Republic of the Philippines SUPREME COURT Manila EN BANC G.R. No.

5246 September 16, 1910 MANUELA GREY ALBA, ET AL., petitioners-appellants, vs. ANACLETO R. DE LA CRUZ, objector-appellee. Ramon Salinas, for appellants. Aniceto G. Reyes, for appellee. TRENT, J.: These petitioners, Manuela, Jose, Juan, and Francisco, surnamed Grey y Alba, are the only heirs of Doa Segunda Alba Clemente and Honorato Grey, deceased. Remedios Grey y Alba, a sister of the petitioners, was married on the 21st day of March, 1903, to Vicente Reyes and died on the 13th of July, 1905, without leaving any heirs except her husband. The four petitioners, as coowners, sought to have registered the following-described property: A parcel of land situated in the barrio of Talampas, municipality of Baliuag, Province of Bulacan, upon which are situated three houses and one camarin of light material, having a superficial area of 52 hectares, 51 ares, and 22 centares; bounded on the north by the highway (calzada) of Talampas and the lands of Rita Ruiz Mateo; on the east by the lands of the said Rita Ruiz Mateo, Hermenegildo Prado, Policarpo de Jesus, and a stream called Sapang Buslut; on the south by the same stream and the lands of the capellania; and on the west by the stream called Sapang Buslut, and the lands of Vicente de la Cruz, Jose Camacho and Domingo Ruiz Mateo. This parcel of agricultural land is used for the raising of rice and sugar cane and is assessed at $1,000 United States currency. The petition, which was filed on the 18th of December, 1906, was accompanied by a plan and technical description of the above-described parcel of land. After hearing the proofs presented, the court entered, on the 12th of February, 1908, a decree in accordance with the provisions of paragraph 6 of section 54 of Act No. 926, directing that the land described in the petitioner be registered in the names of the four petitioners, as coowners, subject to the usufructuary right of Vicente Reyes, widower of Remedios Grey. On the 16th of June, 1908, Anacleto Ratilla de la Cruz filed a motion in the Court of Land Registration asking for a revision of the case, including the decision, upon the ground that he is the absolute owner of the two parcels of land which are described in said motion, and which, according to his allegations, are included in the lands decreed to the petitioners. He alleged that the decree of February 12, 1908, was obtained maliciously and fraudulently by the petitioners, thereby depriving him of said two parcels of land. He further alleged that he was the absolute owner of the two parcels of land, having inherited them from his father, Baldomero R. de la Cruz, who had a state grant for the same. He therefore asked, under the provisions of section 38 of the Land Registration Act (No. 496), a revision of the case, and that the said decree be modified so as to exclude the two parcels of land described in said motion. The Land Court upon this motion reopened the case, and after hearing the additional evidence presented by both parties, rendered, on the 23rd of November, 1908, its decision modifying the former decree by excluding from the same the two parcels of land claimed by Anacleto Ratilla de la Cruz. From this decision and judgment the petitioners appealed and now insist, first, that the trial court erred in reopening the case and modifying its decree dated the 12th of February, 1908, for the reason that said decree was not obtained by means of fraud; and, second, that the court erred in holding that the two parcels of land described in the appellee's motion are not their property. It was agreed by counsel that the two small parcels now in dispute forma part of the land described in the petition and were included in the decree of February 12, 1908, and that the petitioners are the owners of the remainder of the land described in the said decree. The petitioners inherited this land from their parents, who acquired the same, including the two small parcels in question, by purchase, as is evidenced by a public document dated the 26th of November, 1864, duly executed before Francisco Iriarte, alcalde mayor and judge of the Court of First Instance of the Province of Bulacan. Baldomero R. de la Cruz, father of the appellee, obtained in march, 1895, a state grant for several parcels of land, including the two parcels in question. This grant was duly inscribed in the old register of property in Bulacan on the 6th of April of the same year. It is admitted that at the time the appellants presented their petition in this case the appellee was occupying the two parcels of land now in question. It is also admitted that the name of the appellee does

not appear in the said petition as an occupant of the said two parcels. The petitioners insist that the appellee was occupying these parcels as their tenant and for this reason they did not include his name in their petition, as an occupant, while the appellee contends that he was occupying the said parcels as the absolute owner under the estate grant by inheritance. The court below held that the failure on the part of the petitioners to include the name of the appellee in their petition, as an occupant of these two parcels of land, was a violation of section 21 of Act No. 496, and that this constituted fraud within the meaning of section 38 of said Land Registration Act. The trial court further held that the grant from the estate should prevail over the public document of purchase of 1864. The mother of the petitioners died on November 15, 1881; their father died prior to that time. Manuela, the oldest of the petitioners, was about six years of age when their mother died. So these children were minors when the father of the appellee obtained the estate grant. On the 13th of June, 1882, Jose Grey, uncle and representative of the petitioners, who were then minors, rented the land owned by the petitioners' deceased parents to one Irineo Jose for a period of three years. On the 23d of March, 1895, the said Jose Grey, as the representative of the petitioners, rented the same land for a period of six years to Baldomero R. de la Cruz, father of the appellee. This rental contract was duly executed in writing. This land was cultivated during these six years by Baldomero R. de la Cruz and his children, one of whom is the appellee. On the 14th of December, 1905, Jose Grey, for himself and the other petitioners, rented the same land to Estanislao R. de la Cruz for a period of two years. Estanislao de la Cruz on entering into this rental contract with Jose Grey did so for himself and his brothers, one of whom is the appellee. While the appellee admits that his father and brother entered into these rental contracts and did, in fact, cultivate the petitioners' land, nevertheless he insists that the two small parcels in question were not included in these contracts. In the rental contract between the uncle of the petitioners and he father of the appellee the land is not described. In the rental contract between Jose Grey, one of the petitioners, and Estanislao R. de la Cruz, brother of the appellee, the two small parcels of land in question are included, according to the description given therein. This was found to be true by the court below, but the said court held that as this contract was made by Estanislao R. de la Cruz it was not binding upon Anacleto R. de la Cruz, the appellee. The two small parcels of land in question were purchased by the parents of the petitioners in 1864, as is evidenced by the public document of purchase and sale of that year. The same two parcels of land are included in the state grant issued in favor of Baldomero Ratilla de la Cruz in 1895. This grant was obtained after the death of the petitioners' parents and while they were minors. So it is clear that the petitioners honestly believed that the appellee was occupying the said parcels as their lessee at the time they presented their application for registration. They did not act in bad faith, nor with any fraudulent intent, when they omitted to include in their application the name of the appellee as one of the occupants of the land. They believed that it was not necessary nor required that they include in their application the names of their tenants. Under these circumstances, did the court below commit an error in reopening this case in June, 1908, after its decree had been entered in February of the same year? The application for the registration is to be in writing, signed and sworn to by the applicant, or by some person duly authorized in his behalf. It is to contain an accurate description of the land. It shall contain the name in full and the address of the applicant, and also the names and addresses of all occupants of land and of all adjoining owners, if known; and, if not known, it shall state what search has been made to find them. In the form of notice given by statute, which shall be sworn to, the applicant is required to state and set forth clearly all mortgages or encumbrances affecting said land, if any, the rights and interests, legal or equitable, in the possession, remainder, reversion, or expectancy of all persons, with their names in full, together with their place of residence and post office addresses. Upon receipt of the application the clerk shall cause notice of the filling to be published twice in the Official Gazette. This published notice shall be directed to all persons appearing to have an interest in the land sought to be registered and to the adjoining owners, and also "to all whom it may concern." In addition to the notice in the Official Gazette the Land Court shall, within seven days after said publication, cause a copy of the notice, in Spanish, to be mailed by the clerk to every person named in the application whose address is known; to cause a duly attested copy of the notice, in Spanish, to be posted in a conspicuous place on every parcel of land included in the

application, and in a conspicuous place on the chief municipal building of the town in which the land is situated. The court may also cause other or further notice of the application to be given in such manner and to such persons as it may deem proper. The certificate of the clerk that he has served the notice as directed by the court by publication or mailing shall be conclusive proof of such service. Within the time allowed in the notices, if no person appears and answers, the court may at once, upon motion of the applicant, no reason to the contrary appearing, order a general default. By the description in the published notice "to all whom it may concern," and by express provisions of law "all the word are made parties defendant and shall be concluded by the default an order." If the court, after hearing, finds that the applicant has title, as stated in his application, a decree or registration shall be entered. Every decree of registration shall bind the land and quiet title thereto, subject only to the exceptions stated in the following section. It shall be conclusive upon and against all persons, including the Insular Government, and all the branches thereof, whether mentioned by name in the application, notice, or citation, or included in the general description "to all whom it may concern." Such decree shall not be opened by reason of the absence, infancy, or other disability of any person affected thereby, nor by any proceedings in any court for reversing judgments or decrees; subject, however, to the right of any person deprived of land or of any estate or interest therein by decree of registration obtained by fraud to file in the Court of Land Registration a petition for review within one year. . . . (Sec. 38 of Act No. 496.) The appellee is not included in any of the exceptions named in section 38 referred to above. It will be seen that the applicant is required to mention not only the outstanding interest which he admits but also all claims of interest, though denied by him. By express provision of law the world are made parties defendant by the description in the notice "to all whom it may concern." Although the appellee, occupying the two small parcels of land in question under the circumstances as we have set forth, was not served with notice, he was made a party defendant by publication; and the entering of a decree on the 12th of February, 1908, must be held to be conclusive against all persons, including the appellee, whether his (appellee's) name is mentioned in the application, notice, or citation. The said decree of February 12, 1908, should not have been opened on account of the absence, infancy, or other disability of any person affected thereby, and could have been opened only on the ground that the said decree had been obtained by fraud. That decree was not obtained by fraud on the part of the applicants, inasmuch as they honestly believed that the appellee was occupying these two small parcels of land as their tenant. One of the petitioner went upon the premises with the surveyor when the original plan was made. Proof of constructive fraud is not sufficient to authorize the Court of Land Registration to reopen a case and modify its decree. Specific, intentional acts to deceive and deprive anther of his right, or in some manner injure him, must be alleged and proved; that is, there must be actual or positive fraud as distinguished from constructive fraud. The question as to the meaning of the word "fraud" in the Australian statutes has been frequently raised. Two distinctions have been noted by the Australian courts; the first is the distinction between the meaning of the word "fraud" in the sections relating to the conclusive effect of certificates of title, and its meaning in the sections relating to the protection of bona fide purchasers from registered proprietors. The second is the distinction between "legal," "equitable," or "constructive" fraud, and "actual" or "moral" fraud. In none of the groups of the sections of the Australian statutes relating to the conclusive effect of certificates of title, and in which fraud is referred to, is there any express indication of the meaning of "fraud," with the sole exception of that of the South Australian group. (Hogg on Australian Torrens System, p. 834.) With regard to decisions on the sections relating to the conclusive effect of certificates of title, it has been held in some cases that the "fraud" there mentioned means actual or moral fraud, not merely constructive or legal fraud. In other cases "fraud" has been said to include constructive, legal, and every kind of fraud. In other cases, against, knowledge of other persons' right, and the deliberate acquisition of registered title in the face of such knowledge, has been held to be "fraud" which rendered voidable the certificates of title so obtained; and voluntary ignorance is, for this purpose, the same as knowledge. But in none of these three classes of cases was there absent the element of intention to deprive another of just rights,

which constitutes the essential characteristics of actual as distinguished from legal-fraud. (Id., p. 835, and cases cited in notes Nos. 85, 86, 87, 88, and 89 at bottom of pages 835 and 836.) By "fraud" is meant actual fraud-dishonesty of some sort. (Judgment of Privy Council in Assets Co. vs. Mere Roihi, and Assets Co. vs. Panapa Waihopi, decided in March, 1905, cited by Hogg in his Supplementary Addendum to his work on Australian Torrens System, supra.) The same meaning should be given to the word "fraud" used in section 38 of our statutes (Act No. 496). The question as to whether any particular transaction shows fraud, within the meaning of the word as used in our statutes, will in each case be a question of fact. We will not attempt to say what acts would constitutes this kind of fraud in other cases. This must be determined from the fact an circumstances in each particular case. The only question we are called upon to determine, and have determined, is whether or not, under the facts and circumstances in this case, the petitioners did obtain the decree of February 12, 1908, by means of fraud. It might be urged that the appellee has been deprived of his property without due process of law, in violation of section 5 of the Act of Congress of July 1, 1902, known as the Philippine Bill," which provides "that no law shall be enacted in the said Islands which shall deprive any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law." The Land Registration Act requires that all occupants be named in the petition and given notice by registered mail. This did not do the appellee any good, as he was not notified; but he was made a party defendant, as we have said, by means of the publication "to all whom it may concern." If this section of the Act is to be upheld this must be declared to be due process of law. Before examining the validity of this part of the Act it might be well to note the history and purpose of what is known as the "Torrens Land Registration System." This system was introduced in South Australia by Sir Robert Torrens in 1857 and was there worked out in its practicable form. The main principle of registration is to make registered titles indefeasible. As we have said, upon the presentation in the Court of Land Registration of an application for the registration of the title to lands, under this system, the theory of the law is that all occupants, adjoining owners, adverse claimants, and other interested persons are notified of the proceedings, and have have a right to appear in opposition to such application. In other words, the proceeding is against the whole word. This system was evidently considered by the Legislature to be a public project when it passed Act No. 496. The interest of the community at large was considered to be preferred to that of private individuals. At the close of this nineteenth century, all civilized nations are coming to registration of title to land, because immovable property is becoming more and more a matter of commercial dealing, and there can be no trade without security. (Dumas's Lectures, p. 23.) The registered proprietor will no longer have reasons to fear that he may evicted because his vendor had, unknown to him, already sold the and to a third person. . . The registered proprietor may feel himself protected against any defect in his vendor's title. (Id., p. 21.) The following summary of benefits of the system of registration of titles, made by Sir Robert Torrens, has been fully justified in its use: First. It has substituted security for insecurity. Second. It has reduced the costs of conveyances from pounds to shillings, and the time occupied from months to days. Third. It has exchanged brevity and clearness for obscurity and verbiage. Fourth. It has so simplified ordinary dealings that he who has mastered the "three R's" can transact his own conveyancing. Fifth. It affords protection against fraud. Sixth. It has restored to their just value many estates held under good holding titles, but depreciated in consequence of some blur or technical defect, and has barred the reoccurrence of any similar faults. (Sheldon on Land Registration, pp. 75, 76.) The boldest effort to grapple with the problem of simplification of title to land was made by Mr. (afterwards Sir Robert) Torrens, a layman, in South Australia in 1857. . . . In the Torrens system title by registrationtakes the place of "title by deeds" of the system under the "general" law. A sale of land, for example, is effected by a registered transfer, upon which a certificate of title is issued. The

certificate is guaranteed by statute, and, with certain exceptions, constitutes indefeasible title to the land mentioned therein. Under the old system the same sale would be effected by a conveyance, depending for its validity, apart from intrinsic flaws, on the correctness of a long series of prior deeds, wills, etc. . . . The object of the Torrens system, them, is to do away with the delay, uncertainty, and expense of the old conveyancing system. (Duffy & Eagleson on The Transfer of Land Act, 1890, pp. 2, 3, 5, 7.) By "Torrens" system generally are meant those systems of registration of transactions with interest in land whose declared object . . . is, under governmental authority, to establish and certify to the ownership of an absolute and indefeasible title to realty, and to simplify its transfer. (Hogg on Australian Torrens system,supra, pp. 1, 2.) Compensation for errors from assurance funds is provided in all countries in which the Torrens system has been enacted. Cases of error no doubt will always occur. The percentage of errors, as compared with the number of registered dealings in Australia, is very small. In New South Wales there were, in 1889, 209, 894 registered dealings, the average risk of error being only 2 cents for each dealing. In Queensland the risk of error was only 1 cents, the number of registered dealings being 233,309. In Tasmania and in Western Australia not a cent was paid for compensation for errors during the whole time of operation, (Dumas's Lectures, supra, p. 96.) This system has been adopted in various countries of the civilized world, including some of the States of the American Union, and practical experience has demonstrated that it has been successful as a public project. The validity of some of the provisions of the statutes adopting the Torrens system has been the subject of judicial decision in the courts of the United States. (People vs. Chase, 165 Ill., 527; State vs. Guilbert, 56 Ohio St., 575; People vs. Simon, 176 Ill., 165; Tyler vs. Judges, 175 Mass., 71.) Act No. 496 of the Philippine Commission, known as the "Land Registration Act," was copied substantially from the Massachussetts law of 1898. The Illinois and Massachusetts statutes were upheld by the supreme courts of those States. It is not enough to show a procedure to be unconstitutional to say that we never heard of it before. (Tylervs. Judges, supra; Hurtado vs. California, 110 U. S., 516.) Looked at either from the point of view of history or of the necessary requirements of justice, a proceedingin rem dealing with a tangible res may be instituted and carried to judgment without personal service upon claimants within the State or notice by name to those outside of it, and not encounter any provision of either constitution. Jurisdiction is secured by the power of the court over the res. As we have said, such a proceeding would be impossible, were this not so, for it hardly would do to make a distinction between the constitutional rights of claimants who were known and those who were not known to the plaintiff, when the proceeding is to bar all. (Tyler vs. Judges, supra.) This same doctrine is annunciated in Pennoyer vs. Neff (95 U. S., 714); The Mary (9 Cranch, 126); Mankin vs. Chandler (2 Brock., 125); Brown vs. Levee Commission (50 Miss., 468); 2 Freeman, Judgments, 4th ed., secs. 606, 611. If the technical object of the suit is to establish a claim against some particular person, with a judgment which generally, in theory at least, binds his body, or to bar some individual claim or objection, so that only certain persons are entitled to be heard in defense, the action is in personam, although it may concern the right to or possession of a tangible thing. If, on the other hand, the object is to bar indifferently all who might be minded to make an objection of any sort against the right sought to be established, and if anyone in the world has a right to be heard on the strenght of alleging facts which, if true, show an inconsistent interest, the proceeding is in rem. (Tyler vs. Judges, supra.) In the case of Hamilton vs. Brown (161 U. S., 256) a judgment of escheat was held conclusive upon persons notified by advertisement to all persons interested. In this jurisdiction, by the provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure, Act No. 190, a decree allowing or disallowing a will binds everybody, although the only notice of the proceedings given is by general notice to all persons interested. The supreme court Massachusetts, in the case of Tyler vs. Judges (supra), did not rest its judgment as to the conclusive effect of the decree upon the ground that the State has absolute power to

determine the persons to whom a man's property shall go at his death, but upon the characteristics of a proceeding in rem. So we conclude that the proceedings had in the case at bar, under all the facts and circumstances, especially the absolute lack on the part of the petitioners of any dishonest intent to deprive the appellee of any right, or in any way injure him, constitute due process of law. As to whether or not the appellee can succesfully maintain an action under the provisions of sections 101 and 102 of the Land Registration Act (secs. 2365, 2366, Compilation) we do not decide. For these reasons we are of the opinion, and so hold, that the judgment appealed from should be, and the same is hereby reversed and judgment entered in favor of the petitioners in conformity with the decree of the lower court of February 12, 1908, without special ruling as to costs. It is so ordered.

G.R. No. L-8936 October 2, 1915 CONSUELO LEGARDA, with her husband MAURO PRIETO, plaintiffsappellants, vs. N.M. SALEEBY, defendant-appellee. Singson, Ledesma and Lim for appellants. D.R. Williams for appellee. JOHNSON, J.: From the record the following facts appear: First. That the plaintiffs and the defendant occupy, as owners, adjoining lots in the district of Ermita in the city of Manila. Second. That there exists and has existed a number of years a stone wall between the said lots. Said wall is located on the lot of the plaintiffs. Third. That the plaintiffs, on the 2d day of March, 1906, presented a petition in the Court of Land Registration for the registration of their lot. After a consideration of said petition the court, on the 25th day of October, 1906, decreed that the title of the plaintiffs should be registered and issued to them the original certificate provided for under the torrens system. Said registration and certificate included the wall. Fourth. Later the predecessor of the defendant presented a petition in the Court of Land Registration for the registration of the lot now occupied by him. On the 25th day of March, 1912, the court decreed the registration of said title and issued the original certificate provided for under the torrens system. The description of the lot given in the petition of the defendant also included said wall. Fifth. Several months later (the 13th day of December, 1912) the plaintiffs discovered that the wall which had been included in the certificate granted to them had also been included in the certificate granted to the defendant .They immediately presented a petition in the Court of Land Registration for an adjustment and correction of the error committed by including said wall in the registered title of each of said parties. The lower court however, without notice to the defendant, denied said petition upon the theory that, during the pendency of the petition for the registration of the defendant's land, they failed to make any objection to the registration of said lot, including the wall, in the name of the defendant. Sixth. That the land occupied by t he wall is registered in the name of each of the owners of the adjoining lots. The wall is not a joint wall. Under these facts, who is the owner of the wall and the land occupied by it? The decision of the lower court is based upon the theory that the action for the registration of the lot of the defendant was a judicial proceeding and that the judgment or decree was binding upon all parties who did not appear and oppose it. In other words, by reason of the fact that the plaintiffs had not opposed the registration of that part of the lot on which the wall was situate they had lost it, even though it had been theretofore registered in their name. Granting that theory to be correct one, and granting even that the wall and the land occupied by it, in fact, belonged to the defendant and his predecessors, then the same theory should be applied to the defendant himself. Applying that theory to him, he had already lost whatever right he had therein, by permitting the plaintiffs to have the same registered in their name, more than six years before. Having thus lost hid right, may he be permitted to regain it by simply including it in a petition for registration? The plaintiffs having secured the registration of their lot, including the wall, were they obliged to constantly be on the alert and to watch all the proceedings in the land court to see that some one else was not having all, or a portion of the same, registered? If that question is to be answered in the affirmative, then the whole scheme and purpose of the torrens system of land registration must fail. The real purpose of that system is to quiet title to land; to put a stop forever to

any question of the legality of the title, except claims which were noted at the time of registration, in the certificate, or which may arise subsequent thereto. That being the purpose of the law, it would seem that once a title is registered the owner may rest secure, without the necessity of waiting in the portals of the court, or sitting in the "mirador de su casa," to avoid the possibility of losing his land. Of course, it can not be denied that the proceeding for the registration of land under the torrens system is judicial (Escueta vs. .Director of Lands, 16 Phil. Rep., 482). It is clothed with all the forms of an action and the result is final and binding upon all the world. It is an action in rem. (Escueta vs. Director of Lands (supra); Grey Alba vs. De la Cruz, 17 Phil. rep., 49 Roxas vs. Enriquez, 29 Phil. Rep., 31; Tyler vs. Judges, 175 Mass., 51 American Land Co. vs. Zeiss, 219 U.S., 47.) While the proceeding is judicial, it involves more in its consequences than does an ordinary action. All the world are parties, including the government. After the registration is complete and final and there exists no fraud, there are no innocent third parties who may claim an interest. The rights of all the world are foreclosed by the decree of registration. The government itself assumes the burden of giving notice to all parties. To permit persons who are parties in the registration proceeding (and they are all the world) to again litigate the same questions, and to again cast doubt upon the validity of the registered title, would destroy the very purpose and intent of the law. The registration, under the torrens system, does not give the owner any better title than he had. If he does not already have a perfect title, he can not have it registered. Fee simple titles only may be registered. The certificate of registration accumulates in open document a precise and correct statement of the exact status of the fee held by its owner. The certificate, in the absence of fraud, is the evidence of title and shows exactly the real interest of its owner. The title once registered, with very few exceptions, should not thereafter be impugned, altered, changed, modified, enlarged, or diminished, except in some direct proceeding permitted by law. Otherwise all security in registered titles would be lost. A registered title can not be altered, modified, enlarged, or diminished in a collateral proceeding and not even by a direct proceeding, after the lapse of the period prescribed by law. For the difficulty involved in the present case the Act (No. 496) providing for the registration of titles under the torrens system affords us no remedy. There is no provision in said Act giving the parties relief under conditions like the present. There is nothing in the Act which indicates who should be the owner of land which has been registered in the name of two different persons. The rule, we think, is well settled that the decree ordering the registration of a particular parcel of land is a bar to future litigation over the same between the same parties .In view of the fact that all the world are parties, it must follow that future litigation over the title is forever barred; there can be no persons who are not parties to the action. This, we think, is the rule, except as to rights which are noted in the certificate or which arise subsequently, and with certain other exceptions which need not be dismissed at present. A title once registered can not be defeated, even by an adverse, open, and notorious possession. Registered title under the torrens system can not be defeated by prescription (section 46, Act No. 496). The title, once registered, is notice to the world. All persons must take notice. No one can plead ignorance of the registration. The question, who is the owner of land registered in the name of two different persons, has been presented to the courts in other jurisdictions. In some jurisdictions, where the "torrens" system has been adopted, the difficulty has been settled by express statutory provision. In others it has been settled by the courts. Hogg, in his excellent discussion of the "Australian Torrens System," at page 823, says: "The general rule is that in the case of two certificates of title, purporting to include the same land, the earlier in date prevails, whether the land comprised in the latter certificate be wholly, or only in part, comprised in the earlier certificate. (Oelkers vs. Merry, 2 Q.S.C.R., 193; Miller vs. Davy, 7 N.Z.R., 155; Lloyd vs. Myfield, 7 A.L.T. (V.) 48; Stevens vs. Williams, 12 V.L. R., 152; Register of Titles, vs. Esperance Land Co., 1 W.A.R., 118.)" Hogg adds however that, "if it can be very clearly ascertained by the ordinary rules of construction relating to written documents, that the inclusion of the land in the certificate of title of prior date is a mistake, the mistake may be rectified by holding the latter of the two certificates of title to be conclusive." (See Hogg on the "Australian torrens System," supra, and cases cited. See also the excellent work of Niblack in his "Analysis of the Torrens System," page 99.) Niblack, in discussing the general question, said: "Where two certificates purport to include the same land the earlier in date prevails. ... In successive registrations, where more than one certificate is issued in respect of a particular estate or interest in land, the person claiming under the prior certificates is entitled to the estate or interest; and that person is deemed to hold under the prior certificate who is the holder of, or

whose claim is derived directly or indirectly from the person who was the holder of the earliest certificate issued in respect thereof. While the acts in this country do not expressly cover the case of the issue of two certificates for the same land, they provide that a registered owner shall hold the title, and the effect of this undoubtedly is that where two certificates purport to include the same registered land, the holder of the earlier one continues to hold the title" (p. 237). Section 38 of Act No. 496, provides that; "It (the decree of registration) shall be conclusive upon and against all persons, including the Insular Government and all the branches thereof, whether mentioned by name in the application, notice, or citation, or included in the general description "To all whom it may concern." Such decree shall not be opened by reason of the absence, infancy, or other disability of any person affected thereby, nor by any proceeding in any court for reversing judgments or decrees; subject, however, to the right of any person deprived of land or of any estate or interest therein by decree of registration obtained by fraud to file in the Court of Land Registration a petition for review within one year after entry of the decree (of registration), provided no innocent purchaser for value has acquired an interest. It will be noted, from said section, that the "decree of registration" shall not be opened, for any reason, in any court, except for fraud, and not even for fraud, after the lapse of one year. If then the decree of registration can not be opened for any reason, except for fraud, in a direct proceeding for that purpose, may such decree be opened or set aside in a collateral proceeding by including a portion of the land in a subsequent certificate or decree of registration? We do not believe the law contemplated that a person could be deprived of his registered title in that way. We have in this jurisdiction a general statutory provision which governs the right of the ownership of land when the same is registered in the ordinary registry in the name of two persons. Article 1473 of the Civil Code provides, among other things, that when one piece of real property had been sold to two different persons it shall belong to the person acquiring it, who first inscribes it in the registry. This rule, of course, presupposes that each of the vendees or purchasers has acquired title to the land. The real ownership in such a case depends upon priority of registration. While we do not now decide that the general provisions of the Civil Code are applicable to the Land Registration Act, even though we see no objection thereto, yet we think, in the absence of other express provisions, they should have a persuasive influence in adopting a rule for governing the effect of a double registration under said Act. Adopting the rule which we believe to be more in consonance with the purposes and the real intent of the torrens system, we are of the opinion and so decree that in case land has been registered under the Land Registration Act in the name of two different persons, the earlier in date shall prevail. In reaching the above conclusion, we have not overlooked the forceful argument of the appellee. He says, among other things; "When Prieto et al. were served with notice of the application of Teus (the predecessor of the defendant) they became defendants in a proceeding wherein he, Teus, was seeking to foreclose their right, and that of orders, to the parcel of land described in his application. Through their failure to appear and contest his right thereto, and the subsequent entry of a default judgment against them, they became irrevocably bound by the decree adjudicating such land to Teus. They had their day in court and can not set up their own omission as ground for impugning the validity of a judgment duly entered by a court of competent jurisdiction. To decide otherwise would be to hold that lands with torrens titles are above the law and beyond the jurisdiction of the courts". As was said above, the primary and fundamental purpose of the torrens system is to quiet title. If the holder of a certificate cannot rest secure in this registered title then the purpose of the law is defeated. If those dealing with registered land cannot rely upon the certificate, then nothing has been gained by the registration and the expense incurred thereby has been in vain. If the holder may lose a strip of his registered land by the method adopted in the present case, he may lose it all. Suppose within the six years which elapsed after the plaintiff had secured their title, they had mortgaged or sold their right, what would be the position or right of the mortgagee or vendee? That mistakes are bound to occur cannot be denied, and sometimes the damage done thereby is irreparable. It is the duty of the courts to adjust the rights of the parties under such circumstances so as to minimize such damages, taking into consideration al of the conditions and the diligence of the respective parties to avoid them. In the present case, the appellee was the first negligent (granting that he was the real owner, and if he was not the real owner he can not complain) in not opposing the registration in the name of the appellants. He was a party-defendant

in an action for the registration of the lot in question, in the name of the appellants, in 1906. "Through his failure to appear and to oppose such registration, and the subsequent entry of a default judgment against him, he became irrevocably bound by the decree adjudicating such land to the appellants. He had his day in court and should not be permitted to set up his own omissions as the ground for impugning the validity of a judgment duly entered by a court of competent jurisdiction." Granting that he was the owner of the land upon which the wall is located, his failure to oppose the registration of the same in the name of the appellants, in the absence of fraud, forever closes his mouth against impugning the validity of that judgment. There is no more reason why the doctrine invoked by the appellee should be applied to the appellants than to him. We have decided, in case of double registration under the Land Registration Act, that the owner of the earliest certificate is the owner of the land. That is the rule between original parties. May this rule be applied to successive vendees of the owners of such certificates? Suppose that one or the other of the parties, before the error is discovered, transfers his original certificate to an "innocent purchaser." The general rule is that the vendee of land has no greater right, title, or interest than his vendor; that he acquires the right which his vendor had, only. Under that rule the vendee of the earlier certificate would be the owner as against the vendee of the owner of the later certificate. We find statutory provisions which, upon first reading, seem to cast some doubt upon the rule that the vendee acquires the interest of the vendor only. Sections 38, 55, and 112 of Act No. 496 indicate that the vendee may acquire rights and be protected against defenses which the vendor would not. Said sections speak of available rights in favor of third parties which are cut off by virtue of the sale of the land to an "innocent purchaser." That is to say, persons who had had a right or interest in land wrongfully included in an original certificate would be unable to enforce such rights against an "innocent purchaser," by virtue of the provisions of said sections. In the present case Teus had his land, including the wall, registered in his name. He subsequently sold the same to the appellee. Is the appellee an "innocent purchaser," as that phrase is used in said sections? May those who have been deprived of their land by reason of a mistake in the original certificate in favor of Teus be deprived of their right to the same, by virtue of the sale by him to the appellee? Suppose the appellants had sold their lot, including the wall, to an "innocent purchaser," would such purchaser be included in the phrase "innocent purchaser," as the same is used in said sections? Under these examples there would be two innocent purchasers of the same land, is said sections are to be applied .Which of the two innocent purchasers, if they are both to be regarded as innocent purchasers, should be protected under the provisions of said sections? These questions indicate the difficulty with which we are met in giving meaning and effect to the phrase "innocent purchaser," in said sections. May the purchaser of land which has been included in a "second original certificate" ever be regarded as an "innocent purchaser," as against the rights or interest of the owner of the first original certificate, his heirs, assigns, or vendee? The first original certificate is recorded in the public registry. It is never issued until it is recorded. The record notice to all the world. All persons are charged with the knowledge of what it contains. All persons dealing with the land so recorded, or any portion of it, must be charged with notice of whatever it contains. The purchaser is charged with notice of every fact shown by the record and is presumed to know every fact which the record discloses .This rule is so well established that it is scarcely necessary to cite authorities in its support (Northwestern National Bank vs. Freeman, 171 U.S., 620, 629; Delvin on Real Estate, sections 710, 710 [a]). When a conveyance has been properly recorded such record is constructive notice of its contents and all interests, legal and equitable, included therein. (Grandin vs. Anderson, 15 Ohio State, 286, 289; Orvis vs. Newell, 17 Conn., 97; Buchanan vs. Intentional Bank, 78 Ill., 500; Youngs vs. Wilson, 27 N.Y., 351; McCabe vs. Grey, 20 Cal., 509; Montefiore vs. Browne, 7 House of Lords Cases, 341.) Under the rule of notice, it is presumed that the purchaser has examined every instrument of record affecting the title. Such presumption is irrebutable. He is charged with notice of every fact shown by the record and is presumed to know every fact which an examination of the record would have disclosed. This presumption cannot be overcome by proof of innocence or good faith. Otherwise the very purpose and object of the law requiring a record would be destroyed. Such presumption cannot be defeated by proof of want of knowledge of what the record contains any more than one may be permitted to show that he was ignorant of the provisions of the law. The rule that all persons must take notice of the

facts which the public record contains is a rule of law. The rule must be absolute. Any variation would lead to endless confusion and useless litigation. While there is no statutory provision in force here requiring that original deeds of conveyance of real property be recorded, yet there is a rule requiring mortgages to be recorded. (Arts. 1875 and 606 of the Civil Code.) The record of a mortgage is indispensable to its validity. (Art .1875.) In the face of that statute would the courts allow a mortgage to be valid which had not been recorded, upon the plea of ignorance of the statutory provision, when third parties were interested? May a purchaser of land, subsequent to the recorded mortgage, plead ignorance of its existence, and by reason of such ignorance have the land released from such lien? Could a purchaser of land, after the recorded mortgage, be relieved from the mortgage lien by the plea that he was abona fide purchaser? May there be a bona fide purchaser of said land, bona fide in the sense that he had no knowledge of the existence of the mortgage? We believe the rule that all persons must take notice of what the public record contains in just as obligatory upon all persons as the rule that all men must know the law; that no one can plead ignorance of the law. The fact that all men know the law is contrary to the presumption. The conduct of men, at times, shows clearly that they do not know the law. The rule, however, is mandatory and obligatory, notwithstanding. It would be just as logical to allow the defense of ignorance of the existence and contents of a public record. In view, therefore, of the foregoing rules of law, may the purchaser of land from the owner of the second original certificate be an "innocent purchaser," when a part or all of such land had theretofore been registered in the name of another, not the vendor? We are of the opinion that said sections 38, 55, and 112 should not be applied to such purchasers. We do not believe that the phrase "innocent purchaser should be applied to such a purchaser. He cannot be regarded as an "innocent purchaser" because of the facts contained in the record of the first original certificate. The rule should not be applied to the purchaser of a parcel of land the vendor of which is not the owner of the original certificate, or his successors. He, in nonsense, can be an "innocent purchaser" of the portion of the land included in another earlier original certificate. The rule of notice of what the record contains precludes the idea of innocence. By reason of the prior registry there cannot be an innocent purchaser of land included in a prior original certificate and in a name other than that of the vendor, or his successors. In order to minimize the difficulties we think this is the safe rule to establish. We believe the phrase "innocent purchaser," used in said sections, should be limited only to cases where unregistered land has been wrongfully included in a certificate under the torrens system. When land is once brought under the torrens system, the record of the original certificate and all subsequent transfers thereof is notice to all the world. That being the rule, could Teus even regarded as the holder in good fifth of that part of the land included in his certificate of the appellants? We think not. Suppose, for example, that Teus had never had his lot registered under the torrens system. Suppose he had sold his lot to the appellee and had included in his deed of transfer the very strip of land now in question. Could his vendee be regarded as an "innocent purchaser" of said strip? Would his vendee be an "innocent purchaser" of said strip? Certainly not. The record of the original certificate of the appellants precludes the possibility. Has the appellee gained any right by reason of the registration of the strip of land in the name of his vendor? Applying the rule of notice resulting from the record of the title of the appellants, the question must be answered in the negative. We are of the opinion that these rules are more in harmony with the purpose of Act No. 496 than the rule contended for by the appellee. We believe that the purchaser from the owner of the later certificate, and his successors, should be required to resort to his vendor for damages, in case of a mistake like the present, rather than to molest the holder of the first certificate who has been guilty of no negligence. The holder of the first original certificate and his successors should be permitted to rest secure in their title, against one who had acquired rights in conflict therewith and who had full and complete knowledge of their rights. The purchaser of land included in the second original certificate, by reason of the facts contained in the public record and the knowledge with which he is charged and by reason of his negligence, should suffer the loss, if any, resulting from such purchase, rather than he who has obtained the first certificate and who was innocent of any act of negligence. The foregoing decision does not solve, nor pretend to solve, all the difficulties resulting from double registration under the torrens system and the subsequent transfer of the land. Neither do we now attempt to decide the effect of the former registration in the ordinary registry upon the registration under the torrens system. We are inclined to the view, without deciding it, that the record under the

torrens system, supersede all other registries. If that view is correct then it will be sufficient, in dealing with land registered and recorded alone. Once land is registered and recorded under the torrens system, that record alone can be examined for the purpose of ascertaining the real status of the title to the land. It would be seen to a just and equitable rule, when two persons have acquired equal rights in the same thing, to hold that the one who acquired it first and who has complied with all the requirements of the law should be protected. In view of our conclusions, above stated, the judgment of the lower court should be and is hereby revoked. The record is hereby returned to the court now having and exercising the jurisdiction heretofore exercised by the land court, with direction to make such orders and decrees in the premises as may correct the error heretofore made in including the land in the second original certificate issued in favor of the predecessor of the appellee, as well as in all other duplicate certificates issued. Without any findings as to costs, it is so ordered.

G.R. No. 83383 May 6, 1991 SOLID STATE MULTI-PRODUCTS CORPORATION, petitioner, vs. THE COURT OF APPEALS (Former Sixth Division) and THE INTESTATE ESTATE OF ANTENOR S. VIRATA and the DEVELOPMENT BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondents. Antonio M. Chavez for petitioner. Rodolfo M. Dela Rosa for respondent Intestate Estate of Antenor S. Virata. MEDIALDEA, J.:p This is a petition for review on certiorari of the decision of the Court of Appeals which affirmed the decision of the trial court dismissing the complaint filed by petitioner for quieting of title and declaring Antenor Virata as the true and lawful owner of the disputed property. The antecedent facts are as follows: On September 28, 1982, petitioner, a domestic corporation, filed an action for quieting of title against the respondent estate of Virata alleging that it is the registered owner of a parcel of land located at Imus, Cavite, with an area of 48,182 sq. meters, covered by Certificate of Title No. T-80889 of the Register of Deeds of Cavite, which was issued on February 24, 1976; that Virata, during his lifetime thru the use of fraud, caused the issuance of Certificate of Title No. T11520 RT 1660 on September 1, 1959 thru an administrative reconstitution of a nonexistent original title covering the same parcel of land; that by reason of the said reconstitution and subsequent issuance of TCT No. T-11520 RT 1660, there now exists a cloud on the title of petitioner. As gathered by the respondent appellate court and trial court, the evidence for the petitioner consists of the following: Pursuant to the provisions of Act No. 32, as amended, Julian Pearanda submitted with the Bureau of Lands, thru its District Land Office at Rosario, Cavite an application dated November 22, 1968, in a verified Indorsement dated November 25, 1968, to purchase a friar land which was subscribed and sworn to before Manuel Cupino, Acting District Land Officer (Exh. "D"). The application covers Lot No. 7449 of the Imus Friar Lands Estate, situated at Barrio Molino, Bacoor, Cavite, containing an area of 4 hectares, 81 ares and 82 centares. Said application was accompanied by a "SALAYSAY" (Exhibit "A") signed and sworn to by one Mabini Legaspi before said District Land Officer Cupino, purporting to transfer to, and to waive in favor of, Julian Pearanda, all the rights of executor to Lot No. 7449. Following the routine in cases of this nature, District Land Officer Cupino referred to Land Investigator Alberto Buhain for investigation and in a verified Indorsement dated November 25, 1968, said investigator made a Report (Exh. "B") on the result of his investigation, to District Land Officer Cupino, District Land Office No. III-8 Bureau of Lands, Rosario, Cavite, certifying that applicant Julian Pearanda is the actual occupant of Lot No. 7449, has introduced improvements consisting of upland rice and other seasonal crops; that Pearanda's

occupation of the land is derived through a voluntary assignment of right of the former occupant, Mabini Legaspi, and that the same is free from claims and conflicts and that the said applicant has established his rights over the subject land, in view of which, said investigator recommended that said lot be awarded to applicant Julian Pearanda according to law. Thereafter, the Report having been submitted to Cupino, the latter directed investigator Buhain to prepare an Information Sheet (Exh. "G" up to "G3") and Cupino made the Appraisal Report (Exh. "E-2"). The above requirements having been accomplished, District Land Officer Cupino forwarded Pearanda's application to the Director of Lands, thru the Chief, Land Management Division, recommending disposition of Lot No. 7449 be made in accordance with the findings of his office, to Julian Pearanda, pursuant to the provisions of C.A. of No. 32, as amended. By second Indorsement dated December 16, 1968, Higinio P. Sunico, Chief, Land Management Division, acting for and in behalf of the Director of Lands, forwarded to the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, the application of Julian Pearanda, recommending that Lot No. 7449 be sold to said applicant without public auction for a sum of P1,198.00 (Exh. "I") and by a 3rd Indorsement dated December 16, 1969, the application of Julian Pearanda was returned by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources, to the Director of Lands, Manila, approving that sale without auction, to Julian Pearanda, of lot No. 7449. Pursuant to this approval, the Director of Lands authorized the District Land Officer, Rosario, Cavite, to sell without auction to Julian Pearanda, and directing that the sales contract should be executed soonest (Exh- "I"). The Director of Lands and Julian Pearanda executed, therefore, Sales Contract No. V-447 (Exh. "K"), on February 28, 1969, for a consideration of P1,198.00, to be paid in ten (10) monthly installments, the first installment of P290.00 having been paid upon execution of the sales contract and the payment of the P1,198.00 was fully paid on August 6, 1969 (Exh. "O"). The contract price of the land having been paid by Pearanda, Undersecretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources Isoceles Pascual, on August 13, 1969, issued the final deed of conveyance of lot No. 7449 (Exh. "8") in favor of Julian Pearanda and the said deed of conveyance contains the physical and technical description of the lot in question (See Exh. "S-l"). xxx xxx xxx On the basis of said Deed of Conveyance No. 10431, the Register of Deeds of Cavite issued on November 14, 1969 in favor of Julian Pearanda TCT No. T-39631 (Exh. "Z-6") which on its face shows it to have come from a direct transfer from OCT no. 1002, and on February 17, 1976, the plaintiff, by way of a Deed of Absolute Sale (Exh. "Z") bought said Lot No. 7449 as a consequence of which, TCT No. T-39631 was cancelled and new TCT No. T-80889 was issued on February 24, 1976 to the plaintiff, Solid State Multi Products Corporation. Plaintiff Solid State Multi-Products Corporation enrolled Lot No. 7449 with the issuance of Tax Declaration No. 20893 which was superseded by Tax Declaration No. 10973 and continued to religiously pay the realty taxes as covered by receipts of tax payments (Exh. for 1977 and Exh. "7-19" for 1984) and the subject property is in its actual possession since its acquisition from Pearanda up to the present. (pp. 109112, Rollo (Emphasis Ours) On the other hand, respondent Virata denied the allegations in the complaint and presented evidence to prove his claim over the land. The appellate court and trial court made the following findings:

. . . on March 20, 1943, the Director of Lands, Mr. Jose F. Dans, gave authority to sell at public auction Lot No. 7449 of the Imus Estate, containing an area of 4.8182 hectares at the price of not less than its appraised value of P290.00 (Exh. X-33). Accordingly on April 20, 1943, the Bureau of Friar Lands Agent Severo Rivera issued a Notice fixing the public auction of Lot No. 7449, among others, on May 5, 1943 at 10:00 a.m. (Exh. 1). On said date, Mabini Legaspi (appellee Virata's predecessor-in-interest) submitted a winning bid of P290.00 and paid P29.00 (10% of the purchase price) and even issued Bureau of Lands Official Receipt No. 77735 dated May 5, 1943 (Exh. 7). The subsequent installments were paid on January 14, 1944, April 24, 1944, August 17, 1944, and September 20, 1944 in the amounts of P29.00, P29.00, 87.00 and P116.00, respectively. The payments were evidenced by Official Receipts Nos. 78396, 783392, 784704 and 78466 (Exhs. 7-A, 7-B, 7-C and V) On December 12, 1944, the Bureau of Lands, through Mr. Vicente Tordesillas, sent a letter to the Register of Deeds at Imus, Cavite, requesting the issuance of the corresponding certificates of title to eight persons, among whom was Mabini Legaspi, specifying with respect to him Lot No. 7449 with an area of 4.8182 located at Bacoor, Cavite Exh. 2). Accordingly, the Register of Deeds of Cavite issued TCT No. A-2188 to Mabini Legaspi who held ownership of the property up to December 6, 1957 when he executed a Deed of Sale transferring it to Antenor S. Virata (Exh. 6). The deed was registered with the Registry of Deeds on December 10, 1957 . . . . On the same day, December 10, 1957, the Register of Deeds issued TCT No. 11520 (Exh. 12) to Antenor Virata . .. However, on June 7, 1959, the Provincial Capitol building of Cavite which housed the Registry of Deeds was burned, destroying land records and titles in d registry among which were the records relating to Lot No. 7449. On September 1, 1959, the Registry of Deeds administratively reconstituted the original of TCT No. T-11520 based on owner's duplicate certificate (Exh. 12) and renumbered the same as TCT No. (T-11520) RT-1660. xxx xxx xxx The sentence of TCT No. 80889 issued in the name of appellant on February 24, 1976 came to the knowledge of Antenor Virata in August 1978 when he received a subpoena from the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) in connection with its investigation of the conflicting land titles on Lot No. 7449. Virata presented Mabini Legaspi as his witness. NBI Agent Manuel C. Dionisio took the sworn testimony of Mabini Legaspi on August 27, 1978 (Exh. 10) and submitted a written report (Exhs. 9 to 9-H) of his investigation on October 27, 1978. Mabini Legaspi in her sworn testimony (Exh. 10) declared that she acquired Lot 7449 during the Japanese occupation and in support of her acquisition, she presented to NBI agent Dionisio the carbon or duplicate original of the notice of public auction and the letters dated December 12, 1944 of Vicente Tordesillas of the Bureau of Lands to the Register of Deeds requesting the issuance of a certificate of title in favor of Mabini Legaspi, which documents were substituted on the same occasion with xerox copies (Exh. 1 and 2) also marked as Exhibits 10-C and 10-D, respectively, after a comparison with the duplicate originals. Legaspi also presented the originals of the receipts of payment she made to the Bureau of Lands, which were substituted with xerox copies (Exhs. 7, 7-A, 7-B and 7-C, also marked as Exhibit 10-E, 10-F 10-G and 10-H) after comparison with the original. She (Mabini) also testified on the sale of the lot in favor of Antenor Virata on December 6, 1957, presenting as proof

thereof, the duplicate or carbon original of the Absolute Deed of Sale of Agricultural Land, which was likewise, substituted with xerox copies (Exhs. 6 to 6-F, inclusive, also marked Exh. 11). Mabini Legaspi testified that the originals of Exhibits 1 and 2 got lost. She said she placed the documents on the table in her house after returning from the NBI investigation, thinking "all the while that those documents will be useless because I had my property sold." (Tsn., p. 17, December 19, 1984). She denied having sold the land to Julian Pearanda, nor having waived her right over the land in his favor (tsn., p. 12, March 18, 1985). (pp. 113-116, Rollo). On June 15, 1985, the trial court rendered its decision, the dispositive portion of which reads: WHEREFORE, by preponderance of evidence, judgment is hereby rendered for defendant Virata and against the plaintiff, to wit: a. Dismissing the complaint which states no cause of action; b. Recognizing that defendant Virata is the true and lawful owner of the land covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. (T-11520) RT 1660 of the Register of Deeds of the Province of Cavite and holding that the same is valid; c. Declaring that Transfer Certificate of Title No. T80889 in the name of plaintiff, the Solid State Multi Products Corporation is null and void and of no force and effect and is, therefore, ordered cancelled; d. Sentencing the plaintiff to pay the costs of the proceeding. SO ORDERED. (p. 70, Rollo). Not satisfied with the decision of the trial court, the petitioner appealed to the Court of Appeals. On July 13, 1987, the respondent appellate court rendered its decision affirming the decision of the trial court. Hence, this petition was filed with the petitioner assigning the following errors: THE RESPONDENT COURT GROSSLY ERRED WHEN IT IGNORED THE BASIC CONSIDERATION THAT THE CONTESTED PROPERTY CAME FROM THE FRIAR LANDS ESTATE THE DISPOSITION OF WHICH IS GOVERNED BY SPECIAL LAWS SPECIFYING THE REQUIREMENTS FOR ITS ACQUISITION FROM THE GOVERNMENT THROUGH SALE, WHICH LAW AND SPECIAL REQUIREMENTS SHOULD SERVE AS THE MEASURE AGAINST WHICH THE EVIDENCE OF THE PARTIES TO THIS CASE SHOULD BE WEIGHED, SUCH GROSS ERROR LEADING THE APPELLATE COURT TO (A) ERRONEOUSLY INFER THE EXISTENCE AND/OR DUE ISSUANCE OF THE SUPPOSED TCT NO. A-2188 (IN THE NAME OF PRIVATE RESPONDENTS PREDECESSOR-IN INTEREST), FROM DOCUMENTS THAT CAME AFTER WERE BASED ON SUCH TCT NO. A-2188, CLEARLY BEGGING THE ISSUE WHICH IS PRECISELY WHETHER OR NOT THE TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE WAS IN FACT ISSUED IN COMPLIANCE WITH THE FRIAR LANDS ACT AND CA-32 TO COVER THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION; (B) ERRONEOUSLY BASE ITS DECISION IN FAVOR OF PRIVATE RESPONDENT ON TCTs ISSUED BY THE REGISTER OF DEEDS INSPITE OF THE FACT THAT IT IS THE BUREAU OF LANDS UNDER THE DIRECTION OF THE SECRETARY OF AGRICULTURE AND COMMERCE (NATURAL RESOURCES) WHICH DISPOSES FRIAR LANDS AND NOT THE REGISTER OF DEEDS

WHOSE RECORDS CAN BE NO BETTER THAN THE RIGHT IT HAS REGISTERED; (C) ERRONEOUSLY DISREGARD THE PATENT INADMISSIBILITY OF THE DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE OFFERED BY THE PRIVATE RESPONDENT THE ORIGINALS OF WHICH WERE NEVER PRESENTED BEFORE THE TRIAL COURT; (D) ERRONEOUSLY IGNORE THE LACK OF PROBATIVE VALUE OF SUCH DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE SUCH LACK OF PROBATIVE VALUE BEING PATENT ON THE FACE OF SUCH DOCUMENT; (E) ERRONEOUSLY IGNORE THE VERITY THAT THE DOCUMENTARY EVIDENCE COULD SUPPORT NO MORE THAN THE FACT THAT THE RESPONDENTS PREDECESSORIN-INTEREST HAD MERELY A QUESTIONABLE INCHOATE AND INCOMPLETE RIGHT TO ACQUIRE THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION, WHICH QUESTIONABLE INCHOATE AND IN FACT UNCOMPLETED RIGHT CANNOT PREVAIL OVER THE TITLE OF PETITIONER'S PREDECESSOR IN INTEREST WHO WAS THE ACTUAL POSSESSOR THAT APPLIED FOR THE PURCHASE OF THE LAND EVERY NEEDED STEP FOR THE PURCHASE HAVING BEEN PASSED UPON AND RECORDED BY THE BUREAU OF LANDS WHOSE RECORDS SHOW ONE AND ONLY TITLE ISSUED OVER THE LAND, THAT IS, THE TITLE OF THE PETITIONER'S PREDECESSOR-IN-INTEREST (pp. 20, 22, Rollo) We find the petition impressed with merit. Since the assigned errors were interrelated, it would be well for this Court to discuss them jointly. Petitioner does not question the factual findings made by the respondent appellate court and supported by the records (p. 22, Rollo). It does not however accept the legal conclusion made by the appellate court and trial court that the registered title of private respondent to the land should prevail over its own title. Petitioner contends that Act No. 1120, otherwise known as the Friar Lands Act provides the procedure for the sale and disposition of the friar lands to private persons; that pursuant thereto, the acquisition by petitioner's predecessor-in-interest Julian Pearanda of the disputed Lot 7449, which was formerly part of the friar lands estate, was in compliance with all legal requisites laid down in Act No. 1120, for the validity of the sale by the government in favor of Pearanda of such friar lands. It also argues that the sale of Lot No. 7449 to respondent's predecessor, Mabini Legaspi, and the issuance of a certificate of title in her favor was in violation of the Friar Lands Act as there was no required approval by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources. There is no dispute here that the land involved in this case is a friar land and that the laws which are applicable are Act No. 1120, know as the Friar Lands Act, providing for the administration and temporary leasing and sale of certain haciendas and parcels of land, commonly known as friar lands, and Commonwealth Act No. 32 dated September 15, 1936 as amended by Commonwealth Act No. 316 dated June 9, 1938, which provided for the subdivision and sale of all the portions of the friar lands estated remaining undisposed of. Sec. 12 of Act No. 1120 provides in part: . . . the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands shall give the said settler and occupant a certificate

which shall set forth in detail that the Government has agreed to sell to such settler and occupant the amount of land so held by him at the price so fixed payable as provided in this Act at the Office of the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands . . . and that upon the payment of the final installment together with all accrued interest the Government will convey to such settler and occupant the said land so held by him by proper instrument of conveyance, which shall be issued and become effective in the manner provided in section one hundred and twenty two of the Land Registration Act. Also, Sec. 18 of the same Act provides: No lease or sale made by the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands under the provisions of this Act shall be valid until approved by the Secretary of the Interior. (Emphasis ours) Similarly, Sec. 2 of C.A. No. 32, as amended by C.A. No. 316 provides in part: . . . The persons who, at the time of the subdivision survey are actual and bona fide occupants of any portion of the Friar Lands Estates, not exceeding ten hectares, shall be given preference to purchase the portion occupied at a private sale and at a price to be fixed in such case, by the Director of Lands, subject to the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, after taking into consideration its location, quality, and any other circumstances as may affect its value, the provisions of section twelve of Act Numbered Eleven hundred and twenty, as amended, to the contrary, . . . (Emphasis ours) It is clear from the foregoing provisions that the friar lands were purchased by the government for sale to actual settlers and occupants at the time said lands are acquired by the government. The Bureau of Lands shall first issue a certificate stating therein that the government has agreed to sell the land to such settler or occupant. The latter then shall accept the certificate and agree to pay the purchase price so fixed and in the installments and at the interest specified in the certificate. The conveyance executed in favor of a buyer or purchaser, or the so called certificate of sale, is a conveyance of the ownership of the property, subject only to the resolutory condition that the sale may be cancelled if the price agreed upon is not paid for in full. The purchaser becomes the owner upon the issuance of the certificate of sale in his favor subject only to the cancellation thereof in case the price agreed upon is not paid (Pugeda vs. Trias, No. L16925, March 31, 1962, 4 SCRA 849.) Upon the payment of the final installment together with all accrued interests, the government shall then issue a final deed of conveyance in favor of the purchaser. However, the sale of such friar lands shall be valid only if approved by the Secretary of Interior as provided in Act No. 1120. Later laws, however, required that the sale shall be approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce. In short, the approval by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce is indispensable for the validity of the sale. It is undisputed that petitioner's predecessor, Julian Pearanda was the actual occupant of Lot 7449 when he filed his application to purchase the said lot on November 22, 1968; that on December 16, 1989, the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources approved the sale of the lot without auction to Pearanda; that a sales contract was executed between the Director of Lands and Pearanda on February 28, 1969 for a consideration of P 1,198.00 payable in 10 monthly installments; that upon the full payment of the price, the Undersecretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources issued the final deed of conveyance of Lot No. 7449 in favor of Pearanda. Subsequently, the Register of Deeds of Cavite issued TCT No. 39631 in the name of Pearanda, and when the latter sold the land to petitioner, TCT No. 39631 was cancelled and TCT No. T-80889 was issued in favor of the latter. Clearly, the purchase of the friar land made by Pearanda was in compliance with law. The execution of the sales contract vested the right of ownership in Pearanda over the land. There is no doubt whatsoever that the said sale was valid as it was approved by the Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources. Hence, the sale made by Pearanda in favor of the petitioner transferred the ownership of the land in favor of the latter resulting in the proper issuance of TCT No. T-80889 in its name.

On the other hand, the antecedents leading to the acquisition of title by respondent Virata are clearly shown in the records. The latter's predecessor, Mabini Legaspi bought Lot 7449 in a sale by public auction held on May 5, 1943 conducted by the Bureau of Lands and friar lands agent Severino Rivera, and paid the purchase price thereof in installments in 1943; that on December 12, 1944, the Bureau of Lands sent a letter to the Register of Deeds of Cavite requesting the issuance of certificates of title to several persons including Mabini Legaspi, in whose favor TCT A-2188 was issued; that subsequently on December 6, 1957, she sold the disputed land to respondent Virata, which was evidenced by a deed of sale registered with the Registry of Deeds of Cavite on December 10, 1957; that on the same date, TCT No. 11520 was issued in the name of Virata. Due to the fire which gutted the building housing the Registry of Cavite on June 7, 1959, the latter administratively reconstituted the original of TCT No. 11520 on September 1, 1959, based on the owner's duplicate certificate and renumbered the same as TCT No. 1120 RT 1660. Apparently, the sale of the lot to Mabini Legaspi occurred much earlier than the date of acquisition of same lot by petitioner's predecessor, and the evidence presented by respondent Virata indicates that the latter's predecessor paid the purchase price of Lot No. 7449 on installments. Nowhere in the evidence for the respondent or in the records of this case however, would show that a certificate of sale was ever issued by the Bureau of Lands, which would vest ownership and title over the land in favor of Mabini Legaspi. The existence of the official receipts showing payment of the price of the land by Legaspi does not prove that the land was legally conveyed to her without any contract of sale having been executed by the government in her favor. Viewed from all angles, the acquisition of the lot by Legaspi was highly irregular and void, and not in compliance with the procedure mandated by law for the sale of friar lands. For one thing, Mabini Legaspi allegedly purchased the land in a sale at public auction, which procedure is nowhere provided in Act No. 1120 or in C.A. 32, as amended by C.A. 316. The laws expressly state that an actual occupant of the land shall purchase the lot occupied by him at a private sale and not in a sale at public auction (Sec. 2, C.A. 32 as amended). Further, neither was there any deed of conveyance issued to Legaspi by the government after the full payment of the installments on the disputed lot. Highly significant at this point is the ' e fact that there was neither allegation nor proof that the sale was with the approval of the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce. The absence of such approval made the supposed sale null and void ab initio. Without the certificate of sale to prove the transfer of the ownership of the land from the government Mabini Legaspi and without the required approval of the sale by the Secretary of Agriculture and Commerce, We find that Mabini Legaspi did not in any manner acquire ownership over the land in 1943. The ownership or title over the friar land, specifically Lot No. 7449 remained in the government until Pearanda, petitioners predecessor, lawfully acquired ownership over the same lot on February 28, 1969 by virtue of a sales contract executed in his favor. The issuance of a certificate of title in favor of Mabini Legaspi did not vest ownership upon her over the land nor did it validate the alleged purchase of the lot, which is null and void. Time and again, it has been held that registration does not vest title. It is merely evidence of such title over a particular property. Our land registration laws do not give the holder any better title than that what he actually has (De man et al. vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. L- 46935 December 21, 1987, 156 SCRA 701; Cruz vs. Cabana, No. 56232, June 22, 1984, 129 SCRA 656). Although a period of one year has already expired from the time the certificate of title was issued to Mabini Legaspi pursuant to the alleged sale from the government, said title does not become incontrovertible but is null and void since the acquisition of the property was in violation of law. Further, the petitioner herein is in possession of the land in dispute. Hence, its action to quiet title is imprescriptible (Coronel vs. Intermediate Appellate Court, No. 70191, October 29, 1987, 155 SCRA 270). In one case, this Court ruled that an adverse claimant of a registered land who is in possession thereof for a long period of time is not barred from bringing an action for reconveyance which in effect seeks to quiet title to the property against a registered owner relying upon a Torrens title which was illegally or wrongfully acquired (Caragay-Layno vs. Court of Appeals, 133 SCRA 718). In actions for reconveyance of property predicated on the fact that the conveyance complained of was void ab initio, a claim of prescription of the action would be unavailing (Corpus, et al. vs. Beltran, et al., 97 Phil. 722; Agne vs. Director of Lands, G.R. L40399, February 6, 1990, 181 SCRA 793). Being null and void, the sale made to Mabini Legaspi and the subsequent titles issued pursuant

thereto produced no legal effects whatsoever. Quod nullum est nullum producit affectum (Agnes vs. Director of Lands, supra). There being no title to the land that Mabini Legaspi acquired from the government, it follows that no title to the same land could be conveyed by the former to respondent Virata. Even assuming that respondent Virata was a purchaser in good faith and for value, the law is, as between two persons both of whom are in good faith and both innocent of any negligence, the law must protect and prefer the lawful holder of registered title over the transferee of a vendor bereft of any transmissible rights (Baltazar vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. 78728, December 8, 1988, 168 SCRA 354, emphasis ours). Further if a person happened to obtain property by mistake or to the prejudice of another with or without bad faith, the certificate of title which may have been issued to him under the circumstances may and should be cancelled or corrected. Our unavoidable conclusion in this case is that the title of petitioner under the Torrens land system should be upheld considering that no previous valid title to the same land existed. ACCORDINGLY, the petition is hereby GRANTED and the decision of the respondent Court of Appeals dated July 13, 1987 is hereby REVERSED. Petitioner Solid State Multi-Products Corporation is hereby declared the true owner of the land covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-80889. The Register of Deeds of Cavite is ordered to cancer transfer Certificate of Title No. (T-11520) RT 1660 in the name of respondent Antenor Virata. SO ORDERED. G.R. No. 171056 March 13, 2009 DINAH C. CASTILLO, Petitioner, vs. ANTONIO M. ESCUTIN, AQUILINA A. MISTAS, MARIETTA L. LINATOC, AND THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS, Respondents. DECISION CHICO-NAZARIO, J.: Before this Court is a Petition for Review on Certiorari 1 under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court filed by petitioner Dinah C. Castillo seeking the reversal and setting aside of the Decision,2 dated 18 October 2005, of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 90533, as well as the Resolution,3 dated 11 January 2006 of the same court denying reconsideration of its afore-mentioned Decision. The Court of Appeals, in its assailed Decision, affirmed the Joint Resolution4 dated 28 April 2004 and Joint Order5 dated 20 June 2005 of the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon in OMB-L-A-03-0573-F and OMB-LC-03-0728-F, dismissing petitioner Dinah C. Castillos complaint for grave misconduct and violation of Section 3(e) of Republic Act No. 3019, the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, as amended, against respondent public officers Antonio M. Escutin (Escutin), Aquilina A. Mistas (Mistas) and Marietta L. Linatoc (Linatoc), together with private individuals Lauro S. Leviste II (Leviste) and Benedicto L. Orense (Orense). Petitioner is a judgment creditor of a certain Raquel K. Moratilla (Raquel), married to Roel Buenaventura. In the course of her search for properties to satisfy the judgment in her favor, petitioner discovered that Raquel, her mother Urbana Kalaw (Urbana), and sister Perla K. Moratilla (Perla), co-owned Lot 13713, a parcel of land consisting of 15,000 square meters, situated at Brgy. Bugtongnapulo, Lipa City, Batangas, and covered by Tax Declaration No. 00449. Petitioner set about verifying the ownership of Lot 13713. She was able to secure an Order6 dated 4 March 1999 issued by Secretary Horacio R. Morales, Jr. of the Department of Agrarian Reform (DAR) approving the application of Summit Point Golf & Country Club, Inc. for conversion of several agricultural landholdings, including Lot 13713 owned by "Perla K. Mortilla, et al." and covered by Tax Declaration No. 00449, to residential, commercial, and recreational uses. She was also able to get from the Office of the City Assessor, Lipa City, a Certification7 stating that Lot 13713, covered by Tax Declaration No. 00554-A, was in the name of co-owners Raquel, Urbana, and Perla; and a certified true copy of Tax Declaration No. 00554-A itself.8 Lastly, the Register of Deeds of Lipa City issued a Certification9 attesting that Lot 13713 in the name of co-owners Raquel, Urbana, and Perla, was not covered by a certificate of title, whether judicial or patent, or subject to the issuance of a Certificate of Land Ownership Award or patent under the Comprehensive Agrarian Reform Program. Only thereafter did petitioner proceed to levy on execution Lot 13713, and the public auction sale of the same was scheduled on 14 May 2002. Sometime in May 2002, before the scheduled public auction sale, petitioner learned that Lot 13713 was inside the Summit Point Golf and Country Club Subdivision owned by Summit Point Realty and Development Corporation (Summit Realty). She immediately went to the Makati City office of Summit Realty to meet

with its Vice President, Orense. However, she claimed that Orense did not show her any document to prove ownership of Lot 13713 by Summit Realty, and even threatened her that the owners of Summit Realty, the Leviste family, was too powerful and influential for petitioner to tangle with. The public auction sale pushed through on 14 May 2002, and petitioner bought Raquels 1/3 pro-indiviso share in Lot 13713. On 4 June 2002, petitioner had the following documents, on her acquisition of Raquels 1/3 pro-indiviso share in Lot 13713, recorded in the Primary Entry Book and Registration Book of the Register of Deeds of Lipa City in accordance with Act No. 334410: (a) Notice of Levy;11 (b) Certificate of Sale;12 (c) Affidavit of Publication;13 and (d) Writ of Execution.14 Subsequently, petitioner was issued by the City Assessor of Lipa City Tax Declaration No. 00942-A,15 indicating that she owned 5,000 square meters of Lot 13713, while Urbana and Perla owned the other 10,000 square meters. When petitioner attempted to pay real estate taxes for her 5,000square-meter share in Lot 13713, she was shocked to find out that, without giving her notice, her Tax Declaration No. 00942-A was cancelled. Lot 13713 was said to be encompassed in and overlapping with the 105,648 square meter parcel of land known as Lot 1-B, covered by Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. 129642 16 and Tax Declaration No. 00949-A,17 both in the name of Francisco Catigbac (Catigbac). The reverse side of TCT No. 129642 bore three entries, reflecting the supposed sale of Lot 1-B to Summit Realty, to wit: ENTRY NO. 184894: SPECIAL POWER OF ATTORNEY: In favor of LEONARDO YAGIN: For purposes more particularly stipulated in the contract ratified before Atty. Ernesto M. Vergara of Lipa City as per Doc. No. 639; Page No. 29; Book No. LXXVI; Series of 1976. Date of instrument 2-6-1976 Date of inscription 6-26-2002 at 11:20 a.m. ENTRY NO. 185833: SALE IN FAVOR OF SUMMIT POINT REALTY & DEVELOPMENT CORP: ENTRY NO. 185834: BIR CLEARANCE: Of the parcel of land described in this cert. of title is hereby sold and cancelled TCT No. 134609(SN-6672938) Vol. 671-A, having been issued by virtue of the aforesaid instrument ratified before Perfecto L. Dimayuga, Notary Public for Makati City as per Doc. No. 148; Page 31, Book No. LXVII, Series of 2002. Date of instrument: July 22, 2002 Date of inscription: July 25, 2002 at 2:30 P.M.18 On 25 July 2002, at 2:30 p.m., TCT No. 129642 in the name of Catigbac was cancelled and TCT No. T-134609 in the name of Summit Realty was issued in its place. The foregoing incidents prompted petitioner to file a Complaint Affidavit19 before the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon charging several public officers and private individuals as follows: 32. I respectfully charge that on or about the months of June 2002 and July 2002 and onwards in Lipa City, Atty. Antonio M. [Escutin], the Register of Deeds of Lipa City[;] Aquilina A. Mistas, the Local Assessment Operations Officer III of the City Assessors Office of Lipa City[;] Marietta Linatoc, Records Clerk, Office of the City Assessor of Lipa City, who are public officers and acting in concert and conspiring with Lauro S. Leviste II and Benedicto L. Orense, Executive Vice-President and Vice-President, respectively[,] of Summit Point Realty and Development Corporation x x x while in the discharge of their administrative functions did then and there unlawfully, through evident bad faith, gross inexcusable negligence and with manifest partiality towards Summit caused me injury in the sum of P20,000,000.00 by cancelling my TD #00942-A in the Office of the City Assessor of Lipa City and instead issuing in the name of Francisco Catigbac TC #00949-A when aforesaid personalities well knew that TCT No. 129642 was already cancelled and therefore not legally entitled to a new tax declaration thereby manifestly favoring Summit Point Realty and Development Corporation who now appears to be the successor-in-interest of Francisco Catigbac, all to my damage and prejudice.20 (Emphasis ours.) Petitioners Complaint Affidavit gave rise to simultaneous administrative and preliminary (criminal) investigations, docketed as OMB-L-A-03-0573-F and OMB-L-C-03-0728-F, respectively. Petitioner pointed out several irregularities in the circumstances surrounding the alleged sale of Lot 1-B to Summit Realty and in the documents evidencing the same. The supposed Deed of Absolute Sale in favor of Summit Realty executed on 22 July 2002 by Leonardo Yagin (Yagin), as Catigbacs attorney-in-fact, appeared to be a "one-way street." It did not express the desire of Summit Realty, as vendee, to purchase Lot 1-B or indicate its consent and conformity to the terms of the Deed. No representative of Summit Realty signed the left margin of each and

every page of said Deed. It also did not appear from the Deed that a representative of Summit Realty presented himself before the Notary Public who notarized the said document. The Tax Identification Numbers of Yagin, as vendor, and Summit Realty, as vendee, were not stated in the Deed. Petitioner also averred that, being a corporation, Summit Realty could only act through its Board of Directors. However, when the Deed of Absolute Sale of Lot 1-B was presented for recording before the Register of Deeds, it was not accompanied by a Secretarys Certificate attesting to the existence of a Board Resolution which authorized said purchase by Summit Realty. There was no entry regarding such a Secretarys Certificate and/or Board Resolution, whether on TCT No. 129642 or TCT No. T-134609. A Secretarys Certificate eventually surfaced, but it was executed only on 30 July 2002, five days after TCT No. T-134609 in the name of Summit Realty was already issued. The Deed of Absolute Sale was presented before and recorded by the Register of Deeds of Lipa City on 25 July 2002 at 2:30 p.m., at exactly the same date and time TCT No. T-134609 was issued to Summit Realty. Petitioner theorizes that for this to happen, TCT No. T134609 was already prepared and ready even before the presentation for recording of the Deed of Absolute Sale before the Register of Deeds. Moreover, Catigbac had long been dead and buried. The agency Catigbac supposedly executed in favor of Yagin was extinguished by Catigbacs death. Thus, petitioner argued, Yagi n no longer had authority to execute on 22 July 2002 the Deed of Absolute Sale of Lot 1-B in favor of Summit Realty, making the said Deed null and void ab initio. Petitioner asserted that Summit Realty was well-aware of Catigbacs death, having acknowledged the same in LRC Case No. 00-0376, the Petition for Issuance of New Owners Duplicate of TCT No. 181 In Lieu of Lost One, filed by Summit Realty before the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Lipa City. During the ex parte presentation of evidence in the latter part of 2000, Orense testified on behalf of Summit Realty that Catigbacs property used to form part of a bigger parcel of land, Lot 1 of Plan Psu-12014, measuring 132,975 square meters, covered by TCT No. 181 in the name of Catigbac; after Catigbacs death, Lot 1 was informally subdivided into several parts among his heirs and/or successors-in-interest, some of whom again transferred their shares to other persons; Summit Realty separately bought subdivided parts of Lot 181 from their respective owners, with a consolidated area of 105,648 square meters, and identified as Lot 1-B after survey; despite the subdivision and transfer of ownership of Lot 1, TCT No. 181 covering the same was never cancelled; and the owners duplicate of TCT No. 181 was lost and the fact of such loss was annotated at the back of the original copy of TCT No. 181 with the Registry of Deeds. Subsequently, in an Order21 dated 3 January 2001, the RTC granted the Petition in LRC Case No. 00-0376 and directed the issuance of a new owners duplicate of TCT No. 181 in the name of Catigbac, under the same terms and condition as in its original form. Petitioner further cast doubt on the acts undertaken by Summit Realty in connection with Catigbacs property, purportedly without legal personality and capacity. The Special Power of Attorney dated 6 February 1976 granted Yagin the right to sue on behalf of Catigbac, yet it was Summit Realty which instituted LRC Case No. 000376, and Yagin had no participation at all in said case. Likewise, it was not Yagin, but Orense, who, through a letter22dated 27 June 2001, requested the cancellation of TCT No. 181 covering Lot 1 and the issuance of a new certificate of title for Lot 1-B. Hence, it was Orenses request which resulted in the issuance of TCT No. 129642 in the name of Catigbac, later cancelled and replaced by TCT No. T134609 in the name of Summit Realty. Lastly, petitioner questioned why, despite the cancellation of TCT No. 129642 in the name of Catigbac and the issuance in its place of TCT No. T-134609 in the name of Summit Realty, it was the former cancelled title which was used as basis for canceling petitioners Tax Declaration No. 00942-A. Tax Declaration No. 00949-A was thus still issued in the name of Catigbac, instead of Summit Realty. Piecing everything together, petitioner recounted in her Complaint Affidavit the alleged scheme perpetrated against her and the involvement therein of each of the conspirators: 28. Summit Point Realty and Development Corporation went into action right after I paid Orense a visit sometime May 2002. Summit resurrected from the grave. (sic) Francisco Catigbac whom they knew to be long dead to face possible litigation. This is the height of malice and bad faith on the part of Summit through its Lauro Leviste II, the Executive Vice President and Benedicto Orense, the Vice President. I had only in my favor a tax declaration to show my interest and ownership over the 5, 000 sq.m. of the subject parcel of land. Evidently, Leviste and Orense came to the desperate

10

conclusion that they needed a TCT which is a far better title than any tax declaration. Both then methodically commenced their evil and illegal scheme by causing on June 26, 2002 at 11:20 a.m. the inscription with the Register of Deeds of Lipa City of a purported Special Power of Attorney in favor of Leonardo Yagin (Annex "I"). Next, the Deed of Absolute Sale (Annex "J") was made the following month in order to make it appear that Yagin unilaterally sold to Summit the subject parcel of land purportedly belonging to Francisco Catigbac. Since the latter was already dead and realizing that the agency was already extinguished, Annex "J" was not signed or executed by Leviste or Orense. This fact however did not deter the two from securing a BIR clearance on July 25, 2002. Also, on this same day, July 25, 2002, Annex "J" was presented to Atty. [Escutin] at 2:30 p.m. simultaneously, at exactly the same time of 2:30 p.m. TCT No. T134609 in Summits name was issued by Atty. [Escutin] WITHOUT benefit of the submission of the necessary documentation such as the Board Resolution, DAR Clearance, Revenue Tax Receipts for documentary stamps, real property tax clearance, proof of payment of transfer tax, tax declaration, articles of incorporation, SEC certification, license to sell and/or certificate of registration by HLURB, etc. Without the total and lightning speed cooperation of Atty. [Escutin] to close his eyes to the total absence of said vital documents, the desperately needed TCT to erase my interest and ownership would not have come into existence. Atty. [Escutin] had indeed acted in concert and in conspiracy with Leviste and Orense in producing Annex "H" and Annex "K". 29. Thereafter, Leviste and Orense utilized the already cancelled TCT No. 129642 in the name of Francisco Catigbac to be the basis in seeking the cancellation of TD #00942A in my name (Annex "F"). The Tax Mapping Division of the Office of City Assessor of Lipa City opined that my 5,000 sq.m. was (sic) part and parcel of the 105,648 sq.m. covered by TCT No. 129642. A photocopy of the Certification from said division is hereto marked and attached as Annex "P", hereof. Aquilina Mistas, the Local Assessment Operations Officer III of the Office of the City Assessor of Lipa City then conveniently caused the disappearance of my Notice of Levy and other supporting documents which she had personally received from me on March 13, 2002. For her part of the conspiracy likewise, Marietta Linatoc, Records Clerk, forthwith cancelled by TD#00942-A and in lieu thereof she issued TD #00949-A in the name of Francisco Catigbac. I dare say so because Mistas and Linatoc were presented a cancelled TCT as basis for obliterating my 5,000 sq.m. The fact of cancellation is clearly stated on the posterior side of TCT No. 129642. Both can read. But the two nevertheless proceeded with dispatch in canceling my TD, though they had ample time and opportunity to reject the request of Summit who is not even the registered owner appearing on TCT No. 129642. Francisco Catigbac could not have been in front of Mistas and Linatoc because he was already six feet below the ground. Mistas and Linatoc could have demanded presentation of the document authorizing Summit in requesting for the cancellation of my TD. Also, they could have demanded from Summit any document transferring my interest and ownership in favor of a third party. Or, at least, they could have annotated in Tax Declaration No. 00949-A the fact that I bought my 5,000 sq.m. from a public auction sale duly conducted by the court sheriff. Alternatively, Linatoc and Mistas should have advised Summit to the effect that since they already appear to be the owners of the subject parcel of land, the new tax declaration should bear their name instead. Mistas and Linatoc indeed conspired with Summit in the illegal and unwarranted cancellation of my TD and in covering up the behind-the-scenes activities of Summit by making it appear that it was Francisco Catigbac who caused the cancellation. Even Leonardo Yagin, the alleged attorney-in-fact did not appear before Mistas and Linatoc. Yagin could not have appeared because he is rumored to be long dead. The aforementioned acts of the two benefitted (sic) Summit through their manifest partiality, evident bad faith and/or gross inexcusable negligence. Perhaps, there is some truth to the rumor that Yagin is dead because he does not even have a TIN in the questioned Deed of Absolute Sale. If indeed Yagin is already dead or inexistent[,] the allged payment of the purchase price of P5,282,400.00 on July 25, 2002 is a mere product of the fertile imagination of Orense and Leviste.1avvphi1.zw+ To dispute this assertion[,] the live body of Leonardo Yagin must be presented by Orense and Leviste.23 After filing her Affidavit Complaint, petitioner attempted to have the Sheriffs Deed of Final Sale/Conveyance of her 5,000 square meter pro-indiviso share in Lot 13713 registered with the Register of Deeds of Lipa City. She also sought the annotation of her Affidavit of Adverse Claim on the said 5,000 square meters on TCT No. T-134609 of Summit Realty.

Escutin, the Register of Deeds of Lipa City, relying on the finding of Examiner Juanita H. Sta. Ana (Sta. Ana), refused to have the Sheriffs Deed of Final Sale/Conveyance registered, since: The Sheriffs Deed of Final Sale/Conveyance is a Mode of Transfers (sic) ownership in favor of the Plaintiff, [Dinah] C. Castillo, (sic) However[,] it happen (sic) that the presented Tax Declaration [No.] 00942-A is already transfer (sic) in the name of the said [Dinah] C. Castillo, therefore[,] the registration of Sheriff (sic) Final Sale is no longer necessary.24 Escutin likewise denied petitioners request to have her Affidavit of Adverse Claim annotated on TCT No. T-134609 on the following grounds: 1. The claimants (sic) rights or interest is not adverse to the registered owner. The registered owner is Summit Point Realty and Development Corporation under Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-134609 of the Registry of Deeds for Lipa City. 2. The records of the Registry reveals that the source of the rights or interest of the adverse claimant is by virtue of a Levy on Execution by the Regional Trial Court Fourth Judicial Region, Branch 30, San Pablo City, in Civil Case No. SP-4489 (1996), [Dinah] C. Castillo vs. Raquel Buenaventura. The registered owner, Summit Point Realty and Development Corporation nor its predecessor-ininterest are not the judgment debtor or a party in the said case. Simply stated, there is no privity of contract between them (Consulta No. 1044 and 1119). If ever, her adverse claim is against Raquel Buenaventura, the judgment debtor who holds no title over the property.25 Escutin did mention, however, that petitioner may elevate en consulta to the Land Registration Authority (LRA) the denial of her request for registration of the Sheriffs Deed of Final Sale/Conveyance and annotation of her adverse claim on TCT No. T134609. This petitioner did on 3 July 2003. While her Consulta was pending before the LRA, petitioner filed a Supplemental Complaint Affidavit26 and a Second Supplemental Complaint Affidavit27 with the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon, bringing to its attention the aforementioned developments. In her Second Supplemental Complaint Affidavit, petitioner prayed that Sta. Ana be included as a co-respondent in OMB-L-A-03-0573-F and OMB-L-C-03-0728-F, averring that the latters actuation deprived petitioner of a factual basis for securing a new title in her favor over her 5,000 square meter pro-indiviso share in Lot 13713, because the public auction sale of the said property to her could never become final without the registration of the Sheriffs Deed. The persons charged in OMB-L-A-03-0573-F and OMB-L-C-03-0728-F filed their respective Counter-Affidavits. Respondent Escutin clarified in his Counter Affidavit that TCT No. T134609 reflected the same date and time of entry of the Deed of Absolute Sale between Yagin (as Catigbacs attorney-in-fact) and Summit Realty, i.e., 25 July 2002 at 2:30 p.m., in accordance with Section 5628 of Presidential Decree No. 1529, otherwise known as the Property Registration Decree. He emphasized that his duty as Register of Deeds to register the Deed of Absolute Sale presented before him was purely ministerial. If the document was legal and in due form, and there was nothing mutilated or irregular on its face, the Register of Deeds had no authority to inquire into its intrinsic validity based upon proofs aliunde. It was not true that he allowed the registration of the Deed of Absolute Sale notwithstanding the absence of the required documents supporting the application for registration thereof. On the contrary, all the required documents such as the DAR Clearance, Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) Certificate Authorizing Registration (CAR), Real Property Tax, Transfer Tax, Secretarys Certificate and Articles of Incorporation of Summit Realty were submitted. While it was true that the Secretarys Certificate did not accompany the Deed of Absolute Sale upon the presentation of the latter for registration, Section 117 of the Property Registration Decree gives the party seeking registration five days to comply with the rest of the requirements; and only if the party should still fail to submit the same would it result in the denial of the registration. The License to Sell and the Housing and Land Use Regulatory Board Registration of Summit Realty are only required when a subdivision project is presented for registration. The use of TINs in certain documents is a BIR requirement. The BIR itself did not require from Yagin as vendor his TIN in the Deed of Absolute Sale, and issued the CAR even in the absence thereof. The Register of Deeds, therefore, was only bound by the CAR. As to the Certification earlier issued by the Register of Deeds of Lipa City attesting that Lot 13713 in the name of co-owners Raquel, Urbana, and Perla, was not covered by any certificate of title, Escutin explained that the Register of Deeds was not technically equipped to determine whether a cadastral lot number was within a titled property or not. Lastly,

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Escutin denied conspiring or participating in the cancellation of petitioners Tax Declaration No. 00942-A for, as Register of Deeds, he was not concerned with the issuance (or cancellation) of tax declarations. Respondent Mistas, the Assistant City Assessor for Administration of the Office of the City Assessor, Lipa City, disputed petitioners allegations that she personally received from petitioner copies of the Notice of Levy and other supporting documents, and that she caused the disappearance thereof. Although she admitted that said documents were shown to her by petitioner, she referred petitioner to the Receiving Clerk, Lynie Reyes, who accordingly received the same. Mistas maintained that she was not the custodian of records of the Office and she should not be held responsible for the missing documents. She opined that petitioners documents could have been among those misplaced or destroyed when the Office of the City Assessor was flooded with water leaking from the toilet of the Office of the City Mayor. As Assistant City Assessor for Administration, Mistas identified her main function to be the control and management of all phases of administrative matters and support. She had no hand in the cancellation of petitioners Tax Declaration No. 00942-A, and the issuance of Catigbacs Tax Declaration No. 00949-A for such function pertained to another division over which she did not exercise authority. Thus, it was also not within her function or authority to demand the presentation of certain documents to support the cancellation of petitioners Tax Declaration No. 00942-A or to cause the annotation of petitioners interest on Catigbacs Tax Declaration No. 00949-A. Respondent Linatoc averred that as Local Assessment Operation Officer II of the Office of the City Assessor, Lipa City, she was in charge of safekeeping and updating the North District Records. With respect to the transfer of a tax declaration from one name to another, her duty was limited only to the act of preparing the new tax declaration and assigning it a number, in lieu of the cancelled tax declaration. It was a purely ministerial duty. She had no authority to demand the presentation of any document or question the validity of the transfer. Neither was it within her jurisdiction to determine whether petitioners interest should have been annotated on Catigbacs Tax Declaration No. 00949-A. Examining the documents presented in support of the transfer of the tax declaration to anothers name was a function belonging to other divisions of the Office of the City Assessors. The flow of work, the same as in any other ordinary transaction, mandated her to cancel petitioners Tax Declaration No. 00942-A, and to prepare and release Catigbacs Tax Declaration No. 00949-A after the transfer had been reviewed and approved by other divisions of the Office. It was also not true that TCT No. 129642 in the name of Catigbac was already cancelled when it was presented before the Office of the City Assessors; the photocopy of said certificate of title with the Office bore no mark of cancellation. Leviste and Orense, the private individuals charged with the respondent public officers, admitted that they were corporate officers of Summit Realty. They related that Summit Realty bought a parcel of land measuring 105,648 square meters, later identified as Lot 1-B, previously included in TCT No. 181, then specifically covered by TCT No. 129642, both in the name of Catigbac. As a result of such purchase, ownership of Lot 1-B was transferred from Catigbac to Summit Realty. Summit Realty had every reason to believe in good faith that said property was indeed owned by Catigbac on the basis of the latters certificate of title over the same. Catigbacs right as registered owner of Lot 1-B under TCT No. 181/No. 129642, was superior to petitioners, which was based on a mere tax declaration. Leviste and Orense rebutted petitioners assertion that the Deed of Absolute Sale between Yagin, as Catigbacs attorney-in-fact, and Summit Realty was a "one-way street." The Deed was actually signed on the left margin by both Yagin and the representative of Summit Realty. The inadvertent failure of the representative of Summit Realty to sign the last page of the Deed and of both parties to indicate their TINs therein did not invalidate the sale, especially since the Deed was signed by witnesses attesting to its due execution. Questions as regards the scope of Catigbacs Special Power of Attorney in favor of Yagin and the effectivity of the same after Catigbacs death can only be raised in an action directly attacking the title of Summit Realty over Lot 1-B, and not in an administrative case and/or preliminary investigation before the Ombudsman, which constituted a collateral attack against said title. Leviste and Orense further explained that since the owners duplicate of TCT No. 181 was lost and was judicially ordered replaced only on 3 January 2001, entries/inscriptions were necessarily made thereon after said date. As to Orenses failure to show petitioner any document proving ownership of Lot 1-B by Summit Realty when the latter paid him a visit, it was not due to the lack of such documents, but because of petitioners failure to establish her right to peruse the same. Orense also denied ever threatening petitioner during their meeting. Finally,

according to Leviste and Orense, petitioners allegations were based on mere conjectures and unsupported by evidence. That particular acts were done or not done by certain public officials was already beyond the control of Leviste and Orense, and just because they benefited from these acts did not mean that they had a hand in the commission or omission of said public officials. After more exchange of pleadings, OMB-L-A-03-0573-F and OMB-LC-03-0728-F were finally submitted for resolution. In a Joint Resolution29 dated 28 April 2004, the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon gave more credence to respondent Escutins defenses, as opposed to petitioners charges against him: Going to the charges against respondent Escutin, he convincingly explained that he allowed the registration of the allegedly defective Deed of Sale because he, as Register of Deeds, has no power to look into the intrinsic validity [of] the contract presented to him for registration, owing to the ministerial character of his function. Moreover, as sufficiently explained by said respondent, all the documents required for the registration of the Deed of Sale were submitted by the applicant. We likewise find said respondents explanation satisfactory that Section 56 of P.D. 1529 mandates that the TCT bear the date of registration of the instrument on which the said TCTs issuance was based. It is for this reason that TCT 134609 bears the same date and time as the registration of the Deed of Absolute Sale, which deed served as basis for its issuance. As to his denial to register [herein petitioners] Affidavit of Adverse Claim and Sheriffs Certificate of Final Sale, through the issuance by the Registry of Deeds Examiner Juanita H. Sta. Ana, of the 29 June 2003 Order denying registration thereof, such matter had been raised by herein [petitioner] in a letter-consulta to the Administrator of the Land Registration Authority (LRA) on 03 July 2003. As the criminal and administrative charges respecting this issue is premised, in part, on a matter still pending with the LRA, we find it premature to make a finding on the same. It is for the same reason that we deny the motion contained in the Second Supplemental Complaint Affidavit praying for the inclusion, as additional respondent, of Juanita H. Sta. Ana, who is impleaded solely on the basis of having signed, by authority of Escutin, the 29 July 2003 Order of denial of [petitioners] application for registration. Finally, respondent Escutin was able to successfully demonstrate, through Consulta 2103 dated 25 July 1994, wherein the denial of registration by the Examiner of the Registry of Deeds of Quezon City was upheld by the LRA Administrator, that the (sic) it was practice in the different Registries that Examiners are given authority by the Register to sign letters of denial.30 The Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon declared in the same Joint Resolution that there was no basis to hold respondents Mistas and Linatoc administratively or criminally liable: In this respect, this Office notes that while [herein petitioner] alleges that Aquilina Mistas caused the disappearance of the Notice of Levy and other supporting documents received from [petitioner] on 13 March 2003 when she applied for the issuance of a Tax Declaration in her favor, she did not present her receiving copy thereof showing that it was Mistas who received said documents from her. Neither did she show that Mistas is the employee responsible for record safekeeping. Next, we find, as convincingly answered, the allegation that respondent Marietta Linatoc cancelled Tax Declaration No. 00942-A and issued Tax Declaration 00949-Q (sic) on the basis of a cancelled Transfer Certificate of Title upon the behest of Summit [Realty], which was not the registered owner of the property. Respondent Linatoc, meeting squarely [petitioners] allegation, admits having physically cancelled Tax Declaration No. 00942-A and having prepared a new declaration covering the same property in Catigbacs [name], as mandated by the flow of work in the City Assessors Office. However, she denies having the authority or discretion to evaluate the correctness and sufficiency of the documents supporting the application for the issuance of the Tax Declaration, arguing that her official function is limited to the physical preparation of a new tax declaration, the assignment of a new tax declaration number and the cancellation of the old tax declaration, after the application had passed the other divisions of the City Assessors Office. Verily, [petitioner] failed to establish that respondent Mistas and Linatoc, are the ones officially designated to receive applications for issuance of Tax Declaration, evaluate the sufficiency of the documents supporting such applications, and on the basis of the foregoing recommend or order the cancellation of an existing Tax Declaration and direct the annotation of any fact affecting the property and direct the issuance of a new tax declaration covering the same property.

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In fact, there is even a discrepancy as to the official designation of said respondents. While [petitioner] impleads Mistas, in her capacity as Local Assessment Officer, and Linatoc, in her capacity as Records Clerk, Mistas, in her counter-affidavit, alleges a different designation, i.e., Assistant City Assessor for Administration, while Linatoc claims to be the Local Assessment Operation Officer II of the City Assessors Office. With the scope of work of said respondents not having been neatly defined by [petitioner], this Office cannot make a definitive determination of their liability for Grave Misconduct and violation of Section 3(e) of R.A. No. 3019, which charges both relate to the performance or discharge of Mistas and Linatocs official duties.31 Neither did the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon find any probable cause to criminally charge private individuals Leviste and Orense for the following reasons: Anent private respondents, with the alleged conspiracy to unlawfully cause the transfer of the title of [herein petitioners] property to Summit sufficiently explained by respondent Register of Deeds, such allegation against private respondents loses a legal leg to stand on.1avvphi.zw+ Inasmuch as [petitioner] was not able to sufficiently outline the official functions of respondents Mistas and Linatoc to pin down their specific accountabilities, the imputation that private respondent (sic) conspired with said public respondents respecting the cancellation of Tax Declaration No. 00942-A is likewise stripped of any factual and legal bases.32 As to whether petitioner was indeed unlawfully deprived of her 5,000 square meter property, which issue comprised the very premise of OMB-L-A-03-0573-F and OMB-L-C-03-0728-F, the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon ruled that such matter was not within its jurisdiction and should be raised in a civil action before the courts of justice. In the end, the Office of the Ombudsman decreed: WHEREFORE premises considered, it is respectfully recommended that : (1) the administrative case against public respondents ANTONIO M. ESCUTIN, AQUILINA A. MISTAS and MARIETA L. LINATOC be DISMISSED, for lack of substantial evidence; and (2) the criminal case against the same respondents including private respondent LAURO S. LEVISTE II and BENEDICTO L. ORENSE, be DISMISSED, for lack of probable cause.33 In a Joint Order34 dated 20 June 2005, the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon denied petitioners Motion for Reconsideration. The Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon, in its Joint Order, took notice of the Resolution dated 17 December 2002 of the LRA in Consulta No. 3483, which involved circumstances similar to those in petitioners case. The LRA distinguished between two systems of land registration: one is the Torrens system for registered lands under the Property Registration Decree, and the other is the system of registration for unregistered land under Act No. 3344 (now Section 113 of the Property Registration Decree). These systems are separate and distinct from each other. For documents involving registered lands, the same should be recorded under the Property Registration Decree. The registration, therefore, of an instrument under the wrong system produces no legal effect. Since it appeared that in Consulta No. 3483, the registration of the Kasulatan ng Sanglaan, the Certificate of Sale and the Affidavit of Consolidation was made under Act No. 3344, it did not produce any legal effect on the disputed property, because the said property was already titled when the aforementioned documents were executed and presented for registration, and their registration should have been made under the Property Registration Decree. Furthermore, the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon, in the same Joint Order, took into account petitioners withdrawal of her appeal en consulta before the LRA of the denial by the Register of Deeds of her request for registration of the Sheriffs Deed of Final Sale/Conveyance and Affidavit of Adverse Claim, which prompted the LRA Administrator to declare the consulta moot and academic. For want of a categorical declaration on the registerability of petitioners documents from the LRA, the competent authority to rule on the said matter, there could be no basis for a finding that respondent public officers could be held administratively or criminally liable for the acts imputed to them. Petitioner sought recourse from the Court of Appeals by filing a Petition for Review under Rule 43 of the Rules of Court challenging the 28 April 2004 Joint Resolution and 20 June 2005 Joint Order of the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon.35 The appeal was docketed as CA-G.R. SP No. 90533.1avvphi1 The Court of Appeals promulgated its Decision36 on 18 October 2005, also finding no reason to administratively or criminally charge respondents. Essentially, the appellate court adjudged that petitioner can not impute corrupt motives to respondents acts:

Without evidence showing that respondents received any gift, money or other pay-off or that they were induced by offers of such, the Court cannot impute any taint of direct corruption in the questioned acts of respondents. Thus, any indication of intent to violate the laws or of flagrant disregard of established rule may be negated by respondents honest belief that their acts were sanctioned under the provisions of existing law and regulations. Such is the situation in the case at bar. Respondent Register of Deeds acted in the honest belief that the agency recognized by the court in LRC Case No. 00-0376 between the registered owner Francisco Catigbac and Leonardo Yagin subsisted with respect to the conveyance or sale of Lot 1 to Summit as the vendee, and that the Special Power of Attorney and Deed of Absolute Sale presented as evidence during said proceedings are valid and binding. Hence, respondent Escutin was justified in believing that there is no legal infirmity or defect in registering the documents and proceeding with the transfer of title of Lot 1 in the name of the new owner Summit. On the other hand, respondent Linatoc could not be held administratively liable for effecting the cancellation in the course of ordinary flow of work in the City Assessors Office after the documents have undergone the necessary evaluation and verification by her superiors.37 The Court of Appeals referred to the consistent policy of the Supreme Court not to interfere with the exercise by the Ombudsman of his investigatory power. If the Ombudsman, using professional judgment, finds the case dismissible, the Court shall respect such findings, unless clothed with grave abuse of discretion. The appellate court pronounced that there was no grave abuse of discretion on the part of the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon in dismissing petitioners Complaint Affidavit against respondents. Hence, the dispositive portion of the Decision of the Court of Appeals reads: WHEREFORE, premises considered, the present petition is hereby DISMISSED for lack of merit. The challenged Joint Resolution dated April 28, 2004 and Joint Order dated June 20, 2005 in OMB-L-A-030573-F and OMB-L-C-03-0728-F are hereby AFFIRMED.38 In its Resolution dated 11 January 2006, the Court of Appeals denied petitioners Motion for Reconsideration for failing to present new matter which the appellate court had not already considered in its earlier Decision. Petitioner now comes before this Court via the instant Petition for Review on Certiorari, with the following assignment of errors: I. THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS PATENTLY ERRED IN AFFIRMING THE CANCELLATION OF THE TAX DECLARATION 00942 OF PETITIONER IN VIOLATION OF SECTION 109 OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE 1529, OTHERWISE KNOWN AS THE PROPERTY REGISTRATION ACT (sic); II. THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS PATENTLY ERRED IN RULING THAT RESPONDENTS COULD NOT BE HELD ADMINISTRATIVELY LIABLE FOR UNDULY FAVORING SUMMIT TO THE DAMAGE AND PREJUDICE OF PETITIONER.39 The Petition at bar is without merit. As to the first issue, petitioner invokes Section 109 of the Property, Registration Decree which provides: SEC. 109. Notice and replacement of lost duplicate certificate. In case of loss or theft of an owners duplicate certificate of title, due notice under oath shall be sent by the owner or by someone in his behalf to the Register of Deeds of the province or city where the land lies as soon as the loss or theft is discovered. If a duplicate certificate is lost or destroyed, or cannot be produced by a person applying for the entry of a new certificate to him or for the registration of any new instrument, a sworn statement of the fact of such loss or destruction may be filed by the registered owner or other person in interest and registered. Upon the petition of the registered owner or other person in interest, the court may, after notice and due hearing, direct the issuance of a new duplicate certificate, which shall contain a memorandum of the fact that it is issued in place of the lost duplicate certificate, but shall in all respects be entitled to like faith and credit as the original duplicate, and shall thereafter be regarded as such for all purposes of this decree. Petitioner argues that the RTC, in LRC Case No. 00-0376, only ordered the issuance of a new owners duplicate of TCT No. 181 in lieu of the lost one. However, respondents did not only issue a new owners duplicate of TCT No. 181, but also cancelled petitioners Tax Declaration No. 00942-A and issued in its place Tax Declaration No. 00949-A in the name of Catigbac. Respondents did not even annotate petitioners existing right over 5,000 square meters of Lot 1-B or notify petitioner of the cancellation of her Tax Declaration No. 00942-A. Petitioner maintains that a new owners duplicate of title is not a mode of acquiring ownership, nor is it a mode of losing one.

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Under Section 109 of the Property Registration Decree, the new duplicate of title was issued only to replace the old; it cannot cancel existing titles. Petitioners position on this issue rests on extremely tenuous arguments and befuddled reasoning. Before anything else, the Court must clarify that a title is different from a certificate of title. Title is generally defined as the lawful cause or ground of possessing that which is ours. It is that which is the foundation of ownership of property, real or personal.40 Title, therefore, may be defined briefly as that which constitutes a just cause of exclusive possession, or which is the foundation of ownership of property.41 Certificate of title, on the other hand, is a mere evidence of ownership; it is not the title to the land itself.42 Under the Torrens system, a certificate of title may be an Original Certificate of Title, which constitutes a true copy of the decree of registration; or a Transfer Certificate of Title, issued subsequent to the original registration. Summit Realty acquired its title to Lot 1-B, not from the issuance of the new owners duplicate of TCT No. 181, but from its purchase of the same from Yagin, the attorney-in-fact of Catigbac, the registered owner of the said property. Summit Realty merely sought the issuance of a new owners duplicate of TCT No. 181 in the name of Catigbac so that it could accordingly register thereon the sale in its favor of a substantial portion of Lot 1 covered by said certificate, later identified as Lot 1-B. Catigbacs title to Lot 1-B passed on by sale to Summit Realty, giving the latter the right to seek the separation of the said portion from the rest of Lot 1 and the issuance of a certificate of title specifically covering the same. This resulted in the issuance of TCT No. 129642 in the name of Catigbac, covering Lot 1-B, which was subsequently cancelled and replaced by TCT No. T-134609 in the name of Summit Realty. Petitioners reliance on Section 109 of the Property Registration Decree is totally misplaced. It provides for the requirements for the issuance of a lost duplicate certificate of title. It cannot, in any way, be related to the cancellation of petitioners tax declaration. The cancellation of petitioners Tax Declaration No. 00942-A was not because of the issuance of a new owners duplicate of TCT No. 181, but of the fact that Lot 1-B, which encompassed the 5,000 square meters petitioner lays claim to, was already covered by TCT No. 181 (and subsequently by TCT No. 129642) in the name of Catigbac. A certificate of title issued is an absolute and indefeasible evidence of ownership of the property in favor of the person whose name appears therein. It is binding and conclusive upon the whole world.43 All persons must take notice, and no one can plead ignorance of the registration.44 Therefore, upon presentation of TCT No. 129642, the Office of the City Assessor must recognize the ownership of Lot 1-B by Catigbac and issue in his name a tax declaration for the said property. And since Lot 1-B is already covered by a tax declaration in the name of Catigbac, accordingly, any other tax declaration for the same property or portion thereof in the name of another person, not supported by any certificate of title, such that of petitioner, must be cancelled; otherwise, the City Assessor would be twice collecting a realty tax from different persons on one and the same property. As between Catigbacs title, covered by a certificate of title, and petitioners title, evidenced only by a tax declaration, the former is evidently far superior and is, in the absence of any other certificate of title to the same property, conclusive and indefeasible as to Catigbacs ownership of Lot 1-B. Catigbacs certificate of title is binding upon the whole world, including respondent public officers and even petitioner herself. Time and again, the Court has ruled that tax declarations and corresponding tax receipts cannot be used to prove title to or ownership of a real property inasmuch as they are not conclusive evidence of the same.45 Petitioner acquired her title to the 5,000 square meter property from Raquel, her judgment debtor who, it is important to note, likewise only had a tax declaration to evidence her title. In addition, the Court of Appeals aptly observed that, "[c]uriously, as to how and when petitioners alleged predecessor-in-interest, Raquel K. Moratilla and her supposed co-owners acquired portions of Lot 1 described as Lot 13713 stated in TD No. 00449, petitioner had so far remained utterly silent."46 Petitioners allegations of defects or irregularities in the sale of Lot 1 -B to Summit Realty by Yagin, as Catigbacs attorney-in-fact, are beyond the jurisdiction of the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon to consider. It must be remembered that Summit Realty had already acquired a certificate of title, TCT No. T-134609, in its name over Lot 1-B, which constitutes conclusive and indefeasible evidence of its ownership of the said property and, thus, cannot be collaterally attacked in the administrative and preliminary investigations conducted by the Office of the Ombudsman for Luzon. Section 48 of the Property Registration Decree categorically provides that a

certificate of title shall not be subject to collateral attack. It cannot be altered, modified, or cancelled except in a direct proceeding in accordance with law. For this same reason, the Court has no jurisdiction to grant petitioners prayer in the instant Petition for the cancellation of TCT No. T-134609 in the name of Summit Realty. Which now brings the Court to the second issue raised by petitioner on the administrative liability of respondents. Before the Court proceeds to tackle this issue, it establishes that petitioners Complaint Affidavit before the Office of the Ombudsman for Luzon gave rise to two charges: (1) OMB-L-A-030573-F involved the administrative charge for Gross Misconduct against respondent public officers; and (2) OMB-L-C-03-0728-F concerned the criminal charge for violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act47 against respondent public officers and private individuals Leviste and Orense. The Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon, affirmed by the Court of Appeals, dismissed both charges. In the Petition at bar, petitioner only assails the dismissal of the administrative charge for grave misconduct against respondent public officers. Since petitioner did not raise as an issue herein the dismissal by the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon, affirmed by the Court of Appeals, of the criminal charge against respondent public officers for violation of Section 3(e) of the Anti-Graft and Corrupt Practices Act, the same became final and executory.48 In Domingo v. Quimson,49 the Court adopted the well-written report and recommendation of its Clerk of Court on the administrative matter then pending and involving the charge of gross or serious misconduct: "Under Section 36, par. (b) [1] of PD No. 807, otherwise known as the Civil Service Decree of the Philippines, 'misconduct' is a ground for disciplinary action. And under MC No. 8, S. 1970, issued by the Civil Service Commission on July 28, 1970, which sets the 'Guidelines in the Application of Penalties in Administrative Cases and other Matters Relative Thereto,' the administrative offense of 'grave misconduct' carries with it the maximum penalty of dismissal from the service (Sec. IV-C[3], MC No. 8, S. 1970). But the term 'misconduct' as an administrative offense has a well defined meaning. It was defined in Amosco vs. Judge Magno, Adm. Mat. No. 439-MJ, Res. September 30, 1976, as referring 'to a transgression of some established and definite rule of action, more particularly, unlawful behavior or gross negligence by the public officer.' It is a misconduct 'such as affects the performance of his duties as an officer and not such only as effects his character as a private individual.' In the recent case of Oao vs. Pabato, etc., Adm. Mat. No. 782-MJ, Res. July 29, 1977, the Court defined 'serious misconduct' as follows: Hence, even assuming that the dismissal of the case is erroneous, this would be merely an error of judgment and not serious misconduct. The term `serious misconduct is a transgression of some established and definite rule of action more particularly, unlawful behavior of gross negligence by the magistrate. It implies a wrongful intention and not a mere error of judgment. For serious misconduct to exist, there must be reliable evidence showing that the judicial acts complained of were corrupt or inspired by intention to violate the law, or were a persistent disregard of well-known legal rules. We have previously ruled that negligence and ignorance on the part of a judge are inexcusable if they imply a manifest injustice which cannot be explained by a reasonable interpretation. This is not so in the case at bar." (Italics supplied.) To reiterate, for grave misconduct to exist, there must be reliable evidence showing that the acts complained of were corrupt or inspired by an intention to violate the law, or were a persistent disregard of well-known legal rules. Both the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon and the Court of Appeals found that there was no sufficient evidence to substantiate petitioners charge of grave misconduct against respondents. For this Court to reverse the rulings of the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon and the Court of Appeals, it must necessarily review the evidence presented by the parties and decide on a question of fact. Once it is clear that the issue invites a review of the evidence presented, the question posed is one of fact.50 Factual issues are not cognizable by this Court in a Petition for Review under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court. In order to resolve this issue, the Court would necessarily have to look into the probative value of the evidence presented in the proceedings below. It is not the function of the Court to reexamine or reevaluate the evidence all over again. This Court is not a trier of facts, its jurisdiction in these cases being limited to reviewing only errors of law that may have been committed by the lower courts or administrative bodies performing quasi-judicial functions. It should be emphasized that findings made by an administrative body, which has acquired expertise, are accorded not only respect but even finality by the

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Court. In administrative proceedings, the quantum of evidence required is only substantial.51 Absent a clear showing of grave abuse of discretion, the Court shall not disturb findings of fact. The Court cannot weigh once more the evidence submitted, not only before the Ombudsman, but also before the Court of Appeals. Under Section 27 of Republic Act No. 6770, findings of fact by the Ombudsman are conclusive, as long as they are supported by substantial evidence.52 Substantial evidence is the amount of relevant evidence which a reasonable mind might accept as adequate to justify a conclusion.53 The Court finds no reason to disturb the finding of the Office of the Deputy Ombudsman for Luzon and the Court of Appeals that respondents did not commit gross misconduct. Evident from the 28 April 2004 Joint Resolution of the former and the 18 October 2005 Decision of the latter is that they arrived at such findings only after a meticulous consideration of the evidence submitted by the parties. Respondents were able to clearly describe their official functions and to convincingly explain that they had only acted in accordance therewith in their dealings with petitioner and/or her documents. Respondents also enjoy in their favor the presumption of regularity in the performance of their official duty. The burden of proving otherwise by substantial evidence falls on petitioner, who failed to discharge the same. From the very beginning, petitioner was unable to identify correctly the positions held by respondents Mistas and Linatoc at the Office of the City Assessor. How then could she even assert that a particular action was within or without their jurisdiction to perform? While it may be true that petitioner should have at least been notified that her Tax Declaration No. 00942-A was being cancelled, she was not able to establish that such would be the responsibility of respondents Mistas or Linatoc. Moreover, petitioner did not present statutory, regulatory, or procedural basis for her insistence that respondents should have done or not done a particular act. A perfect example was her assertion that respondents Mistas and Linatoc should have annotated her interest on Tax Declaration No. 00949-A in the name of Catigbac. However, she failed to cite any law or rule which authorizes or recognizes the annotation of an adverse interest on a tax declaration. Finally, absent any reliable evidence, petitioners charge that respondents conspired with one another and with corporate officers of Summit Realty is nothing more than speculation, surmise, or conjecture. Just because the acts of respondents were consistently favorable to Summit Realty does not mean that there was a concerted effort to cause petitioner prejudice. Respondents actions were only consistent with the recognition of the title of Catigbac over Lot 1-B, transferred by sale to Summit Realty, registered under the Torrens system, and accordingly evidenced by certificates of title. WHEREFORE, premises considered, the instant Petition for Review is hereby DENIED. The Decision dated 18 October 2005 and Resolution dated 11 January 2006 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 90533 are hereby AFFIRMED in toto. Costs against the petitioner Dinah C. Castillo. SO ORDERED.

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