Facts:

The case revolves around the petitioners, Leoncio Alangdeo, Arthur Verceles, and Danny Vergara, who were engaged in a legal battle against the City Mayor of Baguio, Hon. Braulio D. Yaranon (to be substituted by the incumbent city mayor Hon. Mauricio Domogan), Jeofrey Mortela (Head Demolition Team, City Engineer's Office), and Ernesto Lardizabal. The events trace back to a complaint filed on November 13, 2003, by Ernesto Lardizabal, who claimed that the petitioners constructed a residential structure and garage extension on a parcel of land located at Barangay Atok Trail in Baguio City, which he and his father Juanito Lardizabal supposedly owned. The construction allegedly lacked a building permit. Upon investigation by the City Engineer's Office, an order for demolition was issued by the City Mayor through Demolition Order No. 05, series of 2005, directing the demolition of the petitioners' structures due to the absence of valid building permissions.

The petitioners

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Facts:

Procedural Background

• On November 13, 2003, respondent Ernesto Lardizabal filed a complaint for demolition before the City Engineer’s Office of Baguio City.
• The complaint questioned the ongoing construction of a residential structure and a garage extension by petitioners Leoncio Alangdeo, Arthur Verceles, and Danny Vergara on a parcel of land at Barangay Atok Trail, allegedly owned by Mariano Pangloy and Juanito Lardizabal.
• An investigation by the City Engineer’s Office revealed that the construction was being carried out without a building permit.

Issuance of the Demolition Order

• In response to the investigation, the City Mayor issued Demolition Order (DO) No. 05, series of 2005, through the Secretary to the Mayor.
• DO No. 05 directed the City Demolition Team to summarily demolish the structures pursuant to Section 3, paragraph 2.5(a) of the Implementing Rules and Regulations governing summary eviction jointly issued by the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) and the Housing and Urban Development Coordinating Council under Section 44, Article XII of Republic Act No. 7279.
• Petitioners sought reconsideration of the demolition order; however, their motions were denied by the City Mayor.

Initiation of the RTC Proceedings

• Prompted by the denial of reconsideration, petitioners filed a complaint for injunction and prohibition with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Baguio City, docketed as Civil Case No. 6007-R, to enjoin the implementation of DO No. 05.
• A temporary restraining order was granted by the RTC, followed by the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction pending the final resolution of the merits.

Testimonies and Evidence During Trial

• Petitioners’ Testimonies
• Verceles testified that he possessed a Tax Declaration and had a pending application for Ancestral Land Claim before the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP).
• He asserted his long-term occupation and tax payment on the subject property since 1977.
• He mentioned that Ernesto Lardizabal had litigated a prior case with the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR)-Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) regarding his possession and even sought cancellation of Verceles’ tax declaration, a case which was dismissed in favor of Verceles, though later appealed by Ernesto.
• Verceles also explained that due to Proclamation No. 414, series of 1957, which declared Barangay Atok Trail as a mineral reservation, he was unable to secure a title over the property.
• Testimony of Punong Barangay Stephen T. Aligo
• He testified about a 1995 City Council Resolution requesting the release of a vast portion of the area for housing purposes.
• He noted that a 2003 census revealed 230 houses in Barangay Atok Trail, none of which had valid building permits.
• Respondents’ Witnesses and Evidence
• Witnesses such as Antonio O. Visperas, Robert Albas Awingan, and George Addawe, Jr. testified that the structures constructed by petitioners lacked building permits.
• Ernesto Lardizabal reiterated that the possession issue over the subject property was pending before the Office of the DENR Secretary.

RTC Ruling

• On April 27, 2006, the RTC issued its decision enjoining the City Government and its agents from implementing DO No. 05 until resolution of all issues concerning the subject property.
• The RTC based its ruling on the premise that Barangay Atok Trail, declared as a buffer zone for the mining industry via Proclamation No. 414, rendered all constructed structures, not only petitioners’, as being without valid building permits, thus invoking concerns of equal protection under the law.

Court of Appeals (CA) Proceedings

• Respondents appealed the RTC decision, arguing that petitioners lacked any right to be protected by the injunction.
• In its Decision dated June 29, 2012, the CA reversed the RTC decision by relying on the DENR Decision rendered on August 31, 2006, which recognized the ancestral rights of Mariano Pangloy and the Heirs of Juanito Lardizabal over the subject property.
• Petitioners subsequently filed a motion for reconsideration, citing an NCIP decision in their favor dated May 18, 2012; however, the CA denied this motion in its Resolution dated March 5, 2013, holding that petitioners had no established right in esse, especially given the absence of a building permit.

Issue:

Proper Mode of Appeal

• Whether the CA should have dismissed the respondents’ appeal on the ground that it involved pure questions of law and/or issues lacking merit.
• Whether the appeal filed by respondents should have been dismissed for being brought before the CA instead of directly on certiorari to the Supreme Court.

Writ of Injunction

• Whether the issuance of a writ of injunction is warranted in this case.
• Whether petitioners possess an existing right to be protected, given that their structures are being summarily ordered for demolition without a proper legal basis.

Ruling:

• (Subscriber-Only)

Ratio:

• (Subscriber-Only)

Doctrine:

• (Subscriber-Only)