GR 95252; (October, 1997) (Digest)
G.R. No. 95252 September 5, 1997
LA VISTA ASSOCIATION, INC., petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS, SOLID HOMES, INC., ATENEO DE MANILA UNIVERSITY, ET AL., respondents.
FACTS
The dispute centers on Mangyan Road, a 15-meter wide roadway serving as the boundary between La Vista Subdivision and properties of Ateneo de Manila University (Ateneo) and Maryknoll College. The road originated from a 1949 Deed of Sale with Mortgage between the Tuasons (La Vista’s predecessors) and Philippine Building Corporation (acting for Ateneo), which stipulated that the boundary would be a 15-meter road, with 7.5 meters taken from each party’s land. Ateneo later sold a portion to Maryknoll, which initially built a wall encroaching on the road but removed it after a settlement with the Tuasons. Ateneo eventually sold its adjoining land to Solid Homes, Inc., which developed Loyola Grand Villas. The deed of sale transferred to Solid Homes the vendor’s “privileges of such right of way.” Solid Homes and the villa residents now claim an easement of right-of-way over the entire Mangyan Road for access to Katipunan Avenue. La Vista contests this claim.
ISSUE
Whether an easement of right-of-way exists in favor of Solid Homes, Inc. and Loyola Grand Villas residents over Mangyan Road.
RULING
The Supreme Court ruled that no such easement of right-of-way exists. The legal foundation for the claim was the 1949 deed, which created a limitation on ownership by establishing a 15-meter wide boundary strip. This stipulation was a descriptive boundary, not a grant of a voluntary easement of right-of-way to either party. The Court emphasized that for a voluntary easement to be created, the intention to impose it must be clear and unequivocal. The deed’s language merely defined the metes and bounds; it did not expressly establish a servitude granting one estate the right to use a part of the other for passage. Consequently, Ateneo never acquired an easement of right-of-way over La Vista’s 7.5-meter share that it could subsequently transfer to Solid Homes. The transfer clause in the 1976 deed to Solid Homes could only pass whatever rights Ateneo actually possessed, which were none. The right to use the road as a boundary is distinct from a legal easement of right-of-way. Therefore, Solid Homes and the villa residents have no enforceable right to use La Vista’s portion of Mangyan Road as a passage.