Case Digest (G.R. No. L-33261)
Facts:
Liwalug Amerol et al. v. Molok Bagumbaran, G.R. No. L-33261. September 30, 1987. The Supreme Court Second Division, Sarmiento, J., writing for the Court.Petitioners (defendants below) are the occupants and cultivators of Lot No. 524, Pls-126 (referred to principally by petitioner Liwalug Datomanong, erroneously surnamed Amerol), and respondent (plaintiff below) is Molok Bagumbaran, who secured a free patent and an Original Certificate of Title (No. P-466) over the same lot. Two free patent applications were filed: by Liwalug Datomanong on September 4, 1953, and by Bagumbaran on December 27, 1954. Bagumbaran’s application was given due course and Free Patent No. V-19050 was issued on August 16, 1955, whereupon the Register of Deeds issued OCT No. P-466 that same year.
Petitioners presented evidence that Liwalug Datomanong had purchased, continuously occupied and improved the land since 1952 and that Bagumbaran knew of the prior possession; the trial court found abundant proof of possession and improvements by Datomanong and also found that Bagumbaran obtained the patent by misrepresentation. Datomanong did not seek administrative annulment within one year; his first protest to the Bureau of Lands was April 24, 1964, and his counterclaim seeking annulment or reconveyance was filed as part of his answer on December 4, 1964.
The Court of First Instance of Lanao del Sur (Branch III, Marawi City) in Civil Case No. 1354 (decision penned by Judge Demetrio B. Benitez) found that fraud had been committed but dismissed the defendants’ counterclaim for reconveyance on the ground of prescription, applying a four-year prescriptive period from registration. The CFI entered judgment on June 3, 1970 declaring Bagumbaran the registered owner, ordering defendants to vacate, denying the reconveyance c...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Does an action for reconveyance of real property based on an implied or constructive trust arising from fraud in securing a Torrens title prescribe in ten years or four years, and from what date does the prescriptive period commence?
- Can a mortgage subsequently executed by the registered owner defeat a reconveyance decree in favor of the true owner who show...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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