Case Digest (G.R. No. 216092)
Facts:
This is Municipality of Isabel, Leyte v. Municipality of Merida, Leyte, G.R. No. 216092, December 09, 2020, First Division, Gaerlan, J., writing for the Court. The petition arises from a boundary dispute between the two neighboring municipal Local Government Units in Leyte.
The Municipality of Isabel (petitioner) was created from eight barrios of Merida (respondent) by Republic Act No. 191 (enacted June 22, 1947) and formalized by Presidential Proclamation No. 49 dated January 15, 1948. At or about the time of creation, municipal boundary monuments reportedly were placed along what became the boundary, including two monuments along a dead creek named Doldol — one shoreward monument (later lost) and another near an ancient doldol tree. In 1981 Isabel installed new municipal boundary monuments (including MBM No. 5) allegedly along the Benabaye River, which created a divergence from the earlier Doldol monuments and produced a disputed area of 162.3603 hectares claimed by both municipalities.
Tensions escalated as Isabel residents and the LGU erected improvements in the disputed area (a welcome monument in 1988, a waiting shed, highway clearing). Barangay Benabaye (adjacent to the disputed area) sought assistance from Merida, prompting Merida’s mayor to form a fact-finding committee in 1990. Both municipal councils later resolved to submit the controversy to the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Leyte for adjudication.
The Sangguniang Panlalawigan adopted its Committee on Boundary Disputes’ findings and issued a resolution adjudicating the boundary in favor of Merida, ordering removal of Isabel’s MBM No. 5 and directing Merida to reinstall a monument along the Doldol creek near the doldol tree. The provincial board gave weight to the fact that R.A. No. 191’s enumeration of barrios creating Isabel did not include Benabaye and relied on committee reports and witness testimony (including that of Isabel’s first mayor, Galicano N. Ruiz) and monument evidence.
Isabel appealed the provincial resolution under Section 119 of the Local Government Code to the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Ormoc City, which, in a September 29, 2009 Decision, reversed the Sangguniang Panlalawigan and declared the 162.3603-hectare tract to belong to Isabel, finding the Benabaye River and Isabel’s MBM No. 5 to mark the true boundary. Merida moved for new trial, later submitting affidavits and photographs showing the earlier doldol monument; the RTC denied the motion for new trial in a July 5, 2010 Omnibus Order.
Merida appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA) via Rule 42. In an August 20, 2014 Decision the CA reversed the RTC and reinstated the Sangguniang Panlalawigan resolution, concluding the 1947 doldol/shoreward monuments were the true boundary markers and giving lesser weight to Isabel’s MBM No. 5 and to tax declarations. The CA also noted that some elective barangay officials of Benabaye lived in the disputed area, supporting Merida’s claim under residen...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Did the Court of Appeals err in reinstating the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Leyte’s adjudication of the municipal boundary dispute in favor of Me...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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