Agnes vs. Republic

The issuance of a Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) under Republic Act No. 8371 (Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997) in favor of the Tagbanua Indigenous Cultural Community, which includes the petitioners, renders moot and academic the question of whether the petitioners can be compelled to vacate Calauit Island pursuant to Resettlement Agreements executed in 1977, as the CADT recognizes the indigenous peoples' right to stay in their ancestral domain and supersedes the relocation obligations under said agreements.

Calauit Island is a 3,600-hectare island forming part of the Calamianes Island group in the Province of Palawan. The petitioners, members of the "Balik Calauit Movement," claim to be successors of early settlers who lived on the island, some possessing titles under Act No. 926 and others claiming ownership through continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession. In 1976, President Ferdinand Marcos issued Presidential Proclamation No. 1578 declaring the island a Game Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary, leading to the relocation of settlers to Halsey and Burabod in Culion under Resettlement Agreements. After the EDSA Revolution, the settlers formed the Balik Calauit Movement and attempted to return to the island, sparking protracted litigation over the validity of the Resettlement Agreements and the settlers' right to remain on the island.

• Calauit Island is a 3,600-hectare island in the Calamianes Island group, Province of Palawan.
• The petitioners claim to be successors of early settlers, comprising over 250 families, who lived in Calauit as members of the "Balik Calauit Movement."
• They claim land titles through predecessors who acquired titles under Act No. 926, or through imperfect titles acquired by continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession and cultivation until their relocation in 1977.
• In 1973, the Bureau of Lands surveyed Calauit, initially informing settlers it was for titling purposes, but later announcing in 1975 that the island would become a zoo for exotic animals and that settlers would be relocated to Halsey and Burabod in Culion.
• The petitioners alleged harassment and intimidation by Philippine Constabulary soldiers to force their relocation, claiming they were told they had no choice as they were illegal settlers on government property.
• The terms of relocation were embodied in individual Resettlement Agreements where settlers agreed to relinquish rights over Calauit lands in exchange for agricultural lots in Busuanga and payment for improvements, with vacation required upon receipt of 50% payment.
• On August 31, 1976, President Ferdinand Marcos issued Presidential Proclamation No. 1578 declaring Calauit Island a Game Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary, withdrawing it from sale, settlement, exploration, or exploitation.
• On March 11, 1977, President Marcos issued Proclamation No. 1626 opening Halsey and Burabod in Culion as resettlement areas for the Calauit settlers.
• The petitioners claimed the resettlement areas were unsuitable for habitation and agriculture, with subhuman conditions and lack of promised government services (irrigation, electricity, waterworks, schools, health care).
• After the EDSA People Power Revolution in 1986, the settlers formed the Balik Calauit Movement and successfully returned to Calauit in June 1987.
• On July 14, 1987, DENR Secretary Fulgencio Factoran issued an Order directing the settlers to vacate Calauit and return to the resettlement areas.
• In 1988, the Philippine Commission on Human Rights (PCHR) recommended the repeal of Proclamation No. 1578 and the return of settlers to Calauit.
• On March 25, 2008, the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) issued CADT No. R04-BUS-0308-062 covering 3,683.2324 hectares in Calauit in favor of the Tagbanua Indigenous Cultural Community, which includes the petitioners as members.

• The Resettlement Agreements were executed through deceit, intimidation, misrepresentation, and fraud, rendering them void and inadmissible as evidence.
• They claim ownership over Calauit lands either through titled predecessors under Act No. 926 or through imperfect titles perfected by unbroken, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession since time immemorial.
• The RTC and CA erred in admitting unnotarized Resettlement Agreements as public documents without authentication of signatures.
• The government breached its obligations under the Resettlement Agreements by providing poor, non-arable resettlement sites with subhuman conditions, justifying rescission.
• The CADT issued in 2008 affirms their ancestral rights and individual property rights traced from their ancestors.
• They pray for individual titles to the areas they currently occupy in Calauit Island.

• The Resettlement Agreements are valid, binding contracts voluntarily executed by the petitioners, constituting a waiver and relinquishment of their rights over Calauit.
• Calauit Island is public domain belonging to the State, declared a Game Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary under Proclamation No. 1578, and the petitioners are staying as illegal squatters.
• The Resettlement Agreements are public documents admissible in evidence even without notarization as they are duplicates of original government records.
• Any vices of consent would render the agreements merely voidable, not void, and the action for annulment has prescribed.
• The petitioners cannot unilaterally rescind the agreements; rescission must be invoked judicially.
• National interest in preserving Calauit as a wildlife sanctuary overrides the petitioners' claims.
• The CADT does not affect the validity of the Resettlement Agreements or the propriety of the petitioners' eviction, as the area remains a Game and Wildlife Preserve.

• Procedural Issues:
  • Whether the case has become moot and academic by reason of the supervening issuance of Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) No. R04-BUS-0308-062 in favor of the Tagbanua Indigenous Cultural Community.
• Substantive Issues:
  • Whether the Resettlement Agreements are valid and binding, or void/voidable due to vices of consent.
  • Whether the petitioners have acquired ownership over the lands of Calauit Island through their predecessors or through prescription.
  • Whether the petitioners can be compelled to vacate Calauit Island pursuant to the Resettlement Agreements.
  • Whether the RTC and CA erred in admitting the Resettlement Agreements as evidence despite lack of notarization and authentication.

• Procedural:
  • The Supreme Court dismissed the petition as moot and academic due to the supervening issuance of CADT No. R04-BUS-0308-062 on March 25, 2008 by the Office of the President through the NCIP.
  • Under the Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997 (RA 8371), the CADT recognizes the rights of ownership and possession of the Tagbanua Indigenous Cultural Community over their ancestral domains, including the right to stay in the territory and not be removed therefrom.
  • The CADT serves as an ostensive successor to the Resettlement Agreements and negates the consequence of said contracts to remove the settlers from Calauit, rendering any declaration on the propriety of the agreements of no practical use or value.
  • No exceptions to the moot and academic principle apply in this case.
• Substantive:
  • The Court did not reach the substantive merits of the validity of Resettlement Agreements or the ownership claims over Calauit lands due to the mootness of the case.
  • The Court noted that while the CADT recognizes collective rights of the Tagbanua ICC, individual members seeking individual titles to ancestral lands must secure them in accordance with Commonwealth Act No. 141 or the Land Registration Act 496, as provided under Section 12 of RA 8371.
  • The Court emphasized that it was not ruling on the propriety or impropriety of the issuance of the CADT itself, as this question was not raised in the petition.

• Moot and Academic Principle — Courts will not consider questions in which no actual interests are involved and will decline jurisdiction over moot cases where there is no justiciable controversy; a declaration thereon would be of no practical use or value.
• Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title (CADT) — A title formally recognizing the rights of possession and ownership of Indigenous Cultural Communities/Indigenous Peoples (ICCs/IPs) over their ancestral domains identified and delineated in accordance with law, carrying with it the right to develop, control, manage, and utilize the domain collectively.
• Right to Stay in Territories (IPRA) — Under Section 7 of RA 8371, ICCs/IPs have the right to stay in their ancestral territories and not be removed therefrom without their free and prior informed consent, except through eminent domain, and the right to return when grounds for relocation cease to exist.
• Presumption of State Ownership — Pursuant to Article XII, Section 2 of the 1987 Constitution, all lands of the public domain belong to the State, and lands not otherwise appearing to be within private ownership are presumed to belong to the State; a positive act of government is needed to declassify forest land into alienable or disposable land.

• "It is a rule of universal application, almost, that courts of justice constituted to pass upon substantial rights will not consider questions in which no actual interests are involved; they decline jurisdiction of moot cases. And where the issue has become moot and academic, there is no justiciable controversy, so that a declaration thereon would be of no practical use or value."
• "The issuance by the respondent of CADT No. R04-BUS-0308-062 over 3,683.2324 (the entire area subject of the Resettlement Agreements) in favor of the settlers, including the petitioners, provide their occupation and/or settlement on the subject land an apparent color of authority at the very least by virtue of Republic Act No. 8371."
• "To be precise, Section 7 of Republic Act No. 8371 recognizes that the rights to ancestral domains carry with it the rights of ownership and possession of ICCs/IPs to their ancestral domains."

• Gancho-on v. Secretary of Labor and Employment — Cited for the principle that courts decline jurisdiction of moot cases where there is no justiciable controversy and no actual substantial relief to which petitioners would be entitled.
• Sta. Monica Industrial and Development Corp. v. Court of Appeals — Cited by petitioners as controlling case involving similar facts regarding land acquisition and classification.
• David v. Macapagal-Arroyo — Cited for the proposition that the moot and academic principle admits of certain exceptions, though none were found applicable in this case.

• 1987 Constitution, Article XII, Section 2 — Provides that all lands of the public domain belong to the State and that the State is the source of any asserted right to ownership in land.
• Republic Act No. 8371 (Indigenous Peoples' Rights Act of 1997), Section 3(a) — Defines "ancestral domains" as all areas belonging to ICCs/IPs comprising lands, inland waters, coastal areas, and natural resources held under a claim of ownership, occupied or possessed by ICCs/IPs since time immemorial.
• Republic Act No. 8371, Section 3(c) — Defines "Certificate of Ancestral Domain Title" as a title formally recognizing the rights of possession and ownership of ICCs/IPs over their ancestral domains.
• Republic Act No. 8371, Section 7 — Enumerates the rights to ancestral domains, including rights of ownership, right to develop lands and natural resources, right to stay in the territories, and right in case of displacement.
• Republic Act No. 8371, Section 12 — Provides that individual members of cultural communities may secure title to individually owned ancestral lands in accordance with Commonwealth Act No. 141 or the Land Registration Act 496.
• Act No. 926 — The Public Land Act under which some predecessors of petitioners allegedly acquired titles.
• Commonwealth Act No. 141 — The Public Land Act providing procedures for securing individual titles to public lands.
• Presidential Proclamation No. 1578 — Declared Calauit Island as a Game Preserve and Wildlife Sanctuary.
• Presidential Proclamation No. 1626 — Opened portions of the Culion Leper Colony Reservation (Halsey and Burabod) as resettlement areas for Calauit settlers.