G.R. No. 150913 - SPOUSES TEOFILO AND SIMEONA RAYOS, AND GEORGE RAYOS, VS. DONATO REYES, SATURNINO REYES, TOMASA R. BUSTAMANTE AND TORIBIA R. CAMELO.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, the Court, hereby renders judgment declaring the contract x x x entered into by the plaintiffs and the defendant and captioned Deed of Sale with Right to Repurchase as a true sale with right to repurchase x x x and not an equitable mortgage x x x and declaring the plaintiffs entitled to repurchase the property in question within thirty (30) days from finality of this decision, without pronouncement as to cost. [6] Mamerto Reyes appealed the Decision to the Court of Appeals, [7] which in turn elevated the appeal to this Court [8] since only questions of law were involved. [9] When Mamerto Reyes died in 1986, petitioner-spouses Teofilo and Simeona Rayos wrested physical possession of the disputed properties from Reyess heirs. On 16 May 1990 this Court considered the case closed and terminated for failure of the parties therein to manifest their interest to further prosecute the case. On 20 June 1990 the judgment in Civil Case No. A-245 became final and executory. Subsequent to the finality of judgment in Civil Case No. A-245 petitioner-spouses did nothing to repurchase the three (3) parcels of land within the thirty (30) - day grace period from finality of judgment since, according to them, they believed that the consignation of P 724.00 in the civil case had perfected the repurchase of the disputed properties. On 6 July 1992 respondents as heirs of Mamerto Reyes executed an affidavit adjudicating to themselves the ownership of the parcels of land and declared the properties in their names for assessment and collection of real estate taxes. On 19 January 1993 respondents registered the 1 September 1957 deed of sale with right of repurchase with the register of deeds. On 8 July 1993 respondents filed a complaint for damages and recovery of ownership and possession of the three (3) parcels of land in dispute against herein petitioner-spouses Teofilo and Simeona Rayos and petitioner George Rayos as administrator thereof before the Regional Trial Court of Alaminos, Pangasinan. [10] It was respondents theory that neither petitioners nor their predecessors-in-interest Francisco Tazal and Blas Rayos repurchased the properties before buying them in 1958 and 1961 or when the judgment in Civil Case No. A-245 became final and executory in 1990, hence the sale of the three (3) parcels of land to petitioner-spouses did not transfer ownership thereof to them. Petitioners argued on the other hand that the consignation of P 724.00 in Civil Case No. A-245 had the full effect of redeeming the properties from respondents and their predecessor-in-interest, and that respondents were guilty of estoppel and laches since Mamerto Reyes as their predecessor-in-interest did not oppose the sale to Blas Rayos and to petitioner-spouses Teofilo and Simeona Rayos. The parties then filed their respective memoranda after which the case was submitted for decision. On 15 November 1996 the trial court promulgated its Decision in Civil Case No. A-2032 finding merit in re