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[No. 39919. January 30, 1934]

FORTUNATO ORTUA, petitioner and appellant, vs.

VICENTE SINGSON ENCARNACION, Secretary of
Agriculture and Commerce, ET AL., respondents and
appellees.

1. PHILIPPINE LAND LAW; DECISION OF DIRECTOR

OF LANDS APPROVED BY THE SECRETARY OF
AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE,
AUTHORITATIVENESS.—The Director of Lands has
been made by law a quasi-judicial officer. As such officer
he makes findings of fact, even passes upon questions of
mixed fact and law, and considers and decides the
qualifications of applicants for the purchase of public
lands. The decisions of the Director of Lands on the
construction of the Public Land Law are entitled to great
respect by the courts.

2. ID. ; ID. ; ON QUESTION OF FACT.—A decision

rendered by the Director of Lands and approved by the
Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, upon a question
of fact is conclusive and not subject to be reviewed by the
courts, in the absence of a showing that such decision was
rendered in consequence of fraud,

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VOL. 59, JANUARY 30, 1934 441

Ortua vs. Singson Encarnacion

imposition, or mistake, other than error of judgment in

estimating the value or effect of evidences regardless of
whether or not it is consistent with the preponderance of
the evidence, so long as there is some evidence upon which
the finding in question could be made.

3. ID. ; ID.; ON QUESTION OF LAW.—The decision of the

Director of Lands approved by the Secretary of
Agriculture and Commerce on a question of law, is in no
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sense conclusive upon the courts, but is subject to review.

Any action of the Director of Lands which is based upon a
misconstruction of the law can be corrected by the courts,

4. ID. ; ID.; QUALIFICATIONS OF APPLICANTS TO

PURCHASE PUBLIC AGRICULTURAL LANDS;
CITIZENSHIP.—One condition for the purchase of a tract
of public agricultural land provided by the Public Land
Law, Act No. 2874, in its sections 23 and 88, is that the
purchaser shall be a citizen of lawful age of the Philippine
Islands or of the United States. One, O, born in the
Philippines, of a Filipina mother and a Chinese father,
educated in China, who returned to the Philippines when
he was twenty-one years of age, is presumptively a
Philippine citizen; has not by his own acts expressly or
impliedly repudiated his Philippine citizenship and chosen
Chinese citizenship, but has always considered himself to
be a Filipino and has elected to remain as a Philippine
citizen, Held: That a clear error of law resulted in not
considering O a Philippine citizen and so qualified under
the Public Land Law to purchase public agricultural
lands.

APPEAL from an order of. the Court of First Instance of

Camarines Sur. Villareal, J.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.
Villafuerte, Tible & Valer for appellant.
Solicitor-General Hilado for appellees.

MALCOLM, J.:

In this case the petitioner and appellant seeks the issuance

of a writ of mandamus directed against the Secretary of
Agriculture and Commerce and the Director of Lands, for
the purpose of compelling them to give due course to his
sale's application for a tract of public land. The demurrers
interposed to the complaint by the respondents and
appellees were sustained in the trial court, and on the f
ailure of the
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442 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED

Ortua vs. Singson Encarnacion

petitioner further to amend his complaint, the action was

dismissed, without costs.

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The principal facts admitted by the pleadings may be

stated as follows: In January, 1920, the petitioner
Fortunato Ortua filed an application with the Bureau of
Lands for the purchase of a tract of public land situated in
the municipality of San Jose, Province of Camarines Sur.
Following an investigation conducted by the Bureau of
Lands, Ortua's application was rejected, allowing him,
however, to file a sale or lease application for the portion of
the land classified to be suitable for commercial purposes,
within a period of sixty days from the date of the decision
and upon payment of P3,000 for accrued rents. Two
motions for reconsideration of the decision were filed and
denied. On appeal to the then Secretary of Agriculture and
Natural Resources (Agriculture and Commerce), the
decision was affirmed, except that the sum of P3,000 was
reduced to P400.
It should be explained that one condition f or the
purchase of a tract of public agricultural land, provided by
the Public Land Law, Act No. 2874, in its sections 23 and
88, is that the purchaser shall be a citizen of lawful age of
the Philippine Islands or of the United States. Fortunato
Ortua in his application stated that he was a Filipino
citizen, but the Director of Lands held that on the contrary,
Ortua was a Chinese citizen. On this question, the Director
of Lands f ound established the following facts: Fortunato
Ortua was born in 1885 in Lagonoy, Camarines Sur,
Philippine Islands, being the natural son of Irene Demesa,
a Filipina, and Joaquin Ortua, a Chinese. In 1896
Fortunato was sent to China to study. While he was in
China his father and mother were legally married.
Fortunato returned to the Philippines in 1906, that is,
when he was twenty-one years of age.
It was conceded by the Director of Lands that
presumptively Fortunato Ortua was a Philippine citizen,
but certain

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Ortua vs. Singson Encarnacion

acts of Ortua were pointed to as demonstrating that he had

forfeited his Philippine citizenship. Thus it was stated that
Ortua voluntarily applied for a landing certificate of
residence which was issued by the Insular Collector of
Customs and which is only given to Chinese persons. Also,
when Ortua applied for the registration of a boat, and it
was denied by the Insular Collector of Customs on the
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ground that the appellant was a Chinese citizen, Ortua

submitted to the ruling.
The Director of Lands performs his functions pursuant
to the provisions of the Public Land Law. In accordance
with this law, the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce
is made the executive officer charged with carrying out the
provisions of the Public Land Law, and he performs this
duty through the Director of Lands (sec. 3). Subject to the
control of the executive head, the Director of Lands is by
law vested with direct executive control over land matters,
"and his decisions as to questions of fact shall be conclusive
when approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and
Commerce." (Sec. 4.)
The foregoing analysis of the pertinent provisions of the
Public Land Law will show why in the opening paragraphs
of this decision, .we accepted the decision of the Director of
Lands on questions of facts as conclusive. We would even
go farther and would hold that the Director of Lands has
been made by law a quasi-judicial officer. As such officer he
makes findings of fact, even passes upon questions of mixed
fact and law, and considers and decides the qualifications
of applicants for the purchase of public lands. A discretion
is lodged by law in the Director of Lands which should not
be interfered with. The decisions of the Director of Lands
on the construction of the Public Land Law are entitled to
great respect by the courts.
Accordingly, to paraphrase the authorities and decisions
coming principally from the United States Supreme Court,
we deduce the rule on the subject to be, that a decision

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444 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED

Ortua vs. Singson Encarnacion

rendered by the Director of Lands and approved by the

Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, upon a question of
fact is conclusive and not subject to be reviewed by the
courts, in the absence of a showing that such decision was
rendered in consequence of fraud, imposition, or mistake,
other than error of judgment in estimating the value or
effect of evidence, regardless of whether or not it is
consistent with the preponderance of the evidence, so long
as there is some evidence upon which the finding in
question could be made. (Vargas and Mañalac, The
Philippine Land Registration Law, pp. 738-740; Julian vs.
Apostol [1928], 52 Phil., 422; 50 C. J., 1089 et seq.; Johnson
vs. Riddle [191.6], 240 U. S., 467.)
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There is, however, another side to the case. It certainly

was not intended by the legislative body to remove f rom
the jurisdiction of courts all right to review decisions of the
Bureau of Lands, f or to do so would be to attempt
something which could not be done legally. Giving f orce to
all possible intendments regarding the facts as found by
the Director of Lands, yet so much of the decision of the
Director of Lands as relates to a question of law is in no
sense conclusive upon the courts, but is subject to review.
In other words, any action of the Director of Lands which is
based upon a misconstruction of the law can be corrected
by the courts. (Shepley vs. Cowan [1876], 91 U. S., 330;
Moore vs. Robbins [1878], 96 U. S., 530; Marquez vs.
Frisbie [1879], 101 U. S., 473; Black vs. Jackson [1900], 177
U. S., 349; Johnson vs. Riddle, supra.)
Having adjusted this fundamental matter, it-is now for
the court to determine if the question of law arising from
the undisputed evidence was correctly decided by the
Director of Lands. This question is, if the petitioner
Fortunato Ortua should be considered to be a Philippine
citizen or a Chinese citizen. Presumptively it is admitted
that he is a Philippine citizen. More correctly stated,
Fortunato Ortua had a sort of a dual citizenship, and had it
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Ortua, vs. Singson Encarnacion

within his power either to elect to become a Philippine

citizen or a Chinese citizen. Predicated on these
assumptions, we doubt very much if it could be found that
Ortua has by his own acts repudiated his Philippine
citizenship and chosen Chinese citizenship. The Director of
Lands gave too much prominence, we think, to two minor
facts, susceptible of explanation. When Ortua returned
from China at the age of twenty-one, it was the most
natural thing in the world for him to land as a Chinese, for
this would facilitate entry and obviate complications.
Again, when Ortua applied for the registration of a boat,
there may have been any number of reasons why he did not
care to appeal from the decision of the Insular Collector of
Customs. On the other hand, some consideration should be
given to the intention of the petitioner, and he vigorously
insists that it is his desire to be considered a Philippine
citizen. He has taken a Filipino name. He has gone into
business and has improved the property here in question to
a great extent. There has been no implied renunciation of
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citizenship, because the petitioner has been domiciled in

these Islands except for a short period during his infancy
when he temporarily sojourned in China for study. On the
contrary, he states that he has always considered himself
to be a Filipino, and that he has elected to remain as a
Philippine citizen. Therefore, on the facts found by the
Director of Lands, we hold that clear error of law resulted
In not considering petitioner a Philippine citizen and so
qualified under the Public Land Law to purchase public
agricultural lands.
Sustaining the assigned errors, the order of the trial
court will be set aside, and the record will be remanded to
the court of origin for further proceedings in accordance
with law. No pronouncement as to costs in this instance.

Villa-Real, Hull, Imperial, and Goddard, JJ., concur.

Order set aside and case remanded for further

proceedings.

446

446 PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED

Azcona vs. Reyes and Larracas

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