Shipside Inc. vs. Court of Appeals

Facts:

The dispute springs from land covered by Original Certificate of Title No. 0-381 issued on October 29, 1958 in the name of Rafael Galvez, which comprised four lots. On April 11, 1960 Rafael Galvez sold Lots 1 and 4 to Filipina Mamaril, Cleopatra Llana, Regina Bustos and Erlinda Balatbat; Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-4304 issued to them was later transferred to Lepanto Consolidated Mining Company (T-4314) after an August 16, 1960 sale. Lepanto in turn sold the parcels to Shipside Incorporated, and TCT No. T-5710 was issued in Shipside’s name on October 28, 1963; Shipside thereafter exercised ownership over Lots 1 and 4.

Unknown to Lepanto and subsequent transferees, the Court of First Instance of La Union, in Land Registration Case No. N-361, declared OCT No. 0-381 null and void on February 1, 1963 and ordered its cancellation; the trial court denied Rafael Galvez’s motion for reconsideration on January 25, 1965. The Court of Appeals affirmed the cancellation by resolution dated August 14, 1973, which became final and executory on October 23, 1973, and a writ of execution issued April 22, 1974 was served on the Register of Deeds on April 29, 1974.

Decades later, after the Register of Deeds had not acted on the writ, the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) filed on April 21, 1999 a complaint for revival of judgment and cancellation of titles in the Regional Trial Court, Branch 26, San Fernando, La Union (Civil Case No. 6346), naming the Republic as plaintiff and, among the defendants, the heirs of Rafael Galvez and Shipside Incorporated as holders of the later Torrens titles. Shipside moved to dismiss on July 22, 1999 contending (inter alia) that revival of judgment lies only for final and executory judgments, that prescription barred the action under Art. 1144(3) of the Civil Code, and that the Republic was not the real party in interest because the area (Camp Wallace) had been transferred to the Bases Conversion and Development Authority (BCDA) under Republic Act No. 7227.

The trial court denied the motion to dismiss on August 31, 1999 and again denied reconsideration on October 14, 1999. Shipside then filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition in the Court of Appeals (CA-G.R. SP No. 55535) on October 21, 1999. The Court of Appeals dismissed that petition on November 4, 1999 because the verification and certification against forum-shopping were signed by Lorenzo Balbin, Jr. without proof he was authorized to act for Shipside; a motion for reconsideration was denied on May 23, 2000 for failure to show substantial compliance or proof of authority. Shipside then ...(Pro-only)

Issues:

• Whether a corporation’s resident manager may institute a petition for certiorari and sign the verification and certification against forum-shopping absent contemporaneous documentary proof of board authorization.
• Whether the Republic of the Philippines may maintain the action for revival of judgment and invoke imprescriptibility despite the transfer of Camp Wallace to the Bases Conv...(Pro-only)

Ruling:

• (Pro-only)

Ratio:

• (Pro-only)

Doctrine:

• (Pro-only)