G.R. No. 135038 - ROLANDO Y. TAN, VS. THE COURT OF APPEALS, THE HEIRS OF JOSE L. ATEGA, FRANCISCO B. AALA, HAYDEN B. LUZON AND LEONCIO PADERES.DECISION - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, TCT No. RT-12332 was cancelled by TCT No. 12368 in the name of Aala. On the other hand, respondent Hayden Luzon acquired 430 square meters of the land from his father, who purchased the same from Lorenzo Atega on installment in the year 1957 or 1958. After the payment of the purchase price in full in 1987, TCT No. RT-18705 [21] covering 175 square meters and TCT No. RT-19113 [22] covering 255 square meters were issued in the name of respondent Luzon. Petitioner filed a complaint for quieting of title, reconveyance, annulment of certificates of title, damages and attorney's fees, docketed as Civil Case No. 381, against respondents Francisco B. Aala, Jose Atega, and Hayden Luzon. This case was consolidated with Civil Case No. 2116 and heard jointly by the Regional Trial Court of Butuan City, Branch I. Meanwhile, TCT Nos. RT-11940, [23] RT-17570, [24] and RT-19114, [25] were issued in the name of Lorenzo Atega. However, the claim of Ismael Elloso was not annotated on any of these titles. Curiously, too, the land registered therein was described as Lot No. 436-A-2, instead of Lot No. 436-A-1 as earlier agreed upon between Atega and Torrevillas. In order to protect his claim to the lands, petitioner Tan registered an adverse claim on the title as Entry No. 32638. On April 27, 1995, the trial court rendered a decision in favor of petitioner, the dispositive portion of which reads: [26] WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered as follows: In Civil Case No. 381: Declaring plaintiff Rolando Y. Tan the absolute owner of the eight hundred twenty eight (828) square meter portion of land subject of this case; Ordering defendant Francisco Aala to cause the relocation or resurvey of the area covered by his title taking into consideration the technical description of all the adjoining lots to identify the 100 square meters belonging to the plaintiff, after which defendant Aala is ordered to reconvey said 100 square meters of land to the plaintiff. Defendant Aala is also ordered to demolish whatever structure there is on the land at his own expense; Ordering the Register of Deeds of Butuan City to cancel all the certificates of title subject of this case and ordering defendant Luzon to vacate and reconvey the lots (430 square meters) to the plaintiff. Luzon is further ordered to demolish whatever structure he has on the land at his own expense; Ordering defendant Jose Atega or his heirs, successors-in-interest, pursuant to Sec. 53 of P.D. 1529, to surrender and deliver the owner's duplicate certificate of title No. RT-11940 to the Register of Deeds of Butuan City, and ordering the Register of Deeds to annotate Entry No. 2700 in the memorandum of encumbrances. The Register of Deeds is also ordered to segregate the portion of Ismael Elloso, the predecessor-in-interest of the plaintiff. After compliance, the Register of Deeds is ordered to issue a new transfer certificate of title over the said 828 square-meter lot in the name of plaintiff Rolando Tan; an