Case Digest (G.R. No. 212938)
Facts:
Heirs of Alfredo Cullado v. Dominic V. Gutierrez, G.R. No. 212938, July 30, 2019, the Supreme Court En Banc, Caguioa, J., writing for the Court.In May 1995 a patent and Original Certificate of Title (OCT No. P-61499) covering an 18,280 sq.m. parcel in Aneg, Delfin Albano, Isabela were issued in favor of Dominic V. Gutierrez. On May 5, 1997 Dominic’s father, representing Dominic (then a minor), filed in the Regional Trial Court, Branch 22, Cabagan, Isabela (Civil Case No. 22-805) an action essentially for recovery of possession (an accion publiciana) against Alfredo Cullado alleging long-standing squatting by Cullado.
Cullado answered claiming actual, open and adverse possession and cultivation and prayed for reconveyance, asserting fraud in Dominic’s title; Cullado later died and was substituted by his heirs (the petitioners here). Dominic’s counsel repeatedly failed to appear at trial; the heirs were allowed to present evidence and, on May 18, 2010, the RTC rendered judgment in favor of the heirs, dismissing Dominic’s complaint and ordering Dominic to reconvey the land to them.
Dominic filed a Petition for Relief from Judgment (denied by the RTC as time-barred) and on October 18, 2011 filed with the Court of Appeals a petition for annulment of judgment under Rule 47 alleging extrinsic fraud and lack of jurisdiction. The CA initially dismissed but then reinstated the petition and, in a Decision dated December 6, 2013 (CA-G.R. SP No. 121737), granted annulment, holding the RTC had no jurisdiction to adjudicate reconveyance in an accion publiciana and that the heirs’ defenses amounted to a collateral attack on a Torrens title; the CA’s dispositive reversed and set aside the RTC decision. The heirs’ motion for reconsideration was denied b...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Was the petition for annulment of judgment under Rule 47 properly availed of by Dominic (i.e., was Rule 47 an available and proper remedy in the circumstances)?
- Did the RTC have jurisdiction to order reconveyance in the accion publiciana, and did the Court of Appeals err in reversing the RTC and granting annulment on the ground that the heirs’ defenses amounted to a collateral ...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)