G.R. No. L-24771 June 30, 1970
ALFONSO ACEDO and ESMEÑA AMBROS, petitioners, vs. THE COURT OF APPEALS, TERESA SORIANO, UBALDO DUMLAO, ALBERTO CRISOSTOMO, ROSITA ROLLUDA, FERMIN MARCOS, MARCELO MARCOS, and VALENTIN MARQUEZ, in representation of his children, CIRIACO, VICTORIA, RESTITUTA, NESTOR, AGRIPINA, and FELICIDAD, all surnamed MARQUEZ, respondents.
FACTS
On July 26, 1916, Original Certificate of Title No. R-827 was issued in the name of Carolina Aggasid covering a parcel of land in Solano, Nueva Vizcaya by virtue of a homestead patent. On April 29, 1925, Carolina Aggasid sold a one-half pro-indiviso portion of this land to Tomas Marcos. In subsequent cadastral proceedings, the land was divided into Lot No. 984 and Lot No. 985. Carolina Aggasid claimed Lot 984, and the court ordered its registration in her name on April 15, 1932, canceling OCT No. R-827. Victoria Paculla, Aggasid’s sole heir, adjudicated to herself the “entire one-half unsold portion” of the land via an affidavit on May 23, 1952, and later sold it to her son Alberto Crisostomo, who then sold it to Teresa Soriano and Ubaldo Dumlao.
Meanwhile, Lot 985 was declared public land in a separate cadastral case due to no claim being filed. Trinidad Agsunod obtained a homestead patent for Lot 985, and OCT No. 420 was issued to her on January 26, 1932. On April 12, 1937, Agsunod sold Lot 985 to spouses Alfonso Acedo and Esmeña Ambros, who were issued TCT No. 3788 on September 19, 1940.
Teresa Soriano and others filed a suit against Acedo and Ambros for recovery of ownership and possession of Lot 985. The heirs of Tomas Marcos intervened. The trial court declared the plaintiffs and intervenors as owners of Lots 984 and 985, ordering Acedo and Ambros to surrender possession of Lot 985 and cancel the titles derived from Agsunod. The Court of Appeals affirmed with modifications, adjudicating the western half of Lot 985 to Soriano and Dumlao and the eastern half to the intervenors, and ordering Acedo and Ambros to surrender possession of the entire lot.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the trial court’s decision which declared private respondents as owners of Lot 985, thereby canceling the titles of petitioners Acedo and Ambros, and in not finding that petitioners are innocent purchasers for value.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals. The Court held that the cadastral court had no jurisdiction to declare as public land Lot 985, which was already part of a bigger parcel previously registered under the Torrens System in the name of Carolina Aggasid since 1916. Consequently, the homestead patent and subsequent title issued to Trinidad Agsunod over Lot 985 were null and void. The indefeasibility of Aggasid’s earlier Torrens title prevails. The Court also ruled that petitioners could not be considered innocent purchasers for value because they acquired the land from a void title. The fact that Aggasid or her successors did not oppose the cadastral declaration of Lot 985 as public land or that they may not have possessed it is immaterial, as a prior registered title is indefeasible. The adjustment of shares among the private respondents regarding the division of the original land is a matter for them to settle, but petitioners have no right or interest in Lot 985.
