By EUGENE ADIONG
BACOLOD City — A regular court has no jurisdiction over land reform disputes, the lawyer of the owner of a controversial resort here said.
Atty. Salvador Panelo was surprised when a regional trial court (RTC) here issued an 18-day temporary restraining order (TRO) against developments at the Metro Safari Resort in Barangay Alangilan.
The property where the resort, owned by Francis Rey Cabuga, stands is covered by agrarian reform.
Only the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) has jurisdiction over lands subject to agrarian reform, he said in a press conference the other day.
“We will file a motion to dismiss for lack of jurisdiction,” Panelo said.
Issued on June 20, the TRO sought the halt of construction at the resort without a building permit and other mandatory clearances.
It enjoined Mushroom Realty Development Corp., the property developer and owner, and Office of the Building Official head Isidro Sun Jr. to refrain from continuing any work.
It was an extension of the three-day TRO that RTC Branch 49 Judge Manuel Cardinal Jr. issued on June 19 in relation to Civil Case No. 14-14345 filed by Alangilan village councilmen Alex Sausi, Roy Retiza, and Donald Alimpolo against Cabuga and Sun on June 16.
Panelo said the judge “may have not considered that under two laws — Republic Acts 6657 and 9700 — regular courts have no jurisdiction over agricultural lands.”
“We will file an administrative case against the sheriff,” he said. “If the judge continues to exercise jurisdiction, we will also file a certiorari for grave abuse of discretion, as well as administrative charges against him.”
Panelo believes a local businessman is making up stories against Cabuga.
“My client is just a businessman who may not be a local resident but wants to help put Bacolod in the tourism map of the country,” he said.
DAR in April issued a cease and desist order against Cabuga for illegally converting three agrarian reform lots, the current site of the resort.
The lots were being developed for nonagricultural uses without an approved land use conversion order, DAR Region 6 director Alejandro Otacan said in a letter to Cabuga dated April 16, 2014./PN
