G.R. No. 216491 - THE HEIRS OF PETER DONTON, THROUGH THEIR LEGAL REPRESENTATIVE, FELIPE G. CAPULONG, VS. DUANE STIER AND EMILY MAGGAY.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, his title, TCT No. N-137480, had been cancelled and a new one, TCT No. N-225996, had been issued in respondents' names. Hence, he filed the instant complaint [13] for annulment of title and reconveyance of property with damages against respondents and the Register of Deeds of Quezon City, alleging that the signature on the Deed of Absolute Sale [14] dated July 16, 2001, by virtue of which he purportedly sold the subject property to respondents, was a forgery. [15] He denied signing or executing the document in favor of respondents, especially considering that on the date of its purported execution, i.e. , July 16, 2001, he was allegedly still in the United States, having departed from the Philippines on June 27, 2001 and returned only on August 30, 2001. [16] He averred that respondents conspired with the employees of the Registry of Deeds of Quezon City to defraud him, and that Stier is an American citizen and a non-resident alien who is, therefore, not allowed by law to own any real property in the Philippines. [17] Accordingly, he prayed that TCT No. N-225996 in respondents' names be annulled and cancelled; that a new title be issued in his name as the rightful owner of the subject property; and that respondents be ordered to pay him P1,000,000.00 as moral damages, P200,000.00 as exemplary damages, P200,000.00 as attorney's fees, and P200,000.00 as litigation expenses. [18] In their Answer with Counterclaim, [19] respondents claimed that the subject property had been lawfully transferred to them, asserting that on September 11, 1995, Donton executed an Occupancy Agreement [20] whereby he acknowledged that Stier had been residing thereat since January 5, 1995; that Stier had extended a loan to him in the amount of P3,000,000.00 on July 5, 1997, secured by a mortgage over the subject property and its improvements; and that until full payment thereof, Donton allowed Stier to occupy the same. Respondents likewise claimed that Donton executed a Special Power of Attorney (SPA) dated September 11, 1995 in favor of Stier, giving him full authority to sell, mortgage, or lease the subject property. [21] Unfortunately, Donton failed to pay his obligation to Stier; thus, they initially executed a "unilateral contract of sale" [22] dated June 25, 2001 over the subject property. Eventually, however, they executed the Deed of Absolute Sale dated July 16, 2001. As such, respondents argued that Donton cannot feign ignorance of the sale of the subject property to them. By way of counterclaim, respondents prayed for the awards of moral damages in the amount of P1,000,000.00, exemplary damages in the amount of P200,000.00, and P400,000.00 as attorney's fees, and litigation expenses. [23] During trial, Donton presented the findings of Rosario C. Perez (Perez), Document Examiner II of the Philippine National Police (PNP) Crime Laboratory in Camp Crame, who, after comparing the alleged signature of Donton on the Deed of Absolute Sale to his standard one