G.R. No. 131794 - RUBEN AUGUSTO AND ATTY. NOEL D. ARCHIVAL, VS. HON. JUDGE TEODORO K. RISOS, PRESIDING JUDGE, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, BRANCH 27, LAPU-LAPU CITY, CLEOFE OMOLON. DECISION - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, all premises considered, the Court grants the petition and thus directs the Register of Deeds of Lapu-Lapu City to reconstitute the Original Certificate of Title for Lot No. 4429 of the Cadastral Survey of Opon strictly in accordance with the technical description of said lot. [2] However, upon presentation of the aforesaid order to the Office of the Register of Deeds of Lapu-Lapu City, Cleofe was informed that the owner's copy had already been issued to Ruben Augusto, pursuant to an Order issued by the court dated August 23, 1996, and that based on the record, the same was in the possession of Atty. Noel Archival. Hence, on May 14, 1997, Cleofe filed a petition before the RTC of Lapu-Lapu City, docketed as Cad. Case No. 21, alleging that as lawful co-owner and possessor of Lot No. 4429, she had every right to have and hold the owner's duplicate of the said OCT. She prayed that after due proceedings, the respondents Ruben Augusto and Atty. Noel Archival be ordered to surrender the owner's copy of the said title: WHEREFORE, it is most respectfully prayed of this Honorable Court that after due consideration, respondents be ordered to surrender the owner's copy of Original Certificate of Title No. 3560 of the Register of Deeds of Lapu-Lapu City to the petitioner herein. [3] In their Comment on the petition, therein respondents Ruben Augusto and Atty. Noel Archival alleged, inter alia, that the Deed of Absolute Sale executed by Felisa, Magdalena, Alfonso and Jose, all surnamed Augusto, was falsified and fictitious, and, thus, null and void. In the interim, Cleofe had her adverse claim annotated at the dorsal portion of the title in the Office of the Register of Deeds of Lapu-Lapu City. On October 22, 1997, the RTC issued an order directing Atty. Noel Archival to produce the owner's copy of OCT No. 3560 to allow the annotation of Cleofe's interest, upon which the owner's duplicate copy of the title may thereafter be returned: WHEREFORE, respondent Atty. Noel Archival is hereby directed to produce the owner's copy of OCT No. 3560, before the Office of the Clerk of Court within ten (10) days from receipt of this order to allow the annotation of petitioner's interest, after which title may be returned to the respondent. Furnish copies of this order to petitioner and respondents as well as their respective counsels. [4] The trial court declared that, based on the pleadings of the parties, the issue of ownership over the property had been raised, a matter which the court, sitting as a cadastral court, could not pass upon. The trial court further ruled that pending resolution of the issue of ownership over the property in an appropriate proceedings therefor , there was a need for the annotation of the petitioners' interest over the property. The respondents therein filed a "Motion for a Partial Reconsideration" of the Order alleging that Cleofe's interest over the property had been sufficiently protected by the annotation of her adverse claim. Th