Republic of the Philippines

COURT OF APPEALS
Cagayan de Oro City

DEPARTMENT OF AGRARIAN REFORM ______________

Herein represented by PROVINCIAL
AGRARIAN REFORM PROGRAM OFFICER
(PARPO ) II MOHAMMAD DASSAN J. ADJU,
and the Heirs of SPS. SIMEON AND NICOLASA
DUMAGAT, NAMELY: FELISA DUMAGAT,
DEBORAH DUMAGAT-SIMBAJON, ANABELLE
DUMAGAT, DIONESIO DUMAGAT, AND
ROLANDO DUMAGAT, REPRESENTED BY ATTY.-
IN-FACT, YOLANDA DUMAGAT-SONQUIT
Petitioners,

-versus-

SHERIFF VICENTE B. APOSAGA,

Respondent.

PETITION FOR THE ISSUANCE OF WRIT OF

PROHIBITORY INJUNCTION AND/OR
TEMPORARY RESTRAINING ORDER

COMES NOW, the Petitioners, by and through the Bureau of

Agrarian Legal Assistance, unto this Honorable Court, most
respectfully allege THAT:

PREFATORY STATEMENT
“If the misery of the poor be caused not by the laws
of nature, but by our institutions,
great is our sin.”
― Charles Darwin, Voyage of the Beagle

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This is a Petition for Mandatory Injunction and/or a Temporary
Restraining Order, asking the Most Honorable Court to SET ASIDE
the 31 October 2013 Writ of Execution and the 6 January 2016 Writ
of Demolition issued by the Regional Trial Court, Ninth Judicial
Region, Branch 24, Ipil Zamboanga Sibugay;

Petitioner also begs the Most Honorable Court, pending final

resolution of this petition, temporary restraining order prohibiting
the public respondent Vicente B. Aposaga, Jr., and anyone acting
under his authority, stead or behalf, from implementing the
decision writ of demolition;

STATEMENT OF MATERIAL DATES AND

TIMELINESS OF THE PETITION

1. Sometime on Year 2018, petitioner received a photocopy of

Writ of Demolition based on the Writ of Execution dated 31
October 2013. Said writ of demolition commanded the Respondent
to demolish and to remove the improvements/structures of the
Demorah Dumagat, Vilma Dumagat, Lando Dumagat, Felisa
Dumagat, Gina Dumagat Villacampa, Judith Dumagat Bugayag,
and Rodolfo Dablo in the subject Lot. Certified True Copy of Writ
of Demolition and Writ of Execution are hereto attached as
“ANNEX A” and “ANNEX B”;

2. Petitioner, being not fully impleaded, was greatly surprised

to the existence of the case and the injustice it caused on the part of
the Agrarian Reform Beneficiaries. The case treaded various
courses without petitioner’s knowledge that resulted to various
unfavorable judgments;

3. Petitioners, on the above-cited date, prompted him to

procure all available documents on hand only to find out that the
controversy was determined on technicalities attributable to the
gross negligence of the counsel and the registered land owners
(Dumagat Families) of the subject lot for demolition were never
impleaded and notified;

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 PARTIES
4. That the herein petitioner, the Department Agrarian Reform
Provincial Office (DARPO), represented by Provincial Agrarian
Reform Officer (PARPO ) II MOHAMMAD DASSAN J. ADJU,
Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, an instrumentality of the government
with postal address at BLISS Site, Ipil Heights, Ipil, Zamboanga
Sibugay, Philippines, and may be served with summons and other
processes at BLISS Site, Ipil Heights, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay,
Philippines;

That the herein petitioners (DUMAGATS), represented by

attorney-in-fact, YOLANDA DUMAGAT- SONQUIT may be
served with summons and other processes at Brgy. Sanito Ipil,
Zamboanga Sibugay, Philippines;

5. Respondent Vicente B. Aposaga, Jr. is being sued in his

official capacity as Sheriff of Branch 24, Regional Trial Court 9th
Judicial Region, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, Philippines and may be
served with summons and other processes of this Honorable Court
at the Office of the Sheriff, Regional Trial Court of Zamboanga
Sibugay Brach 24, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay;

BACKGROUNDS

6. The controversy started when the said Regional Trial

Court (RTC 24, Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay) acted without
jurisdiction inasmuch as in the hearing of the case vs. Montero &
Luistro (Civil Case No. I-222), the herein petitioners, however were
never impleaded and notified. Certified True Copy of Decision
involving Civil Case No. I-222 is hereto attached as “ANNEX C”;

7. The Dumagats were issued Emancipation Patents (EP) on

Year 1996 by the Department of Agrarian Reform which were
erroneously cancelled last September 12, 2016 by the Register of

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Deeds, Pagadian City, Zamboanga Del Sur based on the void
judgment of the said RTC dated August 27, 2013. Certified True
Copy of Memorandum of Encumbrance cancelling and declaring
null and void the Transfer Certificate of Titles issued in the name
of the DUMAGATS are hereto attached as “ANNEX D”;

8. It was only after the decision was promulgated and the

winning party ( Montero) filed a Motion for Execution &
Demolition that the DUMAGATS were notified based on Notice of
Hearing dated May 27, 2014 addressed to Deborah Dumagat, et al.
However PETITIONER MOHAMMAD DASSAN J. ADJU, was
never notified;

LOCUS STANDI OF PETITIONERS

9. Petitioner Department of Agrarian Reform represented by

MOHAMMAD DASSAN J. ADJU, as a Provincial Agrarian
Reform Officer II has a legal standing to file the instant petition.
With more reason that the DUMAGATS as represented by
Attorney-In-Fact YOLANDA DUMAGAT-SONQUIT have a legal
standing to file the instant petition;

Settled in our jurisprudence that locus standi means personal and

substantial interest in the case such that party has sustained or will
sustain direct injury as a result of the act complained of. Petitioners
are proper parties because they have sustained or is in immediate
danger of sustaining injury as concomitant result of the act being
assailed;

For a party to assert legal standing he needs only to prove injury to

his right or interest as first requisite, and the reasonably perceptible
causal connection between the asserted injury and the assailed
conduct;

10. Pertaining the first requisite, petitioners sustained and will

be sustaining direct injury by losing their respective family’s abode
on the part of the DUMAGATS and may be held to exist when the
writ of demolition will be implemented. On the part of Department

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of Agrarian Reform the implementation of such demolition will
compromise its mandate towards comprehensive and genuine
agrarian reform. About the second requisite, it is complied with
showing that the relief being sought will redress the asserted
injury;

REASONS FOR GRANTING THE PETITION

11. That Petitioner DARPO covered a portion of lot 727-D-7 with

an area of 8.6608 under the Operation Land Transfer (OLT)
Program of the government pursuant to Presidential Decree No.27,
said lot being a tenanted rice and corn area;

That in the process, the following were identified by the DAR as

farmer-beneficiaries and were correspondingly issued with
Emancipation Patents1, namely:

Name of TCT No./EP Lot Area/Ha. Location

Farmer- No. No.
Beneficiary
Nicolasa E- 727- 3.1702 Sanito, ipil,
Dumagat 34,085/630202 D- Zamboanga
7-C Sibugay
Felisa E- 727- 2.6601 -do-
Dumagat 34,086/630203 D-
7-D
Charlito E- 727- 2.8928 -do-
Dumagat 34,087/630204 D-
7-E

Certified True Copy of Emancipation Patents issued in the name of

DUMAGATS are hereto attached as ANNEX “E”, “E-1”, “E-2”, “E-
3” and “E-4”;

12. That a Certificate of Full Payment2 was even issued by the

Land Bank of the Philippines evidencing their full ownership of
their respective area. Copy of such certification is hereto attached
as “ANNEX F”;

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13. That as the government entity mandated to implement the
agrarian reform program, it is likewise the duty of the DAR to
secure and protect the security of tenure of the beneficiaries of the
program to ensure that their rights as such, are not trampled upon;

It must be stressed that the DUMAGATS’s title was derived

from Emancipation Patents issued by Department of Agrarian
Reform. Under Section 9 of R. A. No. 9700 in relation to P.D. No.
1529 as amended by R.A. No. 6732 “ All cases involving
cancellation of registered emancipation patents, certificates of
land ownership award and other titles issued under any Agrarian
Reform Program are within the exclusive and original
jurisdiction of the SECRETARY OF THE DAR”;

Sadly, the titles of the DUMAGATS derived from

Emancipation Patents were cancelled not by the DAR Secretary
but by the Register of Deeds contrary to the mandate of Section 9 of
R. A. No. 9700 in relation to P.D. No. 1529 as amended by R.A. No.
6732;

14. That the DAR and the DUMAGATS were not impleaded nor
were they notified during the trial proper of the Civil Case No. I-
222 for Declaration of Nullity of Deed of Sale and Cancellation of
Title between the Heirs of Bartolome Montero vs. FD Luisito
Company, Inc. until a Writ of Demolition3 was issued in favor of
Plaintiffs Montero against the DUMAGATS;

Hence, the court never acquired jurisdiction over the persons

and property of the registered owners (the DUMAGATS);

15. That from 1970 up to the issuance of a Writ of Execution4 on

October 31, 2013, they were in actual and peaceful possession of
the premises without receiving any challenge to their possession.
Now, they are in the verge of losing their property without due
process of law. Article III, Section I of the Constitution provides
that “ No person shall be deprived of life, liberty or property without due
process of law nor shall any person be denied equal protection of the law”;

16. That unless a Temporary Restraining Order or Writ of

Prohibitory Injunction is issued enjoining respondent from making

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any further acts of Demolition or disturbing the peaceful
possession of our Farmer-beneficiaries over the area mentioned
above, the Dumagats are certain to suffer grave injustice and
irreparable damage and injury incapable of pecuniary
estimation;

17. That to allow the respondent to proceed with the execution

of the Writ of Demolition will amount to serious injustice to our
Farmer-beneficiaries who would be deprived of their possession of
the land awarded to them pursuant to P.D. 27, without them being
given their day in court;

18. That finally, to allow the act of demolishing their houses

and ousting them from their area of tillage will not only deprive them of
their means of livelihood but likewise tantamount to a mockery of
justice to an institution whose mandate is to implement agrarian
reform laws to benefit those marginalized sectors of society;

PRAYER
WHEREFORE, premises considered, Petitioners most respectfully
pray of the Most Honorable Court the following:

1. That this Petition be given due course;

2. GRANTING the preservation of the status-quo by

restraining the respondent Sheriff from committing acts,
specifically that of demolishing the houses standing thereat
and ejecting or disturbing the actual and peaceful possession
of the Farmer-beneficiaries, the Dumagat family, over the
premises involved pursuant to the Writ of Demolition issued
in Civil Case No. I-222 wherein they were not impleaded nor
notified as parties-respondent;

3. That the DAR be allowed to intervene in case a new trial or a

relief from judgment be sought upon by the affected Farmer-
beneficiaries as the case maybe and if allowed by this
Honorable Court;

4. That a Temporary Restraining Order be immediately issued

ex parte due to the exigency of the matter and to avoid grave
injustice and irreparable damage and injury;

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Such other relief and remedies, just and equitable under the
premises are likewise prayed for.

Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay, 07 May 2019.

MOHAMMAD DASSAN J. ADJU

Petitioner

YOLANDA DUMAGAT-SONQUIT
Petitioner/Attorney-In-Fact

THE BUREAU OF AGRARIAN LEGAL ASSISTANCE

DAR Provincial Office, BLISS Site, Ipil Heights,

Ipil, Zamboanga Sibugay

By:

ATTY. JOHNALD Z. SALOMON

Chief, Legal Division

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 Republic of the Philippines
Province of Zamboanga Sibugay
Municipality of _____________)SS.
X - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - //

VERIFICATION/CERTIFICATION ON NON-FORUM
SHOPPING

I, MOHAMMAD DASSAN J. ADJU, of legal age, Filipino,

married and with post office address at DAR Provincial Office,
BLISS Site, Ipil Heights, Ipil Zamboanga Sibugay, under oath
states:

1. That I am the Petitioner in the above-entitled Petition; I

have caused the preparation of the foregoing petition; and
that I have read the same and that all the allegations
contained therein are true and correct to the best of my
personal knowledge and belief and based on authentic
records;

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 2. In compliance with Section 5, Rule 7 of the l997 Rules of
Civil Procedure, I hereby certify that I have not
commenced any other action or proceeding involving the
same issues in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals,
or any other tribunal or agency; that if I should learn that
a simi8lar action is pending before the Supreme Court, the
Court of Appeals, or any other tribunal or agency, I
undertake to report that fact within a five (5) days
therefrom to the Honorable Court.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand on

this ____day of __________, 2019 at Ipil, Zamboanga
Sibugay, Philippines.

MOHAMMAD DASSAN J. ADJU

Affiant

SUBSCRIBED and SWORN to BEFORE ME, Notary

Public, for and in the Province of Zamboanga Sibugay,
Philippines, this ____day of ________, 2019. Affiant
personally came and appeared and exhibited to me his
DAR ID No.________issued by____________, known to
me and to me known to be the same person who executed
the foregoing verification/certification before and vowed
under penalty of law to the whole truth of the contents of
the above Petion.

Doc. No.____
Page No.____
Book No.___
Series of 2019

Copy furnished:

Vicente B. Aposaga, Jr. Registry Receipt No.

______________Post Office
Sheriff of Branch 24, ___ April 2019
Regional Trial Court 9th
Judicial Region, Ipil,
Zamboanga Sibugay,

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 EXPLANATION

It is most respectfully explained that personal service cannot

be made because the undersigned has no facility and personnel to
cause such a personal service; hence, served through registered
mail. It is prayed that this explanation be considered sufficient.

MOHAMMAD DASSAN J. ADJU Atty. Johnald Z. Salomon

Petitioner Chief , Legal Division

AFFIDAVIT OF MERIT

I __________________, Filipino, of legal age, resident of

___________, Philippines, being duly sworn in accordance with
law, declare and state that:

1. That I am the Present Provincial Agrarian Reform

Program Officer II of DAR Provincial Office, Ipil,
Zamboanga Sibugay;

2. That the DAR was the Agency tasked to implement

Agrarian Reform Programs of which Presidential
Decree No. 27 is a part of;

3. That the affected persons of the Writ of Demolition are

our farmer-beneficiaries of the Operation Land
Transfer (OLT) Program;

4. That the identification of these farmers as

recipients/awardees of the Emancipation Patents (EPs)
were done in the early 1970’s although the titles were
issued later;

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 5. That to allow the demolition to prosper will cause
irreparable damage and loss of means of livelihood for
the Dumagats;

6. That likewise this act is tantamount to assailing our

programs which the government mandated us to
perform.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereto set my hand

this ________ day of __________, 2019. Ipil, Zamboanga
Sibugay, Philippines.

_______________

Affiant

Doc. No.___

Page No.___

Book No.___

Series of 2019

AFFIDAVIT OF SERVICE
I, WILLIAM B. TING, Filipino, of legal age and presently residing
in NAPICO, Manggahan, Pasig City, after being duly sworn on
oath, depose and state:

1. I am the special messenger of the petitioners.

2. I served copies of the Verified Petition for Certiorari with

Prayer for the Issuance of Preliminary Mandatory Injunction filed
before the Most Honorable Supreme Court on the following parties
at their respective addresses and on the dates indicated below:

Address Date of Service Mode of Service

Name

12
HOUSING AND LAND Kalayaan Ave. cor
USE Mayaman St.
Registered Mail
REGULATORY BOARD Diliman 1101, Quezon
City

NAPICO Homeowners
Association III, Inc. as
437 Chico St., NAPICO, Registered Mail
represented by Roseller
Mangahan, Pasig City
Fortich

Atty. JOSELITO F. Housing and Land Use

Regulatory Board-ENCRFO
MELCHOR Registered Mail
Kalayaan Avenue cor
HLURB Arbiter Mayaman St., Diliman,
Quezon Cit

by delivering personally a copy of the Complaint – Affidavit on

each of the above persons or duly authorized representative
and/or by leaving a copy of the same at his residence or office,
with a person of sufficient age and discretion or by depositing a
copy in the post office, in a sealed envelope, plainly addressed to
the addressee at his residence or office, with postage fully prepaid,
and with instructions to the postmaster to return the mail to the
sender after ten (10) days if undelivered.

IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I have hereunto set my hand this

___________day of March 2015 in the City of Pasig .

WILLIAM B. TING

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this day of

March 2015 in the City of Pasig, affiant exhibiting to me his
Community Tax Certificate No. issued on
_______________ 2015 at the City of Pasig.

NOTARY PUBLIC

DOC. NO. _______

PAGE NO. ________
BOOK NO. _______
Series of 2015

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