2S NATRES Case Digests

TOPIC Conservation and Protection of Waters and Watersheds and Related Land AUTHOR #_Santos
Resources
CASE TITLE Sta. Rosa Realty Development Corp. v. CA GR NO 112526

TICKLER Watershed; CARP DATE October 12, 2001

DOCTRINE
According to RA 6657, Section 10, lands which are actually, directly and exclusively used and found to be
necessary for watersheds (among others), and all lands with 18% slope and over, except those already
developed, are exempted from its coverage.

Art. 67 of the Water Code of the Philippines (PD 1067) provides that a watershed or any area of land
adjacent to any surface water or overlying any ground water may be declared by the Department of Natural
Resources as a protected area. Rules and regulations may be issued by the department to regulate or prohibit
the owners or occupants of the land within the protected area which may cause damage or deterioration of the
surface water or ground water, or interfere with the investigation, use, control, protection, management or
administration of such waters.

FACTS Sta. Rosa Realty Development Corporation (Sta. Rosa) owned two parcels of land situated at Brgy. Casile,
Cabuyao, Laguna. Respondents Juan Amante et al. (Amante), were farmers who were cultivating the area.
Amante filed a civil case with the Regional Trial Court of Laguna, seeking an easement of a right of way to and
from Brgy. Casile. By way of a counterclaim, Sta. Rosa sought the ejectment of Amante and, later on filed
separate complaints for forcible entry against Amante.

After the filing of the ejectment cases, Amante petitioned the Department of Agrarian Reform for the
compulsory acquisition of the Sta. Rosa property under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program (CARP).
The Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer (MARO) of Cabuyao, Laguna issued a notice of coverage to Sta. Rosa
and invited its officials and representatives to a conference regarding the compulsory acquisition of the
property. The consensus of the assembly was that the property should be placed under compulsory acquisition.
Sta. Rosa filed with the MARO a protest and objection to the compulsory acquisition on the ground that the
area was not appropriate for agricultural purposes as it was rugged in terrain with slopes of 18% and above,
and that Amante were squatters and were not entitled to any land as beneficiaries. Amante with the BARC
chairman contended that the slope of the land is not 18% but only 5-10%, and that the land is suitable and
economically viable for agricultural purposes, as evidenced by a certification of the Department of Agriculture,
municipality of Cabuyao.

The MARO then made a summary investigation report and forwarded the Compulsory Acquisition Folder
Indorsement (CAFI) to the Provincial Agrarian Reform Officer and then to the Land Bank of the Philippines
(LBP), as per the procedure prescribed. The Secretary of Agrarian Reform Miriam Defensor Santiago sent two
notices of acquisition to Sta. Rosa, stating that their property has been placed under CARP. Sta. Rosa sent its
formal protest to Secretary Florencio Abad and the director of the Bureau of Land Acquisition and Distribution
(BLAD), protesting the coverage of the land and the compensation offered.

The claim folders covering the property were then ordered forwarded to the Department of Agrarian Reform
Adjudication Board (DARAB) for it to conduct summary proceedings to determine just compensation for the
land. Before the transfer of the claim folders, Sta. Rosa sent a letter to LBP stating that the property is exempt
from CARP as it was classified as a watershed area.

Upon turnover of the claim folders to the DARAB, the DARAB promulgated a resolution asking the office of the
Secretary of Agrarian Reform to first resolve the issue of whether the parcels of land involved fall within the
coverage of CARP, and in the report submitted by the Secretary, it was stated that the property was within the
coverage of CARP by virtue of the issuance of the notice of coverage and the notice of acquisition that were
issued.

2S [AY 2020-2021]
San Beda University – College of Law
 2S NATRES Case Digests
During the hearing with DARAB, a certification from Deputy Zoning Administrator Generoso Opina was
submitted, which stated that the lands in question were classified as “industrial park” as per a Sangguniang
Bayan Resolution. In the meantime, DAR Secretary Benjamin Leong issued a memorandum directing the LBP
to open a trust account in favor of Sta. Rosa, for the valuation of the property. The DARAB then promulgated its
decision in favor of the government, directing the cancellation of Sta. Rosa’s title and the issuance of a new one
in the name of the Republic, and for LBP to pay Sta. Rosa for the property, and if Sta. Rosa refuses to accept it,
to open a trust account in favor of it.
Sta. Rosa appealed the decision to the CA, which affirmed the decision of the DARAB.
ISSUE/S
Is the property in question covered by CARP despite the fact that the entire property formed part of a
watershed area prior to the enactment of RA 6657 (Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law)?

RULING/S
No. According to RA 6657, Section 10, lands which are actually, directly and exclusively used and found to
be necessary for watersheds (among others), and all lands with 18% slope and over, except those already
developed, are exempted from its coverage.

Art. 67 of the Water Code of the Philippines (PD 1067) provides that a watershed or any area of land
adjacent to any surface water or overlying any ground water may be declared by the Department of Natural
Resources as a protected area. Rules and regulations may be issued by the department to regulate or
prohibit the owners or occupants of the land within the protected area which may cause damage or
deterioration of the surface water or ground water, or interfere with the investigation, use, control, protection,
management or administration of such waters.

In this case, the DAR included the parcels of land for compulsory acquisition under CARP as the land is
allegedly devoted to agriculture and was titled to Sta. Rosa, and is therefore private and alienable land.
However, Sta. Rosa in this case was able to prove that the land in dispute is a watershed or part of the
protected area for watershed purposes. After an in-depth study, survey and reassessment of the land, it was
found that the property forms a vital part of an area that needs to be protected for watershed purposes.

Thus, the land is exempted from the coverage of CARP.

NOTES
Watersheds may also be defined as “an area drained by a river and its tributaries and enclosed by a boundary
or divide which separates it from adjacent watersheds.”

The Court in this case also answered the question of why the property was titled to Sta. Rosa even though it is
a watershed area. The Court stated that at the time of the titling, the Department of Agriculture and Natural
Resources had not declared the property as watershed area. A zoning ordinance by the municipality of
Cabuyao declared the property as “PARK,” as certified by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board in
1979. The Sangguniang Bayan of Cabuyao, Laguna, later in 1994 voided the zoning classification as park and
declared that the land is now classified as agricultural land. In the case of Natalia Realty, Inc. v. Department
of Agrarian Reform, the Court ruled that lands classified as non-agricultural prior to the effectivity of the CARL
may not be compulsorily acquired for distribution to farmer beneficiaries.

2S [AY 2020-2021]
San Beda University – College of Law