GR L 35479; (February, 1974) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-35479 February 28, 1974
HON. MANUEL B. SYQUIO, Secretary of Public Works and Communications, ALMARIO C. LIBIRAN, Officer-in-Charge, Office of the District Engineer, Malolos, Bulacan, petitioners, vs. HON. ANDRES STA. MARIA, Presiding Judge of the Court of First Instance of Bulacan Branch II, and ALFREDO CLEMENTE, respondents.
FACTS
The Secretary of Public Works and Communications, in an administrative case, ordered Alfredo Clemente to remove encroachments and a store he constructed on the bed of the Taliptip River in Bulacan, finding it to be a public navigable stream. Clemente, however, had a pending application for land registration covering the same reclaimed portion. To prevent the execution of the Secretary’s order, Clemente filed a civil case with the Court of First Instance of Bulacan, which subsequently declared the Secretary’s decision null and void and issued a permanent restraining order against its enforcement.
The petitioners, the Secretary and a district engineer, appealed to the Supreme Court via certiorari. They argued that the respondent judge acted with grave abuse of discretion in annulling the administrative order, contending that the Secretary had clear jurisdiction under Republic Act No. 2056 to order the removal of obstructions in public navigable waters regardless of any pending land registration proceeding.
ISSUE
The sole issue is whether the Secretary of Public Works and Communications retains jurisdiction to order the removal of an obstruction in a public navigable river under Republic Act No. 2056 , despite the pendency of a land registration case over the same area.
RULING
The Supreme Court ruled in favor of the petitioners, reinstating the decision of the Secretary of Public Works. The Court held that the jurisdiction of the Secretary under R.A. No. 2056 is clear and categorical: to order the removal of any works encroaching upon public navigable waters after due notice and hearing. The property in question was determined to be part of a public navigable river bed, not private property subject to lawful possession. An obstruction that creates an alleged private claim does not convert the public character of the navigable stream.
The pendency of a land registration application does not divest the Secretary of his statutory power or necessitate a suspension of the administrative proceedings. To hold otherwise would allow the expedient of filing a registration case to emasculate the law and paralyze the government’s duty to keep public waterways clear. The Court cited precedents establishing that the Secretary’s power extends even to properties under the Torrens system if they are found to be part of a public stream. The Secretary’s factual findings, arrived at after a fair hearing and supported by substantial evidence, are entitled to great respect and should not be interfered with by the courts absent fraud, collusion, or grave abuse of discretion. The respondent court therefore committed grave abuse of discretion in nullifying the valid administrative order.