G.R. NO. 143027 - ENCARNACION L. CUIZON AND SALVADOR CUIZON, VS. MERCEDES C. REMOTO, LEONIDA R. MEYNARD, CELERINA R. ROSALES AND REMEDIOS C. REMOTO.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Wherefore, judgment is rendered in favor of herein plaintiffs Mercedes Remoto and children Celerino R. Rosales, Leonida R. Meynard, Candelaria and Remedios both surnamed Remoto, and against defendant-spouses Salvador and Encarnacion Cuizon ordering the latter: 1) To immediately reconvey the lot in question to herein plaintiffs; 2) To pay the sum of Two Thousand (P2,000.00) Pesos as litigation expenses; 3) To pay the sum of Five Thousand (P5,000.00) Pesos as attorney's fees; and 4) To pay the costs ( sic ) of suit. Done in Chambers this 9th day of March, 1990, at Butuan City, Philippines. [5] In awarding the property to respondents, the trial court made the following findings and conclusion, which the Court quotes with approval, viz .: . . . a careful examination of the evidence on record shows that the evidence of the plaintiffs is strong, substantial convincing and worthy of belief than that of the defendants. The plaintiffs can legally claim possession and ownership of the lot in dispute covered by the one-paged duly notarized but unregistered Deed of Sale of Real Property (Exh. A, Rollo, p. 45 or 89). A perusal of this document discloses that it was duly notarized and signed by vendor Placida Tabada, together with [h]usband Gervacio Lambo, and vendee Angel Remoto. Incidentally, the defendants-spouses utterly failed to prove any defect and irregularity in the exec[u]tion of this Exh. A. It is the posture of the defendants-spouses that this "state" (sic) and unregistered deed of sale (Exh. A) "has lost its due execution and genuineness and the fact of its being a public document"; that it cannot defeat the duly registered Deed of Extrajudicial Settlement with Absolute Sale (Exh. 1-B); and that the issuance of TCT No. RT-3121 in favor of defendants-spouses (Exh. 3) conferred the latter a better right to the litigated lot under the Torrens system. This Court is not in accord to (sic) these posturings of defendants-spouses. Exhibit A, which is duly notarized, is a public document. Although it is not registered, it is still enforceable and binding not only between the parties but also their successors-in-interest. ... It is likewise [the] stance of defendants-spouses that they are purchasers in good faith and for value of the lot in question. This fact is vividly rebutted by the straight forward and credible testimonies of plaintiffs Mercedes O. Remoto and Candelaria Remoto. Both testified that it was in September, 1982, not in 1983 as defendant Salvador Cuizon wants this court to believe, when defendants-spouses went to the residence of the Remotos and learned of the existence of Exhibit A; that it was on this occasion that defendants-spouses were actually shown the document, and that they read and examined the same (Vide, tsn. December 28, 1984, 284-289; tsn. April 24, 1986, 32, 34-37). Besides, defendants-spouses could not feign ignorance of the unrebutted fact that the plaintiffs had enjoyed continuous, open, adverse and public possession of the