G.R. No. 256343 - BENEDICTO BATARA OCAMPO AND DAISY GARCIA-OCAMPO, VS. NOBLESA BATARA-SAPAD AND ERNESTO C. BATARA,*.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

accordingly admit into evidence the testimonies of Benedicto and his witnesses regarding the circumstances of the 1972 sale. Proof of the sale As discussed above, Noblesa and Ernesto had no knowledge of the lot or their father's ownership thereof until the San Jose City government tried to collect realty tax arrearages from them in 2007. They were children when their father passed in 1974, and were very young adults at the time of the alleged payment of the final installment for the purchase of the lot in 1985. Meanwhile, Benedicto and Daisy described in detail the 1972 sale, the condition and circumstances of the lot, and their possession thereof beginning in 1982: 2. Q Do you know the parcel of land in question? A Yes, sir, I know. 3. Q Why? A Because my wife and I are the owners thereof. 4. Q Who is in actual possession or cultivation of the property in question? A My wife and I, sir. 5. Q How did you become the owners of the property in question? A By purchase, sir. 6. Q How were you able to purchase it? A The owner, in the person of Marcos Batara, pleaded, that I shall buy the property, so that he [may] support his children's education, sir. 7. Q How was the sale offered? A Marcos Batara offered to sell the property in installment, sir. 8. Q When was that? A In the year 1972, sir. 9. Q What happened in the year 1972? A I was asked to first pay Marcos Batara the initial sum of Three Thousand Pesos ([PHP] 3,000.00), sir. 10. Q Did you pay the Three Thousand Pesos ([PHP] 3,000.00)? A Yes, sir. 11. Q - Who received the sum of Three Thousand Pesos ([PHP] 3,000.00)? A It was Marcos Batara, who received it, sir. 12. Q What was the status or condition of the property in the year 1972? A - It was stony, with some trees and cogon grasses all over, sir. 13. Q Was it not arable? A These dotted areas are planted with "upo" vegetables, sir. 14. Q How much the property was offered for you to buy? A Forty Thousand Pesos ([PHP] 40,000.00), sir. 15. Q Were you able to pay the whole of Forty Thousand Pesos ([PHP] 40, 000.00)? A Yes, sir. 16. Q When did you start working on the property in question? A In the year 1982. 17. Q Were you the one who personally tended to the cultivation in the year 1982? A No, sir. It was my wife, who tended to the improvements and cultivation of the property in 1982, because I was working abroad in Saudi Arabia, sir. [66] 2. T Kayo rin po si Daisy Ocampo na isa sa mga inihabla sa Civil Case No. (13)3964? S Opo. 3. T Kaano-ano ninyo si Benedicto Batara Ocampo? S Asawa ko po[.] 4. T Alam niyo ba iyong lupang pinag-uusapan sa Civil Case No. (13)3964? S Opo[.] 5. T Bakit ninyo alam? S Kami po ang gumagawa doon[.] 6. T Kailan pa kayo nagsimulang gumawa doon? S Mula pa po noong taong 1982. 7. T Ano ang itinatanim niyo doon? S Mga gulay po. 8. T Bakit kayo ang gumagawa sa lupang pinag-uusapan? S Pag-aari po namin iyon. 9. T Papaanong naging inyo ang