G.R. No. 153077 - DOLORES SALINAS, ASSISTED BY HER HUSBAND, JUAN CASTILLO, VS. SPS. BIENVENIDO S. FAUSTINO AND ILUMINADA G. FAUSTINO.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, based on the foregoing premises, the judgment appealed from is hereby MODIFIED , as follows: Plaintiffs-appellants Bienvenido S. Faustino and Iluminada G. Faustin[o] are declared owners of seven hundred fifty-three (753) square meters , more or less, of the parcel of land subject of this case. Plaintiffs-appellants and defendants-appellees are directed to cause the segregation of their respective shares in the property as determined by this Court, with costs equally shared between them. x x x x [10] (Underscoring supplied) Petitioner's motion for reconsideration having been denied, [11] she filed the present petition [12] faulting the Court of Appeals x x x IN MODIFYING THE DECISION OF THE COURT A QUO DISMISSING THE COMPLAINT FOR INSUFFICIENCY OF EVIDENCE; x x x IN DECLARING THE PRIVATE RESPONDENTS OWNERS OF 753 SQUARE METERS, MORE OR LESS, OF THE PARCEL OF LAND SUBJECT OF THE CASE[;] x x x IN NOT AFFIRMING THE DECISION OF THE COURT A QUO AND XXX IN NOT DECLARING THE PETITIONER AS OWNER OF HER PROPERTY WHICH, SINCE THEN UP TO THE PRESENT, SHE HAD BEEN OCCUPYING AND DESPITE PREPONDERANCE OF EVIDENCE OF HER OWNERSHIP THERETO . [13] (Underscoring in the original) The petition is meritorious. Indeed, in a contract of sale of land in a mass, the specific boundaries stated in the contract must control over any statement with respect to the area contained within its boundaries. [14] Thus, it is the boundaries indicated in a deed of absolute sale, and not the area in sq. m. mentioned therein 300.375 sq. m. in the Deed of Sale in respondents' favor - that control in the determination of which portion of the land a vendee acquires. In concluding that respondents acquired via the June 27, 1962 Deed of Sale the total land area of 753 sq. m., the Court of Appeals subtracted from the total land area of 1,381 sq. m. reflected in Exh. "A," which is "Plan of Lot 3 , Block 5-k, Psd-8268, as prepared for Benjamin R. Salinas " containing an area of 1,381 sq. m. and which was prepared on February 10, 1960 by a private land surveyor, the 628 sq. m. area of the lot claimed by petitioner as reflected in Tax Declaration No. 1017 in her name. As will be shown shortly, however, the basis of the appellate court's conclusion is erroneous. As the immediately preceding paragraph reflects, the "Plan of Lot 3, Bk 5-K, Psd-82" was prepared for respondent Faustino's and petitioner's first cousin co-heir Benjamin Salinas on February 10, 1960 . Why the appellate court, after excluding the 628 sq. m. lot covered by a Tax Declaration in the name of petitioner from the 1,381 sq. m. lot surveyed for Benjamin P. Salinas in 1960 , concluded that what was sold via the 1962 Deed of Sale to respondent Faustino was the remaining 753 sq. m., despite the clear provision of said Deed of Sale that what was conveyed was 300.375 sq. m., escapes comprehension. It defies logic, given that respondents base their claim of ownership of the questioned 628 sq. m. occupied by petitioner on tha