G.R. No. 131803 - SOTERA PAULINO MARCELO, GABRIELA M. ANGELES, SIMEONA CUENCO, EMILIA MARCELO AND RUBEN MARCELO, VS. HON. COURT OF APPEALS, FERNANDO CRUZ AND SERVANDO FLORES. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered against the defendants ordering the following: "a. To return the ownership and possession of 7,540 square meters to the plaintiffs as indicated in the relocation survey plan; and "b To pay attorney's fees in the amount of P5,000.00; "No actual and/or moral damages (sic) is awarded for lack of factual evidence. "The counterclaim is hereby dismissed for lack of factual and/or legal basis." [6] Respondents Cruz and Flores went to the Court of Appeals; in its now assailed decision, the appellate court reversed the judgment of the court a quo . Petitioners moved for a consideration; the motion, however, was denied. In this latest recourse, petitioners assail the holding of the Court of Appeals that the action initiated in 1982 by petitioners against respondent Flores would not prosper on the theory that Flores already has acquired ownership of the disputed land by ordinary acquisitive prescription. Petitioners argue that - "1. The respondent court erred in not applying the doctrine laid down by this Honorable Court in Tero vs. Tero, 131 SCRA 105 considering that respondents never acquired the 7,540 square meters lawfully, as the respondent court already stated that what was sold to respondent Cruz was the 6,800 square meters which he then sold to respondent Flores, hence respondents can not account as to how they acquire said lot, whereas the petitioner proved the 7,540 square meters formed part of 19,231 square meters of their parents in their possession since 1939. "2. The respondent court erred in disregarding the findings of facts of the trial court, and substitute its own perception of the facts contrary to the incontrovertible evidence." [7] Petitioners assert that the property sold by the Sarmientos to respondent Cruz on 19 November 1960, under a " Kasulatan ng Partisyon sa Labas ng Hukuman at Bilihang Patuluyan," covers only the " palayero" or riceland, which measure about 6,000 square meters, and that the " parang, " containing 7,856 square meters, has not been included. The petition must be denied. Contrary to the insistence of petitioners, the " Kasulatan ng Partisyon sa Labas ng Hukuman at Bilihang Patuluyan ." executed on 19 March 1960 by Engracia dela Cruz (widow of Jorge Sarmiento) and her children Vicente Sarmiento, Maria Sarmiento and Florentino Sarmiento, pertained not only to the " palayero" but also to the " parang " as well; this agreement provided thus: " 1. Na akong si Engracia de la Cruz at ang aking yumao ng asawang si Jorge Sarmiento (nuong nabubuhay ito) ay nakapagpundar ng isang lupa na ang buong description ay gaya ng sumusunod: " Isang parselang lupang PALAYERO na may kasamang PARANG (Cogonales) na matatagpuan sa Barrio Ng Santa Lucia, Angat, Bulacan, P.I. " Ang Palayero ay may sukat na 6,000 metros cuadrados, klasipikado 2-b, amillarado P270.00 Tax No. 4482; at ang parang ay may sukat na 7,856 metros cuadrados . Humahangga sa Norte, kay Antonio de la Rosa; Este, kina Fabian Garcia a