09 February 2018

Mr. A
Dear Mr. A:
Thank you for meeting with me this past week. In this letter, I will
provide you with my legal opinion and analysis so you can make a qualified
decision regarding the charges you face. I will first restate the facts, as I know
them, to confirm their accuracy. Next, I will provide you with an explanation
of the law as it applies in your case, and lastly, give you my opinion on
whether the Regional Trial Court has Jurisdiction over your case.
Per our discussion and the documents you’ve shown me the following
are the pertinent facts:
On May 24, 2017 you inherited a 300 sqm lot in la Trinidad Benguet
with TCT # 000-0000-000 with an assessed value of P15, 000.
On January 31, 2018 Mr. B filed a case against you alleging that you
encroached 100 sqm with an assessed value of P5, 000 on the southern
portion of his 800 sqm lot with an assessed value of P40, 000.

Applicable law:
The applicable law is paragraph 2 of section 33 of Batas Pambansa
Bilang 129. It provides that the Municapal Trial Court shall exercise:
"(3) Exclusive original jurisdiction in all civil actions which
involve title to, or possession of, real property, or any interest
therein where the assessed value of the property or interest
therein does not exceed Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00)
or, in civil actions in Metro Manila, where such assessed value
does not exceed Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) exclusive
of interest, damages of whatever kind, attorney's fees, litigation
expenses and costs: Provided, That in cases of land not
 declared for taxation purposes, the value of such property shall
be determined by the assessed value of the adjacent lots."
On its face, the forgoing provision directly govern your situation
because the value of the contested lot is only P5, 000.
The applicable jurisprudence:
Interestingly, in the case of Oco v. Legaspi G.R. No. 174346
(September 12, 2008) the court ruled that:
Before the amendments introduced by Republic Act No. 7691,
the plenary action of accion publiciana was to be brought
before the regional trial court.[15] With the modifications
introduced by R.A. No. 7691 in 1994, the jurisdiction of the first
level courts has been expanded to include jurisdiction over
other real actions where the assessed value does not
exceed P20,000, P50,000 where the action is filed in Metro
Manila. The first level courts thus have exclusive original
jurisdiction over accion publiciana and accion
reivindicatoria where the assessed value of the real property
does not exceed the aforestated amounts. Accordingly, the
jurisdictional element is the assessed value of the property.