Philex Mining Corporation v Zaldivia (Natural Resources)

PHILEX MINING CORPORATION v ZALDIVIA 

G.R. No. L-29669 

February 29, 1972  

FACTS:  

In a registered deed of assignment, dated 24 September 1955, George T. Scholey, as locator of the aforesaid mining claim, sold, transferred and assigned all his rights, title and interest therein to Milagros Yrastorza; on 7 December 1959, Yrastorza filed Lode Lease Application No. V-4671 covering the said mining claim, but on 15 October 1963, she sold, transferred and conveyed all her rights and interest in the claim to herein respondent Luz Zaldivia. The transfer approved by the Director of Mines on 29 December 1966; hence, Lode Lease Application No. V-4671 was recorded in Zaldivia's name and given due course.  

Upon publication of the lease application, herein petitioner Philex Mining Corporation interposed an adverse claim to the lease application, alleging that it is the beneficial and equitable owner of the mining claim; that it was located on 9 December 1955 by the petitioner corporation's then general manager for the benefit of the corporation; that when Scholey transferred the claim to Yrastorza, Scholey was still the general manager, while Yrastorza was also employed by the company; and that Yrastorza and respondent Zaldivia, who had also been an employee of the corporation, merely acted as agents of Scholey, so that, despite the transfers, petitioner remained the equitable owner.  

Respondent Zaldivia moved to dismiss the adverse claim on three (3) grounds, namely: late filing of the adverse claim, lack of jurisdiction of the Director of Mines to resolve the question of ownership raised by herein petitioner, and the alleged defect of the adverse claim for non-compliance with certain requirements of the Mining Act, as amended. In the course of an oral argument on the motion to dismiss, only the question of jurisdiction was submitted for resolution.  

DECISION OF LOWER COURTS: * Director of Mines: Bureau had no jurisdiction to resolve the question of ownership, because the question was judicial in character and should be ventilated before the courts. * DENR Secretary: affirmed the order of the Director of Mines.  

ISSUE: Is the Director of Mines vested with the jurisdiction over the controverted issues?  

HELD: NO.  

The issue is one to be resolved in conformity with legal rules and standards governing the powers of an agent, and the law's restrictions upon the latter's right to act for his own exclusive benefit while the agency is in force. Decision of such questions involves the interpretation and application of laws and norms of justice established by society and constitutes essentially an exercise of the judicial power under the Constitution is exclusively allocated to the Supreme Court and such courts as the Legislature may establish and one that mining officials are ill-equipped to deal with.  

As already shown, petitioner's adverse claim is not one grounded on overlapping of claims nor is it a mining conflict arising out of mining locations (there being only one involved) but one originating from the alleged fiduciary or contractual relationship between petitioner and locator Scholey and his transferees Yrastorza and respondent Zaldivia. As such, the adverse claim is not within the executive or administrative authority of the mining director solve, but in that of the courts.