Case Digest (G.R. No. L-15841)
Facts:
Calixto Golfeo, in his capacity as Judicial Administrator of the Intestate of the Deceased, Rufino Gerona, petitioner, vs. The Court of Appeals; and So Chu Bee, respondents, G.R. No. L-15841, October 30, 1964, Supreme Court En Banc, Bengzon, C.J., writing for the Court.
The dispute concerns a 28-hectare parcel in Bulan, Sorsogon that Rufino Gerona owned and which was in the possession of So Chu Bee since about 1926. In an earlier action (recorded as CA-GR 8063-R, decided circa 1954) brought by So Chu Bee to quiet title, the Court of Appeals (and the courts below in that case) found the alleged purchase from Gerona to be fictitious, declared that So Chu Bee held the property in trust for the heirs of Gerona, and adjudged that Esperanza Golfeo (a daughter of Gerona) owned 2 1/2 hectares as an advance inheritance.
In 1955, Calixto Golfeo, as administrator of the estate of Rufino Gerona, filed a separate action to recover the whole parcel. The trial court and the Court of Appeals dismissed that complaint, holding that So Chu Bee had acquired ownership by adverse possession for over ten years. The appellate court relied on acts it deemed evidencing adverse possession: the transfer of the tax declaration into So Chu Bee's name in 1940 (the year Gerona died), refusals to share produce alleged to have begun in 1946, and certain witness statements in proceedings around 1950 recognizing So Chu Bee as owner or co-owner.
Petitioner filed a petition for review with the Supreme Court challenging the appellate ruling. He emphasized two points: (1) that a trustee may not acquire trust property by prescription without an open repudiation or ouster of the cestui que trust, and (2) that, being a Chinese alien, So Chu Bee could not lawfully acquire agricultural land by prescription under the constitutional prohib...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Is it necessary to decide whether So Chu Bee, as a Chinese, could acquire agricultural land by prescription under the constitutional prohibition against alien acquisition?
- Did So Chu Bee acquire ownership of the 28-hectare parcel by prescription despite having been previously judicially declared to hold it in trust for the heirs of ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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