FACTS
Private
respondent Jose Pascual owned 3 parcels of land located in Guttaran, Cagayan.
Pursuant to the Land Reform Program of the Government under PD 27 and EO 228, the Department of Agrarian Reform
placed these lands under its Operation Land Transfer. The Office of the
Secretary of Agrarian Reform also conducted its own valuation proceedings and requiring herein petitioner Land
Bank of the Philippines to pay the amount. Private
respondent Jose Pascual, opposing the recommended AGP of the PARO, filed a
petition for the annulment of the recommendation on the productivity and
valuation of the land covered by OLT, subject matter hereof, with the
Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board. The PARAD ruled in favor of
private respondent nullifying the AGP recommended by the PARO.
After
receiving notice of the decision of the PARAD, private respondent accepted the
valuation. However, when the
judgment became final and executory, petitioner LBP as the financing arm in the
operation of PD 27 and EO 228 refused to pay thus forcing private respondent to
apply for a Writ of Execution with the PARAD. Secretary of the DAR wrote a
letter to petitioner LBP requiring the latter to pay the amount stated in the
judgment of the PARAD. Despite the letter of Secretary, petitioner LBP remained
adamant in its refusal to pay private respondent. It reiterated its stand that the PARAD
had no jurisdiction to value lands covered by PD 27.
ISSUE
Whether
DARAB has jurisdiction to determine the valuation of lands
RULING
Yes. The
petitioner contends that Section 12, par. (b), of PD 946 provides that the
valuation of lands covered by PD 27 is under the exclusive jurisdiction of the
Secretary of Agrarian Reform. Petitioner
asserts that Sec. 17 of EO 229
and Sec. 50 of RA No. 6657, which granted DAR the exclusive
jurisdiction over all agrarian reform matters thereby divesting the Court of
Agrarian Relations of such power, did not repeal Sec. 12, par. (b), of PD 946. Petitioner now attempts to reconcile
the pertinent laws by saying that only the Secretary of Agrarian Reform can
determine the value of rice and corn lands under Operation Land Transfer of PD
27, while on the other hand, all other lands covered by RA 6657 (CARL) shall be
valued by the DARAB, hence, the DARAB of the DAR has no jurisdiction to
determine the value of the lands covered by OLT under PD 27.
The above provision (Sec. 17) should be deemed to have repealed Sec. 12 (a) and (b) of Presidential
Decree No. 946 which invested
the then courts of agrarian relations with original exclusive jurisdiction over
cases and questions involving rights granted and obligations imposed by
presidential issuances promulgated in relation to the agrarian reform program. For on the contrary, it
is the DARAB which has the authority to determine the initial valuation of
lands involving agrarian reform although
such valuation may only be considered preliminary as the final determination of
just compensation is vested in the courts.
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