concur.