G.R. No. 154094. March 9, 2010.
DEPARTMENT OF AGRARIAN REFORM, represented by SECRETARY HERNANI A. BRAGANZA, Petitioner, vs. PABLO BERENGUER, BELINDA BERENGUER, CARLO BERENGUER, ROSARIO BERENGUER-LANDERS, and REMEDIOS BERENGUER-LINTAG, Respondents.

FACTS

The respondents were the registered owners of several residential and industrial lands totaling 58.0649 hectares in Barangay Bibincahan, Sorsogon, Sorsogon, covered by multiple Transfer Certificates of Title. In April 1998, they received from the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) notices of coverage under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP). They protested and filed an application for exclusion, arguing the lands were outside CARP coverage as they were originally for pasture and livestock and were already classified as residential and industrial. In October and November 1998, the DAR Secretary, without acting on the application, cancelled the respondents’ titles and issued Certificates of Land Ownership Awards (CLOAs) to the Baribag Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries Development Cooperative (Baribag). On February 15, 1999, the DAR Regional Director denied the application for exclusion. The respondents appealed to the DAR Secretary. Pending this appeal, on March 9, 1999, Baribag filed a petition with the Regional Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (RARAD) to implement the denial order. On March 15, 1999, RARAD Isabel Florin issued a writ placing Baribag in possession. On April 6, 1999, the Acting DAR Secretary denied the respondents’ appeal. The respondents filed a petition for certiorari before the Court of Appeals (CA), which treated it as a petition for review. The CA granted the petition, reversed the DAR Secretary’s order, set aside the writs, ordered the cancellation of Baribag’s CLOAs, and directed the DAR to restore the respondents’ possession. The DAR appealed.

ISSUE

1. Whether the CA erred in treating the respondents’ petition for certiorari as a petition for review.
2. Whether the respondents’ landholdings are subject to CARP coverage.

RULING

1. Procedural Issue: The CA did not err in treating the petition for certiorari as a petition for review. Following the precedent in Department of Education v. Cuanan, a petition for certiorari filed within the reglementary period for a petition for review may be treated as such, especially when the questioned order is a patent nullity. Here, the writ of execution issued by RARAD Florin was a patent nullity because Baribag was not a party to the exclusion proceedings and the issuance was premature as the denial order was still under appeal.
2. Substantive Issue: The respondents’ landholdings are not subject to CARP coverage. The lands were classified as residential and industrial prior to June 15, 1988, as evidenced by: (a) a certification from the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) approving the Town Plan/Zoning Ordinance of Sorsogon classifying Barangay Bibincahan as residential and commercial; (b) an excerpt from the Comprehensive Development Plan showing the area as part of the Central Business District; (c) Sangguniang Bayan Resolution No. 5, series of 1981, expanding the poblacion to include Barangay Bibincahan; (d) a certification from the Municipal Zoning Administrator; and (e) Department of Justice Opinion No. 44, series of 1990. Lands classified as non-agricultural prior to the effectivity of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law (CARL) are outside its coverage. Furthermore, the designation of Baribag members as beneficiaries was erroneous as they were not the tenants or tillers of the land.
The Supreme Court denied the DAR’s petition and affirmed the CA decision. The DAR Secretary was ordered to cancel the CLOAs issued to Baribag, reinstate the respondents’ titles, and restore their possession.