G.R. No. 74830 July 5, 1993
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, petitioner, vs. INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT, LUTGARDA PASILIAO, ERNESTO BROSAS, BIENVENIDO CLAUDIO and TOMAS PASILIAO, respondents.

FACTS

The case involves a parcel of unregistered land in Calasiao, Pangasinan, originally owned by Antonio Pasiliao. Upon his death in 1924, the land passed to his widow, Rufina Pobres, and their children, Tomas and Lutgarda Pasiliao. In 1931, Rufina Pobres sold the land to Dionisia Estrada vda. de Memije. The deed of sale was notarized but was destroyed during World War II; however, a memorandum of the transaction survived. Mrs. Memije possessed the land through her tenant, Eleuterio Estrada, who planted it with palay. In 1945, Mrs. Memije sold the land to the Municipality of Calasiao for P2,000.00 for use as a road and playground for the Calasiao National High School. The school took possession, enclosed the land with fences, and used it for student activities and rice cultivation through tenant Eleuterio, who delivered the school’s share of the harvest from 1945 to 1977. In 1977, the municipality donated the school site, including the contested land, to the National Government upon the school’s nationalization. On June 30, 1979, respondents Ernesto Brosas and Bienvenido Claudio entered the land with a tractor, placed “No trespassing private property Pasiliao” signs, and later planted palay, disrupting school use. The Republic of the Philippines, representing the Department of Education and Culture, filed a complaint for quieting of title. The Pasiliao heirs claimed ownership by inheritance, denied the validity of the 1931 sale by their mother, presented tax declarations and receipts in Antonio Pasiliao’s name, and alleged a 1962 oral agreement allowing the school to use the land only during the dry season. The trial court dismissed the complaint and declared the Pasiliaos as lawful owners. The Intermediate Appellate Court affirmed the dismissal, giving credence to the tax declarations and the alleged oral agreement.

ISSUE

The core issue is whether the Republic of the Philippines, as successor-in-interest of the Calasiao National High School, has acquired ownership over the disputed land, thereby entitling it to the remedy of quieting of title against the claims of the Pasiliao heirs.

RULING

The Supreme Court GRANTED the petition, REVERSED and SET ASIDE the decision of the Intermediate Appellate Court, and declared the Republic of the Philippines as the absolute owner of the property. The Court held that the Republic had successfully quieted title to the land. The evidence established a valid chain of title originating from the 1931 sale by Rufina Pobres to Dionisia Memije, followed by the 1945 sale to the Municipality of Calasiao, and the 1977 donation to the National Government. The Court found the testimony and evidence supporting these transactions credible. In contrast, the claim and evidence of the Pasiliao heirs were deemed unreliable. Their tax declarations and receipts did not conclusively prove ownership, especially since they did not pay taxes from 1951 to 1959, resulting in delinquency. Their alleged oral agreement with school officials in 1962 was uncorroborated and belied by the school’s open, continuous, and exclusive possession since 1945, including the construction of permanent hollow block fences. The Court ruled that the school’s possession was in the concept of an owner, and the Pasiliao heirs’ inactivity for decades, while the land was devoted to public use, barred their claim. The paramount public interest in the land’s use as a school playground was emphasized.