Title
Republic vs. Spouses Tan
Case
G.R. No. 232778
Decision Date
Aug 23, 2023
Republic v. Spouses Tan: Remanded for compliance with RA 11573 on land alienability and possession proof; insufficient evidence under new law.
registration of title
possession
occupation

Case Summary (G.R. No. 232778)

Factual Background

Respondents sought judicial confirmation and registration of title over Lot No. 9192-A (later identified as Lot No. 9192-D) in Barangay Gulod Labac, Batangas City, comprising 208 square meters. They alleged acquisition from the heirs of the late Cirilo Garcia and Simeon Garcia, supported by extrajudicial settlements and alleged sales dated 2003 and 2004. Attached documentary proof included tax declarations reflecting an assessed value of P1,770.00, official receipts of real property tax payments, the subject lot’s tracing paper and technical description, and certifications from the Office of the City Assessor and City Treasurer. During trial, CENRO-Batangas submitted a March 24, 2011 investigative report and a March 28, 2011 certification by Forester I Loida Y. Maglinao verifying that the lot was “within the ALIENABLE AND DISPOSABLE ZONE under Project No. 13, Land Classification Map No. 718 certified on March 26, 1928,” and noting the lot’s use as a garage and warehouse. Respondent Rolly Tan testified to his and his wife’s possession, occupation, and payment of taxes, and neighbor Felicidad Lumanglas testified that respondents’ predecessors-in-interest had resided on the lot prior to 1946, although her recollection contained material ambiguities.

Trial Court Proceedings and Ruling

The MTCC-Batangas City conducted a trial with testimonial and documentary evidence as described above. The trial court found that respondents had been in possession of the subject lot for more than forty years by tacking their possession to that of their predecessors-in-interest. The court relied on tax declaration history, Lumanglas’s testimony, the extrajudicial settlements, and the CENRO reports and certifications to conclude that the lot was alienable and disposable and that respondents had established open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession under a bona fide claim of ownership. The trial court therefore granted the application and decreed registration in favor of respondents in its Decision dated September 26, 2012.

Court of Appeals Proceedings and Ruling

The Court of Appeals denied the Republic’s appeal and affirmed the MTCC decision in toto in its Decision dated October 26, 2016 and in its subsequent Resolution of July 7, 2017 denying reconsideration. The CA applied the exception of substantial compliance articulated in Republic v. Vega, and held that three documents—the Hernandez CENRO report dated March 24, 2011, Forester Maglinao’s March 28, 2011 certification, and the original tracing paper bearing annotations—sufficed to prove the State’s classification of the land as alienable and disposable. The CA also found that respondents had proved possession and occupation through tax payments, physical improvements and use as a garage, and the testimony of Lumanglas, despite her age at the events she described.

Contentions of the Parties

The Republic argued that the CA erred by accepting CENRO certifications and related documents as adequate proof of alienability and disposability in light of the Court’s ruling in Republic v. T.A.N. Properties, Inc., which required a certified true copy of the original land classification approved by the DENR Secretary or equivalent proof. The Republic further asserted that the CA overlooked that Vega had affirmed the T.A.N. Properties requirement and that respondents failed to prove the requisite period and character of possession and occupation. Respondents countered that procuring a copy of a DENR Secretary’s approval for classifications predating the DENR’s existence was impossible, that the 1928 land classification map already indicated alienability and disposability, and that their proof of tacked possession was sufficient.

Legal Issue Presented

The narrow legal issue presented was whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the MTCC’s grant of respondents’ application for judicial confirmation and registration of title under CA No. 141 and P.D. No. 1529, given the evidentiary record on land classification and on possession and occupation.

Applicable Statutory and Jurisprudential Developments

While the case had been litigated under earlier precedents such as T.A.N. Properties and Vega, the Supreme Court took judicial notice of the enactment of Republic Act No. 11573, approved July 16, 2021, which amended provisions of CA No. 141 and P.D. No. 1529. Section 7 of R.A. No. 11573 prescribes that a certification by a duly designated DENR geodetic engineer imprinted on the approved survey plan is sufficient proof that land is part of alienable and disposable agricultural public domain, and it specifies the content such certification must contain, including references to applicable Forestry Administrative Orders, DENR Administrative Orders, Executive Orders, or Proclamations and the Land Classification (LC) Map number, and an alternative showing the LC Map’s existence in NAMRIA’s inventory when an original issuance is unavailable. The Court also relied on its ruling in Republic v. Pasig Rizal Co., Inc., which interpreted R.A. No. 11573, held Section 7 to supersede prior requirements in T.A.N. Properties and Hanover, and declared the statute retroactive to applications pending as of its effectivity to operate as a curative measure.

Supreme Court’s Analysis on Land Classification Proof

The Supreme Court examined the record and found that the CENRO report and Forester Maglinao’s certification referenced Project No. 13 and LC Map No. 718 and that the tracing paper bore similar annotations but lacked the sworn certification by a duly designated DENR geodetic engineer imprinted on the approved survey plan as required by Section 7 of R.A. No. 11573. The Court held that R.A. No. 11573 and the Court’s interpretation in Pasig Rizal now govern applications pending as of September 1, 2021, and that the CA must permit reception of additional evidence consistent with Section 7’s parameters. The Court therefore concluded that respondents must have the opportunity to submit a new tracing paper or survey plan bearing the required imprint and sworn certification, or otherwise present the sworn statement of the DENR records officer and the geodetic engineer’s testimony for proper authentication, in order to definitively establish that the subject property was alienable and disposable as of the filing date of their application, March 11, 2009.

Supreme Court’s Analysis on Possession and Occupation

The Court addressed respondents’ proof of possession and occupation under the shortened twenty-year standard in Section 6 of R.A. No. 11573, which requires proof of open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession for at least twenty years immediately preceding filing. The Court observed that tax declarations and payment receipts are strong indicia of possession in the concept of owner and that respondents’ predecessors-in-interest had tax declarations as early as 1968 and 1974 for portions of the subject lot, while respondents paid back taxes from 2000 to 2009. Nevertheless, the Court found Lumanglas’s testimony insufficiently detailed to establish the overt acts of possession and occupation by respondents’ predecessors-in-interest within the critical twenty-year period counted back from March 11, 2009 (i.e., from March 11, 1989). The Court stressed the requirement for overt acts, such as erection of improvements, fencing, cultivation,

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