G.R. NO. 146556 - DANILO L. PAREL, VS. SIMEON B. PRUDENCIO.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Court hereby declares that the house erected at No. 61 DPS Compound, Baguio City is owned in common by the late Florentino Parel and herein plaintiff Simeon Prudencio and as such the plaintiff cannot evict the defendant as heirs of the deceased Florentino Parel from said property, nor to recover said premises from herein defendant. Likewise, the plaintiff is ordered to: (a) pay the defendant in the total sum of P20,000.00 for moral and actual damages; (b) pay the defendant P20,000.00 in Attorney's fees and P3,300.00 in appearance fees; ( c) pay the costs of this suit. [4] The RTC found the following matters as conclusive: that petitioner's father was an allocatee of the land on which the subject house was erected, as one of the lowly-paid government employees at that time when then Mayor Luis Lardizabal gave them the chance to construct their own house on said reservation; that respondent failed to show proof of any contract, written or oral, express or implied, that the late Florentino and his family stayed on the house not as co-owners but as mere lessees, nor any other proof that would clearly establish his sole ownership of the house; and, that the late Florentino was the one who gathered the laborers for the construction of the house and paid their salaries. Thus, the RTC ruled that co-ownership existed between respondent and petitioner's father, Florentino. The RTC concluded that respondent and petitioner's father agreed to contribute their money to complete the house; that since the land on which said house was erected has been allocated to petitioner's father, the parties had the understanding that once the house is completed, petitioner's father could keep the ground floor while respondent the second floor; the trial court questioned the fact that it was only after 15 years that respondent asserted his claim of sole ownership of the subject house; respondent failed to disprove that petitioner's father contributed his own funds to finance the construction of the house; that respondent did not question (1) the fact that it was the deceased Florentino who administered the construction of the house as well as the one who supplied the materials; and (2) the fact that the land was in Florentino's possession created the impression that the house indeed is jointly owned by respondent and Florentino. The RTC did not give credence to the tax declaration as well as the several documents showing the City Assessor's assessment of the property all in respondent's name since tax declarations are not conclusive proof of ownership. It rejected the affidavit executed by Florentino declaring the house as owned by respondent saying that the affidavit should be read in its entirety to determine the purpose of its execution; that it was executed because of an advisement addressed to the late Florentino by the City Treasurer concerning the property's tax assessment and Florentino, thought then that it should be the responden