G.R. No. 224144 - Capablanca vs. Heirs of Bas

Petitioner: Lolita Bas Capablanca, niece and alleged sole heir of Norberto B. Bas.
Respondents: Heirs of Pedro Bas, represented by Josefina Bas Espinosa, and Register of Deeds of the Province of Cebu.
Subject property: Lot 2535 of the Talisay-Minglanilla Friar Land's Estate located in Biasong, Dumlog, Talisay, Cebu, with area stated as 6,120 square meters.

Andres Bas and Pedro Bas acquired Lot 2535; Patent No. 1724 issued May 12, 1937.
On November 28, 1939, Pedro executed a notarized Deed of Sale selling his portion of Lot 2535 to Faustina Manreal, wife of Juan Balorio, described as having a seeding capacity of four chupas of corn.

After Faustina's death her heirs executed an Extra-Judicial Declaration of Heirs and Deed of Absolute Sale dated March 13, 1963, conveying "1,000 square meters, more or less" to Alejandra Balorio.
Alejandra sold the land by Deed dated June 13, 1967 to Edith N. Deen, who sold by Deed dated March 21, 1968 to Atty. Eddy A. Deen.
Upon Atty. Deen's death December 18, 1978, an extra-judicial settlement omitted Lot 2535; on March 30, 1988 his heirs executed an Additional Extra-Judicial Settlement with Absolute Deed of Sale conveying the land for P10,000.00 to Norberto B. Bas, who thereafter took possession and built a house.
Norberto died intestate on December 15, 1995; his niece Lolita succeeded him as his only heir.

Lolita learned a Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-96676 dated June 6, 1996 had been issued in the names of Andres and Pedro based on a reconstituted Deed of Conveyance No. 96-00004.
In October 1996, Josefina, representing the Heirs of Pedro Bas, filed a complaint for Clarification of Ownership before the Lupong Tagapamayapa of Barangay Biasong; the matter resulted in a Certification to file Action.
On December 16, 1996, a notarized Partition Agreement of Real Property, Quitclaim and Waiver was executed between heirs of Andres and Lolita, partitioning Lot 2535; Lolita sought registration of her portion but the Register of Deeds denied registration pending court order.
Subsequently TCT No. T-96676 was partially cancelled and TCT Nos. T-100181, T-100182, T-100183, and T-100185 were issued in the name of the Heirs of Pedro Bas on May 29, 1997.

On December 16, 1997, Lolita filed a complaint in the Regional Trial Court of Cebu City for cancellation of the titles and prayed for moral and exemplary damages, attorney's fees, and litigation expenses.
In their Answer respondents alleged the 1939 sale from Pedro to Faustina was fake, spurious, and invalid because Pedro, an illiterate, could not have signed the deed; respondents also cited Civil Case No. 840 as the basis for cancellation of TCT No. T-96676.
A full trial ensued before Branch 8, Regional Trial Court, Cebu City, Civil Case No. CEB-21348.

The trial court rendered Decision dated December 26, 2007 in favor of Lolita.
The trial court found Lolita had long possession under a claim of ownership as heir of Norberto, predating issuance of the contested titles, and that she had sufficient interest to sue without prior judicial declaration of heirship.
The trial court held respondents waived the defense of lack of capacity by failing to file a motion to dismiss or plead it as an affirmative defense.
On the substantive issues the trial court upheld the validity of the 1939 notarized Deed of Sale; it found Josefina's uncorroborated testimony of Pedro's illiteracy unconvincing and contradicted by a notarized Assignment of Sale Certificate 195 and prior pleadings in Civil Case No. R-10602.
The court determined the object of sale...(Subscriber-Only)

Whether a prior judicial declaration of heirship in a special proceeding was a necessary prerequisite to Lolita's action for cancellation of titles.

Whether Lolita had sufficient interest and cause of action to maintain the civil action without prior declaration of heirship.
Whether respondents waived the defense of lack of capacity to sue by not raising it in a motion to dismiss or as an affirmative defense under Rule 9, Section 1 of the Rules of Court.
Whether the trial court correctly found the 1939 Deed...(Subscriber-Only)