GR 127167; (November, 1999) (Digest)
G.R. No. 127167 . November 18, 1999.
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, represented by ASSET PRIVATIZATION TRUST (APT), petitioner, vs. NATIONAL LABOR RELATIONS COMMISSION, LABOR ARBITER PABLO C. ESPIRITU, JR., ATTY. GUERRERO CAMPOS, in his official capacity as the Register of Deeds in the Province of Tarlac and DOMINGO P. UY, respondents.
FACTS
Pantranco North Express, Inc. (PNEI) mortgaged its Tarlac bus terminal (covered by TCT No. 101055) to secure a loan. The mortgage interest was eventually transferred to the Asset Privatization Trust (APT). Due to labor claims against PNEI, its assets were levied and sold at public auction. On September 23, 1994, respondent Domingo P. Uy was the highest bidder for the Tarlac property. The certificate of sale was registered on October 24, 1994.
On October 23, 1995, APT tendered a redemption price to the NLRC cashier. The sheriffs, however, refused to issue a certificate of redemption and instead executed a Final Deed of Sale in favor of Uy the next day. The Register of Deeds withheld registration due to APT’s redemption claim. Labor Arbiter Espiritu declared APT’s redemption void, a decision affirmed by the NLRC. APT filed this petition, arguing it redeemed within the one-year period from the registration of the certificate of sale.
ISSUE
Whether the period for redemption of property sold on execution, under the then-applicable Section 30, Rule 39 of the 1964 Revised Rules of Court, is twelve (12) months or one (1) year from the date of registration of the certificate of sale.
RULING
The Supreme Court dismissed the petition and affirmed the NLRC decision. The Court ruled that the redemption period under the 1964 Rules was specifically “twelve (12) months,” not “one year.” Applying Article 13 of the Civil Code, which provides that months shall be computed by the number of days they have, a period counted in months is equivalent to that number of calendar days. Therefore, “twelve months” means 360 days, not 365 days.
The redemption period commenced from the date of registration of the certificate of sale on October 24, 1994. APT’s tender of payment on October 23, 1995, was the 364th day. Since the period expired on the 360th day, which was October 19, 1995, APT’s redemption was four days late and therefore invalid. The Court emphasized that the rule was subsequently amended in the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure to explicitly state a period of “one (1) year,” but the old rule governed this case. Consequently, the Sheriff’s Final Deed in favor of Domingo P. Uy was upheld as valid.