DIOSDADO NIEMBRA, ET AL., PLAINTIFF AND APPELLEE, VS. THE DIRECTOR OF LANDS, THE SECRETARY OP AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES AND EMILIO A. SUAREZ, INC., DEFENDANTS AND APPELL…

Appeal from a decision of the Court of First Instance of Cotabato,
Hon. Jose C. Borromeo, presiding, dismissing the complaint on the
ground that plaintiffs have no right of action and for lack of joinder
of all the necessary parties. The case was certified to us by the Court
of Appeals on the ground that only questions of law are involved.

The complaint is a long, tedious criticism of the grant of title
over a parcel of land in Sitio Kibid, Norala, Cotabato in favor of
Emilio A. Suarez, Inc., and with a prayer that said corporation vacate
a portion of the area in conflict in favor of plaintiffs, and later to
have the same subdivided and thereafter have titles issued to them for
the portions they have occupied as homesteads; that Suarez & Co.
pay them PI50,000 as damages and Pi0,000 as Attorney’s fees, together
with costs. The Director of Lands and the Secretary of Agriculture and
Natural Resources are also made parties defendants.

From the complicated allegations of the complaint We gather the following allegations of facts:

1. That the registered land covered by the certificate of title of
   Suarez & Co., Inc. is different from the parcel of laud certified
   by the District Land Office of Cotabato as having been applied for and
   occupied by the Ala Valley Development Co., organized by Jesus
   Larrabaster, employee of the National Land Settlement Administration
   (NLSA);

2. That the Ala Valley Development Co. was not
   registered and had no personality to acquire a big parcel of land of
   885,4669 hectares;

3. That the lands officials were negligent
   in not inquiring into the capacity of the Ala Valley Development Co. to
   acquire public lands and the same shows collusion and connivance in the
   administration and disposition of public lands—there was also fraud and
   collusion in making SC-V-297 corresponds to SA-V-297;

4. That
   the Ala Valley Development Co. could not transmit any right to the
   Emilio A. Suarez, Inc. and the public lauds officials should not have
   approved the 1941 survey plan SC-V-297 to conform to the SA-V-297;

5. That the consideration for the sale or transfer was ridiculously low;
6. That
   there was no legal publication of the sale or the notice of sale was
   published in the DAILY RECORD, not a newspaper of general circulation.

As a second cause of action, it was alleged:

1. That there was intentional fraud or
   misrepresentation because in the sale of rights the property was
   declared as situated in Takurong, Buluan, Cotabato;

2. That
   the reports of the lands officials that there was no former occupants
   of the land was false because in 1951 or 1952 action was brought
   against plaintiffs, etc.

Motion to dismiss having been filed, the Court of First Instance on
January 25, 1960 rendered a decision which in part is as follows:

“It is admitted that the land covered by the
Certificate of Title now sought to be cancelled was a public land and
not the private property of the plaintiffs. The main purpose,
therefore, in asking for the cancellation of the title is to have the
land reverted into the public domain so that the plaintiffs may have
the right to apply for patent on the portions occupied by them. Section
101 of Act No. 141, as amended, commonly known as the Public Land Law,
provides as follows:

“All actions for the
reversion to the Government of lands of the public domain or
improvements thereon shall be instituted by the Solicitor General or
the Office acting in his stead, in the proper courts, in the name of
the Commonwealth of the Philippines.”

From
the above provision it is clear that only the Solicitor General or his
authorized representatives can institute the proceeding for the
reversion of a titled land into the public domain. Consequently, the
plaintiffs herein have no legal personality to bring this action which
would have the effect of cancelling the sales patent and the
corresponding Certificate of Title issued on the basis thereof with the
result that the land covered by the said title will be reverted to the
public domain.***

“It may be stated here also that in the
present action not all parties in interest are joined since the names
of the other plaintiffs are not mentioned in the complaint. The
contention that this case is a class suit is not meritorious. It does
not appear from the complaint that the three plaintiffs whose names
appear in tho complaint and the others who are simply identified by the
others ‘et al’, have common interest in the land in question.***

We find that the ruling of the court that no sufficient
representative parties have been joined, is well founded. In any suit,
before the case proceeds to trial, it is the duty of the court to see
that alt parties having interest in the subject must be joined, in
order that the results of the suit would be binding on all. This is
necessary in order to prevent multiplicity of suits or prevent other
persons claiming the same rights as the plaintiffs herein would
hereafter institute another action and molest the defendants in their
rights.

The above ruling would render unnecessary further consideration of
the other questions raised in the appeal as indicated in the beginning
of this decision. The complaint indicates that it is a charge against
supposed maladministration in the Bureau of Lands, as a results of
which lands supposedly assigned to settlers have been given to an
applicant for sale of another parcel of land. The case in court cannot
proceed on mere general charges of irregularities and We find that the
court below was sufficiently justified in dismissing the complaint.

We, however, believe that a dismissal with prejudice would cause
injustice to the parties possibly affected by the supposed
maladministration cited in the complaint. We therefore, affirm the
decision of the court below dismissing the complaint, but modify the
same by declaring it to be without prejudice. With costs.

Bengzon, C. J., Padilla, Bautista Angelo, Concepcion, Reyes, J. B. L., Paredes, Regala and Makalintal, JJ., concur.