Case Digest (G.R. No. 209463)
Facts:
In Florencia H. Duenas and Daphne Duenas-Montefalcon v. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Co. et al. (G.R. No. 209463, November 29, 2022), petitioners Florencia H. Duenas and her daughter Daphne Duenas-Montefalcon (originally Daniel and Florencia Duenas) asserted title over three parcels in Makati City, originally registered to Dolores Egido, then to Bellever Brothers, Inc. (BBI), which mortgaged the land to Manotoc Securities, Inc. (MSI). Dolores sued to annul BBI’s title (Civil Case No. 29782 CFI Pasig), causing lis pendens and injunction entries, then assigned her rights to Florencia. Meanwhile, BBI’s titles were fraudulently cancelled by Register of Deeds Flores at the behest of Adelaida Bernal, who procured forged court papers in Civil Case No. 29782 and secured new titles (TCT Nos. 178934–36) in her own name. The Duenas spouses filed Civil Case No. 92-2831 RTC Makati 61 to annul Bernal’s titles, annotated adverse claims and lis pendens, and succeeded on appeal to the Court of ApCase Digest (G.R. No. 209463)
Facts:
- Original Registration and Litigation
- Dolores Egido Vda. de Sola owned three parcels in Makati City under TCT Nos. T-79864, T-79865, T-79866.
- May 1978: Titles canceled; reissued in Bellever Brothers, Inc. (BBI) as TCT Nos. S-68301 to S-68303. BBI mortgaged the lots to Manotoc Securities, Inc. (MSI) (Entry No. 83066).
- June 1978: Dolores filed Civil Case No. 29782 in CFI-Pasig against BBI/MSI to nullify the sale and cancel BBI’s titles; Notice of Lis Pendens (Entry No. 84647) and injunction (Entry No. 47764) were annotated.
- Case archived July 19, 1989. Carmen Egido substituted for Dolores; she assigned her rights to Florencia Duenas.
- Fraudulent Cancellation of BBI Titles and Third-Party Litigation
- Bernal, claiming to represent MSI, filed affidavit of loss of BBI’s TCTs; RTC-Makati Branch 135 ordered new duplicates issued in BBI’s name.
- Bernal produced a falsified CFI-Pasig Decision (Dec 18, 1985) and Absolute Deed of Sale (Dec 18, 1985) to cancel annotations on BBI’s titles and obtain new TCT Nos. 178934–178936 in Bernal’s name (Mar 19, 1992).
- Sps. Duenas annotated their Adverse Claim (Entry No. 48918) and filed Civil Case No. 92-2831 in RTC-Makati Branch 61 to nullify Bernal’s titles. Their Lis Pendens (Entry No. 50908) was canceled by Branch 61, but the CA reinstated it (Oct 29, 1993; final Nov 29, 1993).
- Transfers to AF Realty and MBTC; Subsequent Proceedings
- Apr 23, 1993: Bernal sold to AF Realty; Makati Register canceled Adverse Claim; issued TCT Nos. 185022–185024. Sps. Duenas filed Civil Case No. 94-751 in RTC-Makati Branch 60 to nullify AFRDI’s titles; annotated Lis Pendens (Entry No. 81678).
- Jan 31, 1994: AFRDI sold the same lots to MBTC; MBTC discovered the litigation only upon summons and registered its Deed of Sale on Jun 15, 1994, obtaining TCT Nos. 195231–195233.
Issues:
- Whether MBTC was an innocent purchaser in good faith and for value of the subject lots.
- Whether the titles issued to AFRDI and MBTC are null and void ab initio.
- Whether petitioners are entitled to damages (actual, temperate, moral, exemplary) and attorney’s fees.
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)