GR 244433 Leonen (Digest)
G.R. No. 244433 , April 19, 2022
ANTONIO R. CRUZ AND LORETO TERESITA CRUZ-DIMAYACYAC, AS HEIRS OF THE LATE SPOUSES DR. PROGEDIO R. CRUZ AND TERESA REYES, PETITIONERS, VS. CARLING CERVANTES AND CELIA CERVANTES SANTOS AND ALL PERSONS CLAIMING RIGHTS UNDER THEM, RESPONDENTS.
FACTS
This case involves a Concurring Opinion by Justice Leonen in an agrarian dispute. The Municipal Trial Court referred the case to the Provincial Agrarian Reform Office (PARO) of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) pursuant to the mandatory referral mechanism under Section 50-A of Republic Act No. 6657 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law), as amended. The PARO issued a Certification stating the case was agrarian in nature and recommended its dismissal for lack of jurisdiction. However, this Certification failed to state the findings of fact upon which its determination was based, as required by DAR Administrative Order No. 03-11, as amended.
ISSUE
Whether the Certification issued by the Provincial Agrarian Reform Office (PARO) complied with the requirements of DAR Administrative Order No. 03-11, as amended, and was thus valid and reliable.
RULING
The Concurring Opinion agreed with the ponencia that the PARO’s Certification was defective. While concurring with the main decision’s findings on the mandatory referral mechanism and the sufficiency of “any kind of evidence” to trigger it, Justice Leonen specifically found that the Certification violated DAR rules. The Certification merely declared the case agrarian because it involved agricultural land and an ejectment cause of action, but it inordinately and arbitrarily failed to state the factual basis for this determination as required by the last paragraph of Section 9 of the relevant Administrative Order. This lack of articulation rendered the Certification defective and unreliable. The Opinion disagreed with characterizing the PARO’s findings as merely recommendatory, viewing this as an unnecessary declaration for the resolution of the instant case, which was centered on the Certification’s procedural defect.