THIRD DIVISION
[G.R. No. 162109. January 21, 2005]
LAPANDAY AGRICULTURAL & DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION (L.S.
VENTURES, INC., ALREADY MERGED WITH LAPANDAY
AGRICULTURAL AND DEVELOPMENT
CORP.), petitioner, vs. MAXIMO ESTITA, JUANITO ABASOLO,
PEDRO ALQUIZA, ISMAEL ALFAR, MANUEL ALFAR, ERLINDA
S. ARIS, PAULO ABLAA, RUFO ALIPUYO, MARY ANION,
ROSALIO ALFAR, AQUILINO ABILIS, HERSON ALFANTA,
GETRODEZ BALANAY, ELENA BATO-BATO, ALBERTO
BOHOLST, PRISCILA CABATUAN, VICTORINO CABATUAN,
RUPERTO CABATUAN, CRISTINO CONANG, PANFILO,
CABIGAS, APOLINARIO CABIGAS, EUSTAQUIO CELEN,
ANTONIA COMENDADOR, POLICARPIO CLARIDO, JOSE
CABONITA, CANDELARIO COSEP, GUILLERMO CASINILLO,
SEBASTIAN CASINILLO, JOSE CAMUS, MARGARITO CLARIDO,
JUAN CABAOG, MARIAS CABAOG, MARIAS CABAOG,
TEOFISTA CASAS, ISMAEL CLARIDO, TOMASA BUDIANG,
SOZIMA CASAS, LEONARDO CEJAS, JOSUE DANDAN, EFREN
DEL RIO, LEONARDO DELLO, PABLO DINALO, BERNARDITO
EUSALINA, EGMEDIO EUSALINA, PELAGIO ESTITA, MAMERTA
ENERO, MARCELINA ENERO, REMEGIO ENERO, MATEO
ENERO, PLACIDO ESPINOSA, ANA FRANCO, MELVIN FRANCO,
ELESIO GEONSON, CIRIACO GEONSON, URBANO GEONSON,
CIRIACO GEONSON, MARINA GEONSON, TEOFILO GEONSON,
GAUDIOSO GEONSON, ANACLITO GEONSON, LAREANA
GEONSON, URBANO GEONSON, ANDRICA GIOCA, MARCILA
GEALON, RODRIGO GEALON, PATERNO GUMBA, AGAPITO
GUMBA, FRANCISCO HERSAMIO, ROMEO INONG, ABDON
INONG, ANDRES YBAEZ, ALBINA JIMENEZ, SERGIO JIMENEZ,
SIMPLICIO LABRADO, ENCARNACION LASCUA, IGNACIA
LASCUA, MELCHOR LACANG, MAURITO LOQUIO, GAUDIOSO
LASCUA, PRIMO MONTAEZ, JOSE MONTAEZ, BEINVINIDO
MONTAEZ, PABLO MENDOZA, JUANITA MENDOZA, VICENTE
MACION, JR., CIPRIANA MACION, EDUARDO MONTOYA,
CESAR MADRAGA, JUSTO NORO, ALEXANDER NORO,
DOMINGO NORO, FERMIN NORO, QUINTIN NORO, MAURO
NORO, ULPIANO NORO, GERTRODEZ NORO, ENRIQUE
OBENZA, DANILO OBENZA, LEONARDO PEPITO, EULALIO
PANLAAN, EDILITO PAMULAWAN, LEONILA PACIONES,
REMEDIOS PACIONES, REGALADO PACIONES, JAIME
RECEBAS, RODRIGO REBUYAS, AMANCIO RESGONIA,
EPETACIO ROLUNA, LEONARDO ROTAQUIOU, ISIDRA RAMOS,
HERMINIGILDO SELGAS, LILIA TAPIC, ISIDRO TALAOGON,
IGMEDIO VILLARIN, EUGENIA BRIGOLE, FLAVIANO
BATOBATO, MANUELA PIALA, CLAUDIA ENERO, GEORGE
COSEP, ANTONIO COSEP, ALFREDO MENDOZA, ALBERTO
MENDOZA, QUINTIN JABELLO, DOLORES JABILLO, ROLUNA
DIONESIO, LOLITA ALFOJA, TOCAO RODOLFO, AVELINO,
CABONIA, GAUDENCIO VILLARAMIA, MARIA PESIAO AND
SOFIO ANTIPUESTO, VICTORIANO CASAS, CELEDONIO
CARILLO, CONCHITA CARILLO, CORNELIO BAYARCAL,
AURELIO GALLARDO, FRANCISCA CARTAGENA, AVELINO
CABONITA, BALBINO HERSAMIO, TEOFISTO ABALAA, NORMA
GANTUANCO and PATERNO GUMBA and/or MEMBERS OF THE
DAVAO DEL SUR FARMERS ASSOCIATION
(DASURFA), respondents.
DECISION
GARCIA, J.:
In this verified petition for review on certiorari, petitioner Lapanday Agricultural &
Development Corporation assails and seeks the annulment of the following issuances
of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 71230, to wit:
1. Decision dated September 3, 2003,[1] declaring as valid an earlier decision
dated January 17, 2001 of the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board
(DARAB) in DARAB Case No. 8117, which, in turn, affirmed with modification the
resolution dated October 20, 1997 of the DAR Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator of
Digos, Davao del Sur in a land dispute involving the vast agricultural land of the late
Orval Hughes at Malalag, Davao del Sur; and
2. Resolution dated January 19, 2004,[2] denying petitioners motion for
reconsideration.
We lift from the decision under review and reproduce hereunder the factual
backdrop of the case, thus:
The instant petition involves a vast tract of an agricultural land with an area of 716
hectares located at Malalag, Davao del Sur. On July 28, 1924, this land was leased
by the Government to Orval Hughes for a period of twenty-five (25) years under
Lease Application No. 815 (E-172). The lease actually expired on May 25, 1952, it
having been extended for three (3) years. Orval Hughes died and was survived by his
five (5) heirs who then filed their Sales Application Nos. V-11538, V-12992, V-13837,
V-14586 and V- 15003 with the Bureau of Lands. Teodulo Tocao, et al., filed a
protest against the sales application.
On August 20, 1957, the Office of the President gave due course to the applications to
cover only 317 hectares at 63 hectares per heir as per OCT No. P-4712 but awarded
399 hectares to 133 protesters [led by Teodulo Tocao] at three (3) hectares each.
On September 17, 1981, the Ministry of Natural Resources issued an Order
implementing said decision (Annex N, Rollo, pp. 160-164). However, the 133
petitioners listed in the said Order were not in possession of the land allotted to them.
So, they formed the Malalag Land Petitioners Association, Inc. (The Association)
headed by one Cecilio R. Mangubat Sr.
On the other hand, those in possession of the land sought the assistance of the
Malalag Ventures Plantation Inc., in its development into a viable banana production
project to which the corporation acceded.
Meanwhile, on November 12, 1987, the Supreme Court in Minister of Natural
Resources vs. Heirs of Orval Hughes, 155 SCRA 566, sustained the OP decision and
it became final and executory.
On December 12, 1991, the association, through its president Mr. Mangubat, sent a
letter to the management of Lapanday Group of Companies, Inc. manifesting that they
were no longer interested in the government grant under the Order of the Ministry of
Natural Resources and offered to transfer and waive whatever interest they have over
the subject land for a monetary consideration (Annex O, Rollo, p. 165).
Mr. Mangubat was the first to relinquish his right for P54,000.00 (Annex P, Rollo, p.
166). The individual respondents allegedly followed suit. He facilitated the
relinquishment in the Office of the Commission on the Settlement of Land Problems
(COSLAP) (Annex Q, Rollo, pp. 167-169).
It therefore came as a surprise when, on January 17, 1995, the individual respondents
filed [against Lapanday and/or L.S. Ventures, Inc., the Heirs of Orval Hughes, the
DENR/COSLAP and Cecilio Mangubat, Sr.] the following cases: forcible entry,
reinstatement, nullification of affidavits of quitclaims, relinquishment, waiver and any
other documents on disposition of lands before the Provincial Agrarian Reform
Adjudication Board (PARAD) of Digos, Davao, del Sur. They alleged that since 1947,
they had been the share tenants-tillers, openly and continuously, of the late Orval
Hughes and his heirs and they remained as such on the 317 hectares land (Annexes A
& B, Rollo, pp. 40-72).
They further averred that on February 11, 1991, petitioner-corporation, Hughes heirs
and Cecilio Mangubat Sr., conspiring together, misled them to receive P54,000.00
each as rentals on their respective landholdings and deceived to sign receipts in
English which turned out to be affidavits of quitclaims in favor of the petitioner
(Annex E, PARAD Decision dated July 9, 1997, p. 3; Rollo, p. 111).
Petitioner [Lapanday Agricultural & Development Corporation] opposed said
actions for being factually and legally baseless, there being no entity by the name of
Lapanday and L.S. Ventures Inc. which has agricultural operation in Davao del Sur.
The fact is that said company had already merged with Lapanday Agricultural and
Development Corporation (Annexes C & M, Rollo, pp. 73-79 & 159, respectively).
In a decision dated July 9, 1997, [3] the DAR Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator
of Digos, Davao del Sur, Mardonio L. Edica, rendered judgment in favor of the Malalag
Ventures Plantation, Inc. and declared the entire 716-hectare property as covered by
the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program or CARP. More specifically, the decision
dispositively reads:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, a decision is hereby rendered declaring that the
entire 716 hectares shall be covered by CARP. The portion planted to bananas by the
Malalag Plantation Ventures shall be governed by Sections 13 and 32 of Republic Act
No. 6657 in favor of Malalag Land Petitioner Association. The Operation Division of
the Provincial Agrarian Reform Office shall implement this decision in accordance
with existing guidelines, rules and regulations.
The heirs of Orval Hughes are hereby ordered to reinstate the Malalag Land
Petitioners Association. Leasehold tenancy shall be observed collectively, pending
recommendation by the PARO Operations Division, without prejudice to the outcome
of the cases still pending with the administrative agencies and the regular courts.
SO ORDERED.
Upon motion for reconsideration, Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator Mardonio
L. Edica, in a Resolution dated October 20, 1997, [4] modified his aforequoted decision of
July 9, 1997 by specifically directing Lapanday and/or L.S. Ventures, Inc. to turn over
the area involved for CARP coverage, and ordering the Hughes heirs to reinstate the
members of the Davao del Sur Farmers Association (DASUFRA) as leasehold tenants
of the subject land. We quote the dispositive portion of the same Resolution:
WHEREFORE, the decision of 9 July 1997 is hereby modified to read:
Declaring that the entire 716 hectares shall be covered by CARP. The portion planted
to bananas by the Malalag Plantation Ventures, Inc. shall be governed by Sections 13
and 32 of Republic Act No. 6657 in favor of qualified members of the Malalag Land
Petitioners Association (MLPA), and the remaining portion shall be allotted to all
deserving and listed members of the Davao del Sur Farmers Association
(DASUFRA). The LAPANDAY, L.S. Ventures and/or the Malalag Plantation
Ventures, Inc. is hereby mandated to turn over the area involved for CARP coverage.
The Operations division of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Office of Davao del Sur is
likewise mandated to implement this resolution in accordance with existing
guidelines, rules and regulations.
The heirs of Orval Hughes are hereby ordered to reinstate the members of the
DASUFRA. Leasehold tenancy shall be observed collectively pending documentation
of the area by the PARO Operations Division regardless of the outcome of the cases
still pending with the administrative agencies and the regular courts.
The local National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines or any of the component
units are hereby directed to assist the DAR in the enforcement and/or implementation
of this resolution xxx.
This resolution is immediately executory.
SO ORDERED.
From the aforequoted resolution of the Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator,
Lapanday and/or L.S. Ventures, Inc., went on appeal to the Department of Agrarian
Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB), at Quezon City where the appeal was docketed
as DARAB Case No. 8117.
In a decision dated January 17, 2001,[5] the DARAB, ruling that the Provincial
Agrarian Reform Adjudicator had no jurisdiction to declare the entire 716-hectare
landholding as covered by the CARP and that the only issue within his competence is to
find out whether sufficient grounds exist to warrant respondents dispossession from the
317-hectare portion thereof which was earlier awarded to the heirs of Orval Hughes,
modified the appealed resolution of Provincial Adjudicator Edica, thus:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the appealed Resolution of October 20, 1997, is
hereby MODIFIED to read as follows:
1. Ordering respondents heirs of Orval Hughes to vacate the premises of the 133 (sic,
should be 399) hectares which were long ago awarded to 133 awardees who were
identified in the Order of Natural Resources Minister dated September 17, 1981, and
turn over the peaceful possession thereof to the said 133 awardees or their heirs;
2. Ordering respondents Lapanday and/or L.S. Ventures and Hughes heirs to restore
petitioners Maximo Estita, et al., to their respective farmlots within the 317 hectares
owned by the Hughes Heirs; and
3. Declaring the nullity of the quitclaims allegedly executed by petitioners.
The matter of placing the 317 hectares under CARP shall be pursued in the proper
forum which is the Office of the Honorable DAR Secretary.
This decision is immediately executory.
SO ORDERED.
With their motion for reconsideration of the same decision having been denied by
DARAB in its Resolution of March 15, 2002, Lapanday and/or L.S. Ventures, Inc., this
time under the name Lapanday Agricultural & Development Corporation (the herein
petitioner), elevated the case to the Court of Appeals via a petition for review, thereat
docketed as CA-G.R. SP No. 71230.
As stated at the threshold hereof, the Court of Appeals, in a Decision dated
September 3, 2003,[6] denied petitioners recourse thereto for being merely dilatory and
accordingly upheld the validity of the aforementioned DARAB decision of 17 January
2001 and resolution of 15 March 2002, as follows:
WHEREFORE, in consonance with the Supreme Courts directive not to further delay
the implementation of the August 20, 1957 Decision, the instant petition is hereby
DENIED for being dilatory. The assailed Decision of the DARAB dated 17 January
2001 and Resolution dated 15 March 2002 are declared VALID.
Petitioner and its counsel are warned not to further resort to measures of this nature,
otherwise, they shall be dealt with severely for having abused the processes of the
courts.
The individual respondents who received the amount of P54,000.00 are ordered to
return the same to the petitioner.
SO ORDERED.
In time, petitioner moved for a reconsideration, which motion was denied by the
same court in the herein equally assailed Resolution dated January 19, 2004 [7] for
being merely pro forma.
Hence, this recourse by petitioner Lapanday Agricultural & Development
Corporation on its basic submission that the Department of Agrarian Reform thru its
Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator, the DARAB and the Court of Appeals all erred
(1) in assuming jurisdiction over an issue covering a public land; and (2) in rendering
judgment against it even as it is not a real party-in-interest in the case.
The petition is bereft of merit.
Before going any further, however, we shall first address respondents concern as to
what remedy petitioner has resorted to in coming to this Court: whether by petition for
review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, wherein only questions of law
may be raised, albeit jurisprudence extends this remedy even to questions of fact in
exceptional cases,[8] or by the special civil action of certiorari under Rule 65,
whereunder the main inquiry is whether there is grave abuse of discretion or lack of
jurisdiction.
While the petition raises jurisdictional issue, it is apparent from our reading thereof
that the same is a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45. For one, the very
recourse itself is captioned as a petition for review on certiorari. For another, even as
petitioner came to this Court from a final decision of the Court of Appeals, the latter is
not impleaded as a nominal party-respondent in the petition thus filed, as in fact the
ones impleaded as respondents in the caption thereof are only the very same original
parties to the case while still in the offices a quo.
We shall then deal with the petition as one filed under Rule 45 and treat the alleged
lack of jurisdiction on the part of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR), the DARAB
and the Court of Appeals as allegation of reversible error.
Petitioner first contends that the subject landholding is still part of the public domain,
hence, still under the jurisdiction of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources (DENR) and, therefore, beyond the coverage of the Comprehensive
Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
There can be no debate at all that under the Public Land Act, the management and
disposition of public lands is under the primary control of the Director of Lands (now the
Director of the Lands Management Bureau or LMB) subject to review by the DENR
Secretary[9]
The hard reality in this case, however, is that the land in question has ceased to be
public, as in fact it is already titled. As found by both the DARAB and the Court of
Appeals, the 317-hectare land awarded to the Hughes Heirs is covered by Original
Certificate of Title No. P-4712, the existence of which was never refuted by the
petitioner. Specifically, the DARAB decision of January 17, 2001, [10] partly states:
On August 20, 1957 the Office of the President gave due course to applications to
cover only 317 hectares at 63 hectares each heir as per OCT No. P-4712 but
awarding 399 hectares to 133 awardees at three (3) hectares each (Emphasis
supplied),
a finding reechoed on page 3 of the CA decision of September 3, 2003. [11]
With the above, and bearing in mind that the CARP covers, regardless of tenurial
arrangement and commodity produce, all public and private agricultural lands, [12] with
the DAR vested with primary jurisdiction to determine and adjudicate, through its
adjudication boards, agrarian reform matters, and exclusive jurisdiction over all matters
involving the implementation of the agrarian reform program, [13] we rule and so hold,
contrary to petitioners assertion, that the DAR, thru its Provincial Agrarian Reform
Adjudicator at Digos, Davao del Sur correctly took cognizance of the case in the first
instance.
Petitioner next argues that the DARAB decision, as affirmed by the Court of
Appeals, ordering Lapanday and/or L.S. Ventures Inc. to restore [respondents] Maximo
Estita et al. to their respective farm lots within the 317 hectares owned by the Hughes
Heirs, has no valid force and effect against petitioner because it is not a real party-in-
interest, pointing out that Lapanday and/or L.S. Ventures, Inc., are separate and distinct
from petitioners corporate personality. Petitioner asserts that Lapanday has no juridical
personality, while the corporate life of L.S. Ventures Inc. has ceased when said entity
merged with petitioner in 1996. Moreover, petitioner points out that it has no business
operations in Davao del Sur where the land in question lies.
We are not persuaded.
To begin with, it is basic in the law of procedure that misjoinder of parties is not a
ground for the dismissal of an action, as parties may be dropped or added by order of
the court on motion of any party or on its own initiative at any stage of the proceedings
and on such terms as are just[14]
Then, too, there is the rule that objections to defects in parties should be made at
the earliest opportunity, that is, at the moment such defect becomes apparent, by a
motion to strike the names of the parties wrongly impleaded. For, objections to
misjoinder cannot be raised for the first time on appeal. [15]
Here, aside from unsubstantiated denials that it is not the party referred to in the
complaint for forcible entry, etc., commenced by the respondents before the office of the
Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator of Digos, Davao del Sur, petitioner did not even
file a motion to strike its name in all the proceedings below. Quite the contrary, and as
correctly found by the Court of Appeals in the decision under review, petitioner
corporation -
x x x filed an Answer (Annex D, Rollo, pp.91-96) thereby submitting to the
jurisdiction of the Board. The same answer bears the name LAPANDAY AND/OR L.S.
VENTURES, INC., signed by its representative Caesar E. Barcenas and assisted by
its counsel Jose V. Yap (Ibid, Rollo, p. 96). This alone negates the petitioners stance
that there is no entity by the name of Lapanday and that L.S. Ventures, Inc. is
seperate and distinct from any company (see Annex M Rollo, p. 159 on Merger of
Lapanday Agricultural & Development Corporation and L.S. Ventures, Inc.). And
such admission made by the petitioner in the course of the proceedings in this case,
does not require proof (Sec. 4, Rule 129 of the Revised Rules on Evidence).
Petitioners filing of an Answer has thereby cured whatever jurisdictional defect it
now raises. As we have said time and again, the active participation of a party in a case
pending against him before a court or a quasi judicial body, is tantamount to a
recognition of that courts or bodys jurisdiction and a willingness to abide by the
resolution of the case and will bar said party from later on impugning the courts or
bodys jurisdiction.[16]
But even assuming, in gratia argumenti, that Lapanday does not have a juridical
personality, it may nonetheless be sued under such a name considering that
respondents commonly know petitioner by the name Lapanday Group of Companies, as
shown in their alleged letter of intent to relinquish their rights over the subject land.
[17]
This brings to mind Section 15, Rule 3, of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, which
reads:
SEC. 15. Entity without juridical personality as defendant. - When two or more
persons not organized as an entity with juridical personality enter into a
transaction, they may be sued under the name by which they are generally or
commonly known (Emphasis added).
Aware of the hopelessness of its cause, petitioner invariably posits that the herein
respondents are not real parties-in-interest and are bereft of any legal personality to file
and initiate the complaint for forcible entry, etc. before the office of the Provincial
Agrarian Reform Adjudicator of Digos, Davao del Sur because they are not tenant-tillers
of the land in dispute. Consequently, so petitioner argues, respondents are not entitled
to be restored thereto.
Petitioners posture cannot hold water.
Both the DAR Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator and the DARAB affirmed and
confirmed the tenancy status of the respondents. We see no reason why the Court of
Appeals should not rely on such a finding in upholding the respondents right to be
restored to their respective farmlots as leasehold tenants thereof.
For sure, the evidence adduced by the respondents clearly indicate that they were
tenant-tillers of the 317-hectare land owned by the heirs of Orval Hughes. Indeed,
documents[18] showing that the Judicial Administrator of the Intestate Estate of Orval
Hughes had filed cases in court against the respondents for their failure to deliver the
Estates share in the harvests, are unmistakable proofs that a tenurial arrangement
exists regarding the agricultural produce of the land.
Besides, the heirs of Orval Hughes as former landlords of the respondents, never
denied the tenancy status of the latter, as in fact they did not even bother to answer
respondents complaint for forcible entry, etc., before the Office of the Provincial
Agrarian Adjudicator.
In any event, it need not be stressed that the question regarding the respondents
tenancy status is factual in nature, which is not proper in a petition for review. [19] More so
must this be where, as here, the Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator, the DARAB
and the Court of Appeals were one in upholding the tenancy status of the respondents.
Moreover, it is axiomatic that findings of administrative agencies, which have
acquired expertise because their jurisdiction is confined to specific matters, are
accorded not only respect but even finality by the courts [20] In Corpuz vs. Sps. Grospe,
[21]
we categorically held:
As a rule, if the factual findings of the CA coincide with those of the DARAB an
administrative body which has acquired expertise on the matter such findings are
accorded respect and will not be disturbed on appeal
As tenant-tillers of the 317-hectare land owned by the heirs of Orval Hughes,
respondents are undeniably parties-in-interest to this controversy. As such, they have
the legal personality to institute the action in the office a quo, namely, the office of the
Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator at Digos, Davao del Sur.
But then, there is petitioners contention that respondents interests over the subject
land have already been waived when quitclaims to that effect were allegedly executed
and signed by them.
The submission is equally puerile.
Waivers of rights and/or interests over landholdings awarded by the government are
invalid for being violative of the agrarian reform laws. To quote from our decision
in Torres vs. Ventura,[22] as reiterated in Corpuz vs. Sps. Grospe: [23]
x x x As such [the farmer-beneficiaries] gained the rights to possess, cultivate and
enjoy the landholding for himself. Those rights over that particular property were
granted by the government to him and no other. To insure his continued possession
and enjoyment of the property, he could not, under the law, make any valid form of
transfer except to the government or by hereditary succession, to his successors
WHEREFORE, the instant petition is DENIED and the assailed decision and
resolution of the Court of Appeals AFFIRMED in toto.
Costs against petitioner.
SO ORDERED.
Panganiban, (Chairman), Sandoval-Gutierrez, Corona, and Carpio-Morales,
JJ., concur.
[1]
Penned by Justice Eliezer De los Santos and concurred in by Justices Bennie Adefuin-De la Cruz and
Jose Mendoza; Rollo, pp. 125-132.
[2]
Rollo, p. 140.
[3]
Rollo, pp. 88-95.
[4]
Rollo, pp. 104-107.
[5]
Rollo, pp. 111-121.
[6]
Rollo, pp. 123-132.
[7]
Rollo, p. 140.
[8]
In Fuentes vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 109849, February 26, 1997, 268 SCRA 703,709, We
enumerated such instances as follows:
(1) when the factual findings of the Court of Appeals and the trial court are contradictory;
(2) when the findings are grounded entirely on speculation, surmises or conjectures;
(3) when the inference made by the Court of Appeals from its findings of fact is manifestly mistaken,
absurd or impossible;
(4) when there is grave abuse of discretion in the appreciation of facts;
(5) when the appellate court , in making its findings, goes beyond the issues of the case, and such
findings are contrary to the admissions of both appellant and appellee;
(6) when the judgment of the Court of Appeals is premised on a misapprehension of facts;
(7) when the Court of Appeals fails to notice certain relevant facts which, if properly considered, will justify
a different conclusion;
(8) when the findings of fact are themselves conflicting;
(9) when the findings of fact are conclusions without citations of the specific evidence on which they are
based; and
(10) when the findings of fact of the Court of Appeals are premised on the absence of evidence but such
findings are contradicted by the evidence on record.
[9]
Heirs of Lourdes Saez Sabanpan, et al. vs. Alberto C. Comorposa, et al., 408 SCRA 692 [2003].
[10]
Rollo, p. 113.
[11]
Rollo, p. 196.
[12]
Rep. Act No. 6657; Republic vs. Court of Appeals, 342 SCRA 194 [2000].
[13]
RA 6657 otherwise known as the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law of 1988; also Executive Order
229 - Providing the Mechanism for the Implementation of the Agrarian Reform Program.
[14]
Sec. 11, Rule 3, 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.
[15]
F. Regalado, REMEDIAL LAW Compendium, Vol. I, 1999 ed., pp. 85-86 citing Garcia vs Chua, [CA],
50 OG No. 2, 653.
[16]
Alcantara vs. Commission on the Settlement of Land Problems, 361 SCRA 664, 669 [2001].
[17]
Rollo, p. 77.
[18]
Exhs. A to G; PARAD Decision, Rollo, p. 92.
[19]
Pascual vs. Court of Appeals, 371 SCRA 338, 344 [2001].
[20]
Nuesa vs. Court of Appeals, 378 SCRA 351, 363 [2002].
[21]
333 SCRA 425, 435 [2000].
[22]
187 SCRA 96,104 [1990].
[23]
333 SCRA 425, 436 [2000].
