G.R. No. L-7617 - People vs. Yanga

Case Digest (G.R. No. L-7617)
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Facts:

Parties, pleadings, and nature of the controversy

Verdant Acres, Inc. instituted a civil suit in the Regional Trial Court of Rizal to recover from Ponciano Hernandez a portion of land with an area of 4,903 square meters.
Verdant alleged that the 4,903-square-meter portion formed part of its 83,850-square-meter lot covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. 93366, and that it had been “overlapped” by Hernandez’s title.
Hernandez averred that the portion correctly pertained to his property, which had an area of 73,850 square meters, covered by Original Certificate of Title No. 6178.

Antecedents on the titles and surveys

Land Registration Decree and Verdant’s predecessor

On June 19, 1952, Decreed No. 7278 was issued in Land Registration Case No. 360 in favor of Enrique Guinto as owner in fee simple of a parcel of land located at Pamplona, Las Pinas, Rizal, with an area of 73,850 square meters.
On November 25, 1961, Guinto sold the land to Verdant Acres for P65,896.
Verdant caused the property to be subdivided into residential lots; the complex subdivision plan (LRC) Psu-12734 was approved by the Court on June 8, 1964.

Discovery of alleged encroachment

During development, Verdant discovered that approximately 5,000 square meters on the southeast side of its property had been fenced or planted to palay by Poncianoo Hernandez.
Twelve subdivision lots were embraced within the area occupied by Hernandez.

Verdant’s relocation surveys and demand

Verdant caused two (2) relocation surveys of Lot 1, Psu-124488 by Geodetic Engineer Cecilia Rebuitan: the first in 1962 and the second in 1968.
The relocation surveys disclosed that Hernandez was occupying a portion of Verdant’s land with an area of 5,218 square meters.
On October 18, 1972, Verdant sent written demand to Hernandez to vacate the area; Hernandez ignored the demand.
On April 21, 1972, Verdant filed the suit.

Hernandez’s title origins and subsequent registration

Hernandez claimed to be the registered owner of Lot 1, Psu-181245 with an area of 27,015 square meters and asserted that he inherited the property from his father Bonifacio Hernandez, who owned two unregistered parcels in Barrio Kay Ruruwi, Pamplona, Las Pinas, Rizal.
One parcel had an area of 24,826 square meters; the other parcel had an area of 12,401 square meters and adjoined Guinto’s property.
Bonifacio paid taxes since 1917 and asked a surveyor on January 4, 1919 for a consolidated survey of the two parcels; Plan Psu-16118 was approved by the Director of Lands on August 21, 1919.
Bonifacio did not initiate registration proceedings.
Bonifacio died on August 1, 1928. After the war, Ponciano unsuccessfully tried to locate the original tracing cloth plan of Psu-16118.
In 1960, Ponciano fenced the land and had it surveyed by Geodetic Engineer Godofredo Limbo.
The plan Psu-181245 embraced three lots: Lot 1 (27,015 square meters), Lot 2 (155 square meters), and Lot 3 (19,543 square meters), with a total aggregate area of 46,713 square meters.
On May 4, 1967, Decree No. N-115756 was issued in LRC Case No. P-191, declaring Hernandez owner in fee simple of Lot 1, Psu-181245, and Original Certificate of Title No. 6178 was issued on July 25, 1967.

Events after the complaint was filed; competing surveys

Verdant caused a verification survey of its land after the complaint was filed but before trial, conducted by Geodetic Engineer Rodrigo Canero.
Present during Canero’s verification survey were Serafin Angeles (president of Verdant), Hernandez, Hernandez’s son Atty. Macario Hernandez, and their surveyor Geodetic Engineer Basilio Cabrera.
Canero ascertained overlapping between Hernandez’s plan Psu-181245 and Guinto’s plan Psu-124488, finding an overlap in the field of 4,839 square meters.
Canero attributed the overlapping to misplacement of the tie line or starting point of Hernandez’s survey “pushed inside” Verdant’s property.
Hernandez’s surveyor Basilio Cabrera found nothing wrong with the two surveys.

Trial court-ordered verification survey and the official findings

Due to conflicting reports, the Court ordered on May 28, 1973 that the Director of Lands conduct a verification survey of the lots.
Bureau of Lands surveyor Romeo Ardina conducted the survey in the field.
On September 28, 1973, Engineer Ardina submitted a report and verification survey plan (vs. -04-000006).
Ardina affirmed that Hernandez’s Psu-181245 overlapped a portion of Verdant’s Psu-124488 to the extent of 4,903 square meters (or 64 square meters more than Canero’s computation).
Ardina’s key factual findings included:

The verification survey used technical descriptions of Lot 1 Psu-124488 and Lot 1 Psu-181245 obtained from the Central Office of the Bureau of Lands.
Verdant’s representative Ben Lara and Atty. Hernandez were present during field work.
A barb wire fence was found on the disputed area and was owned by Hernandez; the fence was verified to be inside Verdant’s lot, specifically inside Lot 1 Psu-124488.
The overlapping portion was 4,903 square meters, more or less.
The disputed area was wholly ricefield and planted with palay.
A sketch plan was enclosed.

Regional Trial Court decision

The Trial Court ruled in favor of Verdant and declared it the rightful owner of the 4,903-square-meter portion.
The Trial Court directed that an amended technical description of Hernandez Lot 1 Psu-181425 be drawn up by the Director of Lands reducing its area, and that the 4,903-square-meter portion be excluded from Hernandez’s title.
The Trial Court ordered Hernandez to vacate the portion and deliver it to Verdant.
The Trial Court awarded no damages, holding that Hernandez acted in good faith in relying on his title.

Court of Appeals proceedings and divergent rulings

Hernandez appealed to the Court of Appeals, alleging multiple errors in the Trial Court decision.
The Court of Appeals issued a first decision (the “Villasor Decision”) on March 1, 1979, affirming the Trial Court.

The Villasor Decision held Hernandez’s first two assigned errors were unfounded: no lack of jurisdiction over Hernandez, and no failure to state a cause of action.
It reasoned that any mistake in initially directing action against a person believed to be an adjoining owner was corrected by amendment before answer was filed, pursuant to Section 2, Rule 10 of the Rules of Court; Hernandez did not press the point beyond casual reference.
It rejected Hernandez’s arguments supporting the third, fourth, and sixth errors, which related generally to appreciation of evidence.
It relied on the general rule favoring trial court fact-finding based on oral testimony and demeanor, ...(Subscriber-Only)

Issues:

Whether the Court of Appeals, through the Reversing Resolution, erred in reversing the Trial Court’s factual finding that the Verdant and Hernandez titled lands overlapped.

Whether Engineer Romeo Ardina’s verification survey testimony on overlapping was actually “doubtful,” “inconclusive,” or “ambivalent,” or whether it was categorical and supported by his own field verification.
Whether the Reversing Resolution properly accorded superior weight to contrary evidence, particularly the earlier reports of the Director of Lands and the Land Registration Commission, and Hernandez’s supporting wit

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