G.R. No. L-1086; June 13, 1949
BELLA BERNARDINO Y CASIANO GALVEZ, appellants, vs. EL ARZOBISPO CATOLICO DE MANILA, appellee.

FACTS

On August 31, 1921, Rev. Fr. Cipriano Aguirre, the parish priest of Bocaue, Bulacan, declared a 320-square-meter portion of church property in his own name for tax assessment (amillaramiento). This portion, adjacent to the church patio, was leased to some residents. Due to non-payment of real estate taxes, the government levied upon and sold the property at a public auction on March 20, 1941, with Bella Bernardino as the highest bidder. Bernardino later sold the land to Casiano Galvez, both believing it was unregistered. When Galvez sought to register the land under the Torrens system, the surveyor discovered it was already registered under the name of the Catholic Archbishop of Manila. Galvez then petitioned the Register of Deeds to annotate the deed of sale on the title, but the Register of Deeds referred the matter to the Court of First Instance, which denied the petition.

ISSUE

Whether the tax declaration (amillaramiento) and subsequent tax sale of the property divested the registered owner (the Catholic Archbishop of Manila) of its Torrens title.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s order denying the annotation. A tax declaration does not create or confer ownership; it is merely a basis for tax collection. The tax sale of property for delinquency is an in personam proceeding, and a tax title derived therefrom is not a new and perfect title but only a derivative of whatever right the delinquent taxpayer had. Here, Fr. Aguirre was not the owner, and his tax declaration could not deprive the true owner, the Catholic Archbishop of Manila, of its registered Torrens title. The rule of caveat emptor applies to buyers at tax sales; they must exercise due diligence to investigate the true status of the property. Bernardino and Galvez, having failed to do so, could not claim good faith.

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