G.R. NO. 160762 - SPOUSES JOSEPHINE MENDOZA GO & HENRY GO, VS. LEONARDO YAMANE.

Ruling

WHEREFORE , premises considered, the Decision appealed from is hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE . The Sheriff's Certificate of Sale dated August 12, 1981 and the Final Sheriff's Certificate of Sale dated August 26, 1982 are declared NULL and VOID ." [4] The CA denied reconsideration in its September 17, 2003 Resolution. The Facts The undisputed factual findings of the CA are as follows: "Involved in the suit is a 750 square meters (sic) parcel of lot located at Res. Sec. "K", Baguio City, registered in the name of Muriel Pucay Yamane, wife of Leonardo Yamane, [respondent] herein, under Transfer Certificate of Title No. 12491. "As a result of a motion for execution of a charging lien filed by Atty. Guillermo F. De Guzman in Civil Case No. 1841, entitled " Florence Pucay De Gomez, Elsie Pucay Kiwas and Muriel Pucay Yamane v. Cypress Corporation ," which said counsel handled for the plaintiffs therein, hereinafter collectively referred to as the Pucay sisters, the subject property was levied to satisfy the lien for attorney's fees in the amount of P10,000. The said property was scheduled to be sold at public auction on August 11, 1981. "Four days prior to the auction sale, [respondent] filed a Third-Party Claim with the Office of the Provincial Sheriff to stop the public auction on the ground that the subject property is conjugal property and, therefore, should not be held answerable for the personal obligation of the Pucay sisters. However, the Sheriff proceeded with the auction sale despite [respondent's] protest. The subject property was sold to spouses Josephine [and] Henry Go (or [petitioners]) as highest bidder. No redemption having been made during the one-year period, a Final Sheriff's Certificate of Sale was eventually issued on August 26, 1982 conveying and transferring the said property to [petitioners]. "On September 4, 1984, [respondent] filed a Complaint with the Regional Trial Court of Baguio City, docketed as Civil Case No. 417-R, against [petitioners] and Sheriff Melgar for annulment and cancellation of auction sale upon the same ground stated in the abovementioned third-party claim. Citing the Order of the Regional Trial Court of Baguio City, Branch V in LRC Case No. 2288, which ordered the cancellation of TCT No. 12491 and directed the Register of Deeds to issue new title in the name of Josephine Go x x x, [petitioners] moved to dismiss the complaint on the ground of res judicata. In the Order dated November 28, 1984, the motion was denied by the trial court. "In their Answer filed on December 10, 1984, [petitioners] denied the material allegations of the complaint and interposed the following special affirmative defenses: that the cause of action was barred by prior judgment; that [respondent] has not pursued any lawful remedy to annul the execution proceeding; that there is no flaw or irregularity in the auction sale; and that since the execution sale was made in accordance with Section 21, Rule 39 of the Revised Rules of Court, it