PEOPLE v.

ECHAVEZ
Jan. 28, 1980 | Aquino, J. | |
PETITIONER: Abundio R. Ello (repreenting the people)
RESPONDENT: Hon. Vicente B. Echaves

2.

SUMMARY: -its really short, just go to the factsDOCTRINE: Presidential Decree No. 772 Any person who, with the use of
force, intimidation or threat, or taking advantage of the absence or tolerance of
the landowner, succeeds in occupying or possessing the property of the latter
against his will for residential commercial or any other purposes, shall be
punished by an imprisonment ranging from six months to one year or a fine of
not less than one thousand nor more than five thousand pesos at the discretion of
the court, with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency.

FACTS:
1. Petitioner Ello files sixteen separate informations against sixteen people in the
Court of First Insgtance of Bohol Branch 2 charging them with squatting in his

3.

farmlands through stealth and strategy according to Presidential Decree No.

772.
Judge Echavez dismisses the case on the grounds that (1) the accused enter
through stealth and strategy, not with the use of force, intimidation or threat, or
taking advantage of the absence or tolerance of the landowner and (2) under
the rule of ejusdem generis, the decree does not apply to the cultivation of
grazing land.
Ello appeals to the Supreme Court

ISSUE: Whether or not P.D. No. 772s penalization of squatting and other similar
acts applied to agricultural lands. NO.
RULING: Lower court affirmed.
RATIO:
1. The preamble of the decree shows that it was intended for urban communities,
particularly to do with illegal constructions in squatter areas.
NOTE:
However, ejusdem generis from the lower court wasnt necessary, as the law here is
clear.