G.R. NO. 160832 - THE HEIRS OF EMILIO SANTIOQUE, REPRESENTED BY FELIMON W. SANTIOQUE, VS. THE HEIRS OF EMILIO CALMA, FABIAN CALMA, AGATONA CALMA, AND DEMETRIA CALMA, REPRESENTED BY LOPE AKOL AND LUCIA CALMA-AKOL, AND THE REGISTER OF DEEDS OF THE PROVINCE OF TARLAC.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-L

Ruling

WHEREFORE, it is most respectfully prayed that after due notice and hearing, judgment be rendered ordering the nullification of TCT No. 19181 and TCT No. 13287 of the Register of Deeds of Tarlac and upholding and declaring the existence, legality and validity of the Homestead Patent bearing No. 18577 and OCT No. 1112 issued in the name of the late Emilio Santioque and - Ordering Defendants to reimburse to the Plaintiffs the income, profits or benefits unjustly derived by them from TCT No. 19181 and 13287 the estimation of which is left to the sound discretion of the Honorable Court; Ordering the Defendants to pay to the Plaintiffs the amount of P50,000.00 as attorney's fees; Cost of suit; Any and all remedies just and equitable under the premises. [9] The heirs of Calma filed a motion to dismiss the complaint alleging that (a) the action had prescribed and was barred by laches; (b) the claim has been abandoned, and (c) the complaint stated no cause of action. [10] The court denied the motion. The heirs of Calma filed their answer, reiterating the grounds and allegations in their motion to dismiss by way of special and affirmative defenses. [11] During trial, Felimon Santioque testified for the plaintiffs. He admitted that they had no copy of OCT No. 1112; the Register of Deeds likewise had no record of the said title, nor TCT No. 13287. [12] He discovered from the said office that the subject lot was covered by TCT No. 19181 with the names of Agatona Calma and her co-heirs as owners. [13] The title was, in turn, cancelled and replaced by TCT No. 71286 also in the names of Agatona Calma and her co-heirs. On cross-examination, Felimon declared that his father, Emilio, mentioned the property to the plaintiffs sometime before he died in 1973. From that time on, he tried to ascertain the particulars of the property and succeeded in 1990 only when he went through the records at the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office (CENRO). [14] Felimon declared that, on August 4, 1992, he secured a document from the Lands Management Bureau (LMB) stating that on March 1 to 6, 1930, a parcel of land with an area of 209,746 square meters located in Tibag, Tarlac, Tarlac, was surveyed by W. Santiago and approved on February 27, 1932. [15] However, the document was not certified by the Chief Geodetic Engineer. Neither did the plaintiffs present the employee of the Bureau who prepared the document to testify on its authenticity. Felimon admitted that Amando Bangayan, Chief, Records Management Division of the LMB certified that, based on the survey records of Cadastral Survey No. 274 and as indicated in the Area Sheet of Lot 3844, Cad. 274, Emilio Santioque was the claimant of the lot. However, the Bureau had no available records of Homestead Application No. 132104 and Homestead Patent No. 18577 dated March 31, 1932. [16] Felino Cortez, Chief, Ordinary and Cadastral Decree Division of the Land Registration Authority (LRA), certified that after due verificati