Director of Lands vs. Abaja G.R. No.

L-42134 October 21, 1936 FACTS: July 12, 1919, the Assistant Director of Lands filed in the Court of First Instance of Occidental Negros a petition praying that the titles with respect to a tract of land containing about 23,443,355 square meters, divided into lots and situated in the municipality of Ilog, Occidental Negros, be settled and adjudicated in accordance with the provisions of Act No. 2259, otherwise known as the Cadastral Act. August 15, 1925,after due hearing, the lower court, declared lot No.712, comprising about 1,322 square meters, public land because no one appeared to claim it. January 25, 1934, a motion was filed in the same court by the appelants, praying that the aforesaid decision of the lower court be set aside in so far as lot No. 712 was concerned, that a new trial be granted and that they be allowed to present their claim under the provisions of Act No. 4043. February 2, 1934, the provincial fiscal of Occidental Negros, on behalf of the government, filed an opposition to the appellants' motion contending that the Court of First Instance of Occidental Negros had no jurisdiction to reopen the case with respect to lot No. 712 because the motion was not filed within the time limit prescribed by Act No. 4043. On April 20, 1934, the judge of said court denied the motion of the appellants. ISSUE: Whether the ten-year period mentioned in Act No. 4043 should be counted from the date the decision was rendered or from the date judicial proceedings were instituted in a cadastral case. HELD: In determining the intention of the lawmaker, we are permitted to look to prior laws on the same subject and to investigate the antecedents or the legislative history of the statute involved. 1930, Act No. 3672 > An Act to authorize the filing in the proper court, under certain conditions, of certain claims of title to parcels of land that have been declared public land, within the period of one year from the date of the promulgation of this Act. Act No. 4043 > An Act to authorize the filing in the proper court, under certain conditions, of certain claims of title to parcels of land, that have been declared public land, by virtue of judicial decisions rendered within the fifteen years next preceding the approval of this Act. 1934, Act No. 4195 > An Act to authorize the filing in the proper court, under certain conditions, of certain claims of title to parcels of land that have been declared public land, by virtue of judicial decisions rendered within the fifteen years next preceding the approval of this Act. (Emphasis supplied.) Upon the other hand, the bodies of all the four Acts just mentioned speak in clear and unmistakable terms of parcels of land that "have been, or are about to be, declared land of public domain, by virtue of judicial proceedings instituted etc."

The more recent Act No. 4195 repeals act No. 4043. But the provisions of Said Act No. 4195 can not be availed of by the claimants and the appellants herein, because the cadastral proceedings in question were instituted on June 12, 1919, or more than fifteen years before the approval of that Act. It appearing, however, that the other provisions of the Act have been complied with, that is to say, (1) that at the time of the survey, the claimants were in actual possession of the parcel of land involved, (2) that for some justifiable reason, they were unable to file their claim in the proper court during the period established by law, (3) that the land has not yet been alienated, reserved, leased, granted, or otherwise provisionally or permanently disposed of by the Government, and (4) that all taxes, interests and penalties thereof have been paid, the claimants and and appellants herein may bring the matter to the attention of the proper administrative authorities for such action as they might deem proper and equitable.