G.R. No. 127005 - SPS. JOSE ROSARIO AND HERMINIA ROSARIO, VS. COURT OF APPEALS, LOURDES VILLAHERMOSA, AIDA VILLAHERMOSA, RODULFO VILLAHERMOSA, NATIVIDAD V. CEBALLOS, AND JESUS VILLAHERMOSA. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

accordingly, lot no. 77, which originally contained SEVEN HUNDRED FORTY-FIVE (745) SQUARE METERS, was subdivided into Lot 77-A with 372 square meters, which was transferred to Filomena Lariosa, and Lot 77-B with 373 square meters, which was transferred to Rodolfo Villahermosa; that since GSIS further required a co-signer for the loan, Filomena, without any consideration and for the purpose of complying with GSIS requirements, executed a simulated Deed of Sale over an undivided one-half portion of Lot No. 77-A in favor of the plaintiff Herminia Rosario who thereafter co-signed with Filomena the GSIS loan and executed a mortgage over Lot No. 77-A in favor of the GSIS and under such arrangement, the ½ undivided share of the plaintiffs spouses Herminia and Jose Rosario was merely held in trust, all for the benefit of principal borrower and trustor, Filomena, to be returned to the Villahermosas before her death; that out of the GSIS loan, Filomena was able to build a house on Lot No. 77-A and since 1965 Filomena solely exercised ownership over the house and Lot No. 77-A until her death on October 9, 1976 and in compliance with the previous trust arrangement between Filomena and Emilio Villahermosa and his children, Filomena returned the lot and allowed the Villahermosas to buy back the lot for the same amount of P380.00 through a Deed of Sale dated July 28, 1976. After trial, the Regional Trial Court of Cebu, Branch 6, Cebu City rendered its decision on May 27, 1991, the dispositive portion of which reads as follows: [3] "WHEREFORE, this Court hereby orders the defendants to accept the payment of P380.00 for the purchase price of the lot; declares the plaintiff Herminia L. Rosario as the real and absolute owner of the entire of Lot No. 77-A of the Talisay-Minglanilla estate covered by TCT No. 12326; orders the defendants to execute a deed of conveyance transferring their rights over the one-half undivided share of Lot 77-A in favor of plaintiffs Herminia L. Rosario and Jose Rosario and orders the defendants to pay the plaintiffs P2,000.00 as attorney's fees, and P1,000.00 as moral damages. Costs against the defendants." The trial court found that the subject lot (lot no. 77-A) as evidenced by TCT No. 12326, belonged to Filomena Lariosa and Herminia Rosario, each co-owner having a one half (1/2) undivided share; that the validity of this title has not been assailed by the defendants (private respondents herein), although defendants tried to show that the subject lot was only held in trust by Filomena Lariosa in favor of their parents, which argument cannot be deemed a modification of the matters stated in the torrens title; the title cannot be the subject of a collateral attack, and as such the title remains valid and stands as conclusive proof of ownership of the subject lot. The court concluded that since co-ownership between Filomena Lariosa and Herminia Rosario had been established, Filomena could have sold only the ½ undivided portion of the subje