Title
Leonidas vs. Vargas
Case
G.R. No. 201031
Decision Date
Dec 14, 2017
Petitioner and oppositors failed to prove continuous, exclusive possession of disputed lots since 1945; land remains public domain.
land registration application
possession and ownership
subject lots
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. 201031)

Factual Background and Competing Claims

Petitioner filed his land registration application on February 2, 2002. He alleged inheritance of the subject lots from his parents, Ponciano Leonidas, Jr. (Ponciano) and Asuncion Roxas de Leonidas (Asuncion). He claimed that Asuncion had purchased the lots at a tax delinquency auction evidenced by a May 17, 1937 Certificate of Sale issued by the Provincial Treasurer of Iloilo, and that Asuncion then took immediate possession and exercised dominical rights over the lots in a notoriously, continuously, and exclusively manner. Petitioner stated that after Asuncion’s death in 1986, Ponciano succeeded to ownership and possession, and after Ponciano’s death in 1991, the lots became petitioner’s exclusive property. Petitioner also averred that he permitted other named persons to occupy portions of the land and that, to his knowledge, his adjoining-property owners were residents of Poblacion, Concepcion, Iloilo, while a specific person, Tomas Varga (Tomas), had previously declared a portion of the property for taxation purposes, although the whereabouts of his heirs were unknown.

The Republic opposed the application. It argued that neither petitioner nor his predecessors-in-interest had been in the required open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession of the lots since June 12, 1945, as required by Section 48 of CA No. 141, as amended. It also contended that petitioner’s muniments of title, tax declarations, and tax payment receipts did not amount to clear and convincing evidence of bona fide acquisition, especially given the alleged recent vintage of tax-related proofs. The Republic further asserted that petitioner’s reliance on a Spanish title or grant was unavailing due to failure to file the proper application within the statutory period under P.D. No. 892, and that the lots were portions of the public domain not subject to private appropriation.

On March 11, 2003, Tancredo filed an opposition claiming to be Tomas’s legitimate son and compulsory heir. Tancredo alleged that Tomas had been the absolute owner of a different 36,237-square-meter parcel at Loong, Concepcion, Iloilo, covered by a tax declaration in Tomas’s name. Tancredo also disputed petitioner’s asserted exclusive ownership, claiming that Lot 1677 had been split into Lots 1677-A and 1677-B, and that Tancredo owned Lot 1677-A based on the municipal tax mapping project. Tancredo likewise claimed Lot 566 had been split into Lots 566-A and 566-B, and that he owned Lot 566-A. He attacked petitioner’s narrative that the property covered by a tax declaration in Tomas’s predecessors’ name had been sold at public auction, arguing that forfeiture had been lifted before any public auction and that the Provincial Treasurer’s office allegedly did not have a copy of the May 17, 1937 Certificate of Sale, thereby undermining petitioner’s claimed origin.

On March 21, 2003, the Sicads—through several heirs represented by attorneys—filed another opposition. They claimed heirship to a portion of the subject lots that was bought by their predecessor, Mansueto Sicad (Mansueto), from Asturias, as evidenced by a Deed of Definite Sale (Doc. No. 75, Page No. 35, Book No. 1, Series of 1950). They alleged continuous possession since Mansueto’s death and claimed that part of their contested portion had already been registered under an OCT.

Evidence Presented at Trial

During trial, petitioner testified and presented Geronimo C. Penaflorida, a Land Management Inspector from DENR CENRO Sara, Iloilo. The Sicads presented witnesses including Catalino Guinez, Emeliana Isturias Matulac, and Elena. Tancredo testified and presented a former overseer or tenant of the Vargas family, Jose Etchona (Etchona).

Petitioner filed his Formal Offer of Evidence on August 8, 2003, submitting, among others, the May 17, 1937 Certificate of Sale, various tax declarations—covering different cadastral lot identifiers and periods—tax receipts, a statement of assessed value issued by the Provincial Assessor, survey plans, certifications regarding unavailability of a surveyor’s certificate, a Survey Inspection Report, and a CENRO report stating that the subject lots were free from liens and encumbrances and were within the alienable and disposable area. Petitioner also submitted additional exhibits to establish identity and location, including documentation intended to distinguish one lot designated as Lot 1677 in Brgy. Loong from another in Poblacion Concepcion, and an ocular inspection report ordered by the RTC.

RTC Decision

On March 19, 2007, the RTC ruled in a manner that split the adjudication between petitioner and Tancredo. It ordered the registration in favor of petitioner of portions of Lot 566 and Lot 1677 described by areas, but it awarded portions of Lot 1677 and Lot 566 to Tancredo, with the requirement that these be segregated through a proper subdivision plan. The RTC declared the easement of right of way of highways, streets, alleys, shorelines, and other unspecified portions as belonging to the Republic, and directed the Land Registration Authority to issue the appropriate decree upon finality.

Substantively, the RTC reasoned that petitioner had sufficiently established possession and ownership in so far as portions not covered by Tancredo’s opposition were concerned, and it accepted petitioner’s documentary evidence—certificate of sale, tax declarations, tax receipts, and assessed-value statement—as corroborative of ownership claims. The RTC also found that petitioner had consistently visited the lots, even if he and his predecessors had not been in actual possession at all times.

As to Tancredo’s disputed portions, the RTC held that Tancredo established a superior claim. It noted the presence of annotations acknowledging Tomas’s adverse claim on the relevant tax declarations in Asuncion’s name, the existence of Tomas’s earlier tax declaration in 1945, and the testimony that overseers had not been driven out and had cultivated and guarded the portions. The RTC also concluded that the Sicads lacked sufficient continuing interest because the land shown to have been sold by Asturias to Mansueto supposedly corresponded to a lot of an area comparable to land covered by a free patent already issued to Mansueto. It further reiterated jurisprudence that alienable public land openly, continuously, and exclusively possessed for at least thirty years becomes ipso jure private property by lapse of time under Section 48(b) of CA 141, as amended.

CA Decision and Resolution

Only petitioner and the Republic appealed. Their appeals were consolidated as CA-G.R. CV No. 02296. In its decision dated August 13, 2009, the CA modified the RTC award by reversing and setting aside the RTC’s award to petitioner of the portions of Lot 566 and Lot 1677 assigned to him, while affirming the RTC’s award to Tancredo of the disputed portions.

The CA held that publication, posting, and notice had been complied with, and that petitioner properly identified the subject lots. It further found that the subject lots were classified as alienable and disposable at the time petitioner filed the application in 2002, relying on the CENRO report dated August 28, 1997. It also cited jurisprudence that CENRO certification that the land was within the alienable and disposable area was sufficient evidence to show the land’s character.

However, the CA ruled that petitioner failed to prove possession and the required length of time. It concluded that petitioner’s lone testimony did not suffice to establish open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession since June 12, 1945, or earlier, in the manner required for registration. It likewise found petitioner’s acts and explanations insufficient to show dominion or ownership, including his swimming in the area, planting trees, and his high school attendance in the neighboring town, which the CA found did not add up to credible acts of ownership. The CA added that petitioner’s childhood memories surfacing only after his father’s death suggested ignorance rather than continuous dominion.

The CA also emphasized petitioner’s inconsistent conduct regarding taxation. It found petitioner failed to explain why his alleged possession did not reflect in declarations until 1976. It stressed that the burden rested on the applicant to establish, with clear, positive, and convincing evidence, the possession and ownership in good faith for the period required by law.

In contrast, the CA found Tancredo’s claim proved for the disputed portions. It held that the adverse claims of Tomas were annotated on tax declarations covering the disputed portions, that Tomas had declared the disputed portions for taxation as early as 1945, and that Tancredo’s evidence showed possession through the employment of persons to cultivate and guard the land, with Tomas appropriating harvest and introducing improvements. The CA further observed that even petitioner admitted in his application that Tomas had declared the disputed portions in Tomas’s name for taxation purposes.

Petitioner moved for reconsideration, but the CA denied the motion on February 22, 2012.

Issues Raised Before the Supreme Court

Petitioner argued that the CA committed grave abuse of discretion in denying registration of his allegedly vested title over Lots 566 and 1677, and in awarding the disputed portions to Tancredo. He contended that he and his predecessors-in-interest had been in open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession since June 12, 1945, or earlier; that there was indubitable evidence of a tax sale on May 17, 1937; and that once he filed his application, an OCT should issue recognizing a vested right. He insisted that confirmation was merely a formality and that registration did not confer title but recognized title already vested.

Petitioner also maintained that the CA erred in concluding that the tax declarations in Asuncion’s name did not bear Tomas’s adverse annotations, in misappreh

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