April 2016 - Philippine Supreme Court Decisions/Resolutions
Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence
G.R. No. 195611, April 04, 2016 - REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, REPRESENTED BY THE REGISTER OF DEEDS, Petitioner, v. HEIRS OF DIEGO LIM, NAMELY, PRUDENCIA D. LIM, ANGELINA D. LIM, SIXTA D. LIM BAJA, ERNESTO D. LIM, MIGUEL D. LIM, JOSEFAD.LIM, CASIMIRO D. LIM, BUENAVENTURA D. LIM, AND ENGRACIA D. LIM UY, (THE LAST FIVE BEING DECEASED, BUT REPRESENTED BY PRUDENCIA D. LIM), HEIRS OF JEORGE* JOSEFAT,** EPIFANIO ROMAMBAN, SANTIAGO PARONG, ANTONIO P. CACHO, JESSMAG, INC., ROSITA LAGUERTA, EMILIO JOSE, HEIRS OF NESTOR P. TRINIDAD, ANTONIO DIAZ, ANTONIO CHUA, GUILLERMO J. JOSE, DANIEL MA. JOSE, LOURDES JOSE, JUNA MA. JOSE, WILFREDO V. GARCIA, JESUS BILBAO, JOSECONCEPCION,JR., FRANCISCO ACHACOSO, DENNIS B. PABLIZO,*** ROMEO A. CRUZ, JOSE DE LA ROSA, VICTORIOSO DIAZ CARPIO, ROSARIO CARPIO SANTOS, MARIETA CARPIO BACAY, MARIETA PALMA, SPOUSES ROLANDO AND OFELIA HUANG, PELAGIO M. ACHACOSO, AND MELBA M. MANDOCDOC, Respondents.
SECOND DIVISION
G.R. No. 195611, April 04, 2016
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, REPRESENTED BY THE REGISTER OF DEEDS, Petitioner, v. HEIRS OF DIEGO LIM, NAMELY, PRUDENCIA D. LIM, ANGELINA D. LIM, SIXTA D. LIM BAJA, ERNESTO D. LIM, MIGUEL D. LIM, JOSEFAD.LIM, CASIMIRO D. LIM, BUENAVENTURA D. LIM, AND ENGRACIA D. LIM UY, (THE LAST FIVE BEING DECEASED, BUT REPRESENTED BY PRUDENCIA D. LIM), HEIRS OF JEORGE* JOSEFAT,** EPIFANIO ROMAMBAN, SANTIAGO PARONG, ANTONIO P. CACHO, JESSMAG, INC., ROSITA LAGUERTA, EMILIO JOSE, HEIRS OF NESTOR P. TRINIDAD, ANTONIO DIAZ, ANTONIO CHUA, GUILLERMO J. JOSE, DANIEL MA. JOSE, LOURDES JOSE, JUNA MA. JOSE, WILFREDO V. GARCIA, JESUS BILBAO, JOSECONCEPCION,JR., FRANCISCO ACHACOSO, DENNIS B. PABLIZO,*** ROMEO A. CRUZ, JOSE DE LA ROSA, VICTORIOSO DIAZ CARPIO, ROSARIO CARPIO SANTOS, MARIETA CARPIO BACAY, MARIETA PALMA, SPOUSES ROLANDO AND OFELIA HUANG, PELAGIO M. ACHACOSO, AND MELBA M. MANDOCDOC, Respondents.
D E C I S I O N
DEL CASTILLO, J.:
This Petition for Review on Certiorari1 seeks to set aside the September 27, 2010 Decision2 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CV No. 85329 affirming the April 18, 2005 Decision3 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Iba, Zambales, Branch 70 in Civil Case No. RTC-666-I, as well as the CA's February 11, 2011 Resolution4 denying petitioner's Motion for Reconsideration.5
Factual Antecedents
Lot 42 consisting of 17,181,376 square meters, more or less - or 1,718.1376 hectares, is situated in Iba, Zambales.
On December 8, 1924, the Director of Lands filed with the then Court of First Instance of Zambales (CFI) a petition for cadastral hearing to settle and adjudicate Lot 42, pursuant to Section 1855 of the Revised Administrative Code.6
The case was docketed as Cadastral Case No. 121. The Director of Lands claimed that Lot 42 was-part of the public domain. Herein respondents Epifanio Romamban (Romamban) and Santiago Parong (Parong) opposed the petition, claiming ownership of Lot 42-E, which is a portion of Lot 42. Romamban claimed that he owned by acquisitive prescription, 29 hectares of Lot 42-E; on the other hand, Parong claimed eight hectares of Lot 42-E, which he allegedly purchased from Romamban.
Apart from Romamban and Parong's claims over Lot 42-E, it appears that Diego Lim (Lim) and Jorge Josefat (Josefat) had their own: in October 1968, Lim sent a letter to the CFI informing the latter that he was a claimant over a portion of Lot 42-E, having occupied the same and filed previously a free patent application therefor. Josefat likewise had a pending homestead application over 20 hectares of Lot 42-E.
On November 20, 1969, the CFI of Zambales, Branch 11 rendered judgment in Cadastral Case No. 121 adjudicating in favor of Romamban and Parong, Lot 42-E.7 The herein petitioner Republic of the Philippines took issue before the CA via an appeal docketed as CA-G.R. CV No. 11483.
Meanwhile, in 1970, Romamban was able to secure in his name Original Certificate of Title No. (OCT) 0-6511, covering the 29 hectares of land awarded to him. Parong was likewise able to obtain in his name Transfer Certificates of Title Nos. (TCT) T-20204, T-20205, and T-20206 over his 8-hectare award. Later on, Romamban and Parong sold or transferred portions of their respective awards and, as a result, several derivative titles were issued in favor of Romamban, Parong, and the other respondents herein, namely Jessmag, Inc., Emilio Jose, Nestor P. Trinidad, Antonio Diaz, Wilfredo V. Garcia, Francisco Achacoso, Jesus Bilbao, Victorioso Diaz Carpio, Jose Concepcion, Jr., Marieta Palma, Marieta Carpio Bacay, Spouses Rolando and Ofelia Huang, Pelagio M. Achacoso, Jose De La Rosa, Dennis B. Pablizo, Romeo A. Cruz, Antonio P. Cacho, Rosario Carpio Santos, Rosita Laguerta, Antonio Chua, Guillermo J. Jose, Daniel Ma. Jose, Lourdes Jose, Juna Ma. Jose, and Melba M. Mandocdoc.
On January 12, 1989,8 the CA issued a Decision9 in CA-G.R. CV No. 11483, ruling in favor of the Republic, thus -
We find [the Republic's] averment to be impressed with merit. The instant case is a cadastral proceeding under the Public Land Laws. The burden of proving that the land is a registrable private land rests upon [Romamban and Parong] in view of the basic presumption that lands of whatever classification belong to the State, x x x. Subject Lot No. 42-E is, therefore, presumed to be public land. To overcome the presumption, it is incumbent upon [Romamban and Parong] to show by clear and convincing evidence that they have been in uninterrupted possession of the same in the concept of an owner for a period of at least thirty (30) years, x x x. However, as has been earlier discussed, since [Romamban and Parong] have already lost their standing in court,10 the evidence adduced by them in the trial court cannot be admitted to support their claim. This court is thus constrained to rule that the presumption that Lot No. 42-E is a public land has not been overcome. Withal, claimant Diego Lim's Application for Free Patent: (Exh. "1") and Claimant Jorge Josefat's Homestead Application (Exh. "9") which are pending with the Bureau of Lands are competent evidence that subject Lot No. 42-E is indeed part of the public domain, x x x. Necessarily, therefore, the lower court committed reversible error when it awarded subject Lot No. 42-E to [Romamban and Parong].The above Decision became final and executory on February 3, 1989.12
IN VIEW OF ALL THE FOREGOING, the decision of the court a quo dated November 20, 1969 is hereby REVERSED and its Order dated April 14, 1970 SET ASIDE. It is hereby further declared that subject Lot No. 42-E is deemed and considered part and parcel of the public domain without prejudice to the right of claimant Diego Lim and claimant Jorge Josefat to pursue their respective applications for free patent and homestead patent, respectively. With costs.
SO ORDERED.11ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrary
Civil Case No. 666-I
On January 3, 1990, Lim and Josefat filed a Complaint13 for accion publiciana and cancellation of deeds of absolute sale and titles against Romamban, Parong, and their co-respondents herein. The case was docketed as Civil Case No. 666-I and assigned to Branch 70 of the RTC, Iba, Zambales. Lim and Josefat asserted that they were the actual occupants of Lot 42-E, and have filed with the government applications to acquire the same; that Romamban and Parong surreptitiously subdivided Lot 42-E and sold the lots to their co