G.R. No. 188471; April 20, 2010
FRANCISCO ALONSO, substituted by MERCEDES V. ALONSO, TOMAS V. ALONSO and ASUNCION V. ALONSO, Petitioners, vs. CEBU COUNTRY CLUB, INC., Respondent, REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, represented by the OFFICE OF THE SOLICITOR GENERAL, Public Respondent.

FACTS

Petitioner Francisco M. Alonso discovered documents indicating his father, Tomas N. Alonso, had acquired Lot No. 727 of the Banilad Friar Lands Estate from the Government around 1911 and was issued Patent No. 14353 and a final deed of sale in 1926, which was not registered due to lack of requirements. He later found that a certificate of title for a portion of that lot, Lot No. 727-D-2, had been administratively reconstituted in the name of United Service Country Club, Inc., the predecessor of respondent Cebu Country Club, Inc. (Cebu Country Club). After Francisco’s demand for restoration of ownership and possession was denied, he filed an action for declaration of nullity of title and recovery of property against Cebu Country Club in 1992. The RTC decided in favor of Cebu Country Club, a decision affirmed by the Court of Appeals. On appeal to the Supreme Court (G.R. No. 130876), the Court, in a decision dated January 31, 2002, denied the petition but set aside the lower courts’ decisions, dismissed the complaint and counterclaim, and declared that Lot No. 727-D-2 legally belongs to the Government of the Philippines. This decision became final and executory on December 5, 2003. In late 2004, the Government, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), filed a motion for issuance of a writ of execution in the RTC. During the pendency of this motion, Congress enacted Republic Act No. 9443, effective July 27, 2007, which validates all existing Transfer Certificates of Title and reconstituted titles covering the Banilad Friar Lands Estate. Considering R.A. No. 9443, the RTC denied the OSG’s motion for execution on December 28, 2007. The petitioners (Francisco’s heirs) filed a motion for reconsideration, which the RTC denied on April 24, 2009, ruling that the petitioners had no legal standing, that R.A. No. 9443 confirmed Cebu Country Club as the absolute owner, and that a change in situation rendered execution unjust. The OSG manifested it was no longer seeking execution. The petitioners directly appealed to the Supreme Court via petition for review on certiorari.

ISSUE

1. Whether or not the petitioners were the real parties-in-interest to question the denial by the RTC of the OSG’s motion for the issuance of a writ of execution.
2. Whether or not R.A. No. 9443 gave the petitioners a legal interest to assail the RTC’s orders.
3. Whether or not the petitioners can appeal by petition for review on certiorari in behalf of the OSG.

RULING

The petition for review is denied due course. The Supreme Court ruled that the petitioners are not the real parties-in-interest to question the denial of the OSG’s motion for execution. A real party-in-interest is one who stands to be benefited or injured by the judgment or the party entitled to the avails of the suit. The final and executory decision in G.R. No. 130876 declared that Lot No. 727-D-2 belongs to the Government, not to the petitioners or Cebu Country Club. Therefore, the party with a direct and material interest in the execution of that judgment was the Government, represented solely by the OSG. The petitioners, having been adjudged not to be the owners, had no legal interest in the execution. Furthermore, the OSG, as the Government’s representative, had already manifested it was no longer seeking execution. The enactment of R.A. No. 9443, which confirms existing titles in the Banilad Friar Lands Estate, did not vest any legal interest in the petitioners. The law operates as a confirmation of titles in favor of the current registered owners, which is Cebu Country Club, not the petitioners. The petitioners also violated the hierarchy of courts by appealing directly to the Supreme Court instead of first filing a petition for review with the Court of Appeals, and their petition was fatally defective for this reason and for lack of merit.