GR 128177; (August, 2001) (Digest)
G.R. No. 128177 ; August 15, 2001
HEIRS OF ROMAN SORIANO, petitioners, vs. THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS, SPOUSES BRAULIO ABALOS and AQUILINA ABALOS, respondents.
FACTS
The property is a parcel of land in Lingayen, Pangasinan, originally owned by Adriano Soriano. Upon his death, his heirs leased it to spouses David de Vera and Consuelo Villasista, with Roman Soriano as caretaker. The heirs later subdivided and sold portions of the land to respondent spouses Braulio and Aquilina Abalos. Roman Soriano was ousted as caretaker by the de Vera spouses in 1968, leading him to file CAR Case No. 1724-P-68 for reinstatement. The Court of Appeals reversed an initial ejectment order, and the parties entered into a post-decisional agreement approved by the agrarian court in 1972, allowing Roman Soriano to sub-lease until 1982. Meanwhile, the Abalos spouses filed an application for registration of title over the lots they purchased, which was granted by the land registration court in 1983 and affirmed by the Court of Appeals; the Supreme Court denied Roman Soriano’s petition for review. After the registration decision, Roman Soriano and others filed a civil case for annulment/redemption, which was eventually ordered dismissed by the Supreme Court. In 1984, the Abalos spouses moved for execution of the 1972 post-decisional agreement in the agrarian case to gain possession, but the Supreme Court later denied this motion. The land registration court partially executed its decision, partitioning the land and issuing titles. In 1993, the Heirs of Roman Soriano filed DARAB Case No. 528-P-93 for “Security of Tenure.” When the Abalos spouses moved for an alias writ of possession in the land registration case after the civil case’s dismissal, the land registration court held the motion in abeyance pending resolution of the DARAB case. The Court of Appeals reversed this, ordering the issuance of the writ of possession.
ISSUE
May a winning party in a land registration case effectively eject the possessor thereof, whose security of tenure rights are still pending determination before the DARAB?
RULING
No. A judgment in a land registration case cannot be effectively used to oust the possessor of the land, whose security of tenure rights are still pending determination before the DARAB. The prevailing party in a land registration case cannot be placed in possession of the area while it is being occupied by one claiming to be an agricultural tenant, pending a declaration that the latter’s occupancy was unlawful. The Supreme Court granted the petition, set aside the Decision and Resolution of the Court of Appeals, and reinstated the Resolution of the Regional Trial Court holding the motion for an alias writ of possession in abeyance pending the DARAB case.