Case Digest (G.R. No. 177181)
Facts:
Rabaja Ranch Development Corporation v. AFP Retirement and Separation Benefits System, G.R. No. 177181, July 07, 2009, Supreme Court Third Division, Nachura, J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Rabaja Ranch Development Corporation (petitioner) held Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-88513 over Lot 395, Pls 47 (211,372 sq.m.), Barangay Conrazon, Bansud, Bongabon, Oriental Mindoro (the subject property). Respondent AFP Retirement and Separation Benefits System (respondent), a government corporation organized under P.D. No. 361, as amended by P.D. No. 1656, held TCT No. T-51382 over the same property.
Petitioner commenced an action for Quieting of Title and/or Removal of Cloud from Title before the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Pinamalayan, Oriental Mindoro, Branch 41, by filing a Complaint on September 1, 1998 (Civil Case No. R-1441-98). Petitioner traced its title to a Free Patent issued to Jose Castromero on September 6, 1955 (Free Patent No. V-19535), which produced OCT No. P-2612 registered June 1, 1982, and through subsequent transfers to the spouses Veloso ultimately resulted in TCT No. T-88513 issued to petitioner after a January 17, 1997 purchase.
Respondent traced its title to a Homestead Patent issued to Charles Soguilon on April 30, 1966 (Homestead Patent No. 113074), registered May 27, 1966 producing OCT No. RP-110 (P-6339). Charles allegedly sold the property to JMC Farm, Inc. (TCT No. 18529), which thereafter mortgaged parcels including the subject property to respondent on August 30, 1985 for a P7,000,000 loan; after extrajudicial foreclosure and public sale, respondent emerged the highest bidder and was issued TCT No. T-51382. Respondent alleged continuous possession since November 1989 and asserted Torrens protection as a buyer in good faith and for value.
The RTC, after trial, found numerous infirmities in Charles’s Homestead Patent and no record in the Bureau of Lands supporting it; it noted a Lands Management Bureau certification indicating a Homestead Patent No. V-113074 had been issued to Mariano Costales over land in Bunawan, Agusan (Mindanao), and concluded Charles’s homestead patent was fraudulent and spurious. On June 3, 2004, the RTC declared petitioner the true owner, annulled OCT No. RP-110 (P-6339) and derivative titles (including respondent’s), and directed cancellation of respondent’s TCT (T-51392/T-51382) by the Register of Deeds, Calapan.
Respondent appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA) (CA-G.R. CV No. 83169). The CA, by Decision dated June 29, 2006, reversed the RTC, holding that Charles’s Homestead Patent was registered earlier (May 27, 1966) than Jose’s Free Patent (registered June 1, 1982), and concluded respondent had the better right; the CA found insufficient proof that the two homestead patent numbers referred to the same instrument and refused to accept petitioner’s contention that Charles’s patent was the same as the V-113074 issued to Costales in Mindanao. Petitioner’s motion for reco...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- May this Court review and overturn the appellate factual findings concerning the validity and registrability of Charles’s Homestead Patent?
- Whether respondent’s Torrens title derived from a Homestead Patent alleged to be fake and spurious is superior to petitioner’s title derive...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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