Case Digest (G.R. No. 209271)
Facts:
In Chamber of Real Estate and Builders Associations, Inc. (CREBA) v. Secretary of Agrarian Reform, G.R. No. 183409, June 18, 2010, the Supreme Court First Division, Perez, J., writing for the Court, resolved CREBA’s Rule 65 Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition (with application for temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction) seeking to nullify DAR Administrative Order (AO) No. 01-02, as amended by DAR AO No. 05-07, and DAR Memorandum No. 88. Petitioner CREBA, an industry umbrella organization representing private land and housing developers, challenged the DAR issuances on grounds that they exceeded the Secretary’s jurisdiction, violated statutory limits and local autonomy, and deprived landowners of due process and equal protection; respondent is the Secretary of Agrarian Reform, sued in his official capacity for promulgating and enforcing the challenged issuances.The factual and regulatory background begins with DAR AO No. 07-97 (29 October 1997), which consolidated land conversion rules; this was revised by DAR AO No. 01-99 (30 March 1999). On 28 February 2002 the Secretary promulgated DAR AO No. 01-02 (2002 Comprehensive Rules on Land Use Conversion), later amended by DAR AO No. 05-07 (2 August 2007) to address conversion in exigencies and calamities. On 15 April 2008 the DAR issued Memorandum No. 88, temporarily suspending processing and approval of land use conversion applications to curb conversion of prime agricultural lands. CREBA alleged these measures caused slowdowns in housing projects and economic injury to its members, and thus filed the Rule 65 petition directly with the Supreme Court, seeking nullification and injunctive relief.
CREBA principally complained that AO No. 01-02 (as amended) improperly defined “agricultural lands” to include lands reclassified after 15 June 1988 and thus subjected such reclassified lands to DAR conversion authority; that the AO contravened Section 65 of Republic Act No. 6657 (the CARP law) and Section 20 of RA No. 7160 (Local Government Code); that it infringed local autonomy and constitutional due process and equa...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether the DAR Secretary has jurisdiction over lands that have been reclassified as residential, commercial, industrial, or for other non‑agricultural uses.
- Whether the DAR Secretary acted in excess of his jurisdiction and gravely abused his discretion by issuing and enforcing DAR AO No. 01-02, as amended, which regulate reclassified lands.
- Whether DAR AO No. 01-02, as amended, violates the local autonomy of local government units.
- Whether DAR AO No. 01-02, as amended, violates the due process and equal protection clauses of the Constitution.
- Whether ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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