G.R. No. L-13286; March 26, 1919
ADELA AGUINALDO DE ROMERO, petitioner-appellant, vs. THE DIRECTOR OF LANDS, objector-appellee.

FACTS:
Adela Aguinaldo de Romero (petitioner) applied for the registration and inscription in her name of a parcel of land in Baguio. The Director of Lands opposed the application, contending that: (1) the petitioner had not acquired title by purchase, composition, or a valid possessory information under the Royal Decree of February 13, 1894; (2) she had not been in possession; (3) a prior application for the same land (Land Registration Case No. 529) had been denied by both the Court of Land Registration and the Supreme Court; and (4) the land was within Civil Reservation No. 1, and the application was not filed within the period prescribed by Acts Nos. 627 and 648.

The evidence showed that on October 22, 1893, Toribio Valdez applied to purchase the land from the government. On January 13, 1898, Valdez ceded his rights to the petitioner. On April 6, 1901, the petitioner instituted possessory information proceedings, which were approved by the Court of First Instance of La Union and Benguet on March 8, 1902, and inscribed in the Registry of Property on November 12, 1902. A previous registration case (No. 529) was denied because the possessory information was found invalid for not being instituted within the one-year period granted by the Royal Decree of 1894. However, the Supreme Court in that prior case reserved the petitioner’s right to file a new application if Act No. 926 (the Public Land Act) was later made applicable to the Mountain Province. Act No. 926 was made applicable to the Mountain Province by resolution on January 8, 1910. The petitioner filed the present application on October 20, 1913, which was denied by the Court of First Instance of Benguet, prompting this appeal.

ISSUE:
1. Whether the statements of the Provincial Governor of Benguet created an estoppel against the government.

3. Whether the petitioner has a registrable title under Section 54 of Act No. 926.

RULING:
1. On Estoppel: The statements of the Provincial Governor do not bind the Insular Government. The government’s opposition is not based on the governor’s conduct or decisions, and therefore, estoppel does not apply.

3. On Title under Act No. 926: The petitioner has acquired a registrable title under Section 54(6) of Act No. 926. The Court found, based on preponderance of evidence, that the petitioner, through her agents, had been in actual, public, continuous, exclusive, and adverse possession of the land in good faith with the intention to acquire ownership for more than ten years prior to 1904. This possession fulfills the conditions for the juris et de jure presumption of compliance with all legal requirements for a certificate of title.

Regarding the land’s inclusion within a civil reservation, the petitioner’s prior application (Case No. 529) filed on February 12, 1904, constituted a timely claim under Acts Nos. 627 and 648, as it was filed before the expiration of the extended period for presenting claims (March 27, 1904). The right reserved to her in the prior Supreme Court decision was preserved. Therefore, her present application, though filed in 1913, relates back to her 1904 claim.

DISPOSITIVE PORTION:
The appealed judgment is REVERSED. Upon a declaration of general default, the title to the land described in the petition is ordered inscribed in the Registry of Property in the name of Adela Aguinaldo de Romero, with the exclusion of public buildings and other structures not belonging to her. The petitioner must first present a plan of the land. Costs are taxed against the petitioner.