Facts:

• The case involves Esmundo B. Rivera (petitioner) and Amy Robles, Peregrino Mirambel, and Merlina Mirambel (respondents).
• Rivera filed an ejectment case on July 19, 1990, claiming the respondents illegally built houses on his land in Malinta, Valenzuela.
• The Metropolitan Trial Court of Valenzuela, Branch 81, ruled in favor of Rivera on March 18, 1993, ordering the respondents to vacate the land and pay compensation.
• The respondents appealed to the Regional Trial Court of Valenzuela, Branch 172, which reversed the decision on September 21, 1993, finding respondents were caretakers of public land applied for by Jose Bayani Salcedo since 1969.
• Rivera appealed to the Court of Appeals, which dismissed his petition on February 21, 1994, for lack of merit.
• Rivera then filed a petition for review on certiorari.

Issue:

• (Unlock)

Ruling:

• The Supreme Court denied the petition for review on certiorari.
• The decision of the Court of Appeals was affirmed.
• The Court ruled that Rivera failed to establish his cause of act...(Unlock)

Ratio:

• The principle emphasized: In civil cases, the party with the burden of proof must establish their case by a preponderance of evidence.
• Rivera, as the plaintiff, had the burden to prove that the respondents' houses were within his titled property.
• Evidence from both parties was insufficient to determine the exact location of respondents' houses.
• Rivera's private survey was unreliable as it was not authenticated by the Bureau of Lands.
• The field survey ordered by the Metropolitan Trial Court was ...continue reading