GR 161844; (December, 2008) (Digest)
G.R. No. 161844, December 8, 2008
RAFAEL M. CONCEPCION, petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS and LAND BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Rafael M. Concepcion was the owner of four parcels of irrigated rice land in Tarlac, with a total area of 26.6497 hectares, placed under Presidential Decree No. 27. The Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) fixed the just compensation for the lands. Petitioner filed a complaint before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Tarlac, Branch 63, acting as a Special Agrarian Court, to fix the just compensation. The RTC, in its Decision dated December 18, 1997, fixed just compensation at P100,000 per hectare. Respondent Land Bank of the Philippines filed an ordinary appeal from the RTC Decision before the Court of Appeals, docketed as CA-G.R. CV No. 60227. In a Resolution promulgated on November 6, 2002, the Court of Appeals dismissed the appeal, citing the Supreme Court’s September 10, 2002 Decision in Land Bank of the Phil. v. De Leon, which ruled that the proper mode of appeal from a Special Agrarian Court decision is by petition for review, not ordinary appeal. Respondent filed a motion for reconsideration. In a Resolution dated December 11, 2003, the Court of Appeals granted the motion and reinstated the appeal, citing the Supreme Court’s March 20, 2003 Resolution in Land Bank of the Phil. v. De Leon, which partially granted reconsideration and held that the ruling on the mode of appeal shall apply only prospectively after the finality of said Resolution. Hence, petitioner filed this petition for certiorari and prohibition.
ISSUE
Whether the ruling of the Supreme Court in Land Bank of the Phil. v. De Leon applies in this case.
RULING
The Supreme Court DISMISSED the petition and AFFIRMED the November 6, 2002 and December 11, 2003 Resolutions of the Court of Appeals. The Court ruled that the prospective application of Land Bank of the Phil. v. De Leon has long been settled. The rule that a petition for review under Rule 42 is the correct mode of appeal from decisions of Special Agrarian Courts applies only after the finality of the March 20, 2003 Resolution in Land Bank of the Phil. v. De Leon. A notice of appeal filed before March 20, 2003 may still be given due course. In this case, respondent’s appeal was filed before the finality of Land Bank of the Phil. v. De Leon. Thus, the Court of Appeals did not commit grave abuse of discretion in reinstating the ordinary appeal.