Case Digest (G.R. No. L-22486)
Facts:
Teodoro Almirol v. The Register of Deeds of Agusan, G.R. No. L-22486. March 20, 1968, the Supreme Court En Banc, Castro, J., writing for the Court. On June 28, 1961 Teodoro Almirol purchased a parcel of land in Esperanza, Agusan, covered by Original Certificate of Title No. P-1237 in the name of Arcenio Abalo, married to Nicolasa M. Abalo. In May 1962 Almirol presented the deed of sale to the Register of Deeds of Agusan in Butuan City to have it registered and to obtain a transfer certificate.By letter dated May 21, 1962 the Register refused registration on the ground that the title was registered in the name of a married couple and therefore, by legal presumption, constituted conjugal property; moreover, the Register asserted that because the wife had died before the sale the surviving husband could not lawfully dispose of the whole property without first effecting extrajudicial settlement or partition and obtaining the consent of heirs (citing an LRC consulta of June 10, 1958).
Almirol thereupon filed a petition for mandamus in the Court of First Instance of Agusan (Special Civil Case No. 151) to compel registration and issuance of the transfer certificate and to recover moral damages and attorney’s fees. The Register answered, counterclaimed for damages, and contended that an adequate remedy existed under Section 4 of Republic Act No. 1151 by referral to the Commissioner of Land Registration. The trial court, by resolution dated October 16...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Procedural — Must the petitioner first avail himself of the administrative remedy under Section 4 of R.A. 1151 (referral to the Commissioner of Land Registration) before seeking mandamus in court?
- Substantive — May the Register of Deeds refuse to register an instrument on the ground that it is invalid or that the property is conjugal and therefore subject ...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)