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Case digest · R.A. No. 11231 (Agricultural Free Patent Reform Act); retroactive removal of the Sec. 118 restriction on agricultural free patents; reversion suit moot
Republic vs. Tanduay Lumber, Inc.
A free patent was issued in 1987 over a lot in Balagtas, Bulacan, and in 1990, within five years, the patentee’s heir sold the lot to Tanduay Lumber, Inc. The Government sued in 2014 to cancel the titles and revert the land, and while its appeal was pending in the Supreme Court, R.A. No. 11231 took effect.
Facts
May 1987
By virtue of Free Patent No. (III-12) 17306 dated May 20, 1987, Original Certificate of Title No. P-22-C was issued on May 25, 1987 in the name of Epifania San Pedro, over a 12,108-square-meter lot in San Juan, Balagtas, Bulacan.
1990
After her death, Pelagio Francisco executed an affidavit of self-adjudication declaring that he was her sole surviving heir and obtained a title in his name on October 25, 1990. On December 3, 1990, he sold the lot to Tanduay Lumber, Inc. The lot was later subdivided, and portions passed to several other owners.
2011
In a letter dated January 31, 2011, two individuals asked the Office of the Solicitor General to cause the cancellation of the patent and all subsisting derivative titles, alleging a sale within five years from the issuance of the patent. After investigation, the Regional Executive Director of DENR Regional Office No. III recommended a reversion suit.
2014
In a complaint dated August 31, 2014, the Republic sued for cancellation of title and reversion in the Regional Trial Court of Malolos, Bulacan, against Tanduay Lumber and the later holders of the titles. It alleged that the sale to Tanduay Lumber, about three years and six months after the grant of the free patent, fell within the five-year prohibition of Sec. 118.
2015–2016
On September 3, 2015, the trial court dismissed the complaint on the grounds of equitable estoppel and laches, and it denied reconsideration on March 4, 2016. The Republic filed a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 with the Supreme Court on May 23, 2016.
2019
R.A. No. 11231, the Agricultural Free Patent Reform Act, was approved on February 22, 2019 and, as the Court noted, took effect on March 30, 2019.
Issue
Is the Republic’s complaint for reversion and cancellation of titles barred by estoppel and laches?
Ruling
The Court did not decide it. R.A. No. 11231 rendered the issue moot and academic; the Court denied the petition for being moot and academic and dismissed the complaint for lack of cause of action.
The Court held that the passage of R.A. No. 11231 rendered the issue moot and academic. Sec. 3 of the law provides that agricultural public lands disposed of in favor of qualified applicants under Sec. 44 of C.A. No. 141 are not subject to the restrictions of Secs. 118, 119 and 121, and that an agricultural free patent is now title in fee simple. Sec. 4 gives the removal of the restrictions retroactive effect for agricultural free patents issued under Sec. 44 before the law took effect, but keeps the right of redemption under Sec. 119 for transactions made in good faith before then. The State’s complaint for reversion was based solely on Sec. 118. Since the restriction on the patented land had been removed, and the patentee’s title is now considered title in fee simple under R.A. No. 11231, the Government no longer had any legal basis to seek reversion or reconveyance. The Court decided only the Government’s reversion suit and did not rule on estoppel or laches.
“The passage of Republic Act No. (RA) 11231 or the ‘Agricultural Free Patent Reform Act’ has rendered this issue moot and academic.”
Doctrine
R.A. No. 11231 states its own reach: “Agricultural public lands alienated or disposed in favor of qualified public land applicants under Section 44 of Commonwealth Act No. 141, as amended, shall not be subject to restrictions imposed under Sections 118, 119 and 121 thereof regarding acquisitions, encumbrances, conveyances, transfers, or dispositions.” The removal is retroactive, but nothing in the law affects the Sec. 119 right of redemption “for transactions made in good faith prior to the effectivity of this Act.” Where the Government’s reversion suit rested solely on Sec. 118, the Court held that “the Government no longer has any legal basis to seek the reversion or reconveyance of the subject land.” The law’s words do not mention homesteads.
Compare: a homestead, in 2021
In Heirs of Bagaygay vs. Heirs of Paciente, G.R. No. 212126, August 4, 2021, a footnote quoting Sec. 118 adds “now amended by Republic Act No. 11231”; without discussing whether that law reaches homesteads, the Court held void a 1956 sale of a homestead executed within the five years: “Having been executed within the five-year prohibitory period, the Deed of Sale, as correctly ruled by the CA, is void ab initio.”
Bar tip
Answer in the statute’s own words: R.A. No. 11231 lifts the restrictions of Secs. 118, 119 and 121, retroactively, for agricultural free patents issued under Sec. 44 of C.A. No. 141, but keeps the Sec. 119 right of redemption for transactions made in good faith before it took effect. Note what Tanduay decided: only the Government’s reversion suit, which rested solely on Sec. 118. For a homestead, look at the law’s words, which do not mention homesteads, and at Heirs of Bagaygay (2021).
Hear it explained
Land Titles Jurisprudence Ep. 8, at 15:12
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This digest is general legal information for education, not legal advice, and it is not a substitute for reading the decision. Quoted passages are taken word for word from the full text.