This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2005-05-16 |
CALLEJO, SR., J. |
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| Citing the case of Maximo v. Court of First Instance of Capiz, Br. III,[15] the trial court ruled that Caro had no personality to file the action for the annulment of the free patent issued in favor of Sucaldito, which could only be brought by the Solicitor General. It held that "an applicant for a free patent who is not the owner of a parcel of land cannot bring an action in court to recover the land, for the court may not usurp the authority of the Director of Lands and the Secretary of Agriculture to dispose lands of the public domain through administrative proceedings under the Public Land Act,"[16] or Commonwealth Act No. 141, as amended. The trial court further stressed that the remedy of a rival-applicant for a free patent over the same land was through administrative channels, not judicial, because even if the oppositor succeeds in annulling the title of the applicant, the former does not thereby become the owner of the land in dispute.[17] | |||||