Decision
6
G.R. No. 201273
PETITIONER'S CASE WHERE IT IS NOT A PARTY TO THE
PROCEEDINGS OF SAID RESOLUTION.
IV
WHETHER IT IS PROPER FOR [THE] COURT TO DECIDE ON THE
SUBSTANTIVE MERITS OF THE NINE (9) CAUSES OF ACTION
RAISED BY PETITIONER IN ITS COMPLAINT FILED f3EFORE THE
[RTC] ASSAILING NCIP EN BANC RESOLUTION NO. 060-2009-AL,
SERIES OF 2009. 17
Essentially, the issue for the Court's resolution is whether the RTC has
jurisdiction over the Republic's Complaint.
The Court's Ruling
The Petition is partially granted.
R TC has jurisdiction over cases for
reversion
and cancellation of
certificates of title.
The RTC and the CA both ruled that the RTC had no jurisdiction over
the Complaint because it sought a review of Resolution No. 060-2009-AL.
This is error.
The Court has held in Republic v. Roman Catholic Archbishop of
Manila 18 that "[i]t is axiomatic that the nature of an action and whether the
tribunal has jurisdiction over such action are to be determined from the
material allegations of the complaint, the law in force at the time the complaint
is filed, and the character of the relief sought irrespective of whether the
plaintiff is entitled to all or some of the claims averred. Jurisdiction is not
affected by the pleas or the theories set up by defendant in an answer to the
complaint or a motion to dismiss the same." 19
The Complaint alleged the following: (a) Baguio Stock Farm (BSF) is
an agricultural land of the public domain comprising of Lots 1 and 2 covering
849,721 and 91,622 square meters, respectively, that has been withdrawn
from sale or settlement and reserved for animal breeding purposes under the
administration of the Bureau of Animal Industry, an agency under the
Department of Agriculture, pursuant to Presidential Proclamation No. 603,
Series of 1940 (Proclamation No. 603); 20 (b) sometime in June 2009, a person
who identified himself as an heir oflkang Paus delivered tp BSF a photocopy
of OCT No. 0-CALT-37 and claimed that the said title lies inside BSF; 21 (c)
17
18
19
20
21
Id. at 56-57.
698 Phil. 429 (2012).
Id. at 435.
Rollo (Vol. I), p. 197.
Id. at 198.