SECOND DIVISION
G.R. No. 200713, December 11, 2013
MARIO REYES, Petitioners, v. HEIRS OF PABLO FLORO, Respondent.
D E C I S I O N
CARPIO, J.:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against defendants, and Order is hereby issued as follows:Respondent heirs filed an appeal19 with the Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board (DARAB). In a Decision20 dated 11 December 2006, the DARAB affirmed the decision of the PARAD and denied the appeal for lack of merit.Claims and counterclaims are dismissed for lack of merit.
- FINDING the plaintiff a legitimate tenant-lessee of the subject landholding;
- GRANTING the right of the plaintiff to redeem the subject property from the defendant FLOROs and Sun Industrial Corporation;
- Directing the plaintiff to pay the defendants the reasonable redemption price as follows:
a) Valeriano Floro is entitled to Php.10,821.00 over his two lots with an aggregate area of 14,967 sq.m. under TCT Nos. T-51062 and T-51066; b) Avelina Floro, et al. are entitled to Php.10,821.00 over their two lots under TCT Nos. T-85588 and T-85587 with an aggregate area of 14,967 sq.m.; c) Elena Vichico is entitled to Php.10,907.90 over her two titles under TCT Nos. T-51065 and T-51069 with an aggregate area of 15,087 sq.m.; d) Victoria Floro-Basilio is entitled to Php.5,210.20 over her title covered by TCT No. T-51068 with an area of 7,288 sq.m.; e) Sun Industrial Corporation is entitled to Php.5,411.65 for its 7,485 sq.m. embraced by TCT No. T-1188;- Directing the Registry of Deeds of Bulacan to cancel TCT Nos. T-51062, T-51066, T-85588, T-85587, T-51065, T-51069, T-51068, and T-1188 issued in favor of the defendant FLOROs and Sun Industrial Corporation and issue a new title in the name of Mario Reyes after payment of the required legal fees pursuant to existing rules and regulations of the Land Registration Authority.
SO ORDERED.18
WHEREAS, FIRST PARTY (defendant-appellee Zenaida Reyes) by means of false pretenses, strategy and stealth succeeded to take hold of SECOND PARTY’S owner’s duplicate original copy of said Transfer Certificate of Title Annexes “A”, “B”, “C” and “D” hereof and on or about July 23, 1985 FIRST PARTY made it appear that SECOND PARTY (Pablo Floro) executed a certain “DEED OF ABSOLUTE SALE OF FOUR (4) PARCELS OF LAND” over the said above described Four (4) parcels of land covered by said Transfer Certificates of Title Annexes “A”, “B”, “C” and “D” hereof, purportedly in her favor for an alleged consideration of P35,000 and forged and falsified on said deed SECOND PARTY’S signature as vendor, a copy of said deed to the foregoing effect is hereto attached and marked as Annex “E” to form an integral part hereof.22(2) the Decision dated 1 June 2001 of the RTC of Malolos, Bulacan, Branch 22 in Criminal Case No. 9252-M entitled “People of the Philippines v. Zenaida Reyes” for falsification of public documents, the dispositive portion of which reads:
WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing, it can be deduced that the 62,000 square meters or the nine (9) titles originally belong to Pablo Floro and the accused somehow got hold of the four (4) land titles from Pablo Floro and transferred it to her name by signing the signature of Pablo Floro in the Deed of Absolute Sale dated July 23, 1985 (Exh. “C” and “C-1”). Later on in the Deed of Reconveyance of four (4) Parcels of Land she executed (Exh. “N”) she admitted having forged and falsified the signature of Pablo [Floro] in Exh. “C” and “C-1.”and (3) the Decision dated 29 September 2004 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 68557 entitled “Victoria Floro-Basilio v. Zenaida Reyes and Sun Industrial Corporation” for annulment of title, where the CA found that there is no dispute on Pablo Floro’s ownership over the land and declared the titles of Zenaida and Sun Industrial as void. The CA stated that Zenaida registered the land under her name by obtaining possession of the duplicate original of TCT No. T-280518 in the name of Pablo Floro and executing a fictitious deed of absolute sale in her favor by forging the
Accused Zenaida Reyes is hereby found guilty beyond reasonable doubt and is hereby sentenced to suffer the penalty of four (4) months of arresto mayor as minimum to four (4) years and two (2) months of prision correccional as maximum and to pay a fine of Five Thousand Pesos (P5,000.00).
SO ORDERED.23
WHEREFORE, the appeal is granted and the trial court’s Decision dated June 28, 2000 is set aside. TCT No. T-295804 in the name of Zenaida Reyes and the subsequent TCT No. T-1188 in the name of Sun Industrial Corporation are nullified. Defendant-appellee Zenaida Reyes is ordered to pay to plaintiff-appellant P50,000.00 as moral damages, P50,000.00 as exemplary damages and the costs of suit.Reyes filed a Motion for Reconsideration on 20 June 2007 and sought the reversal of the Resolution dated 16 May 2007. In an Order25 dated 6 September 2007, the DARAB set aside the resolution and reinstated the PARAD’s Decision dated 29 November 2005.
SO ORDERED.24
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the appealed decision dated December 11, 2006 and the order dated September 6, 2007 of the DARAB are REVERSED and SET ASIDE. Accordingly, the resolution of the DARAB dated May 16, 2007 is REINSTATED.Reyes filed a Motion for Reconsideration. In a Resolution28 dated 25 July 2011, the appellate court granted Reyes’ motion and affirmed the findings and conclusions of the PARAD Decision dated 29 November 2005, as sustained on appeal by the DARAB in its Decision dated 11 December 2006 and Order dated 6 September 2007.
SO ORDERED.27
The accused is charged [with] falsification of public documents based on the Deed of Absolute Sale of four parcels of land dated July 23, 1985 allegedly executed by Pablo Floro in her (accused) favor.Thus, from the findings of the lower court that Zenaida failed to submit concrete and reliable evidence to lend credence to her claim of ownership of the subject land, it has been clearly established that Zenaida is not the true and lawful owner and only concocted a story unworthy of belief. As a consequence, the agricultural leasehold contract which Reyes entered into with Zenaida is void.
x x x
There was no document presented to prove the claim of the accused that she was the lawful owner of the properties subject matter of this case, particularly the original title of the 62,186 square meters agricultural land in Longos, Malolos, Bulacan before it was subdivided into nine (9) residential lots. Since all the records of the Register of Deeds from 1987 [onwards] were destroyed because of a fire that hit the said office in 1987. Only a certification dated July 8, 1987 (Exhibit “B”) which was signed by Register of Deeds Elenita Corpuz certifying that the office of the Register of Deeds, Malolos, Bulacan together with all the titles, documents, office equipment and supplies have been totally burned during the fire conflagration on March 7, 1987 was presented.
Both counsels did not submit their memorandum despite orders of the court to do so.
Hence, for further clarification of this case, resort is made to the decision rendered by Judge Crisanto Concepcion (Exhibit “2,” “2-a,” “2-b” of this case) of Regional Trial Court of Malolos, Bulacan, Branch 12 in Civil Case No. 352-M-95 dated June 28, 2000 in the case of Victoria Floro Basilio vs. Zenaida Reyes, et al., wherein the issue who between the late Pablo Floro and defendant Zenaida Reyes was the real owner of the parcel of land in question [as] to the same property now in litigation here in Criminal Case No. 9252-M. The following were resolved:
1) If the late Pablo Floro was the owner, it would be hard to believe that defendant Zenaida Reyes acquired her title from him legally.
2) Defendant Zenaida Reyes has shown how and from whom she originally acquired the 62,186 square meters agricultural land in Longos, Malolos, Bulacan as reflected in her Exhibit “1”, the Deed of Absolute Sale with Agricultural Tenants Conformity executed by and between her, as vendee, and Carmen T. Bautisa, as vendor, before it was subdivided into nine separate residential lots in accordance with her accommodation to Pablo Floro to use them as collaterals in his name, so as to secure a much bigger bank loan. The Registry of Deeds file copy of this Deed of Sale, like all the nine titles registered in the name of Pablo Floro, as well as those of other registered related documents, must have been included in those burned and destroyed during the fire that hit the Registry on March 7, 1987, but there is no strong reason not to accept its faithfulness.
3) It is a clear history of the origin of the property in question, showing that its ownership was first transferred by the original owner Carmen T. Bautista to Zenaida P. Reyes before it was subdivided into nine
lots to be used as bank loan collaterals in the name of the late Pablo Floro by way of accommodation only, for his mistress.
4) The facts shown by Zenaida Reyes are also consistent with her contention that her sale to Pablo Floro for that purpose and Pablo Floro’s subsequent re-sale to her when they decided not to go on with the projected bank loan were all simulated. It was only unfortunate that when his heirs discovered his real property of nine (9) lots in Bulacan in his name, they decided to partition them among themselves, perhaps thinking that all the while their father had after all real property in the province, including the first four (4) lots already resold in a simulated sale by the old man.
5) The Deed of Reconveyance (Exhibit “N” in this case) of the four (4) lots prepared by the lawyer and Corporate Secretary of the Floros and ostensibly signed by defendant Reyes who denied and belied it, cannot alter the credence of her side of the matter, particularly the origin of her ownership of the whole property before it was subdivided without her actually losing such right, until she finally gave it up in favor of her co-defendant Sun Industrial Corporation. She seemed to be an experienced businesswoman who would not just incriminate herself so recklessly in writing that “by means of false pretenses, strategy, and stealth” she obtained from a more experience[d] known industrialist, possession of the four land titles, including the title to Lot 5-C. Her explanation on how she re-obtained them as the true owner is more reliable that the generalized “means of false pretenses, strategy and stealth.”
The facts stated in the aforesaid decision of Judge Crisanto Concepcion (although the decision is still pending appeal) jibed with the substantive facts stated by accused Zenaida Reyes in the instant case.
However, the Court notes that Zenaida Reyes’ Exh. “1” – in Civil Case No. 352-M-95 which is the Deed of Absolute Sale with Agricultural Tenant[s] Conformity executed by and between her (Zenaida Reyes) as Vendee, and Carmen T. Bautista as Vendor, before it was subdivided into nine (9) separate residential lots in accordance with her accommodation to Pablo Floro to use them as collateral in his name, so as to secure a much bigger loan – was not presented as evidence in Court.
Likewise, it does not appear that the original of said Exh. “1” was ever presented in RTC, Branch 12 in the Civil Case as implied from the decision of RTC, Branch 12 that “the Registry of Deeds file copy of this Deed of Sale, like all the nine (9) titles registered in the name of Pablo Floro, as well as those of other related documents, must have been included in those burned and destroyed during the fire that hit the Registry on March 7, 1987, but there is no strong reason not to accept its faithfulness.”
This Court however is of the belief that there are in fact strong reasons not to believe its faithfulness since there are other copies of the same which were not burned that should be presented to prove that there was in fact such a sale from Carmen T. Bautista to Zenaida Reyes to wit: 1) the Notary Public’s copy; 2) the copy of the Court (Notary Publics [sic] are supposed to furnish copies of their notarized document to [the] Court that approved their application for Notary Public); 3) BIR copy for the payment of the Capital Gains Tax; 4) the copy of the Archives (National Library). These copies were never presented in this Court or in the RTC, Branch 12 nor explained as why they were not presented. This is therefore clearly suppression of evidence which would therefore be adverse if produced.
Likewise, when the accused testified in Court and admitted that he signed on the space provided in the Deed of Sale for the seller which is her name and she also signed in behalf of Don Pablo for the sale of the property to Don Pablo Floro because the bank requires the borrower to have a paying capacity and the property must be in the name of the mortgagor (Don Pablo), this Deed of Sale was never presented in Court. (This refers to the sale of the 62,000 square meters from Reyes to Floro before it was subdivided to nine (9) titles). Her testimony is not clear on this point.
This claim of the accused is uncorroborated since the Deed of Sale was not presented in Court nor a copy thereof which normally should be with 1) the Notary Public; 2) the Court (Notary Publics [sic] are supposed to furnish copies of their notarized document to the Court [that] approved their commission as notary public); 3) the BIR for the payment of the Capital Gains Tax; or 4) the Archives (National Library). Likewise, the subdivision plan and Deed for Partition of the 62,000 sq. meters since it was subdivided. This would show who really is the registered owner of the 62,000 sq. meters.
Furthermore, the accused testified that she only transferred four (4) titles back to her name because she doesn’t have enough money to pay for the Register of Deeds for the nine (9) titles which she claimed to be her own. But why should she be the one to pay for the registration (transfer expenses for the nine (9) titles [from] Floro to her) according to her she simulatedly transferred those 9 titles to Floro for the latter’s benefit to get a better loan? Should it not be Floro?
WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing, it can be deduced that the 62,000 square meters or the nine (9) titles originally belong to Pablo Floro and the accused somehow got hold of the four (4) land titles from Pablo Floro and transferred it to her name by signing the signature of Pablo Floro in the Deed of Absolute Sale dated July 23, 1985 (Exh. “C” and “C-1”). Later on in the Deed of Reconveyance of four (4) Parcels of Land she executed (Exh. “N”) she admitted having forged and falsified the signature of Pablo [Floro] in Exh. “C” and “C-1.”
Accused Zenaida Reyes is hereby found guilty beyond reasonable doubt and is hereby sentenced to suffer the penalty of four (4) months of arresto mayor as minimum to four (4) years and two (2) months of prision correccional as maximum and to pay a fine of Five Thousand Pesos (P5,000.00).
SO ORDERED.42 (Emphasis supplied; underscoring in the original)
Section 10. Agricultural Leasehold Relation Not Extinguished by Expiration of Period, etc. - The agricultural leasehold relation under this Code shall not be extinguished by mere expiration of the term or period in a leasehold contract nor by the sale, alienation or transfer of the legal possession of the landholding. In case the agricultural lessor sells, alienates or transfers the legal possession of the landholding, the purchaser or transferee thereof shall be subrogated to the rights and substituted to the obligations of the agricultural lessor.this provision assumes that a tenancy relationship exists. In this case, no such relationship was ever created between Reyes and respondent heirs nor between Reyes and Zenaida because Zenaida is not the true and lawful owner of the agricultural land. Since Reyes’ claim on his supposed tenancy rights is based on the leasehold contract, as well as the certifications from Bautista and the MARO, which were found to be inadequate to prove that an agricultural tenancy relationship exists, then Reyes’ assertions must fail.
Endnotes:
* Designated acting member per Special Order No. 1627 dated 6 December 2013.
1 Under Rule 45 of the 1997 Revised Rules of Civil Procedure.
2Rollo, pp. 99-113. Penned by Justice Amelita G. Tolentino with Justices Normandie B. Pizarro and Ruben C. Ayson, concurring.
3 Id. at 7-13. Penned by Justice Amelita G. Tolentino with Justices Normandie B. Pizarro and Ricardo R. Rosario, concurring.
4 Id. at 84-93.
5 Id. at 53-54. TCT is in the name of Zenaida P. Reyes and is a transfer from TCT No. T-264134.
6 Id. at 46-48. Docketed as DARAB Case No. R-03-02-0433 2004.
7 Id. at 164-165.
8 Id. at 166.
9 Id. at 159-160.
10 Id. at 52.
11 Section 11. Lessee’s Right of Pre-emption - In case the agricultural lessor decides to sell the landholding, the agricultural lessee shall have the preferential right to buy the same under reasonable terms and conditions: Provided, That the entire landholding offered for sale must be pre-empted by the Land Authority if the landowner so desires, unless the majority of the lessees object to such acquisition: Provided, further, That where there are two or more agricultural lessees, each shall be entitled to said preferential right only to the extent of the area actually cultivated by him. The right of pre-emption under this Section may be exercised within ninety days from notice in writing which shall be served by the owner on all lessees affected.
12 Section 12. Lessee’s Right of Redemption - In case the landholding is sold to a third person without the knowledge of the agricultural lessee, the latter shall have the right to redeem the same at a reasonable price and consideration: Provided, That the entire landholding sold must be redeemed: Provided, further, That where there are two or more agricultural lessees, each shall be entitled to said right of redemption only to the extent of the area actually cultivated by him. The right of redemption under this Section may be exercised within two years from the registration of the sale, and shall have priority over any other right of legal redemption.
13 Code of Agrarian Reforms of the Philippines which took effect on 10 September 1971.
14 An Act to Ordain the Agricultural Land Reform Code and to Institute Land Reforms in the Philippines, including the Abolition of Tenancy and the Channeling of Capital into Industry, Provide for the Necessary Implementing Agencies, Appropriate Funds Therefor and for Other Purposes, which took effect on 8 August 1963.
15Rollo, p. 48.
16 Id. at 57-59.
17 Id. at 61-73.
18 Id. at 72-73.
19 Docketed as DARAB Case No. 14369 (Reg. Case No. R-03-02-0433’04).
20Rollo, pp. 74-83.
21 Id. at 84-93.
22 Id. at 148.
23 CA rollo, p. 215.
24Rollo, p. 156.
25 Id. at 94-97.
26 Supra note 2.
27Rollo, pp. 112-113.
28 Id. at 116-120. Penned by Justice Amelita G. Tolentino with Justices Normandie B. Pizarro and Ricardo R. Rosario, concurring.
29 Supra note 3.
30Esquivel v. Atty. Reyes, 457 Phil. 509 (2003); Heirs of Jose Juanite v. Court of Appeals, 425 Phil. 905 (2002).
31Rollo, p. 166.
32 Id. at 52.
33 Id. at 139-141.
34 Id. at 142.
35 Id. at 143-156.
36 Id. at 157.
37 Id. at 158.
38Isidro v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 105586, 15 December 1993, 228 SCRA 503.
39 383 Phil. 114 (2000), citing Oarde v. Court of Appeals, 345 Phil. 457 (1997).
40Rollo, p. 161.
41 Id. at 163.
42 CA rollo, pp. 211-215.
43 449 Phil. 711, 733 (2003), citing Endaya v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 88113, 23 October 1992, 215 SCRA 109.