1. RC Archbishop of Caceres vs. DAR, GR 139285, 21 Dec. 2007 a.

Can agricultural land conditionally donated to the archbishop and held in trust and in behalf of the millions of the Filipino faithful be exempted from CAR? FACTS: Archbishop is the registered owner of several properties in Camarines Sur, with a total area of 268.5668 hectares. Of that land, 249.0236 hectares are planted with rice and corn, while the remaining 19.5432 hectares are planted with coconut trees. In 1985, Archbishop filed with the Municipal Agrarian Reform District Office No. 19, Naga City, Camarines Sur several petitions for exemption of certain properties located in various towns of Camarines Sur from the coverage of Operation Land Transfer (OLT) under Presidential Decree No. (PD) 27. ISSUE: Can an agricultural land conditionally donated to the archbishop and held in trust and in behalf of the millions of the Filipino faithful be exempted from CARP? RULING: Archbishop cannot claim exemption in behalf of the millions of Filipino faithful, as the lands are clearly not exempt under the law. He should not fear that his followers are simply being deprived of land, as under both PD 27 and RA 6657, he is entitled to just compensation, which he may then use for the benefit of his followers. His situation is no different from other landowners affected by agrarian reformthey are somewhat deprived of their land, but it is all for a greater good. As religious leader, Archbishop can take solace in the fact that his lands are going to be awarded to those who need and can utilize them to the fullest. 2. Republic vs. Marcos, GR 155832, 7 Dec. 2010 a. Is a sequestration order signed by the PCGG-designated agents and issued prior to the effectivity of the PCGG rules and regulations, valid?

FACTS: on February 28, 1986, immediately after assuming power, president Cory Aquino issued E.O. 1, creating the PCGG. She empowered the PCGG to recover all ill-gotten wealth allegedly amassed by former President Ferdinand E. Marcos, his family, and close associates during his 20 year regime. PCGG commissioner Raul Daza gave lawyers Jose Tan Ramirez and Ben Abella, PCGG Region VIII task forces head and co-deputy, respectively, written authority to sequester any property documents, money, and other assets in Leyte, belonging to former first lady Imelda R. Marcos, Benjamin Romualdez, Alfredo Romualdez and their agents. ISSUE: is a sequestration order signed by PCGG designated agents and issued prior to the effectivity of the PCGG rules and regulations, valid? RULING: Under Section 26, Article XVIII of the constitution, an order of sequestration may only issue upon a showing of a prima facie case that the properties are ill-gotten wealth under executive orders 1 and 2. When a court nullifies an order of sequestration for having been issued without a prima facie case, the court does not substitute its judgement for that of the PCGG by simply applies the law. Here, it is clear that the PCGG did not make a prior determination of the existence of a prima facie case that would warrant the sequestration of the rest house. The republic presented no evidence before the Sandiganbayan that shows differently nor did the republic demonstrate that the two PCGG representatives were given the quasi-judicial authority to receive and consider evidence that would warrant such a prima facie finding.