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403 Phil. 654
THIRD DIVISION
[ G.R. No. 134958, January 31, 2001 ]
PATRICIO CUTARAN, DAVID DANGWAS AND PACIO DOSIL,
PETITIONERS, VS. DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND
NATURAL RESOURCES, HEREIN REPRESENTED BY SEC. VICTOR O.
RAMOS, OSCAR M. HAMADA AND GUILLERMO S. FIANZA, IN HIS
CAPACITY AS CHAIRMAN OF COMMUNITY SPECIAL TASK FORCE
ON ANCESTRAL LANDS (CSTFAL), BAGUIO CITY, RESPONDENTS.
DECISION
GONZAGA-REYES, J.:
Before us is a petition for review of the decision rendered by the Court of Appeals on
March 25, 1998 and the order dated August 5, 1998 in CA-G.R SP No. 43930, a
petition for prohibition originally filed with the appellate court to enjoin the
respondent DENR from implementing DENR Special Order Nos. 31, as amended by
31-A and 31-B, series of 1990, Special Order No. 25, series of 1993 and all other
administrative issuances relative thereto, for having been issued without prior
legislative authority.
In 1990 the Assistant Secretary for Luzon Operations of the DENR issued Special
Order no. 31[1] entitled "Creation of a Special Task force on acceptance,
identification, evaluation and delineation of ancestral land claims in the Cordillera
Administrative Region". The special task force created thereunder was authorized to
accept and evaluate and delineate ancestral land claims within the said area, and
after due evaluation of the claims, to issue appropriate land titles (Certificate of
Ancestral Land Claim) in accordance with existing laws.[2] On January 15, 1993 the
Secretary of the DENR issued Special Order no. 25[3] entitled "Creation of Special
Task Forces provincial and community environment and natural resources offices for
the identification, delineation and recognition of ancestral land claims nationwide"
and Department Administrative Order no. 02,[4] containing the Implementing Rules
and Guidelines of Special Order no. 25.
In 1990, the same year Special Order no. 31 was issued, the relatives of herein
petitioners filed separate applications for certificate of ancestral land claim (CALC)
over the land they, respectively occupy inside the Camp John Hay Reservation. In
1996 the applications were denied by the DENR Community Special Task Force on
Ancestral Lands on the ground that the Bontoc and Applai tribes to which they
belong are not among the recognized tribes of Baguio City. Also pursuant to the
assailed administrative issuances the Heirs of Apeng Carantes filed an application [5]
for certification of ancestral land claim over a parcel of land also within Camp John
Hay and overlapping some portions of the land occupied by the petitioners.
Petitioners claim that even if no certificate of ancestral land claim has yet been
issued by the DENR in favor of the heirs of Carantes, the latter, on the strength of
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