G.R. No. 47837 , June 17, 1941
Segundo Garcia, Petitioner, vs. The Director of Lands, Respondent.

FACTS

The cadastral proceeding (Expediente Catastral No. 19, G.L.R.O. Record No. 1456) was initiated on November 8, 1932, by the Director of Lands. After due publication and the filing of required answers, the case was set for hearing on February 4, 1933, in Ormoc, Leyte. The hearing was postponed to February 17, 1933, on which date the Court of First Instance of Leyte issued an order declaring in default all persons who had not yet filed answers claiming the lots involved in the cadastral case. Petitioner Segundo Garcia alleges he is the owner of Lots Nos. 689 and 690 in said cadastral proceeding. He claims he could not file the necessary answers because he was in Spain, and his appointed administrators in Leyte (his brothers-in-law Manuel Alvarez and Catalino Alvarez) had died on September 29, 1930, and October 6, 1931, respectively. While in Spain, Garcia suffered illnesses preventing his return, and later the civil war further obstructed his travel. He eventually appointed his son, Arturo G. Alvarez, as his attorney-in-fact. The attorney arrived in Manila on June 2, 1940, and in Leyte on June 7, 1940. Upon learning on June 15, 1940, of the 1933 general default order, he filed a petition with the Court of Appeals on July 22, 1940, under Article 513 of the Code of Civil Procedure, seeking to set aside the default order and to be allowed to file answers claiming the lots. The Court of Appeals dismissed the petition, opining that Article 513 had ceased to exist with the promulgation of the new court rules and that any remedy under it pertained exclusively to the Supreme Court. Garcia then filed the present petition with the Supreme Court on October 21, 1940. The Director of Lands, through the Provincial Fiscal of Leyte, opposed the petition, arguing lack of personality to file and laches.

ISSUE

Whether the petition under Article 513 of the Code of Civil Procedure to set aside the 1933 default order and to be allowed to file answers claiming Lots Nos. 689 and 690 should be granted.

RULING

The Supreme Court DENIED the petition. Without resolving the questions of whether Article 513 of the Code of Civil Procedure remains in force or is applicable to the facts, the Court held the petition lacked merit because the principal relief sought—permission to file answers claiming the lots—could no longer be granted. Commonwealth Act No. 276 , which took effect on June 3, 1938, extended only until June 3, 1940, the period within which owners of lands already declared or about to be declared public land for failure to file claims in the corresponding cadastral proceeding could petition for reopening to file answers, provided the lands had not been alienated or reserved by the Government. According to this law, even if the 1933 default order were annulled, the petitioner could no longer seek to reopen the cadastral case to claim the two lots because the two-year period fixed by the law for that purpose had already expired. Consequently, the petition had become purposeless. Costs were taxed against the petitioner.