"The Ruling of the Court
The petition has merit.
Petitioner argues that a judicial action is not necessary to evict respondents and intervenors from the leased military quarters because their contracts of lease have long expired. Petitioner adds that the contracts of lease specifically authorized petitioner toextrajudicially take over the possession of the leased military quarters after the expiration of their contracts.
Contractual stipulations empowering the lessor to repossess the leased property extrajudicially from a lessee whose lease has expired have been held to be valid.17 Being the law between the parties, they must be respected.
The occupancy by respondents and intervenors of the military quarters is covered by contracts of lease.18 The following stipulations can be found in the contracts of lease:
3. That the party of the Second Part hereby binds himself to leave or vacate this assigned quarters on the effective day of hisretirement/reversion/separation from the AFP.19
7. That the term or duration of this contract shall be for an inclusive period of three (3) years reckoned from the date of actual or constructive occupancy, subject to renewal for another three (3) years at the option of the Party of the First Part. However, the three year term may be accelerated and terminated earlier by either of the following: (a) Discharge/separation of an enlisted personnel prior to his term of enlistment or upon expiration of his current term of enlistment by reason of and under the provision on pertinent laws and regulations; (b) Reversion to inactive status of an officer prior to the date of his extended tour of active duty or upon the date of expiration of said extended tour of duty by reason of and under the provisions of pertinent laws and regulations; (c) Separation of a regular officer from the military service either by resignation or by action of the Efficiency and Separation Board or other modes prescribed by laws or regulations; (d) Retirement from the military service, whether optional or compulsory, of a regular or Reserve officer or enlisted personnel; (e) Failure of the Party of the Second Part to either pay/liquidate his rentals and/or water light bills; and (f) Failure of the Party of the Second Part to comply with the provisions of PNHB Circular Nr 12 dated 20 October 1978, post regulations and other similar regulations, and/or violation of any of the terms and conditions of this contract.20 (Emphasis supplied)
Respondents and intervenors had long retired from military service. Therefore, they are no longer entitled to stay in the military quarters because their contracts of lease have been terminated by their retirement from the service.
Respondents and intervenors, who are no longer in the military service, are occupying quarters in the Bonifacio Naval Station, a military facility or reservation that is subject to special military regulations commensurate to the requirements of safety and protection of military equipment and personnel. The naval facility is outside the commerce of man21 and the lease of quarters to military personnel in the service is merely incidental to their military service. Such lease is not an ordinary lease of a residential or commercial building. Upon retirement of the military personnel, their quarters have to be occupied by the military personnel in the active service who replace them.
In Viray v. Intermediate Appellate Court,22 we pointed out that there is considerable authority in American law upholding the validity of stipulations authorizing the use of “all necessary force” or “reasonable force” in making re-entry upon the expiration of the lease. We stated:
Although the authorities are not in entire accord, the better view seems to be, even in jurisdictions adopting the view that the landlord cannot forcibly eject a tenant who wrongfully holds without incurring civil liability, that nevertheless, where a lease provides that if the tenant holds over after the expiration of his term, the landlord may enter and take possession of the premises, using all necessary force to obtain the actual possession thereof, and that such entry should not be regarded as trespass, be sued for as such, or in any wise be considered unlawful, the landlord may forcibly expel the tenant upon the termination of the tenancy, using no more force than necessary, and will not be liable to the tenant therefor, such a condition in a lease being valid.23
In their lease contracts, respondents and intervenors agreed to comply with regulations which may be promulgated by petitioner even after their contracts have been executed.24 One of these regulations is PN Housing Administration25 which provides the following rules:
6. Tenancy
x x x
g. The awardee shall be allowed to occupy military quarters until his retirement, separation, reversion or discharge from the active service or unless sooner terminated for cause or other authorized purposes. The termination of occupancy shall be made in writing and with appropriate termination orders in accordance with sub para 8 below.
h.Thirty (30) days before retirement/separation/reversion/discharge from the service of the occupant, the Post Commander shall inform the occupant in a formal letter that the quarters assigned to him shall be vacated immediately upon retirement/separation. For valid reasons, a written request for extension, not to exceed sixty (60) days, may be granted by PNHB upon the recommendation of the Post/Station Commander. Positional Quarters shall be vacated immediately upon relief from position.
x x x
l. Forcible eviction shall be instituted against military personnel who have violated this Circular, Post regulations, conditions of the contract, shown undesirable habits and traits of character, or have become security risks.26
There is also Standing Operation Procedure No. 627 regarding the forcible eviction of tenants/occupants from military quarters which provides:
III. POLICIES:
x x x
b. Occupants of such quarters/similar structures/housing facilities shall, upon their retirement, discharge and/or separation from the service, cease to be entitled to the privilege of occupying such dwelling. They must, therefore, vacate them within sixty (60) calendar days from the effective date of their retirement, discharge and/or separation.
x x x
e. Occupants/tenants covered by paras b, c and/or d hereof who refuse to vacate their quarters/similar structures/housing facilities shall be summarily forcibly evicted.
IV. PROCEDURES:
x x x
d. Upon determination by the Executive committee that there is a ground for the summary/forcible eviction of a tenant/occupant, the Committee, thru its Chairman, will notify in writing the tenant/occupant concerned about the violation. Said letter will be personally delivered by the Deputy TPMG and/or his authorized representative to the concerned tenant/occupant.
e. If no positive action is taken by the tenant/occupant concerned to voluntarily vacate the quarters within seven (7) days from receipt of the notice, the Committee shall then summon the Post Engineer and Post MP to execute the forcible eviction. (Emphasis supplied)
Since respondents and intervenors agreed to abide by the foregoing regulations of the military facility, judicial action is no longer necessary to evict respondents and intervenors from the military quarters. Respondents and intervenors authorized petitioner toextrajudicially take over the possession of the leased military housing quarters after their retirement. This is also in line with the policy of the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Philippine Navy to provide military quarters for the exclusive use of military personnel who are in the active service.28"
