Case Digest (G.R. No. 134873)
Facts:
Leonida Cureg, et al. v. Intermediate Appellate Court, (4th Civil Cases Division), Domingo Apostol, et al., G.R. No. 73465, September 07, 1989, the Supreme Court First Division, Medialdea, J., writing for the Court.Petitioners are Leonida Cureg and her co-heirs (all surnamed Carniyan); private respondents are Domingo Apostol and several members of the Gerardo family; the Intermediate Appellate Court (4th Civil Cases Division) is also named in the petition as respondent. On November 5, 1982 private respondents filed in the Regional Trial Court (Isabela) a complaint for quieting of title and damages with application for preliminary injunction concerning a parcel in Barangay Casibarag‑Cajel, Cabagan, Isabela (their alleged “motherland” of about 2.5 hectares, plus an accretion of some 3–3.5 hectares). A temporary restraining order issued November 12, 1982; the trial court denied the application for a writ of preliminary injunction on July 28, 1983 but later, in a final decision dated July 6, 1984, declared Domingo Apostol absolute owner, ordered issuance and permanence of a preliminary injunction against the petitioners, and awarded attorney’s fees and costs.
Petitioners appealed to the then Intermediate Appellate Court, which affirmed the trial court’s decision on October 15, 1985; its denial of reconsideration was entered January 8, 1986. The litigation centered on competing claims: petitioners relied on Original Certificate of Title No. P‑19093 (issued in the name of their predecessor‑in‑interest, Antonio Carniyan, in 1968) and asserted riparian ownership of the accretion; private respondents relied chiefly on several tax declarations in the name of predecessors (Francisco and Domingo Gerardo) and an extrajudicial partition with voluntary reconveyance executed in favor of Domingo Apostol in 1982. Petitioners invoked their Torrens title and evidence of long possession; respondents relied on pedigree, tax ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether the petitioners’ Torrens title (Original Certificate of Title No. P‑19093) and the decree of registration extinguish or bar private respondents’ claimed rights in the accretion and alleged motherland.
- Whether tax declarations and the evidence offered by private respondents sufficiently proved ownership and possession of the alleged motherland and accretion.
- Whether accretions automatically become part of the registered Torrens land and thus are...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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