THIRD DIVISION
G.R. No. 181057, June 17, 2015
JOSEFINA C. BILLOTE, REPRESENTED BY HER ATTORNEYS-IN-FACT, WILLIAM C. BILLOTE AND SEGUNDO BILLOTE, Petitioner, v. IMELDA SOLIS, SPOUSES MANUEL AND ADELAIDA DALOPE, SPOUSES VICTOR AND REMEDIOS BADAR, REGISTER OF DEEDS (LINGAYEN, PANGASINAN), AND HON. MELITON EMUSLAN, PRESIDING JUDGE, BRANCH 47, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, URDANETA CITY, Respondent.
D E C I S I O N
PERALTA, J.:
When spouses Badar bought subject property, it was already covered by TCT No. 269811 in the names of Imelda and Adelaida. Although the second owner's duplicate of TCT No. 15296 was void the same having been issued by a court which did not have jurisdiction to order the issuance of a new owner's copy in lieu of an owner's duplicate which was not lost but was in the possession of another person, (Straight Times, Inc. vs. CA, 294 SCRA 714; Easterworld Motor Industries Corp. vs. Skunac Corp., 478 SCRA 420) and although TCT No. 269811 in the names of Imelda Solis and Adelaida Dalope was fraudulently secured, such facts cannot prejudice the right of spouses Victor and Remedios Badar absent any showing that they had any knowledge or participation in such irregularity. Aforenamed spouses cannot be obliged to look beyond the vendor's certificate of title which appeared to be valid on its face and devoid of any annotation of any adverse claim. Spouses Badar appear to be purchasers in good faith and for value as they bought the disputed property, without notice that some other person has right or interest over the same and paid a full price for the same at the time of the purchase or before they had notice of any claim or interest of some other person therein (Eduarte vs. Court of Appeals, 253 SCRA 391). No valid transfer certificate of title can issue from a void certificate of title, unless an innocent purchaser for value has intervened (Pineda vs. CA and Teresita Gonzales, 409 SCRA 438). Established is the rule that the rights of an innocent purchaser for value must be respected and protected notwithstanding the fraud employed by the sellers in securing their title (Eduarte vs. CA, supra).When the appellate court denied petitioner's Partial Motion for Reconsideration, petitioner filed the instant Partial Petition for Review on Certiorari on January 31, 2008, invoking the following issues:chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
While this Court, therefore, can declare the judgment dated February 24, 2003, rendered by Branch 47, RTC, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan in PET. Case No. U-1959, as well as the second owner's duplicate of TCT No. 15296 issued pursuant thereto null and void for having been issued without jurisdiction, the same cannot be done relative to TCT No. 274696 issued to the spouses Victor and Remedios Badar, absent any showing that they purchased the property covered thereby with knowledge or privity as to any irregularity or fraud employed by the vendors in securing their title.
WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, the petition is GRANTED in part. The decision dated February 24, 2003 issued by Branch 47, RTC, Urdaneta City, Pangasinan in PET. Case No. U-1959 as well as the second owner's duplicate of TCT No. 15296 issued pursuant thereto are declared NULL and VOID.
This Court cannot declare nullity of TCT No. 274696 in the names of spouses Victor and Remedios Badar.
SO ORDERED.18cralawlawlibrary
Petitioner asserts that the re-appearance and existence of the owner's duplicate copy renders the court issuing the decision ordering the issuance of a second owner's copy devoid of any jurisdiction. In support of her contention, petitioner cites Sections 1819 and 1920 of Republic Act (RA) No. 2621 as well as several rulings22 wherein it has been held that if a certificate of title has not been lost but is in fact in the possession of another person, the reconstituted title is void and the court rendering the decision has not acquired jurisdiction to order the issuance of a new duplicate title. Thus, while the appellate court correctly declared the decision of the trial court as well as the second owner's copy issued therefrom null and void, petitioner maintains that TCT No. 269811 in the names of respondents Imelda and Adelaida, as well as TCT No. 274696 in the names of respondent spouses Badar, should have likewise been declared a nullity for having been derived from a void title.I.
WHETHER OR NOT THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS ERRED IN NOT DECLARING TCT NO. 269811 IN THE NAMES OF RESPONDENTS SOLIS AND DALOPE AND TCT NO. 274696 IN THE NAMES OF RESPONDENTS-SPOUSES BADAR AS NULL AND VOID.cralawlawlibraryII.
WHETIiER OR NOT THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS ERRED IN NOT CONDUCTING PROCEEDINGS OR IN NOT REFERRING THE ISSUE ON RESPONDENTS-SPOUSES BADAR BEING PURCHASERS IN GOOD FAITH FOR VALUE TO THE REGIONAL TRIAL COURT PURSUANT TO SEC. 6 OF RULE 47 OF THE RULES OF COURT.
Lack of jurisdiction as a ground for annulment of judgment refers to either lack of jurisdiction over the person of the defending party or over the subject matter of the claim. In a petition for annulment of judgment based on lack of jurisdiction, petitioner must show not merely an abuse of jurisdictional discretion but an absolute lack of jurisdiction. Lack of jurisdiction means absence of or no jurisdiction, that is, the court should not have taken cognizance of the petition because the law does not vest it with jurisdiction over the subject matter. Jurisdiction over the nature of the action or subject matter is conferred by law.26cralawlawlibraryTime and again, it has been consistently ruled that when the owner's duplicate certificate of title has not been lost, but is in fact in the possession of another person, the reconstituted certificate is void, because the court that rendered the decision had no jurisdiction.27 Reconstitution can validly be made only in case of loss of the original certificate.28 Thus, the fact of loss of the duplicate certificate is jurisdictional.29
The property covered by said title, however, passed into the hands of innocent purchasers for value in the persons of spouses Victor and Remedios Badar, to whom TCT No. 274696 had already been issued.After a cursory examination of the aforequoted findings, this Court observes that the conclusion that the spouses Badar were, indeed, innocent purchasers for value, lacks sufficient basis. As can be gleaned from the foregoing, the CA merely declared that the spouses appear to be purchasers in good faith without specifying material evidence supporting such declarations. The fact that the subject property was already covered by the title issued under the names of respondents Imelda and Adelaida, by itself, does not automatically lead to the conclusion that the spouses Badar had no knowledge of some other party's interest over the property. While the CA cited appropriate doctrines of law, it failed to substantiate them with factual proofs confirming the same. This Court is, therefore, not prepared to categorically rule that spouses Badar were, indeed, innocent purchasers for value and are consequently entitled to the disputed property.
When spouses Badar bought subject property, it was already covered by TCT No. 269811 in the names of Imelda and Adelaida. Although the second owner's duplicate of TCT No. 15296 was void the same having been issued by a court which did not have jurisdiction to order the issuance of a new owner's copy in lieu of an owner's duplicate which was not lost but was in the possession of another person, (Straight Times, Inc. vs. CA, 294 SCRA 714; Easterworld Motor Industries Corp. vs. Skunac Corp., 478 SCRA 420) and although TCT No. 269811 in the names of Imelda Solis and Adelaida Dalope was fraudulently secured, such facts cannot prejudice the rights of spouses Victor and Remedios Badar absent any showing that they had any knowledge or participation in such irregularity. Aforenamed spouses cannot be obliged to look beyond the vendor's certificate of title which appeared to be valid on its face and devoid of any annotation of any adverse claim. Spouses Badar appear to be purchasers in good faith and for value as they bought the disputed property, without notice that some other person has right or interest over the same and paid a full price for the same at the time of the purchase or before they had notice of any claim or interest of some other person therein (Eduarte vs. Court of Appeals, 253 SCRA 391). No valid transfer certificate of title can issue from a void certificate of title, unless an innocent purchaser for value has intervened (Pineda vs. CA and Teresita Gonzales, 409 SCRA 438). Established is the rule that the rights of an innocent purchaser for value must be respected and protected notwithstanding the fraud employed by the sellers in securing their title (Eduarte vs. CA, supra).31cralawlawlibrary
Nor was the filing of such a petition forum shopping in violation of Circular No. 28-91. Private respondents allege that in an action for recovery of possession of the lands which they had brought against the JB Line in the Regional Trial Court of Albay (Civil Case No. T-1590), petitioners intervened and alleged substantially the same facts as those alleged by them in their petition for annulment of judgment. We have gone over petitioners' answer in intervention in that case. We find that the allegation of forum shopping is without basis. While they indeed alleged that private respondent had obtained a second owner's duplicate of TCT T-65878 knowing that 2/3 of the land covered by the certificate had been sold to them and that the "2nd owner's copy should be cancelled and recalled considering the fact that the original is in fact still existing and not lost, "the allegation was made more for the purpose of demanding a partition, recognizing that private respondent is the owner of 1/3 of the land. Petitioner's intervention is thus different from their action in the Court of Appeals which is solely for the purpose of seeking the annulment of the judgment in CAD Case No. T-1024 granting private respondent's petition for the issuance of a new owner's duplicate certificate of title.38cralawlawlibrary
Similarly, the instant case is merely for the purpose of seeking the annulment of the trial court's February 24, 2003 Decision granting the Petition for the Issuance of New Owner's Duplicate Certificate of TCT No. 15296 while the Complaint for Declaration of Nullity of Titles, Documents, Recovery of Ownership and Possession in Civil Case No. U-8088 is more for the recovery of ownership and possession of the subject property. Thus, there is no identity of causes of action which would result in a violation of the rule against forum-shopping. In Civil Case No. U-8088, it is incumbent on the trial court to resolve the issue of ownership over the property in question, taking into consideration the conflicting claims alleged by the parties supported by their corresponding pieces of evidence. In the instant case for annulment of judgment, however, petitioner only needed to show the fact that the owner's duplicate copy was not, in truth, missing in order to determine the lack of jurisdiction of the trial court resulting in the annulment of judgment thereof. Hence, the allegation of forum-shopping cannot be sustained for the cause of action in the former case differs from that of the latter.cralawred
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the instant petition is PARTLY GRANTED. The issue on the determination of ownership over the disputed property is REMANDED to the Regional Trial Court of Urdaneta City, Branch 45, wherein Civil Case No. U-8088 is pending. The Decision and Resolution, dated May 24, 2007 and December 5, 2007, respectively, of the Court Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 85583, are PARTLY AFFIRMED, insofar as they declared the Decision dated February 24, 2003 of the Regional Trial Court in PET Case No. U-1959, as well as the second owner's duplicate certificate of TCT No. 15296 issued therefrom, null and void.
SO ORDERED.chanroblesvirtuallawlibrary
Brion,*Villarama, Jr., Reyes, and Jardeleza, JJ., concur.
Endnotes:
* Designated Acting Member in lieu of Associate Justice Presbitero J. Velasco, Jr., per Special Order No. 2060-B dated June 17, 2015.
** Per Special Order No. 2059 dated June 17, 2015.
1 Penned by Associate Justice Arcangelita M. Romilla-Lontok, with Associate Justices Mariano C.
Del Castillo (now Associate Justice of the Supreme Court), and Romeo F. Barza concurring; rollo, pp. 27-32.
2Id. at 34.
3 Penned by Judge Meliton G. Emuslan; id. at 58-61.
4Rollo, p. 28.
5Id. at 85.
6Id. at 66-67.
7Id. at 59.
8Id. at 60.
9 Section 109. Notice and replacement of lost duplicate certificate. In case of loss or theft of an owner's duplicate certificate of title, due notice under oath shall be sent by the owner or by someone in his behalf to the Register of Deeds of the province or city where the land lies as soon as the loss or theft is discovered. If a duplicate certificate is lost or destroyed, or cannot be produced by a person applying for the entry of a new certificate to him or for the registration of any instrument, a sworn statement of the fact of such loss or destruction may be filed by the registered owner or other person in interest and registered.
Upon the petition of the registered owner or other person in interest, the court may, after notice
and due hearing, direct the issuance of a new duplicate certificate, which shall contain a memorandum of
the fact that it is issued in place of the lost duplicate certificate, but shall in all respects be entitled to like
faith and credit as the original duplicate, and shall thereafter be regarded as such for all purposes of this
decree.
10Supra note 3.
11Rollo, p. 70.
12Id. at 29.
13Id. at 71.
14Id. at 72.
15Id. at 43-51.
16Id. at 64.
17Id. at 29.
18Id. at 4-5.
19 Section 18. In case a certificate of title, considered lost or destroyed, be found or recovered, the same shall prevail over the reconstituted certificate of title, and, if both titles appear in the name of the same registered owner, all memoranda of new liens or encumbrances, if any, made on the latter, after its reconstitution, except the memorandum of the reservation referred to in section seven of this Act, shall be transferred to the recovered certificate of title. Thereupon, the register of deeds shall cancel the reconstituted certificate of title and spread upon the owner's duplicate, as well as on the co-owner's, mortgagee's or lessee's duplicate, if any has been issued, such annotations of subsisting liens or encumbrances as may appear on the recovered certificate of title, cancelling at the same time the memorandum of the reservation referred to in section seven hereof: Provided, however, That if the reconstituted certificate of title has been cancelled by virtue of any deed or instrument, whether voluntary or involuntary, or by an order of the court, and a new certificate of title has been issued, the recovered certificate of title shall be likewise cancelled, but all subsisting liens or encumbrances, if any, appearing thereon shall be transferred to the new certificate of title and to its owner's duplicate, as well as to any co-owner's, mortgagee's or lessee's duplicate that may have been issued, the memorandum of the reservation referred to in section seven of this Act, if any, being thereby ipso facto cancelled.
20 Section 19. If the certificate of title considered lost or destroyed, and subsequently found or recovered, is not in the name of the same person in whose favor the reconstituted certificate of title has been issued, the register of deeds should bring the matter to the attention of the proper Court of First Instance, which, after due notice and hearing, shall order the cancellation of the reconstituted certificate of title and render, with respect to the memoranda of new liens or encumbrances, if any, made in the reconstituted certificate of title, after its reconstitution, such judgment as justice and equity may require: Provided, however, That, if the reconstituted certificate of title has been cancelled by virtue of any deed or instrument, whether voluntary or involuntary, or by an order of the court, and a new certificate of title has been issued, the procedure prescribed above, with respect to memoranda of new liens or encumbrances made on the reconstituted certificate of title, after its reconstitution, shall be followed with respect to the new certificate of title, and to such new liens or encumbrances, if any, as may have been made on the latter after the issuance thereof.
21 Entitled "An Act Providing a Special Procedure for the Reconstitution of Torrens Certificates of Title Lost or Destroyed," September 25, 1946.
22Strait Times, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, 356 Phil. 217 (1998); Demetriou v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 115595, November 14, 1994, 238 SCRA 158, 162; Serra Sena v. Court of Appeals, 272-A Phil. 467 (1991).
23 Section 109. Notice and replacement of lost duplicate certificate. In case of loss or theft of an owner's duplicate certificate of title, due notice under oath shall be sent by the owner or by someone in his behalf to the Register of Deeds of the province or city where the land lies as soon as the loss or theft is discovered. If a duplicate certificate is lost or destroyed, or cannot be produced by a person applying for the entry of a new certificate to him or for the registration of any instrument, a sworn statement of the fact of such loss or destruction may be filed by the registered owner or other person in interest and registered.
Upon the petition of the registered owner or other person in interest, the court may, after notice and due hearing, direct the issuance of a new duplicate certificate, which shall contain a memorandum of the fact that it is issued in place of the lost duplicate certificate, but shall in all respects be entitled to like faith and credit as the original duplicate, and shall thereafter be regarded as such for all purposes of this decree.
24New Durawood Co., Inc. v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 111732, February 20, 1996, 253 SCRA 740, 746.
25 672 Phil. 460 (2011).
26Manila v. Gallardo-Manzo, supra, at 473.
27Strait Times, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, supra note 22, at 219; Rexlon Realty Group, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, 429 Phil. 31, 44 (2002); Eastworld Motor Industries Corporation v. Skunac Corporation, 514 Phil. 605, 606 (2005); Rodriguez v. Lim, 538 Phil. 609, 610 (2006); Villanueva v. Viloria, 572 Phil. 183, 189 (2008); Camitan v. Fidelity Investment Corporation, 574 Phil. 672, 673 (2008).
28Eastworld Motor Industries Corporation v. Skunac Corporation, supra note 26, 612; citing Republic v. Feliciano, 232 Phil. 391, 392 (1987).
29Camitan v. Court of Appeals, 540 Phil. 377, 378 (2006).
30Rollo, p. 30.
31Id. at 30-31.
32Camitan v. Fidelity Investment Corporation, supra note 27, at 674, citing Macabalo-Bravo v. Macabalo, G.R. No. 144099, September 26, 2005, 471 SCRA 60, 72.
33Rexlon Realty Group, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, supra note 27, at 34, citing Strait Times, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, 356 Phil. 217, 220 (1998).
34Macabalo-Bravo v. Macabalo, supra note 30, at 60-61.
35Camitan v. Fidelity Investment Corporation, supra note 27, at 674, citing Heirs of Susana De
Guzman Tuaxon v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 125758, January 20, 2004, 420 SCRA 219, 227-228.
36Strait Times v. Court of Appeals, supra note 22, at 230.
37Supra note 22.
38Id. at 161-162.