Case Digest (G.R. No. 150629)
Facts:
Renato Tichangco, et al. v. The Honorable Alfredo Enriquez, Administrator, Land Registration Authority, et al., G.R. No. 150629, June 30, 2004, Supreme Court First Division, Panganiban, J., writing for the Court. Petitioners are homeowners' representatives from Gagalangin and Sunog Apog in Tondo, Manila; respondents are Alfredo Enriquez in his capacity as Administrator of the Land Registration Authority (LRA), the LRA, and private successors-in-interest of the Manotoks (Patricia L. Tiongson and Elisa V. Manotok).In March 1996 petitioners (through Renato Tichangco) filed a land-title verification request with the LRA (LTV No. 96-0376) after learning of alleged Manotok claims over parcels they occupy, which petitioners contended were portions of dried or filled esteros and thus public land. A subsequent verification (LTV-98-1222) was filed on behalf of Sunog Apog homeowners. LRA Task Force reports found overlaps among several old survey plans (Psd-25141, Psd-44026, Psd-11746, and others), and that some subject lots (ultimately covered by TCTs Nos. 128240–128249 and TCT No. 128270) originated from ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF TITLE (OCT) Nos. 820 and 7477 issued pursuant to old decrees of registration (Decree No. 1424 and Decree N-23419).
Petitioners sought assistance from the Office of the Solicitor General. The LRA-Administrator (public respondent) reviewed the records (Task Force TM No. 98-0087) and issued a final resolution finding no legal ground to nullify OCT Nos. 820 and 7477 or the TCTs deriving therefrom, because the old registration proceedings and subsequent transcription supported the titles and showed the lands were registered and not timely controverted. Petitioners elevated the matter to the Court of Appeals in CA-GR SP No. 54648. The CA (Fifteenth Division, penned by Justice Romeo A. Brawner) affirmed the LRA administrator’s resolution, holding among other things that OCT No. 820 took effect on transcription in 1907 (per Section 42 of Act No. 496), and that OCT No. 7477 had become incontrovertible after regular registration proceedings and lapse of the reglementary period.
Petitioners moved for reconsideration before the CA, which was denied. They then filed a petition labelled as certiorari under Rule 65 (dated November 20, 2001) to the Supreme Court. The Court’s Third Division initially dismissed the petition as improperly filed under Rule 65, but on recons...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Was the petition properly filed as certiorari under Rule 65, or should it be treated as a petition for review under Rule 45?
- Are OCT Nos. 820 and 7477 (and the TCTs derived therefrom) void or subject to nullification on the grounds alleged by petitioners (including alleged defective survey timing and minority of original applicants)?
- Did the Court of Appeals violate Section 14, Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution by failing to state the facts (specifically the magnetic survey completion...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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