Case Digest (G.R. No. L-23685)
Facts:
Cirila Emilia v. Epifanio Bado (alias Pano), G.R. No. L-23685, April 25, 1968, Supreme Court, Sanchez, J., writing for the Court. The plaintiff-appellant, Cirila Emilia, filed Civil Case No. 751 in the Court of First Instance of Lanao del Norte on December 12, 1963 (as amended), alleging that on or about December 1, 1962 defendants entered her land (Lot 1131, Iligan City, covered by Torrens Title O-267) and began constructing a house of light materials on a 48-square-meter area along the northern boundary bordering Salabao Creek. She sought preliminary and permanent injunctions and damages; a preliminary injunction was issued ex parte.Defendants answered and moved to dismiss for lack of cause of action, attaching a sketch and affidavit of surveyor Flordelito Aragon to show that the house under construction was actually within Glicerio Bado’s Lot 2894 (Torrens Title O-275) and not on plaintiff’s Lot 1131. Although a motion to dismiss on lack of cause of action ordinarily must be decided on the facts alleged in the complaint, the trial court elected to hold a summary hearing to resolve the factual conflict.
On February 27, 1964 the trial court sustained the motion to dismiss, credited the surveyor’s testimony that the house was within Glicerio Bado’s lot, held that stopping construction would deprive an owner of enjoyment of dominial rights, and observed that even if Bado’s title were fraudulently obtained it subsisted until annulled by a competent court. The trial court dissolved the preliminary injunction and dismissed the complaint. The record also shows that plaintiff had filed a petition in Cadastral Case N-4 (to cancel Certificate of Title No. O-275) on November 21, 1963.
Plaintiff appealed the trial court’s order to the Suprem...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Is injunction an appropriate remedy to dispossess a person in possession when legal title to the land is disputed?
- Should the trial court have sustained the preliminary injunction or should the plaintiff have pursued an action in the ordinary course (e.g., accion de reivindicacion) to recover o...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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