Case Digest (G.R. No. 138953)
Facts:
Castorio Alvarico v. Amelita L. Sola, G.R. No. 138953, June 06, 2002, Supreme Court Second Division, Quisumbing, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Castorio Alvarico is the natural father of respondent Amelita Sola; Fermina Lopez is the aunt of petitioner and the adoptive mother of respondent. On June 17, 1982 the Bureau of Lands approved and granted to Fermina a Miscellaneous Sales Application (MSA) for Lot 5, SGS-3451 (152 sq. m.) at Waterfront, Cebu City. On May 28, 1983 Fermina executed a Deed of Self-Adjudication and Transfer of Rights conveying Lot 5 to Amelita, who agreed to assume all obligations under MSA No. V-81066; Amelita thereafter paid the full purchase price of P282,900. The Bureau of Lands approved the transfer on April 7, 1989, and Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 3439 was issued in Amelita’s name on May 2, 1989.
On June 24, 1993 petitioner filed Civil Case No. CEB-14191 for reconveyance claiming that Fermina had donated the land to him by a Deed of Donation dated January 4, 1984, that he took possession in 1985, and that the donation effectively withdrew any prior transfer to Amelita. Amelita countered that Fermina could not donate what she no longer owned, that the donation lacked Bureau of Lands approval, that she validly acquired the land by Fermina’s prior self-adjudication and transfer, and that she was not holding the land in trust for petitioner.
The Regional Trial Court, Branch 10, Cebu City, after trial ruled for petitioner and ordered reconveyance of Lot 5 to him. The Court of Appeals, however, reversed in CA-G.R. CV No. 54624 by decision dated March 23, 1999 and dismissed the complaint; its denial of petitioner’s motion for reconsideration was entered June 8, 1999. Petitioner then filed this petition for review on certiorari to the Court under Rule 45, assailing (inter alia) the CA’s characterization of the Deed ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Procedural: Does petitioner have standing to seek reconveyance or to attack respondent’s Torrens title arising from a public land grant?
- Substantive: Did petitioner establish a superior right to Lot 5 based on the alleged Deed of Donation (Jan. 4, 1984) and his asserted prior material possession?
- Substantive: Was the Court of Appeals’ assessment that respondent acquired and registered the land in good faith proper, and did the CA correctly treat possession under Article 1544 o...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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