GR 142913; (August, 2005) (Digest)
G.R. No. 142913 . August 9, 2005
ESTATE OF SALVADOR SERRA SERRA, ET AL., Petitioners, vs. HEIRS OF PRIMITIVO HERNAEZ, ET AL., Respondents.
FACTS
The case involves conflicting claims over three parcels of land in Negros Occidental. In 1968, the heirs of Eleuterio Hernaez successfully petitioned for the reconstitution of alleged lost original certificates of title (OCTs) in his name. Reconstituted OCTs were issued and later cancelled, leading to the issuance of Transfer Certificates of Title (TCTs) in the names of the Hernaez heirs. The Serra Serra heirs, claiming ownership and possession under their own TCTs, moved for the cancellation of the reconstituted titles. The Supreme Court, in a 1991 decision, remanded the case to the trial court specifically to hear the motion for cancellation.
On remand, the trial court ruled against the Serra Serra heirs. It dismissed their motion, declared their TCTs null and void for being issued to foreigners (as petitioners were Spanish citizens), and declared the Hernaez heirs as the rightful owners. The Serra Serra heirs filed a petition for certiorari directly with the Court of Appeals without first filing a motion for reconsideration of the trial court’s decision.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of Appeals correctly dismissed the petition for certiorari and upheld the trial court’s decision declaring the Hernaez heirs as the owners of the disputed properties.
RULING
The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the Court of Appeals. The legal logic proceeds from both procedural and substantive grounds. Procedurally, a petition for certiorari under Rule 65 generally requires the exhaustion of available remedies, such as a motion for reconsideration, to allow the lower court an opportunity to correct its own error. The petitioners’ failure to file such a motion before resorting to certiorari rendered their petition fatally defective.
Substantively, the Court upheld the factual findings of the lower courts. In an action for annulment or reconveyance of title, the burden of proof rests on the plaintiff to establish ownership by clear and convincing evidence. The trial court found that the Serra Serra heirs failed to present the original certificates of title they claimed as the source of their ownership, which cast doubt on their claim. Furthermore, it was undisputed that they were Spanish citizens. Under the constitutional prohibition (1935 Constitution), aliens are disqualified from acquiring private lands, except by hereditary succession. Petitioners presented no proof that they acquired the lands by inheritance. Therefore, their TCTs were correctly declared void. The Supreme Court, not being a trier of facts, found no reason to disturb the concurrent factual conclusions of the trial court and the Court of Appeals.