G.R. No. 44802 ; November 16, 1938
FRANCISCO SABAS, plaintiff-appellant, vs. FRANCISCO GARMA, ET AL., defendants-appellees.

FACTS

Plaintiff-appellant Francisco Sabas sought to foreclose a mortgage executed on November 10, 1930, by defendants-appellees Francisco Garma and his wife (since deceased) to secure a debt of P2,187.53. The mortgaged land was a homestead, with the patent issued on September 14, 1926, and the original certificate of title issued on October 18, 1926. The mortgage was registered only on October 5, 1932. The trial court declared the mortgage foreclosure untenable but ordered Francisco Garma to pay the personal debt, absolving the other defendants.

ISSUE

Whether the mortgage constituted on the homestead land within five years from the issuance of the patent is valid.

RULING

No. The mortgage is null and void ab initio. Under Section 116 of Act No. 2874 , as amended, lands acquired under homestead or free patent cannot be encumbered or alienated from the date of the application approval and for five years after the patent issuance, nor can they be liable for debts contracted before that period expires. The mortgage was executed on November 10, 1930, within the five-year prohibitory period from the patent issuance on September 14, 1926. Its subsequent registration in 1932 did not validate it, as that would subject the land to a debt contracted prior to the expiration of the five-year period, which the law prohibits. The appealed judgment, though on different grounds, is affirmed.

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