Lopez vs CA

GR No. 127827
March 05, 2003

Facts:
In 1920, Fermin Lopez occupied, possessed, and declared for taxation purposes a parcel of public land. He filed a
homestead application over the land, but his application was not acted upon until his death in 1934.

Following Fermin’s death, Hermogenes, being the eldest child, worked and introduced additional improvements on the
land. In 1936, he inquired from the Bureau of Lands the status of his late father’s application for a homestead grant. An official of
the bureau informed him that the application remained unacted upon and suggested that he file a new application. Following the
suggestion, Hermogenes filed a homestead application in his own name and a homestead patent was subsequently awarded to him.

It was when the subject property was subject to sale and had encountered many issues when the other heirs of Fermin
claimed co-ownership over the subject land. The RTC declared that Hermogenes Lopez was the exclusive owner of the property in
question, to which the CA affirms. Thus, the case was raised to the Supreme Court.

Issue:
Whether the appellate court erred in holding that the petitioners are not co-owners of the disputed property.

Decision:

The record is bereft of any evidence as to when Fermin exactly filed his homestead application over the lot in controversy, but
it must have been filed after 1920, the year he first occupied and possessed the land, and before 1934, the year he died. During this
period, Act No. 2874 was the governing law.

Section 13 of Act No. 2874 provides that, upon filing of an application for a homestead, the Director of Lands, if he finds that
the application should be approved, shall do so and authorize the applicant to take possession of the land upon the payment of ten
pesos, Philippine currency, as entry fee. Within six months from and after the date of the approval of the application, the applicant
shall begin to work the homestead, otherwise he shall lose his prior right to the land.

This provision gives the Director of Lands discretion to approve or deny an application. He is not a mere automaton who
must perfunctorily approve an application upon its filing. He is tasked to satisfy himself that, among others, the application papers
meet the requirements of the law, the land is a disposable public land, and the land is not subject of a previous valid application.
Only when he finds the application sufficient in form and substance should he favorably act on it. Otherwise, he should deny it.

The application of Fermin unfortunately remained unacted upon up to the time of his death. It was neither approved nor
denied by the Director, as the Bureau failed to process it. Hence, he could not have acquired any vested rights as a homestead
applicant over the property because his application was never acted upon.

Perforce, at the time Hermogenes applied for a homestead grant over the disputed property, it was still part of alienable
public land. As he applied for it in his own name, his application inures to his sole benefit. After complying with the cultivation and
residency requirements, he became a grantee of a homestead patent over it, thereby making him its absolute and exclusive owner.

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