G.R. No. 154184 - TEODORA A. CAPACETE AND RODOLFO CAPACETE, VS. VENANCIA BARORO, MUNICIPAL TRIAL COURT CABUYAO, LAGUNA* AND PROVINCIAL SHERIFF OF LAGUNA STATIONED AT BIÑAN, LAGUNA.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, judgment is hereby rendered for the plaintiffs Emiliano Galang and Venancia Baroro and against the defendants, spouses Rodolfo Capacete and Teodora Capacete. [1] Petitioners sought appeal from the above decision. Their notice of appeal, however, was not given due course for having been filed out of time. On November 11, 1990, petitioners filed a complaint against respondent Baroro with the Regional Trial Court-Branch 25 of Biñan, Laguna for accion reinvindicatoria , annulment of decision and quieting of title with prayer for temporary restraining order/preliminary injunction with damages, docketed as Civil Case No. B-3433. They claimed that: (1) they bought the land from her sometime in 1956 for the sum of one thousand pesos (P1,000.00); (2) they actually paid an initial sum of five hundred forty pesos (P540.00), with the promise to pay the balance a year after; (3) they took immediate possession of the property and introduced several improvements thereon including a house and some fruit-bearing trees; and (4) a year later, she refused to receive the payment for the remaining balance of four hundred sixty pesos (P460.00). In her answer, respondent Baroro alleged that she owns the land by virtue of her open, peaceful and uninterrupted possession of it for more than thirty years. She claimed that the land had been declared for taxation purposes by her father Anastacio Baroro, as early as October 31, 1915. She eventually declared it in her own name. After trial, the lower court rendered a decision on March 17, 1998 in favor of respondent Baroro, giving little credence to the purported contract of sale. Its dispositive portion reads as follows: WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered: a) Declaring the Decision, dated January 4, 1989, of the Municipal Trial Court of Cabuyao in Civil Case No. 89 to be valid and final and executory, and directing the Provincial Sheriff to immediately implement the same; b) as between plaintiffs Alejandro Capacete and Rolando Capacete, on the one hand and Venancia Baroro, on the other hand, declaring the latter to be the legitimate owner of Lot 88, Cad. No. 455-D, with an area of 909 square meters, and located at Barangay Marinig, Cabuyao, Laguna; c) ordering plaintiffs Alejandro Capacete and Rodolfo Capacete to pay jointly and severally unto defendant Venancia Baroro the following sums: i) the amount of P200.00 as rental ( sic ) for Lot 88 to be computed from the time of filing of the Complaint in said Civil Case No. 89 on March 14, 1977 up to the time they vacate said parcel of land; ii) the amount of P100,000.00 as moral damages; and iii) the sum of P30,000.00 as attorney's fees. Plaintiffs' application for writ of preliminary injunction is hereby DENIED. SO ORDERED.