THE PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES ET.AL.

, Petitioners,
vs.
HON. VICENTE B. ECHAVES, JR., as Judge of the Court of First Instance of
Bohol Branch II, ET.AL., Respondents.

(G.R. No. L-47757-61 January 28, 1980)

FACTS

Fiscal Abundio R. Ello filed with the lower court five separate informations
against the sixteen persons charged with squatting as penalized by Presidential Decree
No. 772.

Before the said 5 accused arraigned, herein respondent Judge Echaves motu
proprio issued an omnibus order dismissing the 5 informations being filed on the
grounds, that it was alleged that the accused entered the land through “stealth and
strategy” well in fact, what is written in the decree was, “with the use of force,
intimidation or threat, or taking advantage of the absence or tolerance of the
landowner” another is under the rule or ejusdem generis the decree does not apply to
the cultivation of a grazing land.

Due to the dismissal order from the lower court because it did not consider the
MR, despite of the amendment of the information made by Fiscal Ello, the latter
appealed to the SC utilizing Republic Act No. 5440.

Issue

Whether or not P.D No. 772 which penalizes squatting and parallel acts is also
applicable to agricultural lands.

Ruling

The appeal was lack of merit, therefore it is denied. The trial court’s dismissal was
affirmed.

The Supreme Court goes with the ruling of the lower court that the decree does
not apply to pasture lands because its preamble shows that it was intended to apply to
squatting in urban communities or more particularly to illegal constructions in squatter
areas made by well- to-do individuals. The squatting complained hereof involves pasture
land in rural areas.

The rule of ejusdem generis or of the same kind invoked by the trial court does
not apply in this case at hand, since the intent of the decree is unmistakable. Thus
intended to apply on urban communities specifically to illegal constructions. The
principle of ejusdem generis is merely a tool of statutory construction which is resorted
to when the legislative intent is uncertain.