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Sps. Teresito Y. Villacastin etc. Vs. Paul Pelaez

SPS. TERESITO Y. VILLACASTIN and LOURDES FUA VILLACASTIN, Petitioners, versus PAUL PELAEZ, Respondent.

G.R. No. 170478 | 2008-05-22

D E C I S I O N


Tinga, J.:

A conflict of jurisdiction between the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB) and the regular trial courts is at the core of the present case. Petitioners question the Decision[1] of the Court of Appeals dated February 7, 2005, in CA-G.R. SP. No. 83873, which upheld the primary and exclusive jurisdiction of the DARAB in cases involving the use or possession of lands covered by agrarian laws.

The facts, as culled from the record, are as follows:

On June 29, 1976, respondent Paul Pelaez and his wife mortgaged their agricultural lands bearing Original Certificates of Title Nos. 0-10343,...