GR 146586; (January, 2005) (Digest)
G.R. No. 146586 ; January 26, 2005
DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CULTURE AND SPORTS, petitioner, vs. JULIA DEL ROSARIO, MARIA DEL ROSARIO, PACENCIA DEL ROSARIO, and HEIRS OF SANTOS DEL ROSARIO, respondents.
FACTS
Respondents, registered owners of a parcel of land under TCT No. T-222432, filed a complaint for recovery of possession against petitioner DECS. They alleged that the Kaypombo Primary School Annex (KPPS), under DECS, was occupying a portion of their property merely by tolerance. DECS countered that the occupation was lawful, claiming that respondents’ father, Isaias Del Rosario, donated a portion of the land to the Municipality of Sta. Maria for a school site in 1959. DECS presented witnesses, including the alleged notary public who prepared the deed, Judge Ely Natividad, who testified to the donation’s execution. However, no original or authenticated copy of the deed of donation was ever presented in court.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of Appeals erred in reversing the trial court and ruling that DECS failed to prove the existence and due execution of the alleged deed of donation.
RULING
The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the Court of Appeals. The legal logic centers on the rules of evidence. DECS, as the party asserting the affirmative defense of donation, carried the burden of proof to establish its claim by a preponderance of evidence. A donation of real property must be made in a public document to be valid. DECS failed to submit the original deed of donation or a duly authenticated copy. The testimonies of its witnesses, including Judge Natividad, were deemed insufficient to prove the document’s due execution and authenticity. The Court emphasized that the loss of the original document must be proven before secondary evidence can be admitted; DECS did not satisfactorily establish this loss. Mere testimonial evidence cannot substitute for the requirement of a public document for donations of real property. Consequently, DECS failed to overturn respondents’ title evidenced by a Torrens certificate. The Court noted that while it sympathized with the schoolchildren, DECS’s remedy was not through an unproven donation but through the government’s exercise of its power of eminent domain, upon payment of just compensation.