[O.P. Case No. 97-F-8065.  January 10, 2000.]

TAMANLI DEVELOPMENT CORP., petitioner-appellant, vs. THE DEPARTMENT OF AGRARIAN REFORM, represented by its Secretary, Hon. Ernesto, D, Garilao, respondent-appellee.

D E C I S I O N

          In this appeal, Tamanli Development Corporation, through counsel, assails the Order dated April 19, 1996 of the Secretary of Agrarian Reform, denying its application for exemption from CARP coverage of its property located at Barangays Kua and Poblacion V in General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite, with an aggregate area of 41.0021 hectares. The dispositive portion of the questioned Order reads as follows:

          "WHEREFORE, premises considered, this Office finds that the instant application for CARP exemption cannot be granted for failure to comply with the requirement of Administrative Order No. 6, Series of 1994. . . .."

          As borne out by the records, the facts of this case are as follows:

          Subject matter of this case are petitioner-appellant's several parcels of land which used to form part of a larger tract of land embraced under Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. T-87650 for Lot (E-1), covering an area of 207,678 sq.m., and TCT No. T-87651 for Lot (E-2), with an area of 296,609 sq.m. of the Registry of Deeds of Cavite, with a total area of 504,287 square meters. A total of 410,021 square meters were applied for exemption from CARP coverage.

          The subject landholding used to be a part of Cabilang Baybay of the Municipality of General Mariano Alvares (GMA), Cavite which was created on November 11, 1980, through Batas Pambansa (B.P.) Blg. 76. The municipality consists of the resettlement areas under the administration of the National Housing Authority (NHA) in Barangays San Jose and San Gabriel and a portion of Cabilang Baybay, all in the Municipality of Carmona, Cavite.

          On December 12, 1975, the then Department of Local Government and Community Development (DLGCD), through an endorsement, transmitted to the Municipal Council of Carmona, Cavite petitioner-appellant's proposed Tamanli Housing Complex and recommended appropriate action thereon, pursuant to Administrative Order (A.O.) No. 152, S-1968 and existing laws and regulations of both the national and local government. (p. 263, Rollo) It was stated therein that the subdivision plan generally meets the requirements of said Office.

          On May 30, 1976, the Municipal Council of Carmona, Cavite passed Resolution No. 30 (Kapasiyahang Bilang 30) granting the request of Tamanli Housing Project and Lakeview Development Corporation to construct a low cost housing project in Carmona, subject, however, to the condition that the same should comply with the requirements of A.O. No. 152, S-1968 and existing laws and regulations of both the national and local governments. (p. 264, Rollo)

          Thereafter, in 1977, the Land Registration Commission approved the Consolidated Subdivision Plan for said housing complex and issued 748 individual or derivative titles. Subsequently, the NHA issued Certificate of Registration No. RA-110 dated November 29, 1977 and License To Sell No. LS-1053 for Phase 1. Likewise, Certificate of Registration No. RS-1547 dated March 21, 1979 and License To Sell No. LS-1476 was issued for Phase II of the Tamanli Housing Complex.

          On March 14, 1980, the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Cavite passed Resolution No. 40 approving the Provincial Land Use Plan for the province and identified on a province-wide scale the industrial belt, the prime agricultural land, the agri-business area, the urban development portion, the tourist zone, the built-up areas, salt fishponds and other growth area. This General land Use Plan of Cavite was confirmed by Resolution No. 105 dated March 25, 1988, as amended, and was ratified by the HLURB on December 4, 1990, through Resolution No. 497.

          On March 10, 1993, March 31, 1993, and April 12, 1993 respectively, the Municipal Agrarian Reform Officer (MARO) of GMA issued notices of coverage on the subject landholding, which petitioner-appellant protested.

          On December 2, 1994, the Sangguniang Bayan of General Mariano Alvarez, Cavite passed, pursuant to Section 447 of the Local Government Code of 1991, Resolution No. 151-94 classifying the subject landholding, through an Ordinance No. 09-94, as residential.

          On September 4, 1995, petitioner-appellant, through counsel, filed an application for exemption from CARP coverage of the subject landholding on ground that, as early as 1976, or long before the effectivity of the CARP Law on June 15, 1988, the same was reclassified into industrial and/or mixed zone. (p. 329, Rollo) Attached to the petition were several pertinent documents.

          In its assailed Order dated April 19, 1996, the Secretary of Agrarian Reform denied the application.

          Following the denial of its motion for reconsideration, petitioner-appellant has interposed the instant appeal.

          The only issue to be resolved in this case is: Whether or not there was valid classification or conversion of the subject landholding prior to the effectivity of the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Law on June 15, 1988. An affirmative answer exempts the subject landholding from CARP coverage following Natalia Realty, Inc., vs. DAR (225 SCRA 279) and DOJ Opinion No. 44, Series of 1990.

          The instant appeal is without merit.

          Exemption from CARP coverage of subject landholding was sought pursuant to DAR-A.O. No. 06, Series of 1994, entitled "The Guidelines for the Issuance of Exemption Clearances based on Sec. 3 (c) of RA 6657 and the Department of Justice (DOJ) Opinion No. 44 Series of 1990". This issuance declares that lands already classified as commercial, industrial or residential prior to 15 June 1988 no longer need any DAR conversion clearance, exemption clearance being sufficient.

          Since DAR-A.O. No. 6, Series of 1994, provides for exemption clearance, compliance with its requirements is necessary. Coverage is the rule and exemption is the exception. DAR-A.O. 06, Series of 1994, requires the applicant to submit, among others, the following documents:

          "5.        Certification from the Deputized Zoning Administrator that the land has been reclassified to residential, industrial or commercial use prior to June 15, 1988;

          6.         Certification from the HLURB that the pertinent zoning ordinance has been approved by the Board prior to June 15, 1988;"

          These documentary requirements are designed to ensure that lands applied for exemption from CARP coverage ceased, as of June 15, 1988, to be agricultural within the contemplation of the DAR Revised Rules and Regulations Governing Conversion of Private Agricultural Lands to Non-Agricultural Uses (DAR Administrative Order No. 1, Series of 1990), which defines "agricultural land" as:

          ". . . those devoted to agricultural activity as defined in RA 6657 and not classified as mineral or forest by the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) and its predecessors agencies, and not classified in town plans and zoning ordinances as approved by the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board (HLURB) and its preceding competent authorities prior to 15 June 1988 for residential, commercial or industrial use." (emphasis supplied)

          It is thus clear from the foregoing that the classification of land to non-agricultural uses prior to June 15, 1988 will be binding on the DAR only upon showing that there are town plans and zoning ordinances effecting such classification as approved by the HLURB and its preceding competent authorities prior to June 15, 1988.

          Petitioner-appellant insists that the enactment on May 30, 1976 of Resolution No. 30, supra, the approval by the Bureau of Land of the Consolidated Subdivision Plan, the issuance of 758 individual or derivative titles, the registration of the Tamanli Housing Complex and the issuance of License to Sell to Tamanli Development Corporation effectively classified the subject landholding as residential long before the effectivity of the CARP on June 15, 1988. On this premise, it is argued that said property is outside of CARP coverage.

          We do not agree.

          Resolution No. 30, supra, merely approved the request of the Tamanli Housing Project and Lakeview Development to construct a low cost housing project. The Municipal Council of Carmona, Cavite did not intend Resolution No. 30 to be a zoning ordinance or to pass as town plans, classifying the subject landholding as residential.

          A resolution is not an ordinance. Discanso and Valiente vs. Gatmaytan (109 SCRA 917, October 31, 1960) distinguished a resolution from an ordinance in this wise:

          "A resolution is ordinarily a declaration of a council, or a legislative body, evincing some purpose or intent to do some act not the doing of the act itself. It is the intention to enter upon some enterprise of public moment, something authorized by law that it may do (W.B. Gibson Co. Vs. Warren Metropolitan Homing Authority, 29 N.E., 2d. 236). . . .. A resolution may have the expression of intendment, but in order to become effectual, it must be expressed by legislative enactment, that is, by ordinance (City of Owensboro vs. Bd. of Trustees, etc., 301 Ky. 113, 190 SW 2d, 1005, 1108) (emphasis supplied)

          A zoning ordinance is a city or municipal legislation which logically arranges, prescribes,: defines and apportions a given political subdivision into specific land uses as present and future projection of needs warrant. (Sec. 4 [b], Pres. Decree No. 449)

          But even assuming that Resolution No. 30 partakes of the nature of a zoning ordinance, it cannot by itself effect the desired classification for the resolution is couched in conditional terms, thus:

          "NGAYON, DAHIL DITO, sa mungkahi ni G. DOMINADOR ESPIRITU na pinangalawahan ni G. MELQUIADES MANABO, ay pinatibay, tulad ng dito'y pinagtitibay, na pagtibayin ang kahilingan ng Tamanli Housing Project at Lakeview Development Corp. na makapaglagay ng murang pabahay dito sa ating bayan, sa isang pasubaling ang mga ito ay kailangang pumailalim sa hinihingi ng Administrative Order No. 152, S-1968 ng Pangulo ng Bansang Pilipinas at sa umiiral ng mga kautusan at patakaran ng ating Pamahalaang Pambansa at Pamahalaang Pambayan." (emphasis supplied)

          Under A.O. No. 152, Series of 1968, issued by then President Marcos, Municipal Boards or City/Municipal Councils arc to submit proposed ordinances and subdivision plans to the National Planning Commission for comment and recommendations before taking action on the same.

Complementing A.O. No. 152, S-1968, is Letter of Instructions (LOI) No. 729 dated August 9, 1978 directing, among others, that:

          "2.        Local governments are required to submit their existing land use plans, zoning ordinances, enforcement systems and procedures to the Ministry of Human Settlements for review and ratification. (emphasis supplied)

          All other communities without land use plans and zoning implementing guidelines shall prepare said guidelines, and may call upon the Ministry of Human Settlement for planning assistance."

          Compliance with the above requirements of LOI No. 729 is evidently lacking as the then Municipality of Carmona (now GMA) had no land use plans and/or zoning ordinance. This is confirmed by the Certification of the HLURB dated August 17, 1995 stating that "the Municipality of General Mariano Alvarez has no HLURB Approved Zoning Ordinance." (p. 230, Rollo)

          Prescinding from the above discussion, petitioner-appellant cannot invoke Resolution No. 30 as legal basis for claiming that the subject landholding was already classified or converted to non-agricultural use prior to June 15, 1988.

          Needless to state, the Certificate of Registration and License to Sell issued to the Tamanli Housing Complex pursuant to Presidential Decree No. 957 "Regulating the Sale of Subdivision Lots and Condominiums, Providing Penalties for Violations Thereof" did not operate to classify the subject landholding as non-agricultural.

          The invocation of Natalia Realty, Inc. vs. DAR, supra, is misplaced owing to the fact that, unlike the land involved in Natalia, the subject landholding has not been earmarked for residential purposes either by a public law or municipal zoning ordinance. While the Sangguniang Panlalawigan of Cavite had passed Resolution No. 40 on March 14, 1980 approving the Provincial Land Use Plan for the province, followed by Resolution No. 105 dated March 25, 1988, as amended, confirming the General Land Use Plan of Cavite, the resolutions were, however, ratified by the HLURB only on December 4, 1990 or long after the effectivity of CARL on June 15, 1988. As aptly observed by the DAR Secretary in his questioned Order dated April 19, 1996:

          "Even assuming arguendo that in the absence of an HLURB-approved zoning ordinance, said municipality could use the General Land Use Map/Plan of Cavite as its basis for zoning classification, still, the latter would not fall within the purview of A.O. 06, S. of 1994 as it was ratified by the HLURB on December 4, 1990, or after the effectivity date of CARL."

          In all, this Office finds that subject landholding was not validly classified or converted into residential land prior to the effectivity of CARL on June 15, 1988. The Notices of Coverage, therefore, issued by the MARO of General Mariano Alvarez should therefore be sustained.

          WHEREFORE, foregoing premises considered, the instant appeal is hereby DISMISSED and the DAR Orders appealed from AFFIRMED.

          SO ORDERED.

          Manila, Philippines.

By authority of the President:

(SGD.) RONALDO B. ZAMORA

Executive Secretary

Copy furnished:

Atty. Edna S. Pena

Mr. Gaudencio Fabroa

DAR-Region IV

The PARO, Trece Martires City

Cavite

The MARO, Gen. Mariano Alvarez

Cavite

Department of Agrarian Reform