[ G.R. No. L-14573, May 18, 1962 ]
CONCEPCION FELICIANO, PETITIONER VS. COURT OF AGRARIAN RELATIONS, ET AL., RESPONDENTS.
D E C I S I O N
Petitioner sought authority to dispossess her tenant of his holding, on the ground that she desires to cultivate it personally under Sec. 50(a), R. A. 1199. The agrarian court, finding that petitioner will not personally cultivate the land but will deliver it to her son and son-in-law, denied the petition. The agrarian court opined that to warrant ejectment of a tenant under the law, it is indispensable that the petitioner be capable of doing the farming herself. On review, the Supreme Court reversed and granted the authority prayed for,
Sec. 50(a), R. A. 1199 should not be taken literally. A landholder who owns a small parcel of land which is farmed by a tenant and desires to get it back because he has a son who can do the farming for him, comes within the spirit of the said provision, provided he does not have any other property and the one to do the cultivation is a member of his family. The idea is to give the landholder an opportunity to attend to the cultivation of his farm to improve his financial condition. To hold otherwise would be to advance the fortune of an outsider to the detriment of the member of his own family.