Republic of the Philippines

COURT OF APPEALS
Cagayan de Oro City

CAPTAIN AMERICA, CA-GR NO.

Plaintiff, __________________

- versus -

THE HONORABLE JUAN DELA CRUZ,

Presiding Judge, RTC Branch 61, General
Santos City, IRON MAN, and REGISTER
OF DEEDS OF GENERAL
SANTOS CITY,
Accused.
x------------------------------x

PETITION FOR ANNULMENT OF JUDGMENT

PETITIONER, through counsel, most respectfully states that:

NATURE OF PETITION

This is a petition under Rule 47 of the Rules of Court to ANNUL, SET

ASIDE and REVERSE the Decision (hereto attached as Annex “A”) issued by
public respondent Honorable Judge JUAN DELA CRUZ, presiding judge of the
Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 61, General Santos City in Special Proceeding

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Captain America v. RTC, Branch 61, GSC
CA-GR No.___

No. 20867 granting the re-issuance of a duplicate owner’s copy of TCT No. T-
1234567 in favor of IRON MAN.

In the said Decision, the Honorable Judge of RTC, Branch 61, General
Santos City, herein public respondent deliberately and totally disregarded the law
particularly Section 109 of Presidential Decree No. (PD) 1529 that petitions for
issuance of new owner’s duplicate certificates of title are applicable only to those
lost or stolen or destroyed certificate of title. Under the said law, in case of loss or
theft of an owner’s 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.
However, based on record and the said decision, this procedure was not followed.
In this case, while an affidavit of loss was attached to the petition in the said
RTC, no such notice was sent to the Register of Deeds of General Santos City.
Jurisprudence also elucidates that if a certificate of title has not been lost but is in
fact in the possession of another person, the reconstituted title is void and the court
rendering the decision has not acquired jurisdiction.

THE PARTIES

1. Petitioner is a Filipino citizen, of legal age, married, and a resident of 569

Leaman Place, Barangay Brooklyn Heights, General Santos City, where he

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may be served with orders and processes of the Court; and

2. The Honorable Judge JUAN DELA CRUZ, Presiding Judge, RTC Branch
61, General Santos City, which rendered the assailed decision to be
annulled.

TIMELINESS OF THE PETITION

This PETITION is timely filed considering that it is based on lack of

jurisdiction which can be assailed at any time, and the same is not barred by laches
or estoppel.

STATEMENT OF THE FACTS

1. On June 20, 2019, petitioner Captain America and respondent Iron Man
have entered into a Deed of Absolute Sale which was acknowledged on the
same date before Notary Public Dan R. Millado of General Santos City and
entered in his Notarial Register as Doc. No. 20, Page 2, Book II, Series of
2019. (Copy of Deed of Absolute Sale is hereto attached as Annex “B”);

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2. In the said Deed of Absolute Sale, petitioner was the VENDEE of a certain
parcel of land covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-1234567
located at 10880 Malibu Point Avenue, General Santos City, more
particularly described as follows:

Lot No. 12345, Ts-123

“Lot No. 12345, Ts-123, bounded on the N., along line 4-

1 by lot 12348; on the E., along line 1-2 by lot 12346, both Ts-
123; on the S., along line 2-3 by Malibu Point Avenue, and on
the W., along line 3-4 by lot 12344, Ts-123. Containing an aea
of FIVE THOUSAND (5,000) SQUARE METERS.”

3. By virtue of the said Deed of Absolute Sale, Iron Man voluntarily

surrendered to the petitioner the owner’s duplicate title of the Stark
Mansion, which was covered by the above-stated TCT No. T-1234567 to
actually convey and transfer all his rights of the subject property in favor of
the petitioner;

4. To protect the interest of the petitioner, an Affidavit of Adverse Claim

(hereto attached as Annex “C”) was filed, which was subsequently

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submitted to the Register of Deeds of General Santos City to annotate the

said claim on the title of the subject property;

5. However, two months after, unknown to the petitioner, and in order to

defraud the latter, Iron Man executed an Affidavit of Loss (hereto attached
as Annex “D”) as his basis for the petition for the re-issuance of owner’s
duplicate title before RTC Branch 61, General Santos City;

6. Subsequently, on the basis thereof without notice sent to the Register of

Deeds of General Santos City (Affidavit is hereto attached as Annex “E”),
the public respondent Judge issued a decision granting the re-issuance of the
owner’s duplicate title of TCT No. T-1234567;

7. It was only two years after the issuance of said decision, that the petitioner
discovered the said Decision being assailed, when it tried to transfer the
above-stated title of Stark Mansion under his name before the Register of
Deeds of General Santos City submitting the said Deed of Absolute Sale,
which was denied as a new owner’s copy was issued to Iron Man;

8. Said decision became final and executory, thus, petition for relief or other
appropriate remedies are no longer available through no fault of the
petitioner.

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9. The truth of the matter is that the owner’s duplicate was not lost, stolen or
destroyed but in the lawful and rightful possession and control of the
petitioner as it was delivered to the latter by Iron Man by virtue of the Deed
of Absolute Sale.

Hence, this petition.

ISSUE

WHETHER OR NOT, THE RESPONDENT COURT HAS

JURISDICTION TO ISSUE A NEW OWNER’S DUPLICATE OF A
TORRENS CERTIFICATE OF TITLE IF IT IS SHOWN THAT THE
EXISTING OWNER’S COPY HAS NOT, IN FACT AND IN TRUTH, BEEN
LOST OR DESTROYED.

ARGUMENT/ DISCUSSION

1. Section 109 of PD 1529 provides:

“Section 109. Notice and replacement of lost duplicate certificate.

In case of loss or theft of an owner's duplicate certificate of title, due notice
under oath shall be sent by the owner or by someone in his behalf to the

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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 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.” (Emphasis Ours)

Based on the above provision of the law, only those lost or stolen or
destroyed owner’s duplicate certificate of title shall be granted re-issuance.
Thus, petitions for issuance of new owner’s duplicate certificates of title
shall be granted only if the same is lost or stolen or destroyed;

2. Corollary, in the case of New Durawood Co., Inc. v. Court of Appeals and
Hon. Felix S. Caballes, et al., G.R. No. 111732, February 20, 1996, the
Supreme Court held that “If a certificate of title has not been lost but is in

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fact in the possession of another person, the reconstituted title is void and
the court rendering the decision has not acquired jurisdiction.
Consequently, the decision may be attacked any time. (Demetriou v. Court
of Appeals, Et. Al.) Since we already concluded earlier that the trial court
did not have jurisdiction, necessarily its judgment must fall.” (Emphasis
ours)

Analogous to the above-cited case, the owner’s duplicate certificate of

title was in the possession of herein petitioner CAPTAIN AMERICA when
it was voluntarily surrendered by IRON MAN by virtue of deed of absolute
sale. Since said certificate was not in fact "lost or destroyed", there was no
necessity for the petition filed in the trial court for the "Issuance of New
Owner’s Duplicate Certificates of Title. In fact, the said RTC never
acquired jurisdiction to order the issuance of new certificates. Hence, the
newly issued duplicate is null and void. Also, as pronounced by the
Supreme Court, said decision can be attacked at any time, hence, it is
imprescriptible;

3. In the same case of New Durawood Co., Inc. v. Court of Appeals, supra, it
was held that “Section 109, P.D. 1529 (amending R.A. 496) provides that in
case of loss or theft of an owner’s duplicate certificate of title, due notice
under oath shall be sent by the owner or by someone in his behalf to the

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Register of Deeds of the province or city where the land lies as soon as the
loss or theft is discovered. Private respondents and respondent judge failed
to follow the procedure set forth in P.D. No. 1529 which, as already stated,
governs the issuance of new owner’s duplicate certificates of title. Section
109 of said law provides, inter alia, that "due notice under oath" of the loss
or theft of the owner’s duplicate "shall be sent by the owner or by someone
in his behalf to the Register of Deeds." In this case, while an affidavit of loss
was attached to the petition in the lower court, no such notice was sent to
the Register of Deeds.”

Here, this lapse happened because private respondent IRON MAN

and respondent judge failed to follow the procedure set forth in P.D. No.
1529 which, as already stated, governs the issuance of new owner’s
duplicate certificates of title. Said procedure requires that notice under oath
must be sent to the Register of Deeds of General Santos City. Per record, no
notice was sent to the latter. Hence, the decision and the re-issued owner’s
duplicate of certificate of title are all null and void;

4. The fact that IRON MAN conceals the petition for re-issuance of owner’s
duplicate of certificate and the due execution of affidavit of loss, it is
apparent that IRON MAN intends to defraud the petitioner. Be that as it
may, whether there is fraud or not is irrelevant considering that the main

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issue here is the jurisdiction of the respondent RTC to grant the petition of
re-issuance of owner’s duplicate of certificate of title; and

5. Such facts, circumstances, and all evidence should be given credence and
weighed, and must all be taken into account in making the evaluation upon
the merits of this case. Since the subject duplicate title was not lost or
destroyed, the respondent court lacks jurisdiction to grant the re-issuance
thereof. Also, the failure of respondent judge to follow the procedure as
required by law, by deliberately excluding the most essential requirement,
without valid cause and justification under our laws and rules, constitute
grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, it is most respectfully prayed of

this Honorable Court:

1. To give due course to this petition;

2. Annul, reverse and set aside the respondent court’s Decision in Special
Proceeding No. 20867 granting the re-issuance of a duplicate owner’s
copy of TCT No. T-1234567 in favor of IRON MAN;

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3. Cancel the re-issued owner’s duplicate of certificate of title of TCT No.

T-1234567; and

4. Grant such other reliefs as may be deemed just and proper under the
premises.

General Santos City, Philippines, June 25, 2021.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Petitioner

Assisted by:

ATTY. DAN R. MILLADO

COUNSEL FOR PETITIONER
PNC No. 15-77 until December 31, 2021
Roll of Attorney No. 157717
PTR No. 7654321/01-04-2021/GSC
IBP Lifetime No. 12345
MCLE Compliance No. VI-0123456
valid until April 21, 2022

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Captain America v. RTC, Branch 61, GSC
CA-GR No.___

Republic of the Philippines }

General Santos City }s.s.

VERIFICATION AND CERTIFICATION OF

NON-FORUM SHOPPING

I, CAPTAIN AMERICA, of legal age, residing in General Santos City,

after having been duly sworn to in accordance with law, do hereby depose and
state, that:

1. I have caused the preparation and filing of the foregoing Petition;

2. I have carefully read the contents thereof and understood the same, and
that the allegations of facts herein are true and correct of my own
personal knowledge and based on authentic records;

3. I have not commenced any other action or proceeding involving the same
issue in the Supreme Court, Court of Appeals, or any other tribunals or
agency; and

4. If I should learn that a similar action or proceeding has been filed or is

pending before the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, or different
Divisions thereof, or any other tribunal or agency, I undertake to

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Captain America v. RTC, Branch 61, GSC
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promptly inform the aforesaid courts and other tribunal or agency of that
fact within five (5) days therefrom.

CAPTAIN AMERICA
Affiant

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO before me, a Notary Public for and in

General Santos City, Philippines this June 25, 2021, affiant exhibiting to me his
SSS ID with ID Number 12346 issued in General Santos City on January 5, 2019
and valid until January 5, 2024, that he is the same person who personally signed
before me the foregoing instrument and acknowledged that the same is his free and
voluntary act and deed.

ATTY. DAN R. MILLADO

Notary Public for General Santos City
PNC No. 15-77 until December 31, 2021
Roll of Attorney No. 157717
PTR No. 7654321/01-04-2021/GSC
IBP Lifetime No. 12345
MCLE Compliance No. VI-0123456
valid until April 21, 2022

Doc. No. : 28 ;
Page 6 ;
No. :
Book No.: 2 ;

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CA-GR No.___

Series of : 2021 .

Copy furnished:
Hon. Judge Juan Dela Cruz – RTC Branch 61, General Santos City
Iron Man - 10880 Malibu Point Avenue, General Santos City
Register of Deeds – General Santos City

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