Title
Frondarina vs. Malazarte
Case
G.R. No. 148423
Decision Date
Dec 6, 2006
Petitioners proved prior possession of the lot since 1971 through tax records and acts of ownership; respondents' forcible entry and bad faith construction led to their eviction.
lot dispute
prior possession
vacate

Case Summary (G.R. No. 148423)

Factual Background

The disputed property was Lot 5, Block 15-B, Gordon Heights Subdivision, Olongapo City, area 450 square meters. On July 22, 1970, Iluminado Amar conveyed the lot to Flordelina Santos. On June 17, 1971, Santos conveyed to Cirila Gongora, who filed a Miscellaneous Sales Application with the Bureau of Lands on that date and was declared owner for taxation purposes in 1970 and in subsequent years. Cirila Gongora paid real estate taxes as shown by receipts covering 1980 to 1985. On February 19, 1985, Goungora executed a waiver in favor of petitioner Esperanza Frondarina, who on July 1, 1985 filed an MSA and thereafter declared the lot in her name for taxation effective 1986 and paid taxes for 1986 to 1988. Petitioners surveyed and fenced the lot, tended mango and coconut trees, and planted vegetables. Respondents alleged that they bought the lot from Romeo Valencia on March 1, 1988 and took up residence in May 1988. Petitioners maintained that on March 18, 1988 respondents entered the lot, dug holes, riprapped the rear, deposited building materials and started construction despite orders to stop from the City Engineer’s Office. Petitioners documented the intrusion by letters to the City Engineer, the City Legal Officer, and then Mayor Richard Gordon, and by photographs taken May 18, 1988. Petitioners alleged that respondents or their predecessor threatened their caretaker, Lorenza Andrada, to prevent testimony.

Proceedings in the Olongapo City MTCC

The Olongapo City MTCC found that petitioners and their predecessors had prior, peaceful and continuous possession of the lot and that respondents committed forcible entry. The MTCC rendered judgment on February 28, 2000 ordering respondents to vacate the lot, to remove constructions, to pay actual damages and monthly reasonable rentals from March 18, 1988 until delivery of possession, and to pay attorney’s fees and costs. The MTCC relied on documentary evidence of successive transfers, tax declarations and payments, the acts of possession by petitioners, and the circumstances of respondents’ entry and construction.

Proceedings in the Olongapo City RTC

On appeal the Olongapo City RTC reversed the MTCC. The trial court concluded that respondents were in actual and physical possession through their predecessor-in-interest, Romeo Valencia, who allegedly occupied the lot since 1975 and sold it to respondents on March 1, 1988. The RTC discounted petitioners’ proof because possession was exercised through a caretaker and key testimony from the caretaker was absent. The court treated petitioner Esperanza Frondarina’s account of threats to the caretaker as hearsay and presumed that, if produced, the caretaker’s testimony would have been adverse. The RTC found no forcible entry and dismissed the complaint in a September 13, 2000 decision, awarding attorney’s fees and costs against petitioners.

Ruling of the Court of Appeals

The Court of Appeals affirmed the RTC in a March 13, 2001 decision. The CA sustained the trial court’s assessment that petitioners failed to prove personal, actual and physical possession and held that petitioners’ reliance on their caretaker’s supposed testimony was undermined by the absence of that witness. The CA characterized petitioner Esperanza Frondarina’s testimony about threats to the caretaker as hearsay and concluded that the evidence did not support a finding of forcible entry by respondents.

The Parties’ Contentions on Review

Petitioners contended that the CA committed grave abuse of discretion in appreciating facts and omitted petitioners’ prior actual possession which was essential to the forcible entry action, and that the appellate ruling effectively validated respondents’ unlawful entry. Respondents maintained their title and possession by purchase from Romeo Valencia and argued that petitioners failed to prove actual, personal possession and could not substantiate forcible entry because their caretaker did not testify.

The Supreme Court’s Disposition

The Supreme Court granted the petition for review. The Court reversed and set aside the Decisions of the Court of Appeals and the Olongapo City RTC and reinstated the MTCC Decision. The Court found that petitioners had established prior physical possession and that respondents committed forcible entry and were builders in bad faith, thereby losing any right to reimbursement for constructions. The Court ordered no costs.

Legal Basis and Reasoning

The Court recognized that Rule 45 ordinarily bars review of factual findings by the CA but concluded that the factual findings of the MTCC conflicted with those of the RTC and CA, thereby warranting departure from the bar to correct a misappreciation of facts and to do equity. The Court evaluated the totality of evidence and credited petitioners’ proof of possession and of forcible entry for multiple reasons. Petitioners and their predecessors exhibited continuous and open acts of ownership and possession since 1971, supported by a chain of transfers commencing July 22, 1970, the May 17, 1971 miscellaneous sales application, tax declarations effective in 1970, 1974, 1980 and a tax declaration in petitioner’s name effective 1986, and tax receipts evidencing payments predating respondents’ declarations and payments. The Court held that these documentary indicia of possession were strong corroboration of petitioners’ parol evidence. The Court further discredited the testimony of Romeo Valencia because he falsely testified that the lot had not been declared in another’s name before his occupation; invoking the rule falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus, the Court deemed his testimony unworthy of belief and bereft of weight. The Court found that petitioner Esperanza’s testimony and the testimony of PO3 Labrador substantiated that petitioners habitually visited the lot and that the caretaker oversaw it when they were absent. The Court also accepted evidence that respondents entered and continued construction despite orders to stop and

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