The Philippine National Police has lost its ownership rights over a land property in Zambales after the Supreme Court has ruled that the disputed parcel of land remains inalienable having been reserved for military purposes.
In a 13-page decision, the SC’s Third Division through Associate Justice Ramon Paul Hernando granted the petition filed by the Office of the Solicitor General seeking the reversal of the Court of Appeals decision issued on August 16, 2011, which affirmed the order issued by the Regional Trial Court of Iba, Zambales which granted the PNP’s application for land registration of lots nos. 713-A to 713-F of Iba, Cadastre.
The high court sided with the OSG’s arguments that the subject lots are incapable of registration pursuant to the report of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources and that the PNP’s possession of the subject lots for more than 30 years is irrelevant because said lots are inalienable having been reserved for military purposes.
“In the instant case, the PNP did not submit a DENR Certification to the effect that the subject lots are alienable and disposable lands of the public domain, which was the prevailing requirement when its application for land registration was pending with the RTC. The PNP merely submitted a subdivision plan of Lot No. 713, Cad 191, Iba Cadastre, which indicated that the subject lots are alienable and disposable,” the SC said.
“Therefore, respondent’s reliance on the subject lots’ subdivision plan, without the corresponding DENR certification stating that they are entirely within the alienable and disposable zone, which was the prevailing rule during the pendency of its application with the RTC, proved fatal to its case. In short, respondent failed to substantially prove that the subject lots are alienable and disposable lands of the public domain,” the high court ruled.
In asserting its ownership rights over the parcel of land, the PNP through its Provincial Director Jaime Calungsod claimed that it has been in possession of the said lots for more than 30 years.
The subject lots were formerly used as a military reservation of the then Philippine Constabulary and was transferred to the PNP in 1991 when the former office was dissolved.
In support of its application, the PNP submitted the tracing cloth plan of Lot No. 713 as subdivided, technical descriptions of the subject lots, the approved sketch plan, and the respective tax declarations of said lots.
The RTC resolved to grant the PNP’s application for land registration after it was able to prove that it possessed all the qualifications and none of the disqualification to have the subject lots registered in its name.
However, the government through the OSG appealed the RTC ruling before the appellate court, arguing that the PNP failed to prove that the subject lots are alienable and disposable lands of the public domain since as per the December 19, 2002 Report issued by the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO) of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) (CENRO Report), the subject lots had been reserved for constabulary (military) purposes per Executive Order No. 87, dated November 6, 1915.
The OSG asserted that the subject lots are unregistrable in the absence of a positive act from the government withdrawing the land from being reserved for military purposes.
But the CA dismissed the OSG’s petition prompting the latter to elevate the issue before the SC.
Even during the pendency of the case before the CA, the SC noted that the PNP did not submit the required certifications—a CENRO and a copy of the original classification approved by the DENR Secretary—in order to prove that the subject lots have been classified as alienable and disposable lands of the public domain.