G.R. NO. 155394 - REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, VS. GREGORIO AGUNOY, SR., ET AL., SPOUSES EDUARDO AND ARCELITA MARQUEZ AND RURAL BANK OF GAPAN, NUEVA ECIJA.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

accordingly prayed for a judgment - Declaring Free Patent No. 314450 and the corresponding Original Certificate of Title No. P-4522 in the name of Gregorio Agunoy, as well as all other subsequent transfer certificates of title emanating therefrom , i.e., Transfer Certificates of Title Nos. NT-168972, NT-168973, NT-196579, NT-174635 to NT-174647 (inclusive), including all liens and encumbrances annotated thereon, null and void; Ordering defendants to surrender their owners duplicate copies of all subsequent transfer certificates of title emanating from Original Certificate of Title No. P-4522 to the Register of Deeds of Nueva Ecija; Directing the Register of Deeds of Nueva Ecija to cancel the aforesaid certificates of title; Ordering defendants and all those claiming under them to desist from exercising or representing acts of ownership and/or possession in the premises (Underscoring supplied). xxx xxx xxx Eventually, in a decision dated September 9, 1996, [5] the trial court rendered judgment for the Republic, thus: PREMISES CONSIDERED, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendants as follows: Declaring as null and void Free Patent No. 314450 and the corresponding Original Certificate of Title No. P-4522 in the name of Gregorio Agunoy, as well as all other subsequent transfer certificates of titles emanating therefrom (TCT Nos. NT-166270, NT-166271, NT- 168972, NT-168973, NT-168974, NT-166287 and NT-174634 to NT-174647, inclusive, of the Registry of Deeds of Nueva Ecija) including all liens and encumbrances annotated thereon; Ordering defendants to surrender their owner's duplicate copies of all the said subsequent transfer certificates of titles emanating from Original Certificate of Title No. P-4522 to the Register of Deeds of Nueva Ecija, and ordering the Register of Deeds to cancel the aforesaid certificates of titles; Ordering reversion of the pieces of land embraced in Free Patent No. 314450 and OCT No. P-4522 of the Registry of Deeds of Nueva Ecija, to the mass of public domain except the pieces of land which were already the subject of land registration proceedings; Ordering that henceforth the defendants and all those claiming under them to desist from disturbing the ownership of the government over the said pieces of land, and To pay costs of suits. For lack of evidence, the third-party complaint filed by the Rural Bank of Gapan, Inc. against defendants-Spouses Blandino Salva Cruz and Josefina Salva Cruz is hereby dismissed without pronouncement as to costs. SO ORDERED (Underscoring supplied). Therefrom, the spouses Eduardo Dee and Arcelita Marquez-Dee and the Rural Bank of Gapan, Nueva Ecija went to the Court of Appeals, whereat their recourse was docketed as CA-G.R. CV No. 55732 . As earlier stated herein, the appellate court, in a decision dated September 26, 2002, [6] reversed and set aside the appealed decision of the trial court, to wit: WHEREFORE, premises considered, the appeal is GRANTED and