G.R. No. 13456. January 30, 1960
IRINEO C. HAMOY, PETITIONER AND APPELLANT, VS. THE HONORABLE SECRETARY AND UNDERSECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE AND NATURAL RESOURCES, THE HONORABLE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, AND NARCISO DE…
BARRERA, J.:
the Court of First Instance of Zamboanga del Norte (in Special Civil
Case No. 902), dismissing petitioner-appellant Irineo C. Hamoy’s
petition for certiorari.
It appears that on April 19, 1934, petitioner-appellant Irineo C.
Hamoy and respondent-appellee Narciso de la Calzada executed an
“Amicable Arrangement” before Public Lands Inspector Bartolome C.
Biñosa, which reads:
“AMICABLE ARRANGEMENT
“We, the undersigned, of legal ages, married and
residents of Disacan, Katipunan, Zamboanga, after having duly
subscribed and sworn to declare the following:—“1. That
Narciso de la Calzada is the holder of the Sales Application No. 9860
covering a parcel of land at Disacan, Katipunan, Zamboanga and Irineo
C. Hamoy is a claimant to said land;“2. That Narciso de la
Calzada offers an arrangement requesting for the amendment of his
application described as follows: provided that Irineo C. Hamoy will
retreat his claim to said land: Beginning at point 1 dom-on tree
running in straight line to point 2 monument of Francisco Soler to
point S another monument of Francisco Soler following Soler’s line
until it intersect a creek and then following, said creek to the sea
and then connect to point 1 thus following the sea as illustrated in
the sketch on the back hereof. This arrangement will exclude 15
coconuts of Narciso de la Calzada in favor of claimant Irineo C. Hamoy
which the latter promise the applicant to pay the amount of Twenty
Pesos (P20.00) on or before September 30, 1934 on condition of
returning said coconuts to de la Calzada in case of failure of payment
within the limit of this contract;“3. That Irineo Hamoy
hereby quit his claim on the area described in this document for which
the Sales Application of N. de la Calzada is to cover only and conform
to all other conditions stated in this contract.”
On July 30, 1934, the Assistant Director of Lands, acting pursuant
to the above-quoted amicable arrangement, issued an order, as follows:
“As the parties herein have amicably settled their
controversy by establishing the common boundary between their
respective holdings as shown in the sketch drawn on the back hereof,
this case is hereby dropped and the Sales Application No. 9800 of
Narciso de la Calzada amended accordingly and thereafter same shall be
given due course.“Nothing herein, however, shall be
construed as a recognition by this Office that the claimant herein has
a registerable title to the portion excluded from the above application
in his favor.”
On February 27, 1951, petitioner-appellant Hamoy wrote to the
District Land Officer at Zamboanga City, protesting against the
inclusion in the survey of the area covered by respondent-appellee De
la Calzada’s Sales Application No. 9760, of a portion known as Lot 1,
Si-9860-D, which he claimed as his, Acting on said protest, the
Director of Lands, on November 27, 1953, issued an order which in part,
reads as follows:
“Clearly, the area of Lot 1 of said survey is
outside his (De la Calzada’s) application and is a part of that land
claimed by Irineo C. Hamoy under his Survey Psu-60957 and Sales
Application No. 8601. As there is no basis for the present claim of
Narciso de la Calzada to said Lot 1, the same should be excluded from
his survey and the claim of Irineo C. Hamoy thereto should be upheld.“In
view hereof, the present claim of Narciso de la Calzada to Lot 1,
Survey Si-9860-D shown on the sketch drawn on the back hereof, is
hereby denied and dismissed and his Sales Application No. 9860 shall
stand on record as covering only Lots 2 and 3 of said survey
conformably to the above-quoted order of July 30, 1934.”
On January 22, 1954, respondent-appellee De la Calzada filed a motion for reconsideration of said order praying, inter-alia,
that the aforementioned amicable arrangement of April 19, 1934 be set
aside for failure of Hamoy to comply with the terms thereof, and that
he and Hamoy be allowed to present their evidence at a hearing on the
merits of the case. The Director of Lands denied the motion as well as
a subsequent motion for reconsideration. Calzada thereafter appealed to
the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources. On July 21, 1954,
respondent-appellee Undersecretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources
issued an order which, in pertinent part, states:
“It appearing undisputed that Irineo C. Hamoy failed
to comply with the agreement stipulated in the said Amicable
Arrangement for his failure to pay de la Calzada the amount of P20.00,
this Office believes that the said agreement is no longer enforceable
and should be considered as rescinded. And inasmuch as the order of the
Director of Lands .of July 30, 1934, upon which the decision of the
Director of Lands of November 27, 1953 was predicated, was based on
said Amicable Arrangement entered into by De la Calzada and Hamoy, this
Office can not just see now how this order of the Director of Lands
dated July 30, 1934 could be enforced, considering that the agreement
of the parties upon which said order was based is considered rescinded
and unenforceable as already stated above.“Under the
circumstances, this Office believes that both orders of the Director of
Lands dated July 30, 1934 and November 27, 1953 should be set aside,
and to determine the preferential right over the land in question
between De la Calzada, on the one hand, and Irineo C. Hamoy, on the
other hand, a formal investigation should be conducted with a view to
determining the following points:“1. Who between Narciso de
la Calzada and Ireneo C. Hamoy is actually occupying the land in
question and since when said occupation began;“2. What improvements, if any, are on the land and who introduced said improvements; and
“3.
Other material points which the investigator deems necessary to
determine the right of preference between de la Calzada and Hamoy.“Wherefore,
the Director of Lands is hereby directed to assign an attorney in his
office to conduct the necessary investigation and ocular inspection of
the premises to determine the points above enumerated. He should submit
his report thereon within sixty (60) days from the date hereof. As soon
as the report of the investigation is submitted, the Director of Lands
is hereby directed to decide the case anew.”
His motion for reconsideration having been denied,
petitioner-appellant Hamoy appealed to the President. On February 10,
1955, respondent-appellee Executive Secretary, by authority of the
President, issued an order affirming said order of July 21, 1954 of
respondent-appellee Undersecretary of Agriculture and Natural
Resources, which, in part, reads:
“The record reveals that Irineo C. Hamoy did not pay
Calzada the sum of P20.00 for the 15 coconut trees on or before
September 30, 1934, as agreed in the Amicable Arrangement of April 19,
1934. Since that arrangement was the basis of the Bureau of Land’s
order of July 30, 1934, and as such arrangement was not fulfilled or
complied with, it follows that said order has lost force and effect.
For the purpose of determining the rights of the contending parties to
the land in question, it is necessary that a formal investigation of
the case be conducted. That Department, therefore, did not err in
ordering such investigation.“In view of the foregoing, the orders appealed from are hereby affirmed.”
Not satisfied with this order, Hamoy filed an urgent motion for
reconsideration which the Executive Secretary denied, disposing of
appellant’s c6ntention as follows:
“In support of your motion for reconsideration, you
contend that this Office erred in affirming the Department’s ruling
that the Bureau’s order of July 30, 1934, had become ineffective by
reason of Hamoy’s failure to pay P20.00 for the fifteen coconut trees
pursuant to the ‘Amicable Arrangement’ upon which said order was based.
Your contention is predicated on the ground that the Bureau’s order of
July 30, 1934, had long become final and irrevocable.“Your
contention is untenable. In the face of the following facts and
circumstances, this Office is constrained to conclude that the Bureau’s
order of July 30, 1934, did not become final:“1. One of the
stipulations of the ‘Amicable Arrangement’ of April 19, 1934, which was
the basis of the order of July 30, 1934, was that Hamoy would pay
P20.00 to De la Calzada for the latter’s fifteen coconuts. Hamoy failed
to comply with that stipulation.“2. De la Calzada continued
occupying and improving the lot in dispute up to the present time,
obviously because of Hamoy’s failure to comply with his obligation to
pay P20.00 under the ‘Amicable Arrangement.’“3. From 1934 to
1950 Hamoy did not mind De la Calzada’s possession of the land,
presumably because he himself had not complied with his obligation to
pay as indicated above. It was only in 1951 that he protested De la
Calzada’s occupancy of the land.“4. De la Calzada has been in possession of the land for more than 20 years while Hamoy has never been in possession thereof.
It
will therefore be seen that the ‘Amicable Arrangement’ of April 19,
1934, and the Bureau of Land’s order of July 30, 1934, did not become
final not only because of Hamoy’s failure to comply with his part of
the agreement to pay P20.00 to De la Calzada, which was one of the
considerations for the amicable settlement, but also because of the
subsequent conduct of the parties as explained above. De la Calzada’s
actual possession of the land in dispute for 20 years is a tremendous
fact which cannot in conscience and justice be overlooked, let alone
disregarded, in the consideration of the case.“In view of
the foregoing, this Office finds no ground for modifying its decision
affirming that of the Department of Agriculture and Natural Resources
which ordered a formal investigation of the case for the ultimate
purpose of determining the right of preference to the land in question
as between the parties herein.”
On December 26, 1956, petitioner-appellant Hamoy filed with the
trial court a petition for certiorari to review and set aside the
aforesaid orders dated July 21, 1954 and February 10, 1955 of
respondents-appellees Undersecretary of Agriculture and Natural
Resources and Executive Secretary, respectively. Respondents-appellees
duly filed their answers to said petition. At the hearing of the case,
however, only petitioner-appellant Hamoy and respondent-appellee De la
Calzada appeared and they submitted the case for decision on the basis
of the pleadings filed with the court, without presenting their
evidence on the merits.
On December 6, 1957, the court rendered a decision dismissing
petitioner-appellant’s petition for certiorari, for failure on his part
to make sufficient showing entitling him to the issuance of the writ.
Hence, this appeal.
The only issue presented by the appeal is whether
respondent-appellees Undersecretary of Agriculture and Natural
Resources and Executive Secretary, in issuing the orders dated July 21,
1954 and November 15, 1954, respectively, acted without or in excess of
jurisdiction, or with grave abuse of discretion, as to entitle
petitioner-appellant to the remedy prayed for.
We think not. It is uncontroverted that neither Hamoy nor de la
Calzada had perfected their claims over the land in controversy. In
fact in the very order relied upon by Hamoy, it was specifically
stated: “Nothing herein, however, shall be construed as a recognition
by this Office (Bureau of Lands) that the claimant herein (Hamoy) has a
registerable title to the portion excluded from the above application
in his favor.” The land, therefore, is still public land under the
administration and control of the Bureau of Lands and of the Department
of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Hence, in issuing his order dated
July 21, 1954, which set aside the orders of the Director of Lands
dated July 30, 1934 and November 17, 1953, and which required a formal
investigation of the case to determine the preferential sights of Hamoy
and De la Calzada over the land in question, respondent-appellee
Undersecretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources properly acted
within his jurisdiction under Commonwealth Act No. 141 (Public Land Law)[1]
, which entrusts to said official control over the orders or decisions
of the Director of Lands and who may, therefore, modify, adopt, or set
aside, in his discretion, said orders or decision.
Neither did respondent-appellee Executive Secretary, in issuing the
order dated November 15, 1954, by authority of the President, affirming
the aforementioned order of July 21, 1954, of respondent-appellee
Undersecretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, act without or in
excess of his jurisdiction, inasmuch as said official is empowered to
modify, adopt, or set aside the orders or decisions of
respondent-appellee Undersecretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources
brought to him on appeal.[2]
And that is, precisely, what respondent-appellee Executive Secretary
did in the instant case. Finding that the investigation ordered by
respondent-appellee Undersecretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources
was proper and justified by the facts of the case, he affirmed the
order in question. In this connection, it has been held that the lack
of jurisdiction which entitles one to the remedy of certiorari, is that
which is from the beginning, or having jurisdiction, the court, board
or officer oversteps it while acting thereon (Leung Ben vs. O’Brien, 39 Phil., 182; Silvestre vs. Torres, 57 Phil., 885)[3], which circumstances are not present in the case at bar.
We come next to the question of whether said respondents-appellees,
in issuing the orders in question, acted with grave abuse of
discretion. This Court has repeatedly held that there is grave abuse of
discretion justifying the issuance of the writ of certiorari, when
there is a capricious and whimsical exercise of judgment as is
equivalent to lack of jurisdiction (Abad Santos vs. Province of Tarlac, 67 Phil., 480; Tan vs. People, 88 Phil., 609)[4],
as where the power is exercised in an arbitrary or despotic manner by
reason of passion, prejudice, or personal hostility amounting to an
evasion of positive duty or to a virtual refusal to perform the duty
enjoined, or to act at all in contemplation of law (Tavera-Luna, Inc. vs. Nable, 67 Phil., 340; Alafriz vs. Nable, 72 Phil., 278; Liwanag, et al. vs. Castillo, supra, p. 375).
In his order of July 21, 1954, respondent-appellee Undersecretary of
Agriculture and Natural Resources ruled that the orders of the Director
of Lands dated July 30, 1934 and November 17, 1953 should be set aside,
and that in order to determine the preferential rights of the parties
over the land in dispute, a formal investigation of the case should be
conducted. We do not think in issuing said order he thereby gravely
abused his discretion, considering that his action was based on his
finding that petitioner-appellant not only had failed to comply with
the condition imposed in the amicable arrangement of April 19, 1934,
but also because of the subsequent conduct of the parties which
constituted abandonment of the agreement and, therefore, the same was,
in his opinion, rescinded and rendered unenforceable.
Neither did respondent-appellee Executive Secretary act with grave
abuse of discretion in issuing the order of February 10, 1955 affirming
the questioned order of respondent Undersecretary of Agriculture and
Natural Resources, inasmuch as the same was predicated on his finding
similar to that of the latter, that the facts of the case warranted a
formal investigation, for the purpose of determining which of the
parties petitioner-appellant and respondent-appellee De la Calzada had
a better right to the land subject of the controversy.
Wherefore, finding no error in the judgment of the lower court, the
same is hereby affirmed, with costs against the petitioner-appellant.
So ordered.
Paras, C. J., Bengzon, Padilla, Montemayor, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepcion, Reyes, J. B. L., and Endencia, JJ., concur.
Gutierrez David, J., concurs in the result.
[1] See Secs. 3, 4, and 5; see also Sec. 79 (c) (1).
[2] Art. VII (11) (1), Constitution; Sec. 75, Rev. Adm. Code.
[3] Villarica vs. Sison, 60 Phil., 828; Francisco vs. Zandueta, 61 Phil., 752.
[4] See also Rueda vs. Court of Agrarian Relations, supra, p. 300; Liwanag, et al. vs. Castillo, supra, p. 375.