G.R. No. 188773 -

Ruling

WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of [petitioners] and against defendants [including herein respondent Ricardo] as follows: 1) declaring TCT No. T-294295 in the name of the defendants [including herein respondent Ricardo] as NULL and VOID; 2) ordering the defendants [including herein respondent Ricardo] to reconvey to [petitioners] Lot No. 39 of the Santa Rosa Detached Estate, and to surrender possession thereof in favor of the [petitioners]; 3) ordering the Register of Deeds of Calamba, Laguna to issue a new certificate of title covering said Lot No. 39 in favor of the heirs of Severo Basbas; and 4) ordering the defendants [including herein respondent Ricardo] and their successors-in-interest to pay [petitioners] the sum of Php 50,000.00 as and for attorneys fees. [6] On appeal to the RTC by Crispiniano and Ricardo docketed as Civil Case No. B-6334, judgment of the MTC was affirmed in toto . Insistent on their stance, Crispiniano and Ricardo appealed to the Court of Appeals. In a subsequent turn of events, the appellate court reversed, applying our ruling in Heirs of Yaptinchay v. Hon. del Rosario, [7] and set aside the uniform rulings of the trial courts: The court a quo erred in affirming the decision of the MTC, as the MTC had ruled on filiation and heirship, matters which fall within the jurisdiction of a probate court, which the MTC or RTC of Sta. Rosa, Laguna were not designated to be. It is also proper that these particular matters be threshed out in a special proceeding. In Heirs of Guido and Isabel Yaptinchay v. Del Rosario , it was ruled that it is decisively clear that the declaration of heirship can be made only in a special proceeding inasmuch as it involves the establishment of a status or right. The case at bar is an action for annulment of title, reconveyance with damages, a civil action, whereas matters which involve the settlement and distribution of the estate of a deceased person as well as filiation and heirship partake of the nature of a special proceeding, which requires the application of specific rules as provided for in the Rules of Court. With both parties claiming to be the heirs of Severo Basbas, it is but proper to thresh out this issue in a special proceeding, since [Crispiniano and respondent Ricardo] seeks to establish his status as one of the heirs entitled to the property in dispute. Before the action for annulment of title, reconveyance with damages can be resolved, this Court opines that the matter of heirship should be adjudicated upon first. The trial court cannot make a declaration of heirship in the civil action for the reason that such a declaration can only be made in a special proceeding. x x x x The MTC and the RTC, both acting in their general jurisdiction, are devoid of authority to render an adjudication and resolve the issue of annulment of title and reconveyance of the real property in favor of the respondents. We reiterate that the question of who are the heirs of Severo Basbas sh