G.R. No. L-2123

FACTS:
Prior to October 3, 1889, Marcelo Quintano Lao-Yuco was the owner of the land in question. On that date, a public document purporting to be a sale of the land was executed before a justice of the peace acting as a notary public. The purchaser named was the plaintiff, Vicente Nery Lim-Chingco. The seller was presented as Marcelo Quintano Lao-Yuco. Marcelo, the husband of defendant Crisanta Terariray and father of the other defendants, died on November 4, 1902. After his death, the plaintiff filed an action for recovery of possession against the widow and children. The trial court ruled in favor of the defendants, finding that the deed of sale was a forgery. The plaintiff appealed.

ISSUE:
The principal issue is one of fact: Whether the person who appeared before the notary public and signed the deed of sale on October 3, 1889, was in fact Marcelo Quintano Lao-Yuco.

RULING:
The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s judgment. The Court upheld the factual finding that the deed of sale was a forgery. The evidence showed that Marcelo was in China from 1888 until 1891, and continuously possessed the land from his return in 1891 until his death. The plaintiff’s claim that Marcelo briefly returned in 1889 to execute the sale was not credible. The purported lease contract presented by the plaintiff to explain Marcelo’s continued possession after 1891 was deemed fictitious. Consequently, the forged deed was null and void. The registration of a null and void deed under the Mortgage Law did not validate it or confer ownership upon the plaintiff. The Court also found no error in the trial court’s exclusion of certain documentary evidence offered by the plaintiff and in its denial of the motion for a new trial.