Case Digest (G.R. No. L-175)
Facts:
Damian Ignacio, Francisco Ignacio and Luis Ignacio v. Elias Hilario, Dionisia Dres and Felipe Natividad, G.R. No. L-175, April 30, 1946, the Supreme Court En Banc, Moran, C.J., writing for the Court.The dispute arose from an action in the Court of First Instance of Pangasinan in which Elias Hilario and his wife Dionisia Dres sued Damian, Francisco and Luis Ignacio for possession and ownership of a parcel of land (rice-land and residential portion) covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. 12872. The trial judge, Hon. Alfonso Felix, rendered judgment declaring the plaintiffs the owners of the whole property but, invoking Art. 361 and Art. 453 of the Civil Code, recognized the defendants’ right as possessors in good faith to hold the residential lot until paid the actual market value of houses and granaries they had erected, or alternatively to buy the residential lot at a proportionate price; the judgment provided that upon defendants’ failure to purchase they should remove their structures within sixty days after notice. The judgment, however, left undetermined the monetary values of the buildings and the lot and the precise periods for exercising the options, stating these matters could be determined later and inviting the parties to appear again if they could not agree extrajudicially.
Thereafter plaintiffs moved in the same Court of First Instance (before Judge Felipe Natividad, who had succeeded Judge Felix) for an order of execution, alleging that because they chose neither to pay for the buildings nor to sell the lot, defendants should be ordered to remove the structures and plaintiffs restored to possession. Defendants objected. Judge Natividad granted the motion and ordered execution compelling removal of the buildings, thereby prompting the defendants to file a petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court.
In their petition the defendants sought (a) annulment and restraint of Judge Natividad’s order of execution, (b) an order compelling plaintiffs to pay them P2,000 for the buildings or to sell the residential lot for P45, or (...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Was the writ/order of execution issued by Judge Felipe Natividad valid or did it unlawfully amend the earlier judgment?
- May the owner of land, who refuses both to pay for improvements and to sell the land, compel the possessor in good faith to remove improvements erected on the land?
- Was the original judgment by Judge Alfonso Felix final and executable despite leaving the values of the buildings and lot and the time per...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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