CASE DIGEST : Crisostomo B. Aquino v. Agua Tierra Oro Mina (ATOM) Development Corporation G.R. No. 214926, January 25, 2023 GAERLAN

 

Facts

Agua Tierra Oro Mina (ATOM) Development Corporation filed an action for recovery of possession, injunction, and damages against Crisostomo Aquino before the Regional Trial Court (RTC), alleging that Aquino unlawfully occupied and constructed permanent structures on a seaside lot in Boracay Island. ATOM claimed a preferential right to occupy the property as the owner of the adjoining titled land and as the applicant for a foreshore lease over the disputed area. The RTC issued a writ of preliminary injunction restraining Aquino from further construction, and the Court of Appeals affirmed the order, even treating the injunction as akin to a Temporary Environmental Protection Order (TEPO) under the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases (RPEC) despite the absence of the bond ordinarily required under Rule 58 of the Rules of Court.

While the case was pending, the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) determined that the disputed property was forest land, not foreshore land, and issued a Forest Land Use Agreement for Tourism (FLAgT) over the area. Aquino argued before the Supreme Court that because the land had already been classified as forest land under the authority of the Executive Department, ATOM no longer possessed any legal right to claim possession or seek a foreshore lease. He likewise contended that the RTC improperly issued the preliminary injunction without requiring the mandatory injunction bond and without satisfying the requisites under the Rules of Court.

Issue

Whether ATOM was entitled to recover possession of the disputed seaside lot and obtain a writ of preliminary injunction despite the DENR's classification of the property as forest land, and whether the RTC and the Court of Appeals correctly applied the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases in dispensing with the bond requirement for the issuance of the injunction.

Held

The Supreme Court granted the petition, dismissed the complaint, and dissolved the writ of preliminary injunction. The Court held that under the Constitution and the Public Land Act (Commonwealth Act No. 141), the classification and disposition of lands of the public domain belong exclusively to the Executive Department through the DENR. Applying the doctrine of primary jurisdiction, courts must defer to the DENR's technical findings on land classification. Since the DENR had already classified the disputed property as forest land and issued a FLAgT, ATOM's claim based on a supposed preferential right as an adjoining landowner or as a foreshore lease applicant necessarily failed because the property was no longer legally considered foreshore land. Consequently, ATOM had no cause of action to recover possession.

The Court further ruled that the RTC and the Court of Appeals erred in treating the preliminary injunction as a Temporary Environmental Protection Order (TEPO) under the Rules of Procedure for Environmental Cases. A TEPO may only be issued in actions involving the enforcement or violation of environmental laws and only upon a showing of extreme urgency and grave and irreparable injury. ATOM's complaint was merely an ordinary civil action for recovery of possession and damages, not an environmental case. Thus, the issuance of the writ remained governed by Rule 58 of the Rules of Court, which generally requires the applicant to post an injunction bond before the writ may issue. Because the prerequisites for a TEPO were absent and ATOM failed to establish a clear legal right over the property, the injunction could not be sustained.