Jesus Velasquez v. Spouses Paterno Cruz and Rosario Cruz (Case Digest)

GR No. 191479

September 21, 2015

TOPIC: AGRICULTURAL LEASEHOLD

Facts:

Spouses Paterno and Rosario Cruz owned a parcel of land in Brgy. Santa Monica. Bernabe Navarro was a tenant of the said land until April 6, 1985, when he relinquished his tenancy rights by virtue of a Sinumpaang Salaysay. No other person was installed as tenant of the farmland.

Navarro’s son-in-law—petitioner Jesus Velasquez—entered the farmland without the spouses’ knowledge and consent. From 1985 up to the time of filing of complaint, Velasquez did not pay any rent. He also converted the farmland into a fishpond.

The spouses Cruz leased the farmland to Godofredo Tosco in 1995, but Velasquez refused to leave the property. Thus, the spouses filed a complaint for recovery of possession with damages at the RTC. Velasquez contended that the RTC did not have jurisdiction because it should be the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) because the instant controversy is an agrarian dispute.

Issue:

Who has the jurisdiction of this case—DARAB or RTC?

Ruling:

The RTC has jurisdiction.

For DARAB to have jurisdiction over the case, there must be a tenancy relationship between the parties. Tenancy relationship is a juridical tie which arises between a landowner and a tenant once they agree, expressly or impliedly, to undertake jointly the cultivation of a land belonging to the landowner, as a result of which relationship the tenant acquires the right to continue working on and cultivating the land. Its existence could not be assumed.

There are 6 requirements for a tenancy agreement to arise:

1. the parties are the landowner and the tenant or agricultural lessee
2. the subject matter of the relationship is an agricultural land
3. there is consent between the parties to the relationship
4. the purpose of the relationship is to bring about agricultural production
5. there is personal cultivation on the part of the tenant or agricultural lessee
6. the harvest is shared between the landowner and the tenant or agricultural lessee

The element of consent and sharing of harvests are clearly lacking.