THIRD DIVISION
G.R. No. 221071, January 18, 2017
EDDIE E. DIZON AND BRYAN R. DIZON, Petitioners, v. YOLANDA VIDA P. BELTRAN, Respondent.
D E C I S I O N
REYES, J.:
Before the Court is the petition for review on certiorari,1 under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, with prayer for the issuance of a temporary restraining order and/or writ of preliminary injunction, filed by Eddie E. Dizon (Eddie) and Bryan James R. Dizon (Bryan) (collectively, the petitioners) to challenge the Decision2 rendered on January 23, 2015 and Resolution3 issued on September 7, 2015 by the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 05256-MIN. The dispositive portion of the assailed decision reads:
chanRoblesvirtualLawlibrary
WHEREFORE, the instant petition is hereby GRANTED. The Decision dated 13 June 2012 of the Regional Trial Court of Davao City, Branch 14, is REVERSED and SET ASIDE. The Decision dated 11 November 2011 of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities of Davao City, Branch 1, in Civil Case No. 21[,]755-A-10, is REINSTATED. The Regional Trial Court of Davao City, Branch 14, is hereby ORDERED to issue a writ of execution for the enforcement of the MTCC Decision dated 11 November 2011.The assailed resolution denied the petitioners' motion for reconsideration.chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
SO ORDERED.4ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrary
The claim of [the petitioners] as to the falsity of the sale is a collateral attack on the generated title itself, which can only be impugned in a direct proceeding litigated for that matter. The fact that [Eddie] presigned the [Deed] prior to the death of [Verona], in the presence of counsels[,] which remained unrebutted[,] was in fact giving consent to the act of disposing the property to answer for any exigency or impending situation that will arise later[,] which may or may not be entirely connected with the medical requirements of his ailing spouse[,] whose health condition at that time of the execution [of the Deed] ha[d] apparently started to deteriorate. Records show [that] [Vida] incurred a hefty sum of One Million Eighty-Five Thousand Five Hundred and Forty pesos and twenty-one centavos (P1,085,540.21) for both medical and burial expenses of the deceased of which [Eddie] failed to support in violation of the Civil Code on the rights and, [sic] obligation of the husband and wife to render mutual support.
x x x x
While evidences were presented to prove the existence of fraud in the execution of the instrument[,] the same cannot be appreciated in this summary action for want of jurisdiction.
x x x [A] notarized document carries the evidentiary weight conferred upon it with respect to its due execution, and documents acknowledged before a notary public have in their favor the presumption of regularity. x x x.
x x x x
x x x The sole issue to be resolved is whether or not defendants unlawfully withheld the property sold to [Vida.]
x x x x
While it is true that defendants herein filed both civil and criminal cases for the Nullification of the [Deed] and Falsification alleging forgeries, the issues therein are entirely different from this ejectment case. The criminal case, [sic] only proves the existence of probable cause to determine criminal culpability. The nullification tackles the validity or invalidity of the sale on grounds of falsity.
The prevailing doctrine is that suits or actions for the annulment of sale title or document do not abate any ejectment action respecting the same property x x x.
x x x x
x x x [C]onsidering the conjugal nature of the property and the subsequent dissolution of the conjugal partnership upon the death of [Verona] on December 08, 2009, with the execution of conveyance in favor of [Vida], this Court deemed it equitable and just for [Vida], to return to [Eddie], [sic] the remaining balance of the sale representing the net amount less the total actual medical and burial expenses of [Verona] from the proceeds of the sale, in the amount of FOUR HUNDRED, FOURTEEN THOUSAND FOUR HUNDRED, FIFTY-NINE PESOS AND SEVENTY-NINE centavos (P414,459.79) in the absence of evidence to that effect and for reasons of equity.32ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrary
Under Republic Act No. 7691 expanding the jurisdiction of the Metropolitan Trial Courts, [MTCCs], Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts, amending Batas Pambansa [Blg.] 129, otherwise known as the "Judiciary Reorganization Act of 1980,["] paragraph 2, of Section 33 therein provides that the court of first level has "x-x- Exclusive Original jurisdiction over cases of forcible entry and unlawful detainer: Provided, that when, in such cases, the defendant raises the question of ownership in his pleadings and the question of possession cannot he resolved without deciding the issue of ownership[, the latter] shall be resolved only to determine the issue of possession[.]["] x x x
In the pleadings of the [petitioners] filed before the court a quo, and even in their memorandum on appeal, they vigorously raise[d] the question of ownership of [Vida] based on the alleged notarized [Deed] signed by [Eddie] in favor of [Vida] where the latter derived her so-called ownership over the subject premises[.] Truly indeed upon examination by any sensible man[,] it would reveal that the signature[s] of [the Spouses Dizon] appearing at the bottom of the alleged Deed [were] falsified x x x. Thus, a document challenged by a party in litigation as falsified may be proved without resorting to an opinion of handwriting experts. x x x.
In another case[,] the Supreme Court held that: "x-x- A finding of forgery does not entirely depend on the testimony of handwriting experts. Although it is useful[,] the judge still exercises independent judgment on the issue of authenticity of the signatures under scrutiny by comparing the alleged forged signature and the authentic and genuine signatures of the person whose signature is theorized upon to have been forged. x x x
This court x x x took occasion in comparing and examining the signature of [Verona] in the [Deed] x x x vis-a-vis her signature appearing in the compromise agreement executed [with Eddie] x x x[.] [The comparison] lucidly showed that the signatures of [Verona] [were] x x x very different from each other and [the differences are] detectable by a human eye. x x x.
x x x x
Another thing that caught the curiosity of this court is the stipulation contained in the compromise agreement x x x wherein [the Spouses Dizon] agreed x x x that the "x-x- net selling price of the said conjugal property should be sold not lower than FOUR MILLION (P4,000,000.00) PESOS for the year 2008 x x x."
x x x x
x x x [T]here was never proof adduced that the compromise agreement adverted to was rescinded or modified by the [Spouses Dizon]. To the view of this Court[,] the consideration of the said [Deed] x x x has an indicia of fraud x x x [and] the signature[s] of the [Spouses Dizon] as falsified. [A] [f]alsified document cannot give right or ownership to a party who uses it.
x x x x
x x x To justify an action for unlawful detainer[,] the permission or tolerance must have been present at the beginning of the possession[.]-x-x-x- Since the complaint did not satisfy the jurisdictional requirement of a valid cause for unlawful detainer, the [MTCC] had no jurisdiction over the case. x x x.35 (Emphasis and underlining in the original)ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrary
[Vida] was able to sufficiently allege and consequently established the requisites of unlawful detainer.The CA, through the herein assailed resolution,37 denied the petitioners' motion for reconsideration.38chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
First, [Vida] alleged that she is the registered owner of the [disputed] property and she merely tolerated the continuous possession of the [petitioners] [of] the [disputed] property after she purchased it and had it titled in her name. Second, [the petitioners'] possession became illegal upon notice by [Vida] to [the petitioners] of the termination of the [petitioners'] right of possession as shown by the Notice to Vacate dated 18 May 2010 sent by [Vida's] counsel to [the petitioners]. Third, [the petitioners] refused to vacate the [disputed] property x x x thereby depriving [Vida] of the enjoyment thereof. And fourth, [Vida] instituted the complaint dated 03 June 2010 for unlawful detainer within one (1) year from demand to vacate the premises. x x x.
x x x x
x x x While the said [Deed] was questioned by [the petitioners] for being a nullity in a separate case, yet, it should be emphasized that the determination of the validity or the nullity of the [Deed] should be properly threshed out in that separate proceeding and not in the summary action for unlawful detainer. x x x.
x x x x
x x x Nothing is more settled than the rule that "[i]n an unlawful detainer case, the sole issue for resolution is the physical or material possession of the property involved, independent of any claim of ownership by any of the parties. However, where the issue of ownership is raised, the courts may pass upon the issue of ownership in order to determine who has the right to possess the property. The Court stresses, however, that this adjudication is only an initial determination of ownership for the purpose of settling the issue of possession, the issue of ownership being inseparably linked thereto. The lower court's adjudication of ownership in the ejectment case is merely provisional and would not bar or prejudice an action between the same parties involving title to the property. It is, therefore, not conclusive as to the issue of ownership, which is the subject matter of a separate case for annulment of [the Deed] filed by [the petitioners].
x x x [T]he RTC[,] in resolving the issue of possession in the unlawful detainer case[,] has not only provisionally passed upon the issue of ownership of the [disputed] property but it in fact made a determinative and conclusive finding on the ownership thereof, contrary to the settled rule that in [an] unlawful detainer case, the only issue to be resolve[d] by the court is the physical or material possession of the property involved x x x.
x x x [W]hile the Court may make provisional determination of ownership in order to determine who between [Vida] and [the petitioners] had the better right to possess the property, yet, the court is proscribed from making a conclusive finding on this issue. x x x [T]hc RTC has already made a preemptive finding on the validity or invalidity of the document, [but] the resolution thereof properly pertains to a separate proceeding pending before it in a separate case. x x x.
x x x x
x x x [T]his Court agrees with the contention of [Vida] that the RTC:'s pronouncement that the signatures in the [Deed] were forged and [Vida's] title issued pursuant thereto is void is a collateral attack on [Vida's] title which violates the [principle of] indefeasibility of the Torrens title. x x x
x x x x
Verily, unless and until [Vida's] title over the [disputed] property is annulled in a separate proceeding instituted by [the petitioners], the same is valid and [Vida] has the right to possess the subject property, being an attribute of her ownership over it. x x x.
x x x x
x x x [T]o stay the immediate execution of judgment in ejectment proceedings, the defendant-appellant must: (a) perfect his appeal, (b) file a supersedeas bond, and (c) periodically deposit the rentals falling due during the pendency of the appeal.
x x x [T]he supersedeas bond was paid by [the petitioners] only on 02 May 2012. x x x [T]he bond filed by [the petitioners] in order to stay the immediate execution of the MTCC Decision was filed out of time as it was not filed within the period to appeal.
x x x [T]he failure of the [petitioners] in this case to comply with any of the conditions provided under Section 19, Rule 70 of the Rules of Court is a ground tor the outright execution of the judgment, the duty of the court in this respect being "ministerial and imperative." x x x.
Thus, as the supersedeas bond was filed out of time or beyond the period to appeal, [Vida's] motion for immediate execution should have been acted upon by the RTC and the writ of execution should have been issued as a matter of right.36 (Citations omitted and italics in the original)ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrary
(1) | Vida has a cause of action for unlawful detainer against the petitioners considering that the Deed she relied upon in filing her complaint was falsified, hence, null; and |
(2) | the RTC conectly ruled that in an unlawful detainer case, the MTCC can resolve the issue of ownership.39 |
Petitioners need not require the MTC to fix the amount of the supersedeas bond. They could have computed this themselves. As early as 1947, we have held in Aylon vs. Jugo and De Pablo that the supersedeas bond is equivalent to the amount of rentals, damages and coststated in the judgment.52ChanRoblesVirtualawlibraryIf the cited case were to be applied, the petitioners' failure to post the supersedes bond within the allowable period shall result in the immediate execution of the MTCC judgment. Nonetheless, in City of Naga v. Hon. Asuncion, et al.,53 the Court has carved exceptions to immediate execution of judgmentin ejectment cases, viz.:
Petitioner herein invokes seasonably the exceptions to immediate execution of judgments in ejectment cases cited in Hualam Construction and Dev't. Corp. v. Court of Appeals and Laurel v. Abalos, thus:In Laurel, et al. v. Hon. Abalos, etc., et al.,56 therein respondent filed an action for reformation of the deed of sale against therein petitioners pending the appeal of the unlawful detainer case before the RTC. The RTC thereafter denied therein petitioners' motion for the issuance of a writ of execution relative to the MTCC judgment, and required therein respondent to post a supersedeas bond. According to the Court, the peculiar environmental circumstances obtaining in the case justify the non-immediate execution of the MTCC's judgment pending appeal. The Court further expounded as follows:
chanRoblesvirtualLawlibraryWhere supervening events (occurring subsequent to the judgment) bring about a material change in the situation of the parties which makes the execution inequitable, or where there is no compelling urgency for the execution because it is not justified by the prevailing circumstances, the court may stay immediate execution of the judgment.ChanRoblesVirtualawlibraryNoteworthy, the foregoing exceptions were made in reference to Section 8, Rule 70 of the old Rules of Court which has been substantially reproduced as Section 19, Rule 7054 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure. Therefore, even if the appealing defendant was not able to file a supersedeas bond, and make periodic deposits to the appellate court, immediate execution of the MTC decision is not proper where the circumstances of the case fall under any of the above-mentioned exceptions. x x x.55 (Citations omitted and underlining ours)ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrary
[T]his Court took pains at length to explain that this provision (regarding immediate execution of the judgment of inferior courts in cases of unlawful detainer) can be availed of only if no question of title is involved and the ownership or the right to the possession of the property is an admitted fact. Through Mr. Justice Labrador, this Court said in De los Reyes vs. Castro, et al.:By analogy, in the unlawful detainer case from which the instant petition arose, Eddie was originally a co-owner of the disputed property, and he remains in possession thereof. Vida, on the other, is not even a resident of Davao City.58 Moreover, prior to Vida's filing of the unlawful detainer case, Eddie had already instituted actions for nullification of the Deed and falsification of public documents. The Office of the Davao City Prosecutor had likewise made a preliminary determination of probable cause that forgery was committed. Eddie, thus, insists that no valid conveyance was made by Verona to Vida. In the mind of the Court, the foregoing are persuasive reasons justifying the non-immediate execution of the MTCC judgment despite the petitioners' belated posting of the supersedeas bond. Hence, the CA erred in declaring that the RTC improperly denied Vida's motion for the issuance of a writ of execution pending appeal.
chanRoblesvirtualLawlibrary.... The provision for the immediate execution of a judgment of the justice of the peace court in actions of unlawful detainer under Section 8 of Rule 72 of the [old] Rules of Court, is not applicable to an action of detainer like the present, where there is no immediate urgency for the execution because it is not justified by the circumstances. This view is based on the history of the action of forcible entry. This action originated in the English common law where it was originally in the form of a criminal proceeding whereby lands or properties seized through the use of force could immediately be returned. x x x.x x x x
It is the opinion of the writer that inasmuch as the propet1y now subject of litigation was originally sold only with right to repurchase to the plaintiff, so that the plaintiff was not really and originally the owner and possessor of the property, and since there are reasonable grounds to believe that the contract entered into between them was not one of lease but one of loan with mortgage of the property, the right of the plaintiff to the immediate possession of the property is not apparent, clear or conclusive, and neither should his right to the immediate execution of the property [be] allowed until opportunity to settle the question of ownership is had. In other words, the writer of the opinion holds that while Section 8 of Rule 72 is applicable also in cases of unlawful detainer, the immediate execution it provides for may be availed of only if no question of title is involved and the ownership and the right to the possession of the property is an admitted fact.ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrary
Where supervening events (occurring subsequent to the judgment) bring about a material change in the situation of the parties which makes the execution inequitable, or where there is no compelling urgency for the execution because it is not justified by the prevailing circumstances, the court may stay immediate execution of the judgment.
The assertion by Laput of "ownership" of the house she is occupying, the appeal pending in the [CA] from the decision in Civil Case 1517 which declared null and void from the beginning the deed of sale in favor of the petitioners, the latter's unexplained silence in the face of the manifestation filed by Laput informing this Court of the supervening occurrences, and their failure to submit their comment as required by this Court, are strong and sufficient additional reasons, cumulatively, to justify the dismissal of the present petition.57 (Citations, emphasis and italics omitted, and underlining ours)ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrary
In arriving at its pronouncement, the CA passed upon the issue or claim of ownership, which both parties raised. While the procedure taken is allowed - under Section 16, Rule 7060 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, the issue of ownership may be resolved only to determine the issue of possession - the CA nonetheless committed serious and patent error in concluding that based solely on respondent's TCT 12575 issued in her name, she must be considered the singular owner of the subject property and thus entitled to possession thereof - pursuant to the principle that "the person who has Torrens Title over a land is entitled to possession thereof." Such provisional determination of ownership should have been resolved in petitioners' favor.In the case at bar, when the Deed was executed on December 1, 2009, Eddie claimed that he was abroad while Verona was already unconscious. Vida did not directly refute these allegations and instead pointed out that the Deed was pre-signed in April of 2008. The foregoing circumstances reduced the Deed into the category of a private instrument as can be drawn from the Court's discussion in Adelaida Meneses (deceased) v. Venturozo,62viz.:
When the deed of sale in favor of respondent was purportedly executed by the parties thereto and notarized on June 6, 2006, it is perfectly obvious that the signatures of the vendors therein, Macario and Felicidad, were forged. They could not have signed the same, because both were by then, long deceased: Macario died on Febmary 22, 1981, while Felicidad passed away on September 14, 1997. This makes the June 6, 2006 deed of sale null and void; being so, it is "equivalent to nothing; it produces no civil effect; and it does not create, modify or extinguish a juridical relation."
And while it is true that respondent has in her favor a Torrens title ovet the subject property, she nonetheless acquired no right or title in her favor by virtue of the null and void June 6, 2006 deed. "Verily, when the insttument presented is forged, even if accompanied by the owner's duplicate certificate of title, the registered owner does not thereby lose his title, and neither does the assignee in the forged deed acquire any right or title to the property."
x x x xInsofar as a person who fraudulently obtained a property is concerned, the registration of the property in said person's name would not be sufficient to vest in him or her the title to the property. A certificate of title merely confirms or records title already existing and vested. The indefeasibility of the Torrens title should not be used as a means to perpetrate fraud against the rightful owner of real property. Good faith must concur with registration because, otherwise, registration would be an exercise in futility. A Torrens title does not furnish a shield for fraud, notwithstanding the long-standing rule that registration is a constructive notice of title binding upon the whole world. The legal principle is that if the registration of the land is fraudulent, the person in whose name the land is registered holds it as a mere trustee.ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrarySince respondent acquired no right over the subject property, the same remained in the name of the original registered owners, Macario and Felicidad. Being heirs of the owners, petitioners and respondent thus became, and remain co-owners - by succession - of the subject property. As such, petitioners may exercise all attributes of ownership over the same, including possession whether de facto or dejure; respondent thus has no right to exclude them from this right through an action for ejectment.
With the Court's detennination that respondent's title is null and void, the matter of direct or collateral attack is a foregone conclusion as well. "An action to declare the nullity of a void title does not prescribe and is susceptible to direct, as well as to collateral, attack;" petitioners wery not precluded from guestioning the validity of respondent's title in the ejectment case.61 (Citations and emphasis omitted and underlining ours)ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrary
As notarized documents, [Deeds] carry evidentiary weight conferred upon them with respect to their due execution and enjoy the presumption of regularity which may only be rebutted by evidence so clear, strong and conyincing as to exclude all controversy as to falsity. The presumptions that attach to notarized documents can be affirmed only so long as it is beyond dispute that the notarization was regular. A defective notarization will strip the document of its public character and reduce it to a private instrument. Consequently, when there is a defect in the notarization of a document, the clear and convincing evidentiary standard normally attached to a duly-notarized document is dispensed with, and the measure to test the validity of such document is preponderance of evidence.63 (Citations omitted and underlining ours)ChanRoblesVirtualawlibraryFurther, in Dela Rama, et al. v. Papa, et al.,64 the Court elucidated that:
Papas['] admissions, refreshing in their self-incriminatory candor, beat legal significance. With respect to deeds of sale or conveyance, what spells the difference between a public document and a private document is the acknowledgment in the former that the parties acknowledging the document appear before the notary public and specifically manifest under oath that they are the persons who executed it, and acknowledge that the same are their free act and deed. x x xIn the instant petition, Vida impliedly admits the irregularity of the Deed's notarization as both of the vendors were not personally present. Consequently, due execution can no longer be presumed. Besides, the extant circumstances surrounding the controversy constitute preponderant evidence suggesting that forgery was committed. Eddie promptly filed a criminal case for falsification of documents and a civil case to nullify the Deed. Later, the Office of the Davao City Prosecutor found probable cause to indict Vida for falsification. Consequently, the issue of ownership cannot be disregarded in the unlawful detainer case. It bears stressing though that while the RTC aptly resolved the issue of ownership, it is at best preliminary and shall not be determinative of the outcome of the two other cases filed by Eddie against Vida.
x x x x
The presumptions that attach to notarized documents can be affirmed only so long as it is beyond dispute that the notarization was regular. We cannot ascribe that conclusion at bar to the deed of sale. Respondent failed to confirm before the RTC that he had actually appeared before the notary public, a bare minimum requirement under Public Act No. 2103. Such defect will not ipso facto void the deed of sale. However, it eliminates the presumptions that are carried by notarized public documents and subject the deed of sale to a different level of scrutiny than that relied on by the [CA]. This consequence is with precedent. In Tigno v. Sps. Aquino, where the public document in question had been notarized by a judge who had no authority to do so, the Court dispensed with the clear and convincing evidentiary standard normally attached to duly notarized documents, and instead applied preponderance of evidence as the measure to test the validity of that document.65 (Citations omitted and underlining ours)ChanRoblesVirtualawlibrary
Endnotes:
* Designated Fifth Member of the Third Division per Special Order No. 2417 dated January 4, 2017.
1Rollo, pp. 9-47.
2 Penned by Associate Justice Rafael Antonio M. Santos, with Associate Justices Edgardo T. Lloren and Edward B. Contreras, concurring; id. at 52-76.
3 Id. at 78-81.
4 Id. at 75-76.
5 Id. at 125.
6 Id. at 53.
7See Certificate of Marriage, id. at 136.
8 Id. at 125.
9 Id. at 145.
10 Id. at 137.
11 Docketed as Case No. 055-08 and raffled to Branch 12, id. at 144-152.
12 Id. at 138-139.
13 Id. at 192.
14 Id. at 193.
15See Certificate of Death, id. at 140.
16 Id. at 192.
17 Id. at 192-193.
18 Id. at 141-142.
19 Id. at 192.
20 Id.
21 Id. at 124-135.
22 Id. at 156-162.
23 Id. at 29.
24 Id. at 194.
25cralawred Id. at 193.
26 Docketed as Civil Case No. 21,755-A-10.
27Rollo, p. 187.
28 Id. at 190.
29 Id. at 192-193.
30 Rendered by Presiding Judge Leo Tolentino Madrazo; id. at 187-200.
31 Id. at 200.
32 Id. at 196-199.
33 Docketed as Civil Case No. 34,450-2012.
34 Rendered by Presiding Judge George E. Omelio; rollo, pp. 201-207.
35 Id. at 203-206.
36 Id. at 61-71.
37 Id. at 78-81.
38 Id. at 87-101.
39 Id. at 30.
40 Issued by Prosecutor II Victor C. Sepulveda; id. at 163-164.
41 Id. at 172.
42 Id. at 173.
43 569 Phil. 607 (2008).
44Rollo, p. 40.
45 Id. at 41-42.
46 Id. at 42-43.
47 Id. at 220-228.
48 Id. at 226.
49 Id. at 40-42.
50 Id. at 141-42.
51 350 Phil. 74 (1998).
52 Id. at 84.
53 579 Phil. 781 (2008).
54Section 19. Immediate execution of judgment; how to stay same. - If judgment is rendered against the defendant, execution shall issue immediately upon motion unless an appeal has been perfected and the defendant to stay execution files a sufficient supersedeas bond, approved by the Municipal Trial Court and executed in favor of the plaintiff to pay the rents, damages, and costs accruing down to the time of the judgment appealed from, and unless, during the pendency of the appeal, he deposits with the appellate court the amount of rent due from time to time under the contract, if any, as determined by the judgment of the Municipal Trial Court. In the absence of a contract, he shall deposit with the Regional Trial Court the reasonable value of the use and occupation of the premises for the preceding month or period at the rate determined by the judgment of the lower court on or before the tenth day of each succeeding month or period. The supersedeas bond shall be transmitted by the Municipal Trial Court, with the papers, to the clerk of the Regional Trial Court to which the action is appealed.
x x x Should the defendant fail to make the payments above prescribed from time to time during the pendency of the appeal, the appellate court, upon motion of the plaintiff, and upon proof of such failure, shall order the execution of the judgment appealed from with respect to the restoration of possession, but such execution shall not be a bar to the appeal taking its course until the final disposition thereof on the merits.
x x x x (Underlining ours)
55City of Naga v. Hon. Asuncion, et al., supra note 53, at 797.
56 140 Phil. 532 (1969).
57 Id. at 541-544.
58Rollo, pp. 164, 172.
59 G.R. No. 200969, August 3, 2015.
60Section 16. Resolving defense of ownership. - When the defendant raises the defense of ownership in his pleadings and the question of possession cannot be resolved without deciding the issue of ownership, the issue of ownership shall be resolved only to determine the issue of possession.
61Consolacion D. Romero and Rosario S.D. Domingo v. Engracia D. Singson, supra note 59.
62 675 Phil. 641 (2011).
63 Id. at 651-652.
64 597 Phil. 227 (2009).
65 Id. at 241-242.
66Rollo, p. 196.