GR 37434; (April, 1934) (Digest)
G.R. No. 37434 ; April 5, 1934
EL HOGAR FILIPINO, Mutual Building and Loan Association, plaintiff-appellant, vs. SEVERINO OLVIGA, ET AL., defendants-appellees.
FACTS
El Hogar Filipino, a mutual building and loan association, filed an action to recover title and possession of a parcel of land from the defendants, spouses Bonifacio Perez and Irinea Olviga, and to recover damages for fruits received. The land was originally owned by spouses Timoteo Olviga and Rafaela Iglesia under a homestead patent. Through a series of transactions, two conflicting certificates of title were issued: Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. 5261 was issued to El Hogar Filipino after it purchased the land at a foreclosure sale following a mortgage by Genaro T. Tabien, who had acquired the land from Timoteo Olviga. Subsequently, TCT No. 5617 was issued to the defendant spouses, who purchased the same land from Timoteo Olviga and his family after the land was included in a cadastral proceeding. The trial court dismissed El Hogar’s complaint, finding the deed of sale from Timoteo Olviga to Genaro T. Tabien fictitious and holding that the title issued from the cadastral proceeding (to defendants) prevailed over the title issued from the homestead registration (to plaintiff).
ISSUE
Whether the plaintiff, El Hogar Filipino, is the rightful owner of the land entitled to possession and damages, based on its Torrens title, despite a subsequent title issued from a cadastral proceeding to the defendants.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court reversed the trial court’s decision. It held that the deed of sale from Timoteo Olviga to Genaro T. Tabien was genuine, not fictitious, as the evidence of forgery presented was insufficient to overcome the presumption of regularity of a notarized document. The Court further abandoned the doctrine that a title issued in a cadastral proceeding prevails over one issued in a homestead registration proceeding. It ruled that both proceedings are in rem and judgments therein are binding upon the whole world. Therefore, the first title in time issued to Genaro T. Tabien (and subsequently to El Hogar) was valid and indefeasible. The subsequent issuance of a title to the defendants during the cadastral proceeding, while the first title was still outstanding, was a nullity. El Hogar Filipino was declared the rightful owner, entitled to possession and the value of the fruits received by the defendants from November 6, 1931.
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