G.R. No. 124326 - BOYET SEMPIO, VS. HON. COURT OF APPEALS AND AURELIA L. TUAZON. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

accordingly ordered the remand of the case to the Regional Trial Court, Branch 6, Bulacan, for further proceedings. The facts. Petitioner is the son of spouses Bernardo Sempio and Genoveva Ligot in whose name, the parcel of land subject of the instant case, is registered as evidenced by Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-6263. The land is situated in San Miguel, Bulacan and contains an area of approximately Three Thousand One Hundred Ninety-two (3,192) square meters. Sometime before 1982, said spouses mortgaged the land to the Development Bank of the Philippines (DBP) to secure a loan of One Hundred Sixteen Thousand Seven Hundred Pesos (P116,700.00). [4] This loan was not fully paid; consequently, the DBP extrajudicially foreclosed the mortgage. At the public auction sale, the DBP emerged as the highest bidder and was correspondingly issued a Certificate of Sale dated March 1, 1982. [5] On October 17, 1989, the DBP filed a Petition for Issuance of Writ of Possession Ex-Parte in the Regional Trial Court, Branch 15, Bulacan. [6] Docketed as Civil Case No. P-1787-89, said petition was opposed by Bernardo Sempio in an appropriate pleading filed on February 28, 1990. [7] Subsequently, respondent Tuazon filed a Complaint in Intervention claiming that she was the new owner of the land, having already purchased the same, albeit in the name of her daughter, Jeanette T. Baylon, from the DBP. [8] On March 8, 1990, the Sempio spouses filed a Complaint for Annulment of Foreclosure, Reconveyance of Title and Damages in the Regional Trial Court, Branch 19, Bulacan. They contended, among others, that they were not notified of the foreclosure sale in violation of the notice, posting and publication requirements under Act No. 3135. [9] Said complaint was docketed as Civil Case No. 181-M-90. In the same year, 1990, respondent Tuazon filed in the Regional Trial Court, Branch 6, Bulacan, a Complaint for Injunction and Damages, docketed as Civil Case No. 681-M-90. She invoked her exclusive right to the land as owner and accordingly asked the trial court to enjoin petitioner from digging any portion of the land and to assess against the latter the damages warranted under such circumstances. On September 24, 1990, the extrajudicial foreclosure proceedings instituted by the DBP upon the land, were nullified by the trial court in Civil Case No. 181-M-90. On December 21, 1990, the trial court ordered the dismissal of Civil Case No. 681-M-90 on the ground of lis pendens or auter action pendant, specifically, the pendency of Civil Case No. P-1787-89 for issuance of writ of possession filed by the DBP. The trial court also ratiocinated that respondent Tuazon should have sought protection of her right as new owner of the land in Civil Case No. 181-M-90 where the validity of the foreclosure proceedings undertaken by the DBP, her predecessor-in-interest, was at issue. On October 21, 1991, DBP's Petition for Issuance of Writ of Possession Ex-parte was denied in Civil Case No. P-