GR 43757; (October, 1935) (Digest)
G.R. No. 43757; October 12, 1935
DIMARUB KAMBAL, petitioner, vs. THE DIRECTOR OF LANDS and THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF COTABATO, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Dimarub Kambal claims ownership of two parcels of land (Lots Nos. 167 and 2289) in Cotabato. In 1917, the Governor-General issued Executive Order No. 72, reserving the lots for market purposes and withdrawing them from sale or settlement as public land. In 1919, the Court of First Instance of Cotabato, in a civil reservation proceeding, declared the land public due to no private claims being filed. No appeal was taken. In 1921, cadastral proceedings were initiated, including these lots. Petitioner failed to claim them, and the court again declared them public land, ordering the cancellation of any former certificates of title. Petitioner alleges he only learned of the decisions accidentally in 1933 (cadastral) and 1935 (reservation case). He filed a petition for review in the cadastral case, which is pending. It was disclosed that a public market has existed on the lots since 1918, petitioner never paid real estate taxes, and in the cadastral proceedings, he claimed an adjoining lot (No. 168) but not the lots in question.
ISSUE
Whether the petitioner is entitled to relief under section 513 of the Code of Civil Procedure from the decisions declaring the lots public land.
RULING
No. The petition is dismissed. The petitioner is guilty of laches due to the unreasonable delay of sixteen years from the 1919 reservation decision and over a decade from the cadastral proceedings before seeking relief. Furthermore, the petition was filed out of time. The 60-day period for relief should be counted from November 1933 when petitioner learned of the cadastral decision, not from March 1935. Knowledge of the cadastral decision, which mentioned the cancellation of former certificates, should have prompted a diligent inquiry that would have led to discovery of the earlier reservation proceedings. The law imputes knowledge of facts that a prudent inquiry would have revealed.
AI Generated by Armztrong.