Alcantara Vs Comm On Settlement of Land Prob
Alcantara Vs Comm On Settlement of Land Prob
Alcantara Vs Comm On Settlement of Land Prob
145838
Petitioner filed his Answer questioning the jurisdiction of the COSLAP over the
case, since the dispute involved a claim for recovery of ancestral land. Petitioner
claimed that the case should have been filed with the DENR since it is the latter
which has jurisdiction to administer and dispose of public lands, including grazing
lands.
Notwithstanding petitioner's objection to the COSLAP's exercise of jurisdiction
over the case, said body continued the hearings thereon. Petitioner alleged that
COSLAP did not conduct formal hearings on the case, and that he was not notified
nor given the opportunity to be present and participate in the field interviews and
ocular inspections conducted by COSLAP.2
On August 3, 1998, the COSLAP issued a Decision ordering the cancellation of
FLGLA No. 542. Petitioner appealed the same to the Court of Appeals by petition
for review on certiorari.
The Court of Appeals dismissed the petition in its Decision dated June 22, 2000,
and also denied petitioners motion for reconsideration in a Resolution dated
October 16, 2000.3
Hence, the present petition.
Petitioner contends that the Court of Appeals erred in ruling that he had earlier
recognized the jurisdiction of the COSLAP over the case. He stated further that the
appellate court should have considered that the COSLAP does not possess the
historical, genealogical and anthropological expertise to act on ancestral land
claims, and that it is the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP),
under the Indigenous People's Rights Act of 19974 which has jurisdiction over such
claims. Petitioner thus submits that the COSLAP's decision ordering the
cancellation of FLGLA No. 542 and declaring the area being claimed by private
respondent as ancestral land is void for having been issued by a body which does
not have jurisdiction over said matters.5
In his Comment, private respondent Rolando Paglangan argued that the petition
should be dismissed since the petition for certiorari filed by petitioner in the Court
of Appeals was filed out of time.6 He also contended that the COSLAP has the
Moreover, Executive Order No. 561 creating the COSLAP, the law then prevailing
when private respondents filed their complaint for cancellation of FLGLA No. 542,
provides in Section 3, paragraph 2(a) thereof that said Commission may assume
jurisdiction over land disputes involving occupants of the land in question and
pasture lease agreement holders:
Sec. 3. Powers and Functions. -- The Commission shall have the following
powers and functions:
xxx
2. Refer and follow-up for immediate action by the agency having
appropriate jurisdiction any land problem or dispute referred to the
Commission: Provided, That the Commission, may, in the following cases,
assume jurisdiction and resolve land problems or disputes which are critical
and explosive in nature considering, for instance, the large number of the
parties involved, the presence or emergence of social tension or unrest, or
other similar critical situations requiring immediate action:
(a) Between occupants/squatters and pasture lease agreement
holders or timber concessionaires;
(b) Between occupants/squatters and government reservation grantees;
(c) Between occupants/squatters and public land claimants or
applicants;
(d) Petitions for classification, release and/or subdivision of lands of
the public domain; and
(e) Other similar land problems of grave urgency and magnitude.
The Commission shall promulgate such rules of procedure as will insure
expeditious resolution and action on the above cases. The resolution, order
or decision of the Commission on any of the foregoing cases shall have the
force and effect of a regular administrative resolution, order or decision and
shall be binding upon the parties therein and upon the agency having
jurisdiction over the same. Said resolution, order or decision shall become
final and executory within thirty (30) days from its promulgation and shall
be appealable by certiorari only to the Supreme Court. (Emphasis supplied.)
The Court of Appeals also stated that based on the records, the land area being
claimed by private respondents belongs to the B'laan indigenous cultural
community since they have been in possession of, and have been occupying and
cultivating the same since time immemorial, a fact has not been disputed by
petitioner.12 It was likewise declared by the appellate court that FLGLA No. 542
granted to petitioner violated Section 1 of Presidential Decree No. 41013 which
states that all unappropriated agricultural lands forming part of the public domain
are declared part of the ancestral lands of the indigenous cultural groups occupying
the same, and these lands are further declared alienable and disposable, to be
distributed exclusively among the members of the indigenous cultural group
concerned.
The Court finds no reason to depart from such finding by the appellate court, it
being a settled rule that findings of fact of the Court of Appeals are binding and
conclusive upon the Supreme Court absent any showing that such findings are not
supported by the evidence on record.14
WHEREFORE, the petition is hereby DENIED.
SO ORDERED.