G.R. NO. 146586 - DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION CULTURE AND SPORTS, VS. JULIA DEL ROSARIO, MARIA DEL ROSARIO, PACENCIA DEL ROSARIO, AND HEIRS OF SANTOS DEL ROSARIO.DECISION - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, based on the foregoing premises, and for a much greater cause, the instituted complaint, for recovery of possession of 1,181 square meters of land in Kaypombo, Sta. Maria, Bulacan, covered by TCT No. T-222432 against the defendant is hereby DISMISSED without costs. [7] The trial court explained its decision in this wise: After a careful consideration of the facts at hand, taking into account the credibility and reasonableness of the testimonies of the witnesses, the court is of the opinion that the defense was able to prove the due execution of the deed of donation and its acceptance, as well as the loss of the same, in accordance with Rule 130[,] Sec. 4. It is recalled that Judge Eli Natividad, then a municipal councilor of Sta. Maria, testified that he was the person who prepared the deed of donation and later notarized the same, and that said deed was duly executed and signed before him and in his presence. Likewise, he affirmed that the municipal board of Sta. Maria, Bulacan, passed a resolution accepting the deed of donation in favor of the said municipality. Noteworthy is the rule that a recantation/recollection of witness is a form of secondary evidence to prove the existence/content of a document. Since the loss of the deed subject matter of this case was likewise duly proved by the defense, exerting the best possible efforts to locate or secure a copy of the same and without bad faith on its part, this Court is bent to give a greater weight to the secondary evidence adduced by the defense vis-à-vis the title in the name of the plaintiff[s], most particularly in this case, where the plaintiffs failed to make it appear that other and more secondary evidence is known to the defendant and can be produced by them. Further judging on the consistency, credibility and personality of the witnesses of the defense, notably Judge Eli Natividad who was then a municipal councilor of Sta. Maria at the time of the execution of the deed of donation and who is thus in a best position to testify on the matter, not to mention the fact that their testimonies were all under oath, the Court cannot avoid but give weight to their statements and declarations. The defense witnesses were not induced by ill motive to testify in favor of the DECS, considering that they will not derive any personal benefit, material or otherwise, from such an act. On the contrary, such act may be considered heroic, as it is a manifestation of a moral compulsion to help shed light to the truth. On the part of the plaintiffs, it was testified to by Eugenia Ignacio that their father (donor) died on April 18, 1966, long after the school was constructed on the subject land with the occupation of the land by the school which continued up to the present, and even after the land was allegedly transferred by succession to the plaintiffs in 1976, it was only now that it comes to the mind of the plaintiffs to seek recovery of the possession of the same. This, among other things, may b