GR L 101177; (March, 1994) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-101177 March 28, 1994
GUILLERMO JAVIER, petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS (15th DIVISION), DEMETRIO CARINGAL, SPOUSES DIONISIO CAAY AND NAZARIA CARINGAL, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Guillermo Javier filed an action for reconveyance and recovery of possession against respondents over a parcel of land in Balayan, Batangas. Javier claimed ownership based on a Miscellaneous Sales Application filed with the Bureau of Lands in 1973 and alleged possession since 1971. He sold the land to Santiago de Guzman in 1974 and repurchased it in 1981. During the interim, respondents Dionisio Caay and Cesaria Caringal built a house on the lot with De Guzman’s permission. Javier later discovered that respondent Demetrio Caringal had been awarded a free patent over the property in 1982 and was issued Original Certificate of Title No. P-462. Respondents claimed that Caringal acquired rights from Gavino Tesorero, the heir of Gregoria Pineda, who had possessed the land since 1942 and applied for a revocable permit in 1951. The trial court declared Javier the legal owner, finding fraud in the issuance of the free patent. The Court of Appeals reversed, dismissing Javier’s complaint.
ISSUE
The primary issue is whether petitioner Guillermo Javier has a superior right of ownership over the disputed land to justify reconveyance, despite the issuance of a free patent and original certificate of title in the name of respondent Demetrio Caringal.
RULING
The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals. The Court held that while an action for reconveyance was available since the property had not passed to an innocent purchaser for value, Javier failed to prove his ownership by a preponderance of evidence. The Court found discrepancies in the descriptions of the land claimed by Javier and that awarded to Caringal. Furthermore, Javier’s sale of the property in 1974, while his sales application was still pending and without the required government approval, annulled his application under Section 118 of the Public Land Act. Consequently, the Bureau of Lands acted regularly in granting Caringal’s free patent application. Javier did not establish continuous, adverse, and open possession, whereas respondents showed possession by their predecessor-in-interest since 1942.