Case Digest (G.R. No. L-24732)
Facts:
Pio Sian Melliza v. City of Iloilo, University of the Philippines and the Court of Appeals, G.R. No. L-24732, April 30, 1968, the Supreme Court En Banc, Bengzon, J., writing for the Court.Juliana Melliza owned several parcels in Iloilo City, including Lot No. 1214 (29,073 sq. m.). On November 27, 1931 she donated 9,000 sq. m. of Lot 1214 to the Municipality of Iloilo for a municipal hall site, but that donation was revoked because the donated area proved inadequate under the Arellano Plan. Thereafter Lot 1214 was subdivided into parcels that were later designated Lot 1214-B-1 (4,562 sq. m. → 1214-B), 1214-B-2 (6,653 sq. m. → 1214-C) and 1214-B-3 (4,135 sq. m. → 1214-D).
On November 15, 1932 Juliana executed a public instrument (in Spanish) purporting to sell specified lots — Lot No. 5 in full, a portion of Lot No. 2 (sublots 2‑B and 2‑C) and "a portion of 10,788 square meters of Lot No. 1214 — designated as sub‑lotes Nos. 1214‑B‑2 and 1214‑B‑3" — and then added a paragraph stating that the lots conveyed were "the ones needed" by the Municipality for "avenues, parks and City Hall site ... according to the Arellano plan." In 1938 Juliana sold her remaining interest in Lot 1214 to Remedios Sian Villanueva, who in 1946 transferred her acquired rights to Pio Sian Melliza; Pio’s Transfer Certificate of Title carried an annotation that a portion of Lot 1214 (10,788 sq. m., designated 1214‑B‑2 and 1214‑B‑3) "belongs to the Municipality of Iloilo as per instrument dated November 15, 1932."
On August 24, 1949 the City of Iloilo donated the city hall site (Lots 1214‑B, 1214‑C and 1214‑D, totaling about 15,350 sq. m.) with building to the University of the Philippines. UP fenced the site in 1952; Pio demanded payment from the City but received none. UP later obtained its own Transfer Certificate of Title over the three lots.
On December 10, 1955 Pio filed an action in the Court of First Instance (CFI) of Iloilo against Iloilo City and UP seeking recovery of Lot 1214‑B or its value. The defendants asserted that Lot 1214‑B had been conveyed by Juliana in the 1932 instrument. After trial and stipulation of facts, the CFI on August 15, 1957 dismissed the complaint, holding that the 1932 instrument conveyed Lot 1214‑B as part of the lots needed under the Arellano Plan. The Court of Appeals affirmed that interpretation on May 19, 1965 but remanded for rec...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Is the interpretation of the November 15, 1932 public instrument a question of law or fact?
- Did the 1932 instrument convey or include Lot 1214‑B as part of the property sold to the Municipality/City?
- Was the object of the sale sufficiently determinate or determinable at the time of contracting to satisfy the Civil Code requirement for a sale?
- Are laches, estoppel, constructive notice by registration and the City’s possession suf...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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