G.R. No. 149844 - MIGUEL CUENCO, SUBSTITUTED BY MARIETTA C. CUYEGKENG, VS. CONCEPCION CUENCO VDA. DE MANGUERRA.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, the decision appealed from is AFFIRMED. [3] On the other hand, the Regional Trial Court (RTC) Decision affirmed by the CA disposed as follows: WHEREFORE, considering that this action is essentially one for reconveyance or enforcement of a trust, judgment is hereby rendered ordering the substituted defendant Marietta Cuenco Cuyegkeng to reconvey or transfer, in a duly registrable public instrument, Lot No 903-A-6 under TCT No. 113781 of the Registry of Deeds of Cebu City, of the Banilad Estate with an area of 834 square meters, in favor of plaintiff Concepcion Cuenco Vda. De Manguerra; or should the substituted defendant, for one reason or another, fail to execute the necessary instrument once the decision becomes final, the Clerk of Court of this Court (RTC) is hereby instructed, in accordance with the Rules of Court, to prepare and execute the appropriate and requisite conveyance and instrument in favor of herein plaintiff which, in either case, shall be registered with the Office of the Register of Deeds of Cebu City. Without costs in this instance. [4] The Facts The facts were summarized by the appellate court as follows: On September 19, 1970, the [respondent] filed the initiatory complaint herein for specific performance against her uncle [Petitioner] Miguel Cuenco which averred, inter alia that her father, the late Don Mariano Jesus Cuenco (who became Senator) and said [petitioner] formed the Cuenco and Cuenco Law Offices; that on or around August 4, 1931, the Cuenco and Cuenco Law Offices served as lawyers in two (2) cases entitled Valeriano Solon versus Zoilo Solon (Civil Case 9037) and Valeriano Solon versus Apolonia Solon (Civil Case 9040) involving a dispute among relatives over ownership of lot 903 of the Banilad Estate which is near the Cebu Provincial Capitol; that records of said cases indicate the name of the [petitioner] alone as counsel of record, but in truth and in fact, the real lawyer behind the success of said cases was the influential Don Mariano Jesus Cuenco; that after winning said cases, the awardees of Lot 903 subdivided said lot into three (3) parts as follows: Lot 903-A: 5,000 [square meters]: Mariano Cuencos attorneys fees Lot 903-B: 5,000 [square meters]: Miguel Cuencos attorneys fees Lot 903-C: 54,000 [square meters]: Solons retention That at the time of distribution of said three (3) lots in Cebu, Mariano Jesus Cuenco was actively practicing law in Manila, and so he entrusted his share (Lot 903-A) to his brother law partner (the [petitioner]); that on September 10, 1938, the [petitioner] was able to obtain in his own name a title for Lot 903-A (Transfer Certificate of Title [TCT] RT-6999 [T-21108]); that he was under the obligation to hold the title in trust for his brother Marianos children by first marriage; that sometime in 1947, the Cuenco family was anticipating Marianos second marriage, and so on February 1, 1947, they partitioned Lot 903-A into six (6) sub-lots (Lots 903-A-1 to