Under Section 12 of the Agricultural Land Reform Code (R.A. 3844 as amended by R.A. 6389), an agricultural tenant is given the right to redeem the landholding in case it is sold to a third person within 180 days from notice in writing by the vendee. But if the tenant already has knowledge of the sale, is notice in writing still necessary? This is the issue raised in this case.
The case involved two farm lots with areas of 2.5773 and 2.0651 respectively covered by Original Certificates of Title (OCTs) Nos. 4146 and 4147 in the names of the spouses Dencio and Flora which were mortgaged to a rural bank to secure a loan of P33,000. Occupying the lots as agricultural tenant was Dario.
For failure to pay the loan, the bank foreclosed the mortgage and sold the lots at public auction on July 8, 1992 in favor of Rosa who was the highest bidder. Thereafter the OCTs were cancelled and new TCTs were issued in favor of Rosa following the failure of Dencio and Flora to redeem the lots. Rosa then sold the lots to Mila on September 13, 1993 who was issued a new TCT.
On September 29, 1994, Dencio and Flora as well as their tenant Dario filed with the Regional Trial Court (RTC) a complaint against the Rural Bank for annulment of the mortgage and sale. On June 16, 1997 while this case was still pending, Dario also filed a complaint against Rosa and Mila before the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) Region X, for legal redemption with Preliminary Injunction.
On September 16, 1997, the DARAB Regional Director disallowed the redemption prayed for by Dario on the ground of prescription. He said that Dario was deemed to have knowledge of the public auction sale when he filed the civil case together with the spouses Dencio and Flora in 1994. There is constructive notice to Dario which is substantial compliance with the notice requirement, the Director said. And since Dario filed the complaint for redemption only on June 16, 1997, his right to redeem the property has long prescribed, the director concluded. Was the DARAB Regional Director correct?
No. The written notice of the sale must be served by the vendee to all the tenant/s affected and to the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR). This is indispensable particularly in view of Section 12 of the Agricultural Land Reform Code (R.A. 3844 as amended by R.A. 6389) which mandates that that tenant/s shall have the right to redeem the property within 180 days reckoned from such notice in writing upon registration of the sale. The admitted lack of written notice to Dario and to DAR thus tolled the running of the prescriptive period. Dario’s constructive knowledge is not substantial compliance in the light of the express requirement for notice in writing (Po and Mutia vs. Dampal, G.R. 173329, December 21, 2009)
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