G.R. No. 175788 - ENRIQUITA ANGAT AND THE LEGAL HEIRS OF FEDERICO ANGAT, VS. REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, the foregoing information anent the property in question is respectfully submitted for consideration in the resolution of the instant petition, and in (sic) the Honorable Court, after notice and hearing, finds justification pursuant to Section 3(a) of Republic Act No. 26 to grant the same. Provided, however, that no certificate of title covering the same parcel of land exist (sic) in the office of the Register of Deeds Concerned. On motion of the counsel of Federico and Enriquita, there being no oppositor nor written opposition, the RTC declared a general default against the public. During the ex parte hearing held on 19 January 2000, Federico testified that he was 78 years old, married, a real estate broker, and was one of the petitioners in LRC Case No. 1331. He further testified that he had in his possession the owners' duplicate certificate of TCT No. T-4399 in his and his sister Enriquita's names. The subject property covered by TCT No. T-4399 was previously owned by his grandfather, Mariano Angat (Mariano), to whom was issued Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 391. After Mariano's death, the subject property was inherited by his father, Gregorio Angat (Gregorio). Sometime in 1955, under unexplained circumstances, Gregorio [13] delivered to Federico (determined to be 34 years old at that time) and Enriquita TCT No. T-4399, already registered in their names. The original copy of TCT No. T-4399 was burned during the fire on 7 June 1959 at the old Provincial Capitol Building of Cavite, housing the Registry of Deeds. He referred to the LRA Report dated 28 October 1999 which affirmed the existence and accuracy of the technical description of PSU-91002. He also presented the Certification dated 18 November 1998 of the Municipal Treasurer of Ternate, Cavite, showing that the real property taxes on the subject property for 1998 were paid in the name of his grandfather, Mariano, under Tax Declaration No. 97-03524. Enriquita no longer took the witness stand. On 6 July 2000, Ternate Development Corporation (TDC) filed a Motion for Leave to Intervene and a Complaint-in-Intervention, questioning the authenticity and genuineness of TCT No. T-4399. It claimed that a portion of the subject property covered by TCT No. T-4399, with an area of 1,783,084 square meters, is owned by and already registered in the name of TDC under TCT No. (T-97541) RT-19915 of the Registry of Deeds of Cavite. [14] Federico and Enriquita opposed the Motion for Leave to Intervene of TDC. The RTC, in an Order dated 10 November 2000, denied the Motion for Leave to Intervene of TDC reasoning that TDC could not challenge the validity of TCT No. T-4399 in the reconstitution proceedings since it would constitute a collateral attack on the title of Federico and Enriquita. The RTC declared that the reconstitution proceedings in LRC Case No. 1331 was not the proper forum to resolve the issue of authenticity/genuineness of title sought to be reconstituted, nor a remedy to conf