G.R. No. 127523 - LEONCIA ALIPOON, MIGUELA ALIPOON, MORITA ALIPOON, NENITA ALIPOON, BENEDICTO ALIPOON, VS. HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS, MARCELINA ALVAREZ, CARMEN PEÑARANDA, ROSITA GALANG, JOSE ALVAREZ, AGRIPINO ALVAREZ, AND FELINA CONCHA. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, the Court of Appeals is correct in stating that the trial court erred when it declared that reconstituted original certificate of title bearing number OCT No. RO-12890 (N.A.) is the original title issued pursuant to Decree No. 414946 and concluded that TCT No. T-17224 is not authentic because it was not issued pursuant to the cancellation and/or in lieu of OCT No. RO-12890 (N.A.). In upholding the authenticity of TCT No. 17224 the respondent court stated as follows: "The trial court did not give Transfer Certificate of Title No.7224 any credence allegedly because it is eroded with inherent defects. The trial court found that Transfer Certificate of Title No. 17224 does not bear the signature of the Register of Deeds. We do not agree. Evident from the Transfer Certificate of Title No. 17224 that the document was attested to by the Register of Deeds of Negros Occidental. Although blurred because of its age, the signature of the Register of Deeds is still very visible. It is erroneous for the trial court to pronounce that this document was not signed by the Register of Deeds. The trial court also ruled that Transfer Certificate of Title No. 17224 is not authentic because the Register of Deeds of Negros Occidental certified that there was no transfer certificate of title ever issued by the Office of the Register of Deeds over Lot 663. Again, We do not agree. The certificate simply reads: "TO WHOM IT MAY CONCERN: This is to certify that as per record of this Office, there is no existing title in the file of this Office covering Lot No. 663 of the Cadastral Survey of Cauayan. This certification is issued upon the request of Morita Alipoon of Tiling, Cauayan, Negros Occidental, for RECONSTITUTION PURPOSES." The certification is very clear and simple. The Register of Deeds merely certified that as of June 18, 1988 no title over Lot 663 is existing in its file. Otherwise stated, the Register of Deeds certified that its office do not have in its possession a copy of any title over Lot 663. The Register of Deeds never certified that its office never issued a transfer certificate of title over Lot 663. There is nothing in the certification from which such interpretation can be inferred. The fact that the Office of the Register of Deeds does not have in its file a title over Lot 663 does not imply that a transfer certificate of title was never issued over Lot 663. It must be remembered that because of the World War II in 1941, all the documents recorded and issued by the Officer (sic) of the Register of Deeds, which may include Transfer Certificate of Title No. 17223 which was issued in 1933, were all destroyed. And unless these document (sic) are reconstituted, these document will certainly not be in the files of the Register of Deeds. But its non-existence in the files of the Register of Deeds would certainly not detract Us from the fact that these documents were recorded/issued. Indeed, the fact that the title is not in the file of the Office