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Facts:
Ruben alleged further that he has the better right to possess subject
property having acquired the same from his father, Francisco, who executed
a Deed of Quitclaim in his favor on March 15, 1971.
On appeal, Branch XVI, Regional Trial Court of Laoag City affirmed said
dismissal.
Petitioner assailed the Decision of the RTC, affirming the earlier dismissal of
the case by the MTC, by instituting an appeal with the CA. On 08 January
2008, the appellate court through its Fourteenth Division dismissed his
appeal. It noted that his father engaged in a double sale when he conveyed
the disputed properties to petitioner and respondents. The Quitclaim
executed by the elder Corpuz in favor of petitioner was dated 15 March
1971, while the Deed of Sale with respondents was later, on 15 June 1971;
both documents were notarized shortly after their execution. The Quitclaim,
which was subsequently inscribed at the back of Original Certificate of Title
(OCT) No. O-1717 on 29 October 1976, resulted in the issuance of Transfer
Certificate of Title (TCT) No. T-12980 in the name of petitioner. The Deed of
Sale executed with respondents was, however, not annotated at the back of
OCT No. O-1717 and remained unregistered.
Based on the above findings, the CA ruled that petitioner had knowledge of
the sale of the disputed real property executed between Francisco Corpuz,
petitioner's father, and respondents. Due to this conveyance by the elder
Corpuz to respondents, the latter's possession thereof was in the nature of
ownership. Thus, in the context of an unlawful detainer case instituted by
petitioner against respondents, the appellate court concluded that
respondents' possession of the property was not by mere tolerance of its
former owner - petitioner's father - but was in the exercise of ownership.
The CA noted that petitioner had knowledge of his father's sale of the
properties to respondents as early as 1973. However, despite knowledge of
the sale, petitioner failed to initiate any action to annul it and oust
respondents from the subject properties.
Issue:
Who between the parties has the right to possession of the disputed
properties -- petitioner, who is the registered owner under TCT No. T-12980;
or respondents, who have a notarized yet unregistered Deed of Absolute
Sale over the same properties?
Rulings:
One of the three kinds of action for the recovery of possession of real
property is "accion interdictal, or an ejectment proceeding ... which may be
either that for forcible entry (detentacion) or unlawful detainer (desahucio),
which is a summary action for the recovery of physical possession where the
dispossession has not lasted for more than one year, and should be brought
in the proper inferior court." In ejectment proceedings, the courts resolve
the basic question of who is entitled to physical possession of the premises,
possession referring to possession de facto, and not possession de jure.
Where the parties to an ejectment case raise the issue of ownership, the
courts may pass upon that issue to determine who between the parties has
the better right to possess the property. However, where the issue of
ownership is inseparably linked to that of possession, adjudication of the
ownership issue is not final and binding, but only for the purpose of
resolving the issue of possession. The adjudication of the issue of ownership
is only provisional, and not a bar to an action between the same parties
involving title to the property
Indeed, a title issued under the Torrens system is entitled to all the
attributes of property ownership, which necessarily includes possession.
Petitioner is correct that as a Torrens title holder over the subject
properties, he is the rightful owner and is entitled to possession thereof.
However, the lower courts and the appellate court consistently found that
possession of the disputed properties by respondents was in the nature of
ownership, and not by mere tolerance of the elder Corpuz. In fact, they have
been in continuous, open and notorious possession of the property for more
than 30 years up to this day.
However, we cannot lose sight of the fact that the present petitioner has
instituted an unlawful detainer case against respondents. It is an
established fact that for more than three decades, the latter have been in
continuous possession of the subject property, which, as such, is in the
concept of ownership and not by mere tolerance of petitioner's father.
Under these circumstances, petitioner cannot simply oust respondents from
possession through the summary procedure of an ejectment proceeding.
Section 50 of Act No. 496 (now Sec. 51 of P.D. 1529), provides that the
registration of the deed is the operative act to bind or affect the land insofar
as third persons are concerned. But where the party has knowledge of a
prior existing interest which is unregistered at the time he acquired a right
to the same land, his knowledge of that prior unregistered interest has the
effect of registration as to him. The Torrens system cannot be used as a
shield for the commission of fraud (Gustillo v. Maravilla, 48 Phil. 442).
[Emphasis supplied.]
We also note that, based on the records, respondents do not dispute the
existence of TCT No. T-12980 registered in the name of petitioner. They
allege, though, that the land title issued to him was an "act of fraud" on his
part. We find this argument to be equivalent to a collateral attack against
the Torrens title of petitioner - an attack we cannot allow in the instant
unlawful detainer case.
Our ruling in the present case is only to resolve the issue of who has the
better right to possession in relation to the issue of disputed ownership of
the subject properties. Questions as to the validity of petitioner's Torrens
title can be ventilated in a proper suit instituted to directly attack its
validity, an issue that we cannot resolve definitively in this unlawful detainer
case.