G.R. No. 116340 - CECILIA GASTON, VS. COURT OF APPEALS, HON. REYNALDO M. ALON, AS JUDGE, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT OF SILAY CITY, BRANCH 40, AND GERTRUDES MEDEL.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, the decision of the court a quo is hereby REVERSED and another one is hereby rendered declaring TCT Nos. RT-1412, RT-1874 and RT-1875, covering Lots Nos. 771-B, 759-A and 1205 all of Talisay Cadastre, null and void and ordering the Register of Deeds concerned to issue new Titles covering Lots 771-B, 759-A and 1205, inclusive of the share of plaintiff-appellant in said properties, after the defendants-appellees shall have partitioned the properties to include the share of the appellant, as they are hereby directed to do so, within sixty (60) days from the finality of this decision. Costs against the defendants-appellants ( sic )." [3] ; that a petition for review on certiorari of the said decision of the Court of Appeals filed by Sofia de Oca Vda. De Gaston, et al. in this Court was dismissed and final judgment was entered on January 14, 1991; that on November 27, 1991, Gertrudes Medel filed with the Regional Trial Court of Silay City, in Civil Case No. 569, a "Motion to Require Defendants to Submit Project of Partition and to Cite Them in Contempt" principally alleging that: "2. Despite the lapse of sixty (60) days from the finality of the aforesaid judgment, defendants failed and refused and disobeyed to comply thereof without any justification; "3. Several representations were made with defendants' counsel to hasten the submission of the required project of partition, however, nothing has been done by the defendants up to the present despite the letter-request of plaintiff's counsel dated November 12, 1991. x x x; "4. It is therefore imperative that defendants shall be required by this Honorable Court to submit the project of partition in this case within five (5) days, otherwise they should be cited in contempt ` motu propio '."; [4] that the respondent court in its order of December 3, 1991 directed counsel for the defendants "to comment on the Motion to Require Defendants to Submit Project of Partition and to Cite Them in Contempt filed by the plaintiff thru counsel, within five (5) days from receipt of the Order, otherwise this Court will partition the property"; and that on January 17, 1992, the Regional Trial Court of Silay City issued its Order, to wit: "Acting on the ex-parte motion to partition property filed by the plaintiff and finding the same to be well-taken, considering the Order of this Court dated December 3, 1991, said motion is hereby granted and Geodetic Engineer Hernando B. Guillen is hereby commissioned to conduct a survey of the boundaries of Lot 771-B covered by Transfer Certificate of Title RT-1412 (34083) and to segregate therefrom a portion of .8121 hectare which shall be titled and registered in the name of plaintiff Gertrudes Medel; and, the Register of Deeds of Negros Occidental is hereby ordered to cancel Transfer Certificate of Title No. RT-1874 (34082) with an area of 6.9595 hectares and to issue in lieu thereof a new title in the name of Gertrudes Medel, pursuant to the deci