BVR & ASSOCIATES
  • HOME
  • OUR SERVICES
  • About
  • Articles
  • LAW
  • CPA REVIEW

a collections of case digests and laws that can help aspiring law students to become a lawyer


Case Digest: Milestone Farms, Inc. v. Office of the President  G.R. No. 182332, Feb 23, 2011,644 SCRA 2 17 (2011)

7/11/2020

0 Comments

 

Petitioner, was incorporated with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on January 8, 1960. Among its pertinent secondary purposes are: (1) to engage in the raising of cattle, pigs, and other livestock; to acquire lands by purchase or lease, which may be needed for this purpose; and to sell and otherwise dispose of said cattle, pigs, and other livestock and their produce when advisable and beneficial to the corporation; (2) to breed, raise, and sell poultry; to purchase or acquire and sell, or otherwise dispose of the supplies, stocks, equipment, accessories, appurtenances, products, and byproducts of said business; and (3) to import cattle, pigs, and other livestock, and animal food necessary for the raising of said cattle, pigs, and other livestock as may be authorized by law.
On June 10, 1988, a new Agrarian Reform law, Republic Act (R.A.) No. 6657, otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL), took effect, which included the raising of livestock, poultry, and swine in its coverage. However, on December 4, 1990, this Court, sitting en banc, ruled in Luz Farms v. Secretary of the Department of Agrarian Reform that agricultural lands devoted to livestock, poultry, and/or swine raising are excluded from the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).

Thus, in May 1993, petitioner applied for the exemption/exclusion of its several properties from the coverage of the CARL, pursuant to the aforementioned ruling of this Court in Luz Farms. On December 27, 1993, the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) issued Administrative Order No. 9, Series of 1993 (DAR A.O. No. 9), setting forth rules and regulations to govern the exclusion of agricultural lands used for livestock, poultry, and swine raising from CAR coverage. Thus, on January 10, 1994, petitioner redocumented its application pursuant to DAR A.O. No. 9.

The DARs Land Use Conversion and Exemption Committee (LUCEC) of Region IV conducted an ocular inspection on petitioners property and arrived with a recommendation for the exemption of petitioners 316.0422 hectare property from the coverage of CARP. Adopting the LUCECs findings and recommendation, DAR Regional Director  Dalugdug issued an Order exempting petitioners 316.0422 hectare property from CARP.

The Southern Pinugay Farmers Multi Purpose Cooperative, Inc. (Pinugay Farmers), represented by Balajadia, moved for the reconsideration of the said Order, but the same was denied by Director Dalugdug in his Order dated November 24, 1994. Subsequently, the Pinugay Farmers filed a letter appeal with the DAR Secretary.
Correlatively, petitioner filed a complaint for Forcible Entry against Balajadia and company before the Municipal Circuit Trial Court (MCTC) of Teresa Baras, Rizal. The MCTC ruled in favor of petitioner, but the decision was later reversed by the Regional Trial Court, Ultimately, the case reached the CA, which, in its Decision dated October 8, 1999, reinstated the MCTCs ruling, ordering Balajadia and all defendants therein to vacate portions of the property. In its Resolution dated July 31, 2000, the CA held that the defendants therein failed to timely file a motion for reconsideration, given the fact that their counsel of record received its October 8, 1999 Decision; hence, the same became final and executory.

R.A. No. 6657 was amended by R.A. No. 7881, which was approved on February 20, 1995. Private agricultural lands devoted to livestock, poultry, and swine raising were excluded from the coverage of the CARL. On October 22, 1996, the fact finding team formed by the DAR Undersecretary for Field Operations and Support Services conducted an actual headcount of the livestock population on the property. The headcount showed that there were 448 heads of cattle and more than 5,000 heads of swine.
On January 21, 1997, then DAR Secretary  Garilao issued an Order exempting from CARP only 240.9776 hectares of the 316.0422 hectares previously exempted by Director Dalugdug, and declaring 75.0646 hectares of the property to be covered by CARP.

Secretary Garilao opined that, for private agricultural lands to be excluded from CARP, they must already be devoted to livestock, poultry, and swine raising as of June 15, 1988, when the CARL took effect. He found that the Certificates of Ownership of Large Cattle submitted by petitioner showed that only 86 heads of cattle were registered in the name of petitioners president, prior to June 15, 1988; 133 were subsequently bought in 1990, while 204 were registered from 1992 to 1995. Secretary Garilao gave more weight to the certificates rather than to the headcount because the same explicitly provide for the number of cattle owned by petitioner as of June 15, 1988.

Applying the animalland ratio (1 hectare for grazing for every head of cattle/carabao/horse) and the infrastructureanimal ratio (1.7815 hectares for 21 heads of cattle/carabao/horse, and 0.5126 hectare for 21 heads of hogs) under DAR A.O. No. 9, Secretary Garilao exempted 240.9776 hectares of the property.Petitioner filed a Motion for Reconsideration, however, Secretary Garilao denied petitioners Motion for Reconsideration.

Aggrieved, petitioner filed its Memorandum on Appeal before the Office of the President (OP). On February 4, 2000, the OP rendered a decision reinstating Director Dalugdugs Order dated June 27, 1994 and declared the entire 316.0422 hectare property exempt from the coverage of CARP.
However, on separate motions for reconsideration of the aforesaid decision filed by farmergroups Samahang AnakPawis ng Lagundi and Pinugay Farmers, and the Bureau of Agrarian Legal Assistance of DAR, the OP issued a resolution dated September 16, 2002, setting aside its previous decision and a new one entered REINSTATING the Order dated 21 January 1997 of then DAR Secretary Ernesto D. Garilao.

April 29, 2005, the CA found that, based on the documentary evidence presented, the property subject of the application for exclusion had more than satisfied the animal -and and infrastructure-animal ratios under DAR A.O. No. 9. The CA also found that petitioner applied for exclusion long before the effectivity of DAR A.O. No. 9, thus, negating the claim that petitioner merely converted the property for livestock, poultry, and swine raising in order to exclude it from CARP coverage.Meanwhile, six months earlier, or on November 4, 2004, without the knowledge of the CA as the parties did not inform the appellate court then DAR Secretary Villa issued DAR Conversion Order granting petitioners application to convert portions of the 316.0422 hectare property from agricultural to residential and golf courses use.
The CAs decision of April 29, 2005, Motions for Reconsideration were filed by farmergroups, namely: the farmers represented by Espinas (Espinas group), the Pinugay Farmers, and the SAPLAG. The farmergroups all claimed that the CA should have accorded respect to the factual findings of the OP. Moreover, the farmergroups unanimously intimated that petitioner already converted and developed a portion of the property into a leisure residential commercial estate known as the Palo Alto Leisure and Sports Complex .

With the CA now made aware of these developments, particularly Secretary Villas Conversion Order of November 4, 2004, the appellate court had to acknowledge that the property subject of the controversy would now be limited to the remaining 162.7373 hectares. In the same token, the Espinas group prayed that this remaining area be covered by the CARP.CA amended its decision and the 162.7373 hectare agricultural portion is declared covered by CARP. Petitioner filed a Motion for Reconsideration but was denied.

Issue:
Whether or not lands devoted to livestock farming within the meaning of Luz farms and Sutton, and which are thereby exempt from  CARL coverage, are nevertheless subject to DAR’s continuing verification as to use, and, on the basis of such verification, may be ordered reverted to agricultural classification and compulsory acquisition

Held:
YES. The Court held that it is established that that issues of Exclusion and/or Exemption are characterized as Agrarian Law Implementation (ALI) cases which are well within the DAR Secretary’s competence and jurisdiction. It is the DAR Secretary who is vested with such jurisdiction and authority to exempt and/or exclude a property from CARP coverage based on the factual circumstances of each case and in accordance with law and applicable jurisprudence.
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    March 2018

    Categories

    All
    Agrarian Law
    Articles-of-incorporation
    By-laws
    Constitutional Law
    Criminal Law
    Law
    Persons And Family Relations

    RSS Feed

Copyright Notice
Copyright © – 2020, All Rights Reserved.

Disclaimer
This  project primarily designed to assist students of law  and accounting in their studies. It is merely a tool. The use of our Services does not guarantee success in obtaining a law/accounting degree nor in passing the Bar/Board Exams. We makes no warranties or representations of any kind, whether expressed or implied for the Services provided.
The cases, laws, and other publications found in this site are of public domain, collected from public sources such as the Supreme Court online library. The content however have been heavily modified, formatted, and optimized for better user experience, and are no longer perfect copies of their original. We gives no warranty for the accuracy or the completeness of the materials. We also reserves the right to further improve, add, modify, or remove content with or without prior announcements.
This site also contains materials published by the students, professors, lawyers, and other users of the our Services. These materials are owned by such users and of their sole responsibility. While we may review user-published content, please do not assume that content you are accessing has been reviewed or curated. You may report abusive content through the listed contact details.
We does not guarantee against any loss or damage caused by third persons, delays, interruptions, unavailability, or by the termination of its Services.
We reserves the right to amend the terms and policies for its Services.

Terms of Service
By using our Services, you are agreeing to these terms. Please read them carefully.
Access our Services only through the interface and instructions provided. Do not misuse the Services, or use them in such ways that may interfere their availability, or in ways that may cause discredit to you, your school, or your profession.
These terms do not give you ownership of any intellectual property rights to the content you access on our Services. Do not use content from our Services other than for personal purposes unless you obtain permission from its owner or are otherwise permitted by law. Do not remove, obscure, or alter any legal notices and attributions displayed in or along with our Services.
We may send you service announcements, administrative messages, and other information. You may opt out of some of those communications.
Our Services are designed to be accessible on mobile devices. Do not use such Services in a way that distracts you and prevents you from obeying traffic or safety laws.
We may suspend or stop providing our Services to you if you do not comply with these terms and policies or if we are investigating suspected misconduct.

Privacy
Some services require you to login or register with minimal personal information this site.
Collected Information
Collected information includes user name, email address, Facebook ID and photo. The user may also optionally provide school, year level, BAR year, profession, office, address, and other information which may assist in improving our Services.
Uses of the Information
The collected information will only be used in connection with the use or for the improvement of our Services.
Users Created Content
Content created by users are published and shared for public use. Published content is always attributed to the author through his user account. A user may remain anonymous by changing his "display name" under his profile.
Data Analytics
We conducts data analytics for the improvement of the usability and design of our Services and the user experience. These may include but not limited to tracking time spent on the site, services availed, number of contents created or shared.

Content
Our Services allow you to create casebooks, digests, outlines, notes, and other content. You retain ownership of intellectual property rights that you hold in that content.
When you create content through our Services, you give us (and those we work with) a worldwide license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify, create derivative works, communicate, publish, publicly perform, publicly display and distribute such content. This license continues even if you stop using our Services (for example: your list of cases, digests, and outlines in your casebooks).
Make sure you have the necessary rights to grant us this license for any content that you submit to our Services.
We reserves the right to review your published content and may remove materials that are offensive, abusive, of no value, or not in line with the purpose of our Services. The amount of content or materials that you publish may be limited by us.
We also used cookies in our website.

Contact Us
  • HOME
  • OUR SERVICES
  • About
  • Articles
  • LAW
  • CPA REVIEW