SECOND DIVISION
G.R. No. 213517, April 10, 2019
SEBASTIAN M. QUINOL,* ALIMITA RENDAL-QUINOL, PORFERIA QUINOL-MACATIGUIB, MARCELO MACATIGUIB, BALTAZAR QUINOL, ELAINE KILAPKILAP-QUINOL, AND PATRICIA QUINOL, PETITIONERS, v. LORENZA INOCENCIO, EPIFANIA POA, JIMMY POA, ARTEMIO QUINOL, AND JESUS QUINOL, RESPONDENTS.
R E S O L U T I O N
CAGUIOA, J.:
Before the Court is a Petition for Review on Certiorari1 (Petition) under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court filed by petitioners Sebastian M. Quinol (Sebastian), Alimita Rendal-Quinol (Alimita), Porferia Quinol-Macatiguib (Porferia), Marcelo Macatiguib (Marcelo), Baltazar Quinol (Baltazar), Elaine Kilapkilap-Quinol (Elaine) and Patricia Quinol (Patricia) (collectively, the petitioners), assailing the Decision2 dated October 19, 2012 (assailed Decision) and Resolution3 dated June 13, 2014 (assailed Resolution) promulgated by the Court of Appeals - Cebu City 18th Division (CA) in CA-G.R. CV No. 00207, both of which sustained the Decision4 dated June 25, 2004 issued by the Regional Trial Court of Dumaguete, Branch 38 (RTC), dismissing the petitioners' Complaint for Quieting of Title, Declaration of Inexistence of Instrument, and Damages in Civil Case No. 12983.
On 31 March 1958, Nona Japa and Consorcio Japa [(the Japa siblings)] sold to Pedro Macatisbis [(Pedro)] for Ninety Pesos (P90.00) a portion of maizal land located in Intosan, Poblacion, Siaton Negros Occidental [(subject property)].
[An unregistered Deed of Absolute Sale dated March 31, 1958 was entered into between the Japa siblings and Pedro, which described the parcel of land where the subject property is located as follows:North: Santoss (sic) and Leoncia Ragay, 30.00 Meters; South: Eugenia and Sixta Quilinguan, 25.00 Meters; East: Crispin Quilnet and Leoncia Ragay, 38.50 Meters; West: Nona Japa, 49.00 Meters; Containing an area of 1,203, square meters more or less; Declared in the name of Felipe Japa under Tax Declaration No. 11549 and assessed at P120.00 (part) for taxation purposes. Monuments are visible by means of (toba) trees planted along the sides thereof. We acquired this property thru inheritance from the late Felipe Japa who was our father. The vendee is the actual possessor thereof.]5The Deed of Absolute Sale executed by [the Japa siblings] was notarized by one Vicente Kinilitan and recorded in his books as Document 28 found on Page 17 of Book IV for the year 1958.
[The Deed of Absolute Sale does not specify the lot number of the subject property. The petitioners allege that the subject property sold to their predecessor-in-interest, i.e., Pedro, by the respondents' predecessors-in-interest, i.e., the Japa siblings, by virtue of the Deed of Absolute Sale refers to Lot 584. On the other hand, the respondents maintain that the subject property subject of the sale actually refers to Lot 585.]
[As alleged by the petitioners, since 1958, Pedro had been in possession of Lot 584 in the concept of an owner, planting coconut trees, bananas, and buri trees therein. It is likewise alleged that Pedro's daughter and the petitioners' mother, Felisa Macatisbis Quinol (Felisa), continued to possess the land and transferred the old tax declaration of the subject property in her name, continuing to pay realty taxes since 1958 up to the present. The petitioners also allege that Sebastian was able to put up a house inside Lot 584, while respondent Jesus Quinol (Jesus), the sibling of Sebastian, mortgaged his share over the subject property to a certain Magdalena Quilinguen.]6
[The petitioners claim that in 2000, respondent Lorenza Inocencio (Lorenza), who is an heir of Nona Japa, offered to sell the subject property to Sebastian, claiming that she has title over the subject property in her name. Sebastian refused as the land was already sold to his grandfather, Pedro in 1958 This prompted the petitioners to verify with the Register of Deeds, wherein they discovered that on June 14, 1982, the Register of Deeds had issued in the name of Hrs. of Nona Japa Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. FV-34211 under Free Patent No. (VII-3) 11112 for Lot No. 584, Pls-659-D, having an area of one thousand one hundred forty-two (1,142) square meters].7
[As alleged by Lorenza, Epifania Poa (Epifania), Jimmy Poa (Jimmy), Artemio Quinol (Artemio), and Jesus (collectively, the respondents), the aforementioned Free Patent was applied for by Epifania, one of the daughters of Nona Japa, because the mother of the petitioners, i.e., Felisa, told her to do so because the subject property belonged to the Japas. As alleged by the respondents, Felisa even accompanied respondent Epifania when the latter applied for the Free Patent.]8
[Hence, upon discovery of OCT No. FV-34211 under Free Patent No. (VII-3) 11112,] on 18 June 2001, some of [Pedro's] grandchildren and their spouses, namely: [the petitioners Sebastian, Alimita, Porferia, Marcelo, Baltazar, Elaine, Patricia,] Carlita Quinol and Fernando Alzarro[,] filed a [C]omplaint for Quieting of Title, Declaration of Inexistence of Instrument, and Damages against Nona Japa's children[: the respondents Lorenza and Epifania, with the latter's husband, Jimmy; and three of the Quinol brothers and their wives, namely Artemio, Emilita Daquiado, Jesus, Narcisa Ege, Abundio Quinol and Anicita Legaspi.] The case was docketed as Civil Case No. 12983 and raffled to Branch 38 of the Regional Trial Court in Dumaguete City.
In their Amended Complaint, the [petitioners] claimed that their grandfather [Pedro] bought Lot 584 on 31 March 1958. The sale was embodied in a Deed of [Absolute] Sale and entered in the notarial books of Vicente Kinilitan. From then on, Pedro and his children possessed and occupied the land; they planted it with 40 coconut trees, bananas and buri trees, and harvested the fruits from the trees; they also built a house thereon. In the early 1980's, [respondent Epifania allegedly] surreptitiously applied for free patent over this land, stating falsely that she had been in possession of the land for 30 years when in fact, it was Pedro and his children who possessed and occupied the same. x x x
From the foregoing, [the petitioners] averred that the application for free patent that [Epifania] filed should be declared inexistent, and the title which emanated from it should be declared null and void because the same was unlawfully procured. For expediency, the title should be transferred in the name of the Heirs of [Pedro], the herein [petitioners]. They continued that their possession and enjoyment of Lot 584 since 1958 til (sic) now was without disturbance from the [respondents] except for the latter's malice and bad faith in making misrepresentation and falsehood which create a cloud over their ownership of Lot 584. Because of [the respondents'] pretense and false statements, [the petitioners] also claimed that these caused them tremendous worries and anxieties for which they should be compensated, aside from the incidental litigation expenses which they incurred.
[The petitioners] prayed that, aside from other reliefs just and equitable, their entitlement to Lot 584 be quieted; that OCT No. FV-34211 be declared inexistent and, in the alternative, the Register of Deeds of Negros Oriental be directed to cancel the same and issue a Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) in their names; and that the [respondents] be ordered to pay them P30,000.00 as moral damages and reimburse them P30,000.00 for attorney's fees.
[The respondents] adopted their Answer with Counterclaim to the original complaint as their answer to the Amended Complaint In this Answer with Counterclaim, [Artemio and Jesus] admitted that they are the elder brothers of all the [petitioners], but that they could not join their siblings from their quest because their conscience and respect for justice and equity prevent them so. The [respondents] denied the statement of alleged facts of [the petitioners].
According to the [respondents], it was Lot 585, not Lot 584, that the late [Pedro] bought, owned and possessed since 1958. Pedro used to occupy Lot 584 as tenants of the Japas but after his death, possession of the land was returned to the latter. The house of [the petitioners] is erected on Lot 585 and no such coconut and buri trees or bananas are planted on Lot 584. OCT No. FV-34211 was issued in good faith by virtue of an application filed in good faith. [The respondents] claimed that this land was declared in the name of Felipe Japa even before 1946. In April 2001, [petitioner] Sebastian offered to buy from the heirs of Nona Japa Lot 584 at P200.00 per square meter by installment.
x x x x
Trial on the merits then ensued, x x x On June 25, 2004, the [RTC issued a Decision9, dismissing the petitioners'] complaint for lack of cause of action; it also dismissed [the respondents'] counterclaims for lack of merit.
On [the petitioners'] first cause of action, the [RTC] ruled that from the testimonies of [the petitioners' witness] Segundino Lambayan and of [the respondents'] witness Nicolasito P. Lopez, it appears that there was no irregularity in the issuance of OCT No. FV-34211 since all the requirements were complied with. Apart from their self-serving testimonies, [the petitioners] failed to present an iota of convincing evidence that [respondent Epifania] fraudulently obtained the patent and the OCT. The [RTC] further ruled that, assuming [respondent] Epifania did obtain the patent and the OCT with fraud, [the petitioners] should have filed the proper protest before the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR).
With regard to [the petitioners'] second cause of action, the [RTC] ruled that x x x [the petitioners] failed to demonstrate a legal or an equitable title to or interest in Lot 584; they also failed to show that OCT No. FV-34211, which they claim casts a cloud of doubt on their legal interest, is invalid or inoperative.
The [RTC] then found that x x x the [petitioners] did not present evidence that the sale was indeed registered. The law gives no validity to any document or deed of conveyance of property, except as between the parties, until the document or deed is registered in the manner prescribed by law. Between [the petitioners'] tax declarations and receipts and [the respondents'] OCT, the [RTC] held that the latter had a better or more superior right over Lot 584 than the former. As to the issue of possession, the [RTC] also found that the [petitioners] failed to substantiate their claim with sufficient evidence. Land Investigator Nicolasito P. Lopez testified that he did not see any person occupying or claiming the property when he conducted the ocular inspection. Granting also that [the petitioners] have occupied and possessed the lot since their mother [Felisa] died, it could not ripen into ownership.
x x x x
Aggrieved, [the petitioners] filed [an] appeal [before the CA, alleging, in the main, that the RTC erred in not finding any factual or legal basis for the declaration of OCT No. FV-34211 as null and void, in finding that the petitioners were not able to demonstrate a legal or equitable title to or interest in Lot 584, and in finding that the petitioners were not able to substantiate by sufficient evidence their claim of possession.]10
WHEREFORE, the appeal is hereby DISMISSED. The 25 June 2004 Decision rendered by Branch 38 of the Regional Trial Court in Dumaguete City in Civil Case No. 12983 is hereby AFFIRMED.In the assailed Decision, concurring with the factual findings of the RTC, the CA found that, according to the evidence on record, the petitioners failed to prove that the OCT relied upon by the respondents was procured through fraud. According to the CA, the evidence shows that the nature of the petitioners' possession over the subject lot was not in the concept of an owner.
Cost against appellants.
SO ORDERED.11
Endnotes:
* Also referred to as "Sebastian M. Kinol" in some parts of the record.
1Rollo, pp. 3-20.
2 Id. at 22-41; penned by Associate Justice Gabriel T. Ingles, with Associate Justices Pampio A. Abarintos and Pedro B.Corales concurring.
3 Id. at 50-54; penned by Associate Justice Gabriel T. Ingles, with Associate Justices Edgardo L. Delos Santos and Ma. Luisa C. Quijano-Padilla concurring.
4 Id. at 113-136. Penned by Presiding Judge Teresita A. Galanida.
5Rollo, p. 61.
6 See id. at 122.
7 Id. at 5 and 23.
8 Id. at 128.
9 Id. at 113-136.
10 Id. at 22-29.
11 Id. at 41.
12 Id. at 42-49.
13 Id. at 222-226. Document labeled as "Motion to Admit Explanation with Offer of Profound Apologies and Preliminary Comment on the Petition."
14 Id. at 236-245.
15 See CaiƱa v. People of the Philippines, 288 Phil. 177, 182-183 (1992).
16Quitoriano v. Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board, 571 Phil. 331, 340 (2008).
17Bautista v. Puyat Vinyl Products, Inc., 416 Phil. 305, 309 (2001).
18Republic of the Philippines v. Sandiganbayan, et al., 426 Phil. 104, 110 (2002).
19People of the Philippines v. Alabado, 558 Phil. 796, 813-814 (2007).
20Quitoriano v. Department of Agrarian Reform Adjudication Board, supra note 16 at 340-341.
21Rollo, p. 35.
22Spouses Hipolito, Jr. v. Cinco, et al., 677 Phil. 331, 349 (2011).
23Rollo, pp. 146-149.
24 Id. at 38-39.
25 Id. at 35.
26 Id. at 39.
27 Id. at 34.
28Heirs of Vencilao, Sr. v. Court of Appeals, 351 Phil. 815, 823 (1998).
29Rollo, p. 36.
30 Id. at 37.