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LNRsyllabus 161123
LNRsyllabus 161123
LNRsyllabus 161123
PART ONE
REGALIAN DOCTRINE:
Cruz vs Secretary of Environment and Natural Resources, et al. (G.R. No. 135385, Dec. 6, 2000). Also read
the Separate Opinion of Justice Reynato Puno; focus on his discussion of the concepts of native title
and ancestral domains/lands.
Secretary of Environment & Natural Resources vs Mayor Jose S. Yap, et al. (G.R. No. 167707, Oct. 8, 2008)
NATIVE TITLE (Sec. 3[l] of R.A. 8371 or the Indigenous People’s Rights Act): lands never owned by the
State. -- Mateo Cariño vs Insular Government (41 Phil. 935 [Feb. 23, 1909])
RECLAIMED LANDS:
Francisco I. Chavez vs Public Estates Authority & Amari Coastal Bay Development Corp. (G.R. No. 133250,
May 6, 2003, and reconsideration on July 9, 2002): foreshore and submerged areas belong to the
public domain and are inalienable unless reclaimed, classified as alienable lands open to disposition
and further declared no longer needed for public service. The fact that alienable lands of the public
domain were transferred to the PEA and issued land patents or certificates of title in PEA’s name did
not automatically make such lands private.
Republic vs City of Paranaque. (G.R. No. 191109, July 18, 2012): The reclaimed lands are still part of the
public domain, owned by the State and, therefore, exempt from payment of real estate taxes. The
subject lands are reclaimed lands, specifically portions of the foreshore and offshore areas of Manila
Bay.
FOREST LANDS:
City Government of Baguio vs Atty. Brain Masweng, Regional Officer, NCIP-CAR, et al. (G.R. No. 180206,
Feb. 4, 2009): the courts have no jurisdictional competence to adjudicate forest lands. See also: The
Baguio Regreening Movement, Inc. vs Atty. Brain Masweng, et al. (G.R. No. 180882, Feb. 27, 2013).
These cases also discuss ancestral domains/lands.
Republic vs Celestina Naguiat (G.R. No. 134209, Jan. 24, 2006): declassification of forest and mineral lands,
as the case may be, and their conversion into alienable and disposable lands need an express and
positive act from the government.
Secretary of Environment & Natural Resources, et al. vs Mayor Jose S. Yap, et al. (G.R. No. 167707, Oct. 8,
2008): Except for lands already covered by existing titles, Boracay was an unclassified land of the
public domain prior to Proclamation No. 1064. Such unclassified lands are considered public forest
1 Legal Consultant, Asian Development Bank Study Team on the Implementation Capacity Assessment of the Philippine
Environment Safeguards System (ICAPESS), per ADB Authorization dated April 24, 2012. Also Editorial Consultant, DENR Public
Affairs Office, November 2005 to the present.
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under PD No. 705. The DENR and the National Mapping and Resource Information Authority certify
that Boracay Island is an unclassified land of the public domain.
MAY ALIENS OWN REAL ESTATE IN THE FORM OF CONDOMINIUM UNITS IN THE PHILIPPINES?
Jacobus Bernhard Hulst vs PR Builders, Inc. (G.R. No. 156364, Sept. 25, 2008)
CONSTITUTIONALITY
THE MINING LAW OF 1995: La Bugal-B’laan Tribal Association, Inc., et al. vs Victor O. Ramos, et al. (G.R.
No. 127882, Jan. 27, 2004), the Supreme Court en banc declared seven provisions of the Mining Law of
1995 (R.A. No. 7942) unconstitutional. Less than a year later, on Dec. 1, 2004, the Supreme Court
promulgated a resolution reversing its earlier decision. Read both of these two decisions.
IMPAIRMENT OF CONTRACTS: ARE FORESTRY LICENSES, PERMITS AND AGREEMENTS CONTRACTS THAT
MAY NOT BE IMPAIRED?
Republic of the Philippines, represented by the DENR vs Pagadian City Timber Co., Inc. (G.R. No.
159308, Sept. 16, 2008)
Heherson Alvarez vs PICOP Resources, Inc. (G.R. No. 162243, Dec. 3, 2009)
SUSTAINABLE DEVELOPMENT
SOLID WASTE MANAGEMENT: PUTTING METRO MANILA’S GARBAGE IN A WATERSHED RESERVATION --
Province of Rizal, et al. vs Executive Secretary, et al. (G.R. No. 129546, Dec. 13, 2005).
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MINING RIGHTS vs FORESTRY RIGHTS: PICOP vs Base Metals Mineral Resources Corp. and the Mines
Adjudication Board (G.R. No. 163509, Dec. 6, 2006)
POACHING: Sea Lion Fishing Corp. vs People, G.R. No. 172678, March 23, 2011. Violation of RA 8550 (Phil.
Fisheries Code of 1998)
PART TWO
JURISDICTION
DENR SECRETARY: Director of Lands vs Court of Appeals (G.R. No. 79684, Feb. 19, 1991)
MINING POLLUTION: Republic vs Marcopper Mining Corp. (G.R. No. 137174, July 10, 2000)
WHEN IS A CASE ONE FOR POLLUTION? Shell Phils. Exploration B.V. vs Efren Jalos, et al. (G.R. No. 179918,
Sept. 8, 2010)
POLLUTION OF LAGUNA LAKE: WHICH HAS JURISDICTION – THE POLLUTION ADJUDICATION BOARD OF
THE DENR, OR THE LAGUNA LAKE DEVELOPMENT AUTHORITY? -- Pacific Steam Laundry, Inc. vs LLDA (G.R.
No. 165299, Dec. 18, 2009)
A MAYOR MAY NOT SET ASIDE OR REVERSE THE DENR’S FINDING ON POLLUTION:
Technology Developers, Inc. vs Court of Appeals (G.R. No. 94759, Jan. 21, 1991)
Laguna Lake Dev’t Authority vs Court of Appeals, et al. (G.R. No. 110120, March 16, 1994)
MAY THE LTFRB OR DOTC BE ORDERED TO COMPEL VEHICLE OWNERS TO USE COMPRESSED NATURAL
GAS, FOR CLEANER AIR? Hilarion M. Henares, Jr., Victor C. Agustin, et al. vs LTFRB and DOTC (G.R. No.
158290, Oct. 23, 2006)
SMALL-SCALE MINING PERMITS. League of Provinces of the Phils. vs DENR (G.R. No. 175368, April 11,
2013): the DENR Secretary has the power of review in the resolution of disputes, under Section 24 of RA
7076 (People's Small-Scale Mining Act of 1991) and Section 22 of its IRR.
WRIT OF KALIKASAN:
Most Rev. Pedro D. Arigo, et al. vs Scott H. Swift in his capacity as commander of the U.S. Seventh Fleet
(G.R. No. 206510, Sept. 16, 2014)
Hon. Ramon Jesus P. Paje vs Hon. Teodoro A. Casiño, et al. (G.R. No. 207257, Feb. 3, 2015)
West Tower Condominium Corp. vs First Philippine Industrial Corp. (G.R. No. 194239, June 16, 2015)
LNL Archipelago Minerals, Inc. vs Agham Party List (G.R. No. 209165, April 12, 2016)
PRECAUTIONARY PRINCIPLE
Oposa vs Factoran, Jr. (G.R. No. 101083, July 30, 1993, 224 SCRA 792)
Tribal Coalition of Mindanao vs Taganito Mining Corp. (G.R. No. 196835, June 28, 2011)
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International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-Biotech Applications, Inc., et al. vs Greenpeace
Southeast Asia (Phils.), et al., G.R. No. 209271, Dec. 8, 2015 >> also July 26, 2016 (motions for
reconsideration granted)
-end-
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