FIRST DIVISION
G.R. No. 123417 June 10, 1999
JAIME MORTA, SR. and PURIFICACION PADILLA, petitioners,
vs.
JAIME OCCIDENTAL, ATTY. MARIANO BARANDA, JR., and DANIEL CORRAL, respondents.
Separate Opinions
DAVIDE, JR., C.J., dissenting opinion;
I beg to dissent. I agree with both the Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals that the cases before the Municipal Trial Court involved an agrarian dispute exclusively cognizable by the DARAB. It had, in fact, been determined in DARAB Case No. 2413 that respondent Jaime Occidental — a defendant in one of the MTC cases — is the tenant of Josefina Opiniana-Baraclan (1st par., p. 7 of ponencia). There is at all no showing that this determination by DARAB has been set aside by some higher authorities. The claim of petitioner Morta that he is the owner of the land is of no moment, for whether it is Josefina or Morta who is the owner does not affect Occidental's right as tenancy. Tenancy attaches to the land.
As I see it, the cases filed by petitioners Morta and Padilla were a clever way to defeat the agrarian law.ℒαwρhi৷ While the cases were ostensibly for damages, they were, at bottom, a fight on issues incident to or arising from an agrarian relationship. The first relief granted by the MTC, to wit:
1) Ordering the defendants not to molest and disturb the peaceful possession of the plaintiffs in the lands in question situated at San Rafael, Guinobatan;
mirrors the true nature of the controversy.
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