G.R. No. L-25450 - Santos vs. Mojica

Case Summary (G.R. No. L-25450)

Factual Background

Eleven Allanigue siblings filed Civil Case No. 217-R on March 19, 1959 against their sister, Lorenza Allanigue, her husband Simeon Santos, and others, seeking partition of a 360-square-meter lot in San Dionisio, Paranaque, Rizal, and annulment of certain conveyances. Defendants were declared in default, and after plaintiffs presented evidence the trial court ordered partition among the eleven plaintiffs and defendant Lorenza Allanigue. The court set off Lorenza Allanigue’s share against unpaid rents and issued a writ of execution ordering defendants to vacate and surrender possession.

Movant’s Claim and Early Enforcement Steps

Although not a named defendant in Civil Case No. 217-R, Leonardo Santos, a son of Simeon Santos and Lorenza Allanigue, owned a house on the parcel and filed a third-party claim with the sheriff and a motion to recall the writ of execution insofar as his house was concerned. The trial court denied his motion. After the defendants and movant failed to remove their houses within the time allowed, the trial court ordered the sheriff to demolish the houses on March 15, 1962.

First Supreme Court Proceeding (G.R. No. L-19618)

On April 2, 1962, Leonardo Santos and the other defendants petitioned the Supreme Court in G.R. No. L-19618 for certiorari and prohibition against Hon. Angel H. Mojica, the Provincial Sheriff, and the plaintiffs, challenging the lower court’s jurisdiction to order demolition in that special civil action. The Supreme Court denied the petition on February 28, 1964, holding that Leonardo Santos had not pursued the ordinary civil action required to vindicate his alleged ownership of the house and the portion of land on which it stood.

Subsequent Enforcement and Present Petition

After the Supreme Court’s decision in G.R. No. L-19618 became final, respondent Judge Angel H. Mojica, upon motion of the plaintiffs in Civil Case No. 217-R, ordered demolition of the defendants’ houses. The other defendants voluntarily removed their houses, leaving only Leonardo Santos’ house. On December 9, 1965, the trial court issued an order directing the sheriff to demolish Leonardo Santos’ house. Leonardo Santos then filed the present petition for certiorari and prohibition in the Supreme Court challenging the trial judge’s jurisdiction in issuing the December 9, 1965 demolition order.

Issues Presented

The central issues were whether the trial court had jurisdiction to order demolition of Leonardo Santos’ house and whether Leonardo Santos was bound by the judgment in Civil Case No. 217-R as a successor-in-interest of his parents so as to forfeit any right to resist demolition.

Petitioner’s Position

Leonardo Santos contended that he owned the house and the portion of land on which it stood by purchase from his parents and that the trial court lacked jurisdiction to order demolition of his property without his having been properly vindicated through an ordinary civil action asserting his ownership.

Court’s Analysis — Successor-in-Interest and Bad-Faith Building

The Court held that Leonardo Santos was bound by the judgment in Civil Case No. 217-R because he claimed rights under his parents, Simeon Santos and Lorenza Allanigue, who were defendants in that action; thus he was their successor-in-interest. The Court found that the registration of the sale to Leonardo Santos did not defeat the binding effect of the judgment against his predecessors-in-interest. The Court noted that Leonardo Santos had built and reconstructed his house after March 1962 into a larger structure following summons of his predecessors-in-interest in 1959, and therefore he must be deemed a builder in bad faith. Relying on Art. 449, Civil Code, the Court stated: "He who builds, plants or sows in bad faith on the land of another, loses what is built, planted or sown without right to indemnity." The Court further explained that the owners of the land could either appropriate the accession or choose demolition under Art. 450, Civil Code, which allows the landowner to demand demolition or removal at the expense of the person who built in bad faith. The Court observed that the Allanigue plaintiffs chose demolition and that the trial court granted their motion for demolition dated December 9, 1965.

Court’s Analysis — Res Judicata from Prior Supreme Court Decision

The Court further held that the present petition was barred by the prior judgment in G.R. No. L-19618, in which Leonardo Santos had been a petitioner against the same official and private respondents. The Court found identity of subject matter and identity of cause of action between the two proceedings: both involved the same portion of the lot and the house alleged by Leonardo Santos to belong to him, and both attacked the trial judge’s order for removal or demolition of houses. The prior Supreme Court decision had been on the merits and had become final; therefore its judgment operated as res judicata against the same question in the present petition.

Ruling a

Case Syllabus (G.R. No. L-25450)

Parties and Procedural Posture

Leonardo Santos was the petitioner who owned a house standing on the subject lot and who filed a third-party claim and a motion to recall the writ of execution in the trial court.
Hon. Angel H. Mojica was the respondent Judge of the Court of First Instance of Rizal, Pasay City Branch, who issued orders directing demolition of houses on the parcel.
The Provincial Sheriff of Rizal, Pasay City Branch was the respondent charged with executing the demolition orders.
Teodorico, Carmen, Antero, Vidal, Catalina, Melanio, Manuel, Felicidad, Aurelio, Pacita, and Eleuteria, all surnamed Allanigue were the plaintiffs and respondents who obtained partition and sought demolition of improvements.
The present proceeding was a petition for certiorari and prohibition directed against the demolition order of December 9, 1965.

Key Facts

Eleven siblings surnamed Allanigue filed Civil Case No. 217-R on March 19, 1959 for partition of a 360-square-meter lot and for annulment of certain conveyances.
Defendants in Civil Case No. 217-R included Lorenza Allanigue and her husband Simeon Santos, who were declared in default and against whom judgment for partition was rendered.
A writ of execution ordered defendants to vacate the lot and deliver possession to the plaintiffs.
Leonardo Santos was not an original defendant but was the son of Simeon Santos and Lorenza Allanigue and owned a house on the lot.
Leonardo Santos filed a third-party claim and motion to recall the writ as to his house, but the motion was denied and he failed to remove the house within the period granted.
The trial court ordered demolition of houses on March 15, 1962 and later, after other defendants removed their houses, ordered demolition of Leonardo Santos' house by order dated December 9, 1965.
Leonardo Santos earlier participated as a petitioner in G.R. No. L-19618, which the Court denied by decision of February 28, 1964.

Procedural History

The trial court rendered judgment in Civil Case No. 217-R partitioning the lot among the plaintiffs and Lorenza Allanigue and set off Lorenza Allanigue's share against unpaid rents.
The trial court issued a writ of execution and refused Leonardo Santos' motion to recall the writ with respect to his house.
Leonardo Santos and certain defendants filed G.R. No. L-19618 in the Supreme Court on April 2, 1962, which the Supreme Court denied on February 28, 1964.
After finality of the decision in G.R. No. L-19618, the trial court granted the plaintiffs' motion and issued the demolition order of Dec