GR 24814; (January, 1970) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-24814 January 30, 1970
ROCACIANO ARMENTIA and ANACLETA SUELO, plaintiffs-appellants, vs. MAYOR FRANCISCO TOBIAS, representing the Municipality of Cabatuan, EMILIANO DEL CAMPO, Municipal Treasurer, and REGIO B. SUBONG, Chief of Police, defendants-appellees.
FACTS
On June 23, 1962, the defendant Chief of Police seized from plaintiffs a male carabao, along with Certificate of Ownership of Large Cattle No. 3180194 issued on May 17, 1957, in the name of Marcelino Mayormente. The seizure was made under the authority of a municipal ordinance enacted pursuant to Sections 538 and 540 of the Revised Administrative Code. On July 25, 1962, the defendant Municipal Treasurer sold the carabao at public auction for P285 to Elias Gallar, which sale was later approved by the Provincial Board of Iloilo. Plaintiffs claimed they acquired the carabao in 1959 from Marcelino Mayormente in exchange for an old carabao and were given the certificate. However, the certificate was falsified, showing erasures and alterations: the name Marcelino Mayormente, his signature, and the owner’s brand “M” were written over erasures in different indelible pencil. The original certificate on file with the municipal treasurer showed the owner was Hilario Torquemada, the carabao was one and one-half years old, and the brand was “H,” contrary to the details on plaintiffs’ document. Plaintiff Rogaciano Armentia had also filed a complaint for falsification of public document against Marcelino Mayormente.
ISSUE
Whether the seizure and public auction of the carabao by the local officials of Cabatuan give plaintiffs a cause to complain for damages.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s order dismissing plaintiffs’ complaint for damages. The Court, citing the precedent in Landa vs. Tobias (23 SCRA 928), ruled that the seizure was lawful under Section 538 of the Revised Administrative Code, as plaintiffs were unlawfully or reasonably suspected of being unlawfully in possession of the carabao due to the falsified certificate of ownership. The alterations on the certificate were invalid under Section 527 of the Revised Administrative Code, as they lacked the required signatures. Furthermore, under Section 529, no transfer of large cattle is valid unless registered and a certificate of transfer is obtained, which plaintiffs failed to secure. The carabao could not have been legally transferred from the registered owner Hilario Torquemada to Marcelino Mayormente or to plaintiffs. Plaintiffs’ remedy was to claim the carabao before the municipal treasurer and prove their title prior to or at the auction sale, which they did not do. The defendants, acting in pursuance of their legal duty, were not liable for damages.