G.R. No. 123509 - LUCIO ROBLES, EMETERIA ROBLES, ALUDIA ROBLES AND EMILIO ROBLES, VS. COURT OF APPEALS, SPOUSES VIRGILIO SANTOS AND BABY RUTH CRUZ, RURAL BANK OF CARDONA, INC., HILARIO ROBLES, ALBERTO PALAD JR. IN HIS CAPACITY AS DIRECTOR OF LANDS, AND JOSE MAULEON IN HIS CAPACITY AS DISTRICT LAND O

Ruling

WHEREFORE, the trial court's June 17, 1991 decision is REVERSED and SET ASIDE, and in lieu thereof a new one is hereby entered ordering the dismissal of the plaintiffs-appellees['] second amended complaint." Earlier, the trial court had disposed as follows: "WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered as follows: 1. Declaring free patent Title No. IV-1-010021 issued by the Bureau of Lands as null and void; 2. Ordering the defendant spouses Vergel Santos and Ruth Santos to deliver the property subject of this case to the plaintiff; and 3. Declaring the heirs of Silvino Robles as the absolute owner of the land in controversy." The January 15, 1996 CA Resolution denied petitioners' Motion for Reconsideration. The Facts The present Petition is rooted in a case for quieting of title before the Regional Trial Court of Morong, Rizal, filed on March 14, 1988, [4] by Petitioners Lucio Robles, Emeteria Robles, Aludia Robles and Emilio Robles. The facts were narrated by the trial court in this wise: "There seems to be no dispute that Leon Robles primitively owned the land situated in Kay Taga, Lagundi, Morong, Rizal with an area of 9,985 square meters. He occupied the same openly and adversely. He also declared the same in his name for taxation purposes as early as 1916 covered by Tax Declaration No. 17865 (Exh. "I") and paid the corresponding taxes thereon (Exh. "B"). When Leon Robles died, his son Silvino Robles inherited the land, who took possession of the land, declared it in his name for taxation purposes and paid the taxes thereon. "Upon the death of Silvino Robles in 1942, his widow Maria de la Cruz and his children inherited the property. They took adverse possession of said property and paid taxes thereon. The task of cultivat[ing] the land was assigned to plaintiff Lucio Robles who planted trees and other crops. He also built a nipa hut on the land. The plaintiffs entrusted the payment of the land taxes to their co-heir and half-brother, Hilario Robles. "In 1962, for unknown reasons, the tax declaration of the parcel of land in the name of Silvino Robles was canceled and transferred to one Exequiel Ballena (Exh. "19"), father of Andrea Robles who is the wife of defendant Hilario Robles. Thereafter, Exequiel Ballena secured a loan from the Antipolo Rural Bank, using the tax declaration as security. Somehow, the tax declaration was transferred [to] the name of Antipolo Rural Bank (Exh. "17") and later on, was transferred [to] the name of defendant Hilario Robles and his wife (Exh. "16"). "In 1996, Andrea Robles secured a loan from the Cardona Rural Bank, Inc., using the tax declaration as security. Andrea Robles testified without contradiction that somebody else, not her husband Hilario Robles, signed the loan papers because Hilario Robles was working in Marinduque at that time as a carpenter. "For failure to pay the mortgage debt, foreclosure proceedings were had and defendant Rural Bank emerged as the highest bidder during the auc