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other uses of the forest are to be subordinated to that purpose. I
therefore withdraw from sale or settlement the following described
parcels of the public domain situated in the Township of La Trinidad, City
of Baguio, Mountain Province, Island of Luzon, to wit:
The fact remains, too, that the Busol Forest Reservation was declared by the Court
as inalienable in Heirs of Gumangan v. Court of Appeals.[19] The declaration of the
Busol Forest Reservation as such precludes its conversion into private property.
Relatedly, the courts are not endowed with jurisdictional competence to adjudicate
forest lands.
All told, although the NCIP has the authority to issue temporary restraining orders
and writs of injunction, we are not convinced that private respondents are entitled to
the relief granted by the Commission.
WHEREFORE, the instant petition is GRANTED. The Decision of the Court of Appeals
in CA G.R. SP No. 96895 dated April 16, 2007 and its Resolution dated September
11, 2007 are REVERSED and SET ASIDE. Case No. 31-CAR-06 entitled, Elvin
Gumangan, Narciso Basatan and Lazaro Bawas v. Office of the City Mayor of Baguio
City, et al. is DISMISSED. No pronouncement as to costs.
SO ORDERED.
Quisumbing, (Chairperson), Carpio Morales, Velasco, Jr., and Brion, JJ., Concur.
[1] Rollo, pp. 30-37; Penned by Associate Justice Estela M. Perlas-Bernabe and
concurred in by Associate Justices Marina L. Buzon and Lucas P. Bersamin.
[2] Id. at 39-40.
[3] Id. at 31-35.
[4] CA rollo, pp. 2-23.
[5] Id. at 24-26.
[6] Id. at 27-33.
[7] Id. at 34-38.
[8] G.R. Nos. 75672 and 75673, April 19, 1989, 172 SCRA 563.
[9] Rollo, pp. 186-203.
[10] CA rollo, pp. 85-87.
[11] Rollo, pp. 228-233.
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