G.R. No. 37852 ; November 10, 1932
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, petitioner, vs. THE JUDGE OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF OCCIDENTAL NEGROS and ROSARIO FRANCO and her husband MIGUEL TAMBANILLO, ET AL., respondents.

FACTS

In a cadastral proceeding, the Court of First Instance of Occidental Negros declared Lot No. 46 as public land and awarded it via homestead patent to Anselmo Lagarto, noting that claimant Vicente Franco had renounced his claim in open court. A certificate of title was issued to Lagarto. More than six years later, a different judge, upon Vicente Franco’s petition and without notice to Lagarto, amended the original decree to declare the lot as the private property of Vicente Franco, purportedly to correct a “clerical error.”

ISSUE

Whether the trial court had jurisdiction to amend its final decree after more than six years, under the guise of correcting a clerical error, thereby substantially altering the adjudication of the property.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court annulled the amended decree and the subsequent certificate of title issued to Franco. The amendment was not a mere correction of a clerical error but a substantial alteration of the original judgment, changing the declared owner and the nature of the property from public land to private property. Such a substantial change, made long after the judgment had become final and without notice to the adversely affected party (Lagarto), exceeded the court’s jurisdiction. The amended decree and all proceedings under it were declared void.

AI Generated by Armztrong.