G.R. No. 37866 ; February 17, 1934
NICANOR JACINTO, plaintiff-appellee, vs. JUANA FAJARDO and FELIX GREGORIO, defendants-appellants.

FACTS

Plaintiff Nicanor Jacinto filed an action for reivindicacion (recovery of ownership and possession) and collection of unpaid rentals over three parcels of land. He claimed absolute ownership, with defendants as his tenants. Defendants denied the claim, asserting that the deed of sale with pacto de retro dated April 5, 1922, conveying the lands to Jacinto, was fictitious and a disguised usurious loan. They also filed a counterclaim alleging that Jacinto, after receiving repurchase payment for four other parcels sold with pacto de retro, fraudulently reconveyed those lands to Purificacion Soriano (defendants’ daughter) instead of to them.

ISSUE

1. Whether the deed dated April 5, 1922, is a true sale with pacto de retro or a disguised usurious mortgage.
2. Whether Jacinto committed fraud in reconveying the four parcels to Purificacion Soriano.

RULING

1. The deed of April 5, 1922, is a valid and unambiguous sale with pacto de retro, not a disguised mortgage. The defendants failed to present sufficient evidence to impeach the document.
2. No fraud was committed by Jacinto. The reconveyance to Purificacion Soriano was with the knowledge and consent of the defendants, as established in a prior case (G.R. No. 31019). The counterclaim is without foundation. The judgment of the trial court is affirmed.

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