G.R. No. 248974 - Heirs of Teodoro Tulauan vs. Manuel Mateo

Petitioners are the Heirs of Teodoro Tulauan, represented by Tito Tulauan.
Respondents include Manuel Mateo, Magdalena Mateo Lorenzo (assisted by her husband, Jaime Lorenzo), Communities Isabela, Inc. (CII) which owns and operates Camella Homes, and the Registers of Deeds of Ilagan and Santiago.

Teodoro Tulauan was the registered owner of a parcel of land in Santiago, Isabela (now Santiago City) covered by Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. P-1080.
In the early 1950s, Teodoro left the property for security reasons but continued paying taxes and visiting occasionally.

On May 4, 1953, TCT No. T-4232 covering the subject property was issued in favor of Manuel Mateo.
The property was subdivided into four lots, and Manuel sold some of these lots to various buyers.
On May 30, 1979, TCT No. 118858 covering one of the subdivided lots was issued in Magdalena’s name.

One of Teodoro’s children discovered the property was being developed.
The Heirs inquired at the Registry of Deeds and found Teodoro’s title canceled and deeds of conveyance missing due to a fire.
Further records indicated a deed of conveyance to Lope H. Soriano in 1981.

The Heirs filed a complaint for Annulment of Documents, Reconveyance, and Damages alleging the titles under Manuel and Magdalena were fraudulently issued based on nonexistent documents.
They prayed for annulment of titles and restoration of ownership to themselves.

Respondents moved to dismiss for lack of cause of action and prescription or laches as defenses.
RTC dismissed the complaint citing prescription (4 years for fraud-based reconveyance, 10 years for implied trusts), laches due to delay of more than 60 years, and failure to state a cause of action due to lack of factual allegations of fraud.
Motion for reconsideration by Heirs was denied.

CA affirmed RTC’s dismissal on grounds of prescription and lack of cause of action.
Motion for reconsideration by Heirs was denied.

The Court granted the petition, reversed and set aside CA decisions, and remanded the case to RTC for full trial on laches and innocence of purchasers.
The SC held that allegation of an inexistent deed renders the action imprescriptible under Article 1410 of the Civil Code.
Motions for reconsideration filed by CII and Magdalena challenged the SC ruling, arguing prescription and lack of cause of action.
Heirs opposed, maintaining the action is imprescriptible due to inexistence of contract.

The Court granted the motions, setting aside its prior decision.
The complaint failed to allege ultimate facts with particularity, consisting mostly of conclusions of law.
The Heirs’ complaint lacked specific factual circumstances proving fraud or inexistence of contract.
The presumption of validity and regularity applies to Torrens titles, and absence of the deed does not prove fraud.
The complaint does not warrant a valid judgment and is defective.

Whether the Heirs of Teodoro Tulauan’s complaint for reconveyance sufficiently states a cause of action.
Whether the action for reconveyance based on an alleged inexistent deed of conveyance is imprescriptible.
Whether the Court erred in setting aside the CA and RTC rulings dismissing the complaint on grounds of prescription, laches, and failure to state a cause of action.