Facts:
Dr. Lorna C. Formaran, petitioner, alleged that on June 25, 1967 her uncle and aunt, spouses Melquiades Barraca and Praxedes Casidsid, donated to her a parcel of land in Ibajay, Aklan, that she thereafter possessed, declared for taxation and mortgaged to Aklan Development Bank on May 18, 1978; she further alleged that on August 12, 1967 she signed a purported
Deed of Absolute Sale in favor of
Dr. Glenda B. Ong, one of the respondents, without consideration and at the latter’s request to enable a bank loan, that the deed was said to have been discarded by Melquiades Barraca but was in fact registered only on May 25, 1991 and that Dr. Glenda never took actual possession nor introduced improvements until decades later, while petitioner remained in possession until an unlawful detainer suit filed by Dr. Glenda on May 30, 1996 resulted in a September 2, 1997 decision in favor of Dr. Glenda; petitioner then filed Civil Case No. 5398 for annulment of the deed before the Regional Trial Court, Branch 5, Kalibo, Aklan, which on December 3, 1999 declared the
Deed of Absolute Sale null and void as absolutely simulated, declared petitioner the lawful owner entitled to possession, ordered cancellation of respondent Glenda’s tax declaration and awarded petitioner P25,000.00 for attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses; respondents appealed to the Court of Appeals which on August 30, 2007 reversed and set aside the RTC decision and ordered petitioner to vacate and restore possession to respondents, prompting this petition for certiorari under Rule 45, resolved by the Supreme Court on July 8, 2013.
Issues:
Was the
Deed of Absolute Sale executed on August 12, 1967 an absolutely simulated contract void under the New Civil Code? Did the Court of Appeals err in reversing the Regional Trial Court’s declaration nullifying the Deed of Absolute Sale and in ordering petitioner to vacate the land?
Ruling:
Ratio:
Doctrine: