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645 Phil. 282
EN BANC
[ G.R. No. 184869, September 21, 2010 ]
CENTRAL MINDANAO UNIVERSITY, REPRESENTED BY OFFICERIN-CHARGE DR. RODRIGO L. MALUNHAO, PETITIONER, VS. THE
HONORABLE EXECUTIVE SECRETARY, THE HONORABLE
SECRETARY OF THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND
NATURAL RESOURCES, THE CHAIRPERSON AND
COMMISSIONERS OF THE NATIONAL COMMISSION ON
INDIGENOUS PEOPLES, AND THE LEAD CONVENOR OF THE
NATIONAL ANTI-POVERTY COMMISSION, RESPONDENTS.
DECISION
ABAD, J.:
This case concerns the constitutionality of a presidential proclamation that takes
property from a state university, over its objections, for distribution to indigenous
peoples and cultural communities.
The Facts and the Case
Petitioner Central Mindanao University (CMU) is a chartered educational institution
owned and run by the State.[1]
In 1958, the President issued Presidential
Proclamation 476, reserving 3,401 hectares of lands of the public domain in Musuan,
Bukidnon, as school site for CMU. Eventually, CMU obtained title in its name over
3,080 hectares of those lands under Original Certificates of Title (OCTs) 0-160, 0161, and 0-162. Meanwhile, the government distributed more than 300 hectares of
the remaining untitled lands to several tribes belonging to the area's cultural
communities.
Forty-five years later or on January 7, 2003 President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo
issued Presidential Proclamation 310 that takes 670 hectares from CMU's registered
lands for distribution to indigenous peoples and cultural communities in Barangay
Musuan, Maramag, Bukidnon.
On April 3, 2003, however, CMU filed a petition for prohibition against respondents
Executive Secretary, Secretary of the Department of Environment and Natural
Resources, Chairperson and Commissioner of the National Commission on
Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), and Lead Convenor of the National Anti-Poverty
Commission (collectively, NCIP, et al) before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of
Malaybalay City (Branch 9), seeking to stop the implementation of Presidential
Proclamation 310 and have it declared unconstitutional.
The NCIP, et al moved to dismiss the case on the ground of lack of jurisdiction of the
Malaybalay RTC over the action, pointing out that since the act sought to be
enjoined relates to an official act of the Executive Department done in Manila,
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