Heirs of Dela Cruz v. Heirs of Dela Cruz

Facts:

The Republic acquired the De Leon Estate located in Barangay Casulucan, Talavera, Nueva Ecija for resale to deserving tenants and landless farmers. In September 1960, the Republic sold Lot No. 778 to Julian dela Cruz, the tenant of the land. He died in 1979 and was survived by his wife, Leonora Talaro-dela Cruz and their 10 children, including Mario and Maximino dela Cruz.

Leonora dela Cruz sold the land in favor of Alberto Cruz. Alberto took possession of the landholding and cultivated it over a period of 10 years without any protest from Leonora and her children. He then filed an application to purchase the property with the DAR.

In 1996, Maximino discovered that the landholding had already been registered in the name of Alberto Cruz. On October 10, 1996, Leonora and her 10 children, filed a petition with the Provincial Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (PARAD) for the nullification of the order of the PARO, CLOA No. 51750, and TCT No. CLOA-0-3035 issued in favor of Alberto Cruz.

PARAD granted the petition. It declared that the petitioners were the rightful allocatees of the property. Alberto was ordered to vacate the property. Alberto appealed the decision to the DARAB, which affirmed the ruling of the PARAD.

Issue:

Whether or not the DAR Adjudication Board has jurisdiction over the case

Held:

No. Jurisdiction over the nature and subject matter of an action is conferred by the Constitution and the law, and not by the consent or waiver of the parties where the court otherwise would have no jurisdiction over the nature or subject matter of the action. Nor can it be acquired through, or waived by, any act or omission of the parties. Moreover, estoppel does not apply to confer jurisdiction to a tribunal that has none over the cause of action. The failure of the parties to challenge the jurisdiction of the DARAB does not prevent the court from addressing the issue, especially where the DARAB's lack of jurisdiction is apparent on the face of the complaint or petition.

The sole tenant-beneficiary over the landholding was Julian dela Cruz. There is no showing that before the execution of the deed of transfer/sale, Alberto was a tenant or farmer, or that he was landless.

petitioners should have filed their petition against Alberto Cruz with the DAR Secretary instead of the DARAB. For its part, the DARAB should have dismissed the petition for lack of jurisdiction; or, at the very least, transferred the petition to the DAR Secretary for resolution on its merits. In case the DAR Secretary denies their petition, the petitioners may appeal to the Office of the President, and in case of an adverse ruling, a petition for review with the CA under Rule 43 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure.