G.R. No. 149750 - AURORA ALCANTARA-DAUS, VS. SPOUSES HERMOSO AND SOCORRO DE LEON.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the decision of the trial court is hereby REVERSED , and judgment rendered: 1. Declaring null and void and of no effect, the [D]eed of [A]bsolute [S]ale dated December 6, 1975, the [D]eed of [E]xtra-judicial [P]artition and [Q]uitclaim dated July 1, 1985, and T.C.T. No. T-31262; 2. Declaring T.C.T. No. 42238 as valid and binding; 3. Eliminating the award of P5,000.00 each to be paid to defendants-appellees." [3] The assailed Resolution [4] denied petitioner's Motion for Reconsideration. The Facts The antecedents of the case were summarized by the Regional Trial Court (RTC) and adopted by the CA as follows: "This is a [C]omplaint for annulment of documents and title, ownership, possession, injunction, preliminary injunction, restraining order and damages. "[Respondents] alleged in their [C]omplaint that they are the owners of a parcel of land hereunder described as follows, to wit: `A parcel of land (Lot No. 4786 of the Cadastral Survey of San Manuel) situated in the Municipality of San Manuel, Bounded on the NW., by Lot No. 4785; and on the SE., by Lot Nos. 11094 & 11096; containing an area of Four Thousand Two Hundred Twelve (4,212) sq. m., more or less. Covered by Original Certificate of Title No. 22134 of the Land Records of Pangasinan.' which [Respondent] Hermoso de Leon inherited from his father Marcelino de Leon by virtue of a [D]eed of [E]xtra-judicial [P]artition. Sometime in the early 1960s, [respondents] engaged the services of the late Atty. Florencio Juan to take care of the documents of the properties of his parents. Atty. Juan let them sign voluminous documents. After the death of Atty. Juan, some documents surfaced and most revealed that their properties had been conveyed by sale or quitclaim to [Respondent] Hermoso's brothers and sisters, to Atty. Juan and his sisters, when in truth and in fact, no such conveyances were ever intended by them. His signature in the [D]eed of [E]xtra-judicial [P]artition with [Q]uitclaim made in favor of x x x Rodolfo de Leon was forged. They discovered that the land in question was sold by x x x Rodolfo de Leon to [Petitioner] Aurora Alcantara. They demanded annulment of the document and reconveyance but defendants refused x x x. x x x x x x x x x "[Petitioner] Aurora Alcantara-Daus [averred] that she bought the land in question in good faith and for value on December 6, 1975. [She] has been in continuous, public, peaceful, open possession over the same and has been appropriating the produce thereof without objection from anyone." [5] On August 23, 1994, the RTC (Branch 48) of Urdaneta, Pangasinan [6] rendered its Decision [7] in favor of herein petitioner. It ruled that respondents' claim was barred by laches, because more than 18 years had passed since the land was sold. It further ruled that since it was a notarial document, the Deed of Extrajudicial Partition in favor of Rodolfo de Leon was presumptively authentic. Ruling of the Court of Appeals In reversing the R