Source: http://lawlibrary.chanrobles.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=84245:59921&amp;catid=1594&amp;Itemid=566
Timestamp: 2019-04-22 02:43:16+00:00

Document:
G.R. No. 160914, March 25, 2015 - MARCELA M. DELA CRUZ, Petitioner, v. ANTONIO Q. HERMANO AND HIS WIFE REMEDIOS HERMANO, Respondent.
MARCELA M. DELA CRUZ, Petitioner, v. ANTONIO Q. HERMANO AND HIS WIFE REMEDIOS HERMANO, Respondent.
This is an appeal by way of a Petition for Review on Certiorari assailing the Decision1 and Resolution2 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP No. 76446, which reversed the Decision3 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 18, Tagaytay City, in Civil Case No. TG-2320. The RTC affirmed the Decision4 of the Municipal Trial Court in Cities (MTCC), Branch 1, Tagaytay City in Civil Case No. 471-2002, dismissing respondents’ Complaint for Ejectment with Damages against petitioner.
4. Plaintiff is the registered and lawful owner of a house and lot situated at Lot 2, Block 2, P.B. Constantino Subd., Tagaytay City, as evidenced by Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-24503 issued by the Registry of Deeds for Tagaytay City.
After submission of the parties’ Position Papers,10 the MTCC rendered a Decision11 dated 21 November 2002 dismissing the case for lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter of the Complaint.
The MTCC found that Antonio had, indeed, executed a Deed of Absolute Sale over the subject property in favor of Benitez. The transfer of title, however, was subject to a condition, i.e., Benitez was supposed to broker Antonio’s purchase of a property situated in Caloocan City. That condition had not yet been satisfied when Benitez executed the Deed of Sale in favor of petitioner in March 2001. In other words, Antonio still owned the property when Benitez delivered it to petitioner. Even so, Antonio’s proper remedy was an action for recovery, instead of the summary proceeding of ejectment, because there was no showing of forcible entry or unlawful detainer.
Culled from the facts obtaining in this case, it appeared that Mr. Antonio O. Hermano had indeed executed a Deed of Absolute Sale of the subject house and lot in favor of Mr. Don Enciso Benitez, but, to the mind of the court, the obligation to deliver the subject property to Don Enciso Benitez depends upon the happening of a condition, that is, when the transaction involving the sale of the said Caloocan City property would have been cleared and consummated; hence, the title to the subject property shall only be transferred to Mr. Benitez if he has complied with such condition, which may be the reason, why the document has remained unnotarized.
While it may be true that the agreement to sell the Hermano property to Mr. Benitez is binding as between the parties, yet, the obligation to deliver the title to the property has not arisen, because Mr. Benitez has yet to perform the condition; thus, title to the property has not been transferred to Mr. Benitez. Thus, when Mr. Benitez sold the same property to defendant, the title to the property shall pass to Mrs. Dela Cruz only upon the happening of condition, that is the delivery of the title to Mr. Benitez by the plaintiff, but, this time it is a mixed condition, the happening of which depends upon the will of third party, Mr. Antonio Hermano, who has yet to await and see the fulfilment of the condition by Mr. Benitez, which as it now appears from the defendant’s evidence, is already marred by serious trouble (Annex “6”).
Aggrieved, respondents appealed13 to the RTC, which rendered a Decision14 dated 18 March 2003 affirming en toto the Decision of the MTCC.
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the instant petition for review is hereby GRANTED and the assailed 18 March 2003 Decision of the Regional Trial Court of Tagaytay [City], Branch 18, in Civil Case No. TG-2320, is hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE. ACCORDINGLY, petitioner Antonio Hermano is hereby declared the lawful possessor of the property located at Lot 2, Block 2, P.B. Constantino Subdivision, Tagaytay City covered by Transfer Certificate Title No. T-24503 of the Registry of Deeds of Tagaytay City. Mercy dela Cruz is hereby ordered to VACATE the premises in question and surrender the possession thereof to Antonio Hermano.
The issue for resolution is whether Antonio has adequately pleaded and proved a case of forcible entry.
After an exhaustive review of the case record, the Court finds that the Complaint was sufficient in form and substance, but that there was no proof of prior physical possession by respondents.
In the present case, petitioner argues that the Complaint failed to allege prior physical possession, and that the CA skirted the issue of the sufficiency of the allegations therein. Instead, the appellate court allegedly addressed only the principal issue of who had the better right to possess the subject property.
It can be readily seen from the Decision of the CA that it squarely addressed the issue of the sufficiency of the Complaint’s allegations. Thus, contrary to the RTC’s findings, the CA found that the Complaint had sufficiently alleged respondents’ prior physical possession and petitioner’s entry into the property by stealth. Moreover, it differed with the RTC’s finding that the case was not for forcible entry.
The complaint subject of this case was captioned as “ejectment”. From a reading of the allegations of the subject Complaint, we find that the action is one for forcible entry. Petitioner alleged that he is the owner of the property registered under TCT No. T-24503; that the possession thereof by respondent on 1 September 2001 was pursuant to an alleged Memorandum of Agreement between her and a certain Don Mario Enciso, without the authority and consent of the petitioner; and that he has served written demands, dated 27 September 2001 and 24 October 2001, but that respondent refused to vacate the property. According to petitioner, the Complaint, which was filed on 13 June 2002, was filed within one year from the occupation of the property.
Petitioner likewise contends that prior to the disputed possession of respondent, he and his family used the property as their “rest house/vacation place” after their hard day’s work in Metro Manila. He avers that his possession is anchored on TCT No. T-24503. Notably, respondent acknowledged the existence of the muniment of title presented by petitioner. In relation thereto, noteworthy is the fact that respondent has shown no document evidencing proof of ownership over the subject matter except for the unnotarized documents of conveyances executed between her and Don Mario Enciso Benitez and Don Mario Enciso Benitez and petitioner. The fact that the deeds were not notarized nor acknowledged before a notary public raises doubt as to the probative value of said documents. On this matter, evidentiary value weighs in favor of petitioner.
As regards petitioner’s supplication for restoration of possession which is based on his and his family’s use of the subject property prior to the inception of the controversy, the rule is that whatever may be the character of his prior possession, if he has in his favor priority in time, he has the security that entitles him to remain on the property until he is lawfully ejected by a person having a better right. From a reading of the records, it is evident that the petitioner had addressed the element of prior physical possession.
The allegations in paragraphs 5 and 6 of the Complaint adequately aver prior physical possession by respondents and their dispossession thereof by stealth, because the intrusion by petitioner was without their knowledge and consent. The Court thus agrees with the findings of the CA that contrary to those of the RTC that the case was an action for ejectment in the nature of accion reivindicatoria, the case was actually for forcible entry and sufficient in form.
property prior to petitioner’s entry.
The Court has scrutinized the parties’ submissions, but found no sufficient evidence to prove respondents’ allegation of prior physical possession.
To prove their claim of having a better right to possession, respondents submitted their title thereto and the latest Tax Declaration prior to the initiation of the ejectment suit. As the CA correctly observed, petitioner failed to controvert these documents with competent evidence. It erred, however, in considering those documents sufficient to prove respondents’ prior physical possession.
Guided by the foregoing, the Court finds that the proofs submitted by respondents only established possession flowing from ownership. Although respondents have claimed from the inception of the controversy up to now that they are using the property as their vacation house, that claim is not substantiated by any corroborative evidence. On the other hand, petitioner’s claim that she started occupying the property in March 2001, and not in September of that year as Antonio alleged in his Complaint, was corroborated by the Affidavit31 of petitioner’s caretaker. Respondents did not present any evidence to controvert that affidavit.
As noted at the outset, it bears stressing that the Court is not a trier of facts. However, the conflicting findings of fact of the MTCC and the RTC, on the one hand, and the CA on the other, compelled us to revisit the records of this case for the proper dispensation of justice.33 Moreover, it must be stressed that the Court’s pronouncements in this case are without prejudice to the parties’ right to pursue the appropriate remedy.
WHEREFORE, the Petition for Review on Certiorari is hereby GRANTED. The assailed Decision and Resolution of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 76446 are REVERSED, and the Decision of the MTCC dismissing the Complaint against petitioner is REINSTATED.
Leonardo-De Castro, Bersamin, Perez and Perlas-Bernabe, JJ., concur.
1Rollo, pp. 35-46; penned by Associate Justice Bernardo P. Abesamis with then CA Associate Justices Mariano C. del Castillo and Arturo D. Brion, now member of this Court, concurring.
2 Id. at 47; penned by Associate Justice Mariano C. del Castillo with Associate Justices Jose C. Mendoza and Arturo D. Brion, now members of this Court, concurring.
3 Id. at 91-96; penned by Presiding Judge Alfonso S. Garcia.
5 CA rollo, pp. 34-43.
7 CA rollo, pp. 44-54.
13 CA rollo, pp. 103-104.
16 CA rollo, pp. 2-163.
22Nenita Quality Foods Corp. v. Galabo, G.R. No. 174191, 30 January 2013, 689 SCRA 569.
23Ong v. Court of Appeals, 407 Phil 1045 (2001).
24Abad v. Farrales, G.R. No. 178635, 11 April 2011, 647 SCRA 473; Cajayon v. Batuyong, 517 Phil 648 (2006); David v. Cordova, 502 Phil 626 (2005).
26 See Domalsin v. Sps. Valenciano, 515 Phil 745, 766 (2006).
27Prieto v. Reyes, 121 Phil 1218, 1220 (1965).
29Nenita Quality Foods Corp. v. Galabo, supra; Pajuyo v. Guevarra, G.R. No, 146364, 3 June 2004, 430 SCRA 492.
30De Grano v. Lacaba, 607 Phil 122 (2009).
32Lee v. Dela Paz, G.R. No. 183606, 27 October 2009, 604 SCRA 522.
33Sps. Dela Cruz v. Sps. Capco, G.R. No. 176055, 17 March 2014.

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