G.R. No. L-23560 May 29, 1970
TESTATE ESTATE OF MARIA CONSUELO IGNACIO, represented by the Executor-Administrator, (With the Will Annexed) DR. AGUSTIN I. IGNACIO, JR., plaintiff-appellant, vs. PASTOR MANALO and PAULA DE VERA, defendants-appellees.

FACTS

Maria Consuelo Ignacio died on August 18, 1945, leaving a will and an estate that included Lot No. 1148 of the Orani Cadastre, covered by T.C.T. No. 1223. Tomas Tagle was appointed administrator. On April 28, 1947, Tomas Tagle, as administrator, and Agustin Ignacio, Sr., executed a Deed of Absolute Sale over the lot in favor of defendant Pastor Manalo for P20,000. The probate court denied the motion for leave to sell on September 25, 1948. A project of partition dated April 12, 1949, adjudicated Lot No. 1148 to Agustin Ignacio, Sr., subject to the usufructuary right of Tomas Tagle; this was approved by the probate court on May 18, 1949. The project of partition was registered on January 21, 1950, and on the same date, the 1947 Deed of Sale was also registered, resulting in the issuance of T.C.T. No. T-1999 in the name of Pastor Manalo. On May 25, 1955, Tomas Tagle petitioned the probate court to cancel the sale and order Manalo to return the property. On November 11, 1955, the probate court issued an order declaring the registration of the deed null and void, ordering the cancellation of T.C.T. No. 1999, and requiring Manalo to return the property. This order was appealed to the Supreme Court (G.R. No. L-12657), which on July 14, 1959, set it aside, holding that the probate proceedings had already terminated and that the declaration of nullity of the deed and cancellation of title could not be obtained by mere motion but required an independent action. On November 12, 1956, Agustin Ignacio, Sr., ratified the deed of sale in a sworn statement. Tomas Tagle died in 1961. Agustin I. Ignacio, Jr., was appointed administrator of the estate on September 29, 1961, and filed the present action on November 28, 1961, to recover the land.

ISSUE

Was there a sale, or a valid deed of sale, in favor of the appellees?

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s decision dismissing the complaint. The deed of absolute sale dated April 28, 1947, was valid. The probate court’s 1955 order, which appellant claimed declared the sale null and void, was set aside by the Supreme Court in G.R. No. L-12657. That prior decision held any declaration of nullity of the deed and cancellation of title could not be made via a motion in the terminated probate proceedings but required an independent action. Furthermore, Agustin Ignacio, Sr., the owner of the property by virtue of the approved project of partition, ratified the sale on November 12, 1956. The Supreme Court’s decision in G.R. No. L-12657 implied the sale and its registration were valid until annulled in an appropriate independent action. Such an action became foreclosed because Agustin Ignacio, Sr., had become the exclusive owner and had ratified the sale.