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582 Phil. 717
THIRD DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 161881, July 31, 2008 ]
NICASIO I. ALCANTARA, PETITIONER, VS. DEPARTMENT OF
ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL RESOURCES, DENR SECRETARY
ELISEA G. GOZUN, REGIONAL EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR MUSA C.
SARUANG, DENR CENRO ANDREW B. PATRICIO, AND ROLANDO
PAGLANGAN, ET AL., RESPONDENTS.
>HEIRS OF DATU ABDUL B. PENDATUN, REPRESENTED BY DATU
NASSER B. PENDATUN, AL HAJ, HEIRS OF SABAL MULA AND
GAWAN CLAN, REPRESENTED BY TRIBAL CHIEF-TAIN LORETO
GAWAN, RESPONDENTS- INTERVENORS,
DECISION
AUSTRIA-MARTINEZ, J.:
Before the Court is a Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of
Court, seeking a reversal of the Decision[1] of the Court of Appeals (CA) dated
September 24, 2003 which affirmed the orders of the Department of Environment
and Natural Resources (DENR), cancelling the Forest Land Grazing Lease Agreement
(FLGLA) with Nicasio A. Alcantara (petitioner), ordering him to vacate the land
subject of the cancelled FLGLA and directing the installation of members of a group
composed of B'laan and Maguindanaoans, represented by Rolando Paglangan
(private respondents) in the area; as well as the CA Resolution[2] dated January 23,
2004 denying petitioner's Motion for Reconsideration.
The antecedent facts are as follows:
Petitioner is a lessee under FLGLA No. 542, issued by the DENR, of nine hundred
twenty-three (923) hectares of public forest land [3] (subject land) located in the
vicinity of Sitio Lanton, Barrio Apopong, General Santos City. [4]
The subject land, however, is being claimed as the ancestral land of the indigenous
B'laan and Maguindanao people, who maintain that they and their predecessors have
been cultivating, possessing and occupying it since time immemorial.[5] They claim
that Christian settlers (settlers) started occupying the area only after World War II.
As a result, there was constant friction between the indigenous inhabitants and the
settlers, with the disputes, at times, erupting in violence. Overpowered, the
indigenous people eventually lost physical control of much of the land.[6]
Petitioner, a son of one of the settlers, used to hold a pasture permit over the
subject land, which was later on converted into FLGLA No. 542 covering the subject
property.[7] Petitioner claims that FLGLA No. 542 has been subsisting since 1983.[8]
On April 10, 1990, private respondents, representing the B'laan and Maguindanao
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