AGRARIAN LAWS/DISPUTETHE TENANT IS NOT PERMITTED TO DENY THE TITLE OF HIS LANDLORD AT THE TIME OF THE COMMENCEMENT OF THE RELATION OF LANDLORD AND TENANT BETWEEN THEM. (sec. 3, par. (b) of Rule 131 of the Revised Rules of Court, as amended)

-The following requisites must concur in order to establish a tenancy relationship: (a) the parties are the landowners and the tenant; (b) the subject matter is agricultural land; (c) there is consent; (d) the purpose is agricultural production; (e) there is personal cultivation by the tenant; and (f) there is a sharing of harvests between the parties. (Morta vs. Occidental, G.R. No. 123417, 10 June 1999, citing Chico vs. CA, 284 SCRA 33; Isidro vs. CA, 228 SCRA 503; Edmundo Benavidez vs. CA, G.R. No. 125848, September 6, 1999)

Tenant refers to the rightful occupant of land and its structure, but does not includes those whose presence on the land is MERELY TOLERATED and without the benefit of contract, those who enter the land by force or deceit, or those whose possession is under litigation. (Guzman vs. Court of Appeals, 177 SCRA 604-605)

A person entering upon lands of another, not claiming in good faith the right to do so by virtue of any title of his own, or by virtue of some agreement with the owner or with one whom he believes holds title to the land, is squatter. Squatters cannot enter the land of another surreptitiously or by stealth, and under the umbrella of the CARP, claim rights to said property as landless peasants. Under Section 73 of R.A. 6657, persons guilty of committing prohibited acts of forcible entry or illegal detainer do not qualify as beneficiaries and may not avail themselves of the rights and benefits of agrarian reform. Any such person who knowingly and wilfully violates the above provision of the Act shall be punished with imprisonment or fine at the discretion of the Court.(Central Mindanao University vs. Dept. of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board G.R. No. 100091, October 22, 1992, 215 SCRA 86)

It was ruled that the sale or transfer of rights over a property covered by a Certificate of Land Transfer is void except when the alienation is made in favor of the government or through hereditary succession. (Gavino Corpuz vs. Sps. Geronimo Grospe and Hilaria Grospe, et.al., GR No. 135297, June 8, 2000, Panganiban, J.; Ministry of Agrarian Reform Memorandum Circular No. 7, Series of 1979, April 23, 1979)

Abandonment requires (a) a clear and absolute intention to renounce a right or claim or to desert a right or property; and (b) an external act by which that intention is expressed or carried into effect. The intention to abandon implies a departure, with the avowed intent of never returning, resuming or claiming the right and the interest that have been abandoned. (Gavino Corpuz vs. Sps. Geronimo Grospe and Hilaria Grospe, et.al., GR No. 135297, June 8, 2000, Panganiban, J.)

EMANCIPATION PATENT:

It is only after the payment/settlement of the obligation above-stated which entitles the farmer/grantee to an emancipation patent and thus proves that he acquires vested right of absolute ownership in the landholding a right which has become fixed and established and is no longer open to doubt or controversy.

ABANDONMENT:Abandonment requires (a) a clear and absolute intention to renounce a right or claim or to desert a right or property; and (b) an external act by which that intention is expressed or carried into effect. The intention to abandon implies a departure, with the avowed intent of never returning, resuming or claiming the right and the interest that have been abandoned. (Gavino Corpuz vs. Sps. Geronimo Grospe and Hilaria Grospe, G.R. No. 135297, June 8, 2000)For abandonment to occur, the tenant must have unequivocally and absolutely relinguished his occupation and cultivation of the lots xxx. Moreover, under Memorandum Circular No. 10, series of 1983, the alleged abandonment of the land by the tenant does not automatically terminate the tenancy relationship as there must be a proper court declaration of such fact. In this case, such court declaration of abandonment is wanting. (Graciano Palele vs. Court of Appeals, et.al. G.R. No. 138289, July 31, 2001) An act of mortgaging the agricultural land is not considered to be an abandonment. (Gavino Corpuz vs. Sps. Geronimo Grospe and Hilaria Grospe, et.al., GR No. 135297, June 8, 2000, Panganiban, J

CONTRACT:

Parties to a contract are bound to abide in good faith by their contractual commitments which do not militate against the law, good customs, good morals, public order, and public policy. The stipulation adverted to in the contract is completely valid, and as such, binds petitioner herein.

EVIDENCE:

The Supreme Court has consistently held that in agrarian cases, all that is required is mere substantial evidence.

Substantial evidence is that amount of relevant evidence which a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to justify a conclusion.

Pagtalunan vs. Tamayo, G.R. No. 54281, 19 March 1990.

Quillian vs. Court of Appeals, 169 SCRA 280, January 20, 1989.

Bagsican vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 62255, January 30, 1986, 141 SCRA 226; Hernandez vs. IAC, 189 SCRA 758-759, September 21, 1990.

IBID; Picardal vs. Lladas, 21 SCRA 1483; Heirs of E.B. Roxas, Inc., vs. Tolentino, 167 SCRA 335, November 14, 1998.