G.R. No. L-46239; April 4, 1939
THE SAN JUAN DE DIOS HOSPITAL, applicant-appellee, vs. ROSENDO MARCOS, ET AL., petitioners-appellants.

FACTS

Petitioners Rosendo Marcos, et al., filed motions in the Court of First Instance of Bulacan, seeking the cancellation of the final decree and certificates of title (Original Certificate of Title No. 335 and Transfer Certificate of Title No. 19645) issued in favor of San Juan de Dios Hospital over a parcel of land in Bulacan. They alleged that the Hospital lacked juridical personality to apply for registration, that the land belonged to the government, and that they had acquired ownership through open, peaceful, and public possession for over fifty years. The trial court declared itself without jurisdiction to grant the motions. Petitioners appealed.

ISSUE

Whether the trial court correctly declared it had no jurisdiction to take cognizance of the petitioners’ motions seeking the cancellation of the final decree and certificates of title and the issuance of new titles in their favor.

RULING

Yes, the trial court correctly declared it had no jurisdiction. The Supreme Court affirmed the appealed orders. The personality of San Juan de Dios Hospital as a juridical person is res adjudicata, having been conclusively settled in the final decision and decree in the original registration case. Furthermore, the remedy sought by petitioners under Section 112 of Act No. 496 (the Land Registration Act) was improper, as it amounted to a collateral attack on a final decree and a certificate of title, which are incontrovertible after one year from entry of the decree. The court cannot reopen the original decree under the guise of a petition under Section 112. The motions were groundless, and the trial court committed no error in denying a hearing on the merits.

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