G.R. No. 147072 - FRANCISCO H. LU, VS. SPOUSES ORLANDO AND ROSITA MANIPON.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the appealed Decision is hereby AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION in the sense that [petitioner] is directed to convey Lot 5582-B-7-D covered by TCT No. 171497 to [respondent] Rosita C. Manipon without being entitled to any payment from the latter." [2] The assailed Resolution denied the Motion for Reconsideration. [3] The Facts The facts of the case are summarized in the assailed Decision as follows: On May 9, 1981, Juan Peralta executed a [D]eed of [S]ale by installment in favor of spouses Orlando and Rosita Manipon [herein respondents]. Therein, Juan Peralta agreed to sell by installment to the said spouses 350 square meters of the 2,078 square-meter lot he owned, covered by Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. 137911 and located at Barrio Dilan, Urdaneta, Pangasinan. The said [D]eed was not registered with the Registry of Deeds. On June 10, 1981, Juan Peralta mortgaged the aforesaid lot to Thrift Savings and Loan Association, Inc. (TSLAI). He however failed to pay the loan he obtained for which the mortgage was constituted and so the same was judicially foreclosed and sold to TSLAI for P62,789.18 which was the highest bidder. The latter in turn sold the same on July 15, 1988 in the amount of P80,000.00 to the [petitioner]. Thereafter, on August 30, 1989, [petitioner] caused the subdivision of the said lot into five (5) lots, one of which is Lot 5582-B-7-D, with an area of 339 square meters covering the lot which was earlier sold by installment to [respondents]. The said lot is now covered by TCT No. 171497. In the interim, or on July 30, 1983, Juan Peralta executed a [D]eed of [S]ale in favor of [respondents] after the couple paid a total amount of P8,000.00 for the subject lot. The aforesaid [D]eed was however also not registered. On January 22, 1990, [petitioner] through counsel wrote the [respondents] regarding the presence of the latters house, which was also being occupied by them, on the lot in question. Efforts were apparently made by both parties to settle the brewing dispute but to [no] avail. Hence, on February 26, 1990, [petitioner] filed the present action alleging therein that he is the owner of the lot in question including that which was being occupied by [respondents. Petitioner] further claims that his ownership was confirmed by the Regional Trial Court of Urdaneta, Pangasinan, Branch 49, in Civil Case No. U-4399. He also averred that for reasons unknown to him, [respondents] were claiming ownership of Lot 5582-B-7-D and have constructed a house thereon on January 22, 1990. In the Answer filed by [respondents], they claim that [petitioner] is a buyer in bad faith because even before he bought the 2,078 square-meter lot, he knew for a fact that they already bought Lot 5582-B-7-D from the original owner of the said lot and have been residing therein since 1981. [Respondents] also asserted that [petitioner] had knowledge of their claim over the said property because when the whole lot was foreclo