REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, Petitioner, vs. SAN LORENZO DEVELOPMENT CORPORATION, Respondent.
"Certificate of Alienability Is Not Proof of Possession"
FACTS: On November 13, 1997, respondent San Lorenzo Development Corporation filed with the MTCC of Danao City an application for registration of title to a parcel of land, On October 12, 2001, the trial court rendered its decision3 granting the respondents application for registration On November 7, 2001, petitioner Republic filed a Notice of Appeal, therein making known that it was elevating the case to the CA In the herein assailed decision4 of May 23, 2005, the CA-Cebu City dismissed the Republics appeal. petitioner Republic of the Philippines seeks the reversal and setting aside of the Decision1 dated May 23, 2005 of the Court of Appeals under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court. Questioning the deeds of sale and tax declarations/clearances whether it constitutes "well-nigh incontrovertible" evidence necessary to acquire title through adverse occupation under C.A. No. 141.
ISSUE: whether or not the respondent corporation has presented sufficient proof or the required possession.
RULING: As the law now stands, a mere showing of possession for thirty years or more is not sufficient. It must be shown, too, that possession and occupation had started on June 12, 1945 or earlier. Second, the acceptance by the courts a quo of the CENRO certificate of alienability and disposability as evidence of possession since the date of said certificate is patently erroneous. According to the CENRO certification, the subject land was alienable and disposable public land since June 7, 1938. This certification does not in any way indicate that the respondent and its predecessors-in-interest had been in possession of the property as far back as 1938. Thus the court Ruled in favor of the state.
" Applicant may acquire title by prescription under Sec. 14(2) of P.D. 1529 even if he cannot prove possession since June 12, 1945 FACTS: On September 24, 2001, petitioner Limcoma Multi-Purpose Cooperative [3] filed with the RTC an application for registration and confirmation of title over a parcel of land Petitioner alleged that it is the owner in fee simple of the subject lot and the improvements thereon, and that it has been in the open, exclusive, peaceful, and continuous possession thereof for more than 30 years, reckoned from the time of possession of its predecessors-in-interest. At the ex-parte reception of evidence, petitioner presented the testimonies of Olivia P. Gomez, Arsenia P. Alcantara, and Lorenzo P. Limbo. The RTC granted the application in its Order [24] dated April 10, 2003 On appeal, the appellate court reversed and set aside the Decision of the trial court In reversing the trial court, the CA ruled that petitioner failed to demonstrate the open, continuous, exclusive, and notorious possession since June 12, 1945 or earlier, required by the Property Registration Decree and the Public Land Act;
ISSUE: Whether or not the petitioner acquired the property under Sec. 14 of P.D. 1529
RULING: Yes, Prescription is a mode of acquiring ownership. [41] The Court had occasion to rule in numerous instances that open, exclusive, and continuous possession for at least 30 years of alienable public land ipso jure converts the same to private property. [42] The conversion works to summon into operation Section 14(2) of the Property Registration Decree which, in turn, authorizes the acquisition of private lands through prescription. It stands to reason, therefore, that the petitioner has acquired registrable title over the subject lot anchored on its predecessors-in- interests possession traced back to 1938, and its own possession of 10 years, reckoned from 1991 to the filing of the application for registration in 2001. The Court reversed the decision of CA and reinstated the Order of the RTC. _____________________________________________________________ REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, Petitioner,
- versus -
RESTITUTO SARMIENTO, represented by his attorney-in-fact, MAGDALENO SARMIENTO, Respondent. G.R. No. 169397