G.R. No. 32776, December 4, 1930
SEVERO DOMINGO, ET AL. vs. SANTOS, ONGSIAKO, LIM Y CIA., and TIBURCIO VERZOLA, ET AL.

FACTS

Plaintiffs, Severo Domingo and about 117 others, filed an action to recover a parcel of land (approx. 1,006 hectares) in Nampicuan, Nueva Ecija, from the defendant corporation, Santos, Ongsiako, Lim y Cia., the successor-in-interest of Marcelino de Santos. The land is part of the Hacienda Esperanza. Marcelino de Santos’s portion was surveyed in 1906 and registered under the Torrens system in 1910, with an adjudicated area of over 10,118 hectares. Subsequent surveys revealed the actual area was larger by over 2,000 hectares. Plaintiffs claimed ownership through adverse possession for over 25 years, arguing the land in dispute was outside the property decreed in the 1910 registration. The trial court dismissed the complaint.

ISSUE

Whether the plaintiffs can recover the land through a revindicatory action, despite the existence of a Torrens title in the name of the defendant’s predecessor, based on their claim of adverse possession.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal of the complaint. The land claimed by the plaintiffs is located within the boundaries of the property registered in 1910 under the Torrens system in the name of Marcelino de Santos. A revindicatory action cannot prevail against a registered Torrens title. The Court found that the plaintiffs’ own survey plan (Exhibit A) showed the land they claimed was situated within the tract adjudicated to Marcelino de Santos. Visible and well-established boundaries control over errors in area computation. Since the defendant corporation holds a valid Torrens title as successor-in-interest, the plaintiffs’ claim of ownership by prescription is unavailing against such title.