GR 47421; (June, 1941) (Digest)
G.R. No. 47421, June 13, 1941
EL REGISTRADOR DE TITULOS DE NUEVA ECIJA, petitioner and appellee, vs. EL DIRECTOR DE TERRENOS, opponent and appellant.
FACTS
On August 20, 1934, the Governor-General of the Philippines signed Homestead Patent No. 28445, granting a parcel of public land in Rizal, Nueva Ecija, to Maria Ariola. This homestead patent was registered in the office of the Registrar of Titles of Nueva Ecija on January 23, 1936, and Original Certificate of Title No. 3506 was issued. Upon Maria Ariola’s death, her parents, Isidro Ariola and Genoveva Ledesma, inherited the land. On October 29, 1939, they sold a portion of the land to Valeriano Dagdagan. The deed of sale, along with an affidavit justifying the extrajudicial partition of the land, was presented to the Registrar of Titles for registration. The Registrar, doubting whether the deed of sale was registrable, consulted the Judge of Branch IV of the Court of First Instance of Manila. After a hearing, the judge issued a resolution on January 2, 1940, declaring the sale valid and the deed registrable under the law. The Director of Lands appealed this resolution.
ISSUE
Whether the prohibition contained in Section 116 of Act No. 2874, as amended by Section 23 of Act No. 3517 (which was in force when the homestead patent was signed and registered), applies to the sale of a portion of the land made by the parents and heirs of the grantee, Maria Ariola.
RULING
The Supreme Court ruled that the prohibition does not apply to the sale in question. Section 116, as amended by Act No. 3517, states that lands acquired under homestead provisions “shall not be subject to encumbrance or alienation… for a term of five years from and after the date of issuance of the patent or grant.” The Court held that the phrase “date of issuance of the patent or grant” clearly refers to the date of the homestead patent or concession itself (August 20, 1934), and not the date of the issuance of the original certificate of title by the Registrar of Titles (January 23, 1936). Since the sale by the heirs occurred on October 29, 1939, which was more than five years after the issuance of the homestead patent, the sale was valid and the deed was registrable. The subsequent amendments to Section 116 by Commonwealth Acts Nos. 141 and 456 were not applicable as they took effect after the registration of the homestead patent and issuance of the original certificate of title. The appealed resolution was affirmed.