G.R. No. 97619 November 26, 1992
SPOUSES SOCRATES PILAPIL and ROSARIO PILAPIL, petitioners, vs. THE COURT OF APPEALS, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF CEBU, BRANCH 17, and SPOUSES GORGONIO COLOMIDA and GLORIA COLOMIDA, respondents.

FACTS

Petitioners Spouses Socrates and Rosario Pilapil own a parcel of land in sitio Bahak, barangay Poblacion, Liloan, Cebu. Private respondents Spouses Gorgonio and Gloria Colomida own an adjacent parcel of land, which they purchased in 1981 and which is around 70 meters from the National Road. The Colomidas claim they acquired a road right of way from a neighbor, Sesenando Longakit, but this right of way ends at the Pilapils’ property, where a “camino vecinal” (barrio road) allegedly exists, leading to the National Road. In July 1981, when the Colomidas tried to improve this camino vecinal, the Pilapils allegedly harassed and threatened them and threatened to fence it off. Consequently, the Colomidas filed a petition for injunction and damages against the Pilapils in the Regional Trial Court (RTC), alleging the existence of the camino vecinal across the Pilapils’ land and, alternatively, that they are entitled to a legal easement of right of way under the Civil Code as it is their only access to the public highway. The Pilapils denied the existence of the camino vecinal on their property. During trial, the Colomidas presented, among others, Municipal Council Resolution No. 106 (dated August 18, 1973) authorizing the residents of Bahak to repair and improve a camino vecinal in their sitio, and testimonies of Longakit and former councilor Florentino Pepito asserting that the camino vecinal traverses the Pilapils’ land. The Pilapils presented the Municipal Planning and Development Coordinator, Engineer Epifanio Jordan, who testified based on the approved Urban Land Use Plan (zoning map) of Liloan that the camino vecinal does not traverse but runs along the side of the Pilapils’ property. The RTC ruled in favor of the Colomidas, finding the existence of the camino vecinal across the Pilapils’ land and permanently enjoining the Pilapils from preventing its use. The Court of Appeals affirmed the RTC decision. The Pilapils filed this petition for review.

ISSUE

The kernel issue is whether or not there exists in sitio Bahak, barangay Poblacion, Liloan, Cebu a camino vecinal; and if so, whether the same traverses the property belonging to the petitioners.

RULING

The Supreme Court REVERSED the decision of the Court of Appeals and DISMISSED the complaint in Civil Case No. R-20732. The Court held that the Colomidas failed to prove the existence of a camino vecinal traversing the Pilapils’ land. The evidence presented, particularly Resolution No. 106, merely authorized the repair of a camino vecinal but did not establish its precise location or that it passed through the Pilapils’ property. The testimonies of Longakit and Pepito were deemed insufficient and unreliable, as they were not supported by concrete evidence and were contradicted by the official Urban Land Use Plan prepared by the municipal government’s planning officer and approved by the Sangguniang Bayan. The Court gave more weight to this official zoning map, which showed the camino vecinal running along the side, not through, the Pilapils’ land. Furthermore, the Court found that the Colomidas’ alternative claim for a compulsory right of way under Articles 649 to 651 of the Civil Code was not properly established, as they did not sufficiently prove the essential conditions for granting such an easement, particularly the payment of proper indemnity. The Colomidas’ prayer to fix compensation at ten pesos per square meter was considered a mere suggestion, not a formal offer to pay a specific indemnity. Therefore, the Colomidas failed to substantiate their claim for either a public road (camino vecinal) or a private easement of right of way.