VS. COURT OF APPEALS AND ALFREDO CABANLIT.

Ruling

WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant as follows: 1. Ordering the defendant, or any person claiming rights under him, to surrender to plaintiff possession of the premises known as Lot 8w, Block 6, Psd-135534 of the Monserrat Estate, and the improvement standing thereon, located at 3320 2nd St., V. Mapa, Old Sta. Mesa, Manila; 2. Ordering the defendant to pay plaintiff the sum of Five Thousand ( P 5,000.00) Pesos, as and for attorneys fees; and 3. Costs against the defendant. The defendants counterclaims are hereby dismissed. The Facts Although the legal conclusions and dispositions of the trial and the appellate courts are conflicting, the factual antecedents of the case are not substantially disputed. [5] We reproduce their narration from the assailed Decision: Civil Case No. 83-39133 involves an action filed by plaintiff-appellee [herein petitioner] on January 22, 1987 seeking to recover from defendant-appellant [a] parcel of land which the former claims to have acquired from his grandmother by donation. Defendant-appellant [herein private respondent], on the other hand, put up the defense that when the alleged donation was executed, he had already acquired the property by a Deed of Assignment from a transferee of plaintiff-appellees grandmother. The evidence for plaintiff-appellee [herein petitioner] is summarized as follows: Catalina Jacob Vda. de Reyes, a widow and grandmother of plaintiff-appellee, was awarded in July 1975 a 60.10-square meter lot which is a portion of the Monserrat Estate, more particularly described as Lot 8W, Block 6 of Psd-135834, located at 3320 2nd St., V. Mapa, Old Sta. Mesa, Manila. The Monserrat Estate is a public land owned by the City of Manila and distributed for sale to bona fide tenants under its land-for-the-landless program. Catalina Jacob constructed a house on the lot. On October 3, 1977, or shortly before she left for Canada where she is now a permanent resident, Catalina Jacob executed a special power of attorney (Exh. A) in favor of her son-in-law Eduardo B. Español authorizing him to execute all documents necessary for the final adjudication of her claim as awardee of the lot. Due to the failure of Eduardo B. Español to accomplish the purpose of the power of attorney granted to him, Catalina Jacob revoked said authority in an instrument executed in Canada on April 16, 1984 (Exh. D). Simultaneous with the revocation, Catalina Jacob executed another power of attorney of the same tenor in favor plaintiff-appellee. On January 30, 1985, Catalina Jacob executed in Canada a Deed of Donation over a Lot 8W in favor of plaintiff-appellee (Exh. E). Following the donation, plaintiff-appellee checked with the Register of Deeds and found out that the property was in the delinquent list, so that he paid the installments in arrears and the remaining balance on the lot (Exhs. F, F-1 and F-2) and declared the said property in the name of Catalina Jaco