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EN BANC

[G.R. Nos. 162335 & 162605. December 18, 2008.]

SEVERINO M. MANOTOK IV, FROILAN M. MANOTOK,


FERNANDO M. MANOTOK III, MA. MAMERTA M. MANOTOK,
PATRICIA L. TIONGSON, PACITA L. GO, ROBERTO LAPERAL
III, MICHAEL MARSHALL V. MANOTOK, MARY ANN
MANOTOK, FELISA MYLENE V. MANOTOK, IGNACIO
MANOTOK, JR., MILAGROS V. MANOTOK, SEVERINO
MANOTOK III, ROSA R. MANOTOK, MIGUEL A.B. SISON,
GEORGE M. BOCANEGRA, MA. CRISTINA E. SISON, PHILIPP L.
MANOTOK, JOSE CLEMENTE L. MANOTOK, RAMON SEVERINO
L. MANOTOK, THELMA R. MANOTOK, JOSE MARIA MANOTOK,
JESUS JUDE MANOTOK, JR., and MA. THERESA L. MANOTOK,
represented by their Attorney-in-fact, Rosa R. Manotok,
petitioners, vs. HEIRS OF HOMER L. BARQUE, Represented by
TERESITA BARQUE HERNANDEZ, respondents.

RESOLUTION

TINGA, J : p

The perceived advantages of the Torrens system of registration of land


titles have helped stabilize land ownership in the Philippines. Its underlying
principle is security with facility in dealing with land. 1 Its fundamental
purpose is to quiet title to land, to perpetually enjoin any question in the
legality of the title, 2 hence, the titles issued under the system are
indefeasible. Yet the Torrens system is imperfect in that it remains
susceptible to fraud, either in the original registration proceedings or in
subsequent transactions. 3
These petitions feature apparently fraudulent practices relating to the
attempts at registration of the subject property. Necessarily, they call for the
correct application of entrenched principles in land registration. At the same
time, they afford this Court the opportunity to again defend the Torrens
system against unscrupulous elements who use its formalities to actualize
the theft of property, and to exert judicial might in ensuring that fraud does
not prevail in the end.
These petitions were referred to the Court en banc by the Special First
Division which had initially ruled on them, most comprehensively in a
Decision dated 12 December 2005. 4 They were accepted by the Court en
banc in a Resolution dated 26 July 2006. Subsequently, the parties presented
their various contentions before the Court in an oral argument held on 24
July 2007, followed by the submission of their respective memoranda. While
the cases were under consideration of the Court en banc, the participation of
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the Office of the Solicitor General was required, 5 and a set of new parties
was allowed leave to intervene. 6
The antecedent facts are stated in full in our 2005 Decision, but are
summarized herein for convenience.
On 11 June 1988, a fire gutted portions of the Quezon City Hall,
immolating, among others, records stored in the Office of the Register of
Deeds of Quezon City. That fire has attained notoriety due to the numerous
certificates of title on file with that office, which were destroyed as a
consequence. The resulting effects of that blaze on specific property
registration controversies have been dealt with by the Court in a number of
cases since then. 7 These petitions are perhaps the most heated, if not the
most contentious of those cases thus far.
Respondents Heirs of Homer Barque (the Barques) filed a petition 8
with the Land Registration Authority (LRA) for administrative reconstitution
of the original of Transfer Certificate of Title (TCT) No. 210177 (the Barque
title) issued in the name of Homer Barque. They alleged that the Barque title
was among the records destroyed by the 1988 fire. In support of their
petition, the Barques submitted copies of the alleged owner's duplicate of
the Barque title, real estate tax receipts, tax declarations and a Plan FLS
3168-D covering the property.
Learning of the Barques' petition, Severino M. Manotok IV, et al. (the
Manotoks) filed their opposition thereto. The Manotoks claimed that the lot
covered by the Barque title formed part of the land covered by their
reconstituted title TCT No. RT-22481 [372302] (the Manotok title) in the
name of Severino Manotok, et al. They further alleged that the Barque title
was spurious.
A brief description of the property involved is in order. Both the
Barques' and the Manotoks' titles advert to land belonging to Lot No. 823 of
the Piedad Estate situated in the then Municipality of Caloocan, Province of
Rizal. The Barque title actually involves two parcels of land as part of Lot No.
823 of the Piedad Estate, with an aggregate area of 342,945 square meters,
while the Manotok title concerns only one parcel of land, but with a similar
area of 342,945 square meters.
On 30 June 1997, Atty. Benjamin M. Bustos, as reconstituting officer of
the LRA, denied 9 the petition for reconstitution of the Barque title, declaring
that:
xxx xxx xxx
1. Lots 823-A and 823-B, Fls-3168-D, containing areas of 171,473 Sq.
Mtrs. and 171,472 Sq. Mtrs., respectively, covered by TCT No. 210177, appear to
duplicate Lot 823 Piedad Estate, containing an area of 342,945 Sq. Mtrs., covered
by TCT No. 372302 registered in the name of Severino M. Manotok, et al.,
reconstituted under Adm. Reconstitution No. Q-213 dated February 01, 1991;
2. The submitted plan Fls-3168-D is a spurious document as
categorically stated by Engr. Privadi J.G. Dalire, Chief, Geodetic Surveys Division,
Land Management Bureau, in his letter dated February 19, 1997. CAaDSI

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xxx xxx xxx

The Barques' motion for reconsideration was denied by Atty. Bustos in


an Order 10 dated 10 February 1998; hence, the Barques appealed to the
LRA.
The LRA reversed Atty. Bustos on appeal. It ruled that the
reconstituting officer should not have required the submission of documents
other than the owner's duplicate certificate of title as basis for denying the
petition and should have confined himself to the owner's duplicate certificate
of title. The LRA further found anomalies in the Manotoks' title. It observed
that:
Based on the documents presented, petitioners have established by clear
and convincing evidence that TCT No. 210177 was, at the time of the destruction
thereof, valid, genuine, authentic and effective. Petitioners duly presented the
original of the owner's duplicate copy of TCT No. 210177 . . . . The logbook of the
Register of Deeds of Quezon City lists TCT No. 210177 as among the titles lost . . .
. The Register of Deeds of Quezon City himself acknowledged the existence and
authenticity of TCT No. 210177 when he issued a certification to the effect that
TCT No. 210177 was one of the titles destroyed and not salvaged from the fire
that gutted the Quezon City Hall on 11 June 1988 . . . .
It is likewise noteworthy that the technical description and boundaries of
the lot reflected in TCT No. 210177 absolutely conform to the technical
description and boundaries of Lot 823 Piedad Estate . . . as indicated in the B. L.
Form No. 28-37-R dated 11-8-94 and B. L. Form No. 31-10 duly issued by the
Bureau of Lands . . . .
It therefore becomes evident that the existence, validity, authenticity and
effectivity of TCT No. 210177 was established indubitably and irrefutably by the
petitioners. Under such circumstances, the reconstitution thereof should be given
due course and the same is mandatory . . . . CacEIS

It would be necessary to underscore that the certified copy of Plan FLS 3168
D was duly issued by the office of Engr. Ernesto Erive, Chief, Surveys Division
LMS-DENR-NCR whose office is the lawful repository of survey plans for lots
situated within the National Capital Region including the property in question.
Said plan was duly signed by the custodian thereof, Carmelito Soriano, Chief
Technical Records and Statistics Section, DENR-NCR. Said plan is likewise duly
supported by Republic of the Philippines Official Receipt No. 2513818 Q dated 9-
23-96 . . . . Engr. Erive in his letter dated 28 November 1996 addressed to Atty.
Bustos . . . confirmed that a microfilm copy of Plan FLS 3168D is on file in the
Technical Records and Statistics Section of his office. Engr. Dalire, in his letter
dated 2 January 1997 addressed to Atty. Bustos even confirmed the existence
and authenticity of said plan. . . .
xxx xxx xxx

The claim of Engr. Dalire in his letter dated 19 February 1997 that his office
has no records or information about Plan FLS 3168-D is belied by the certified
copy of the computer print-out duly issued by the Bureau of Lands indicating
therein that FLS 3168D is duly entered into the microfilm records of the Bureau of
Lands and has been assigned Accession Number 410436 appearing on Page 79,
Preliminary Report No. 1, List of Locator Cards and Box Number 0400 and said
computer print-out is duly supported by an Official Receipt . . . .
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The said Plan FLS 3168D is indeed authentic and valid coming as it does
from the legal repository and duly signed by the custodian thereof. The
documentary evidence presented is much too overwhelming to be simply
brushed aside and be defeated by the fabricated statements and concoctions
made by Engr. Dalire in his 19 February 1997 letter. . . .
Notwithstanding its conclusion that the Manotok title was fraudulently
reconstituted, the LRA noted that only the Regional Trial Court (RTC) could
cancel the Manotok title as a Torrens title. It thus ruled, 11 that:
WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, it is hereby ordered that
reconstitution of TCT No. 210177 in the name of Homer L. Barque, Sr. shall be
given due course after cancellation of TCT No. RT-22481 (372302) in the name of
Manotoks upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
SO ORDERED.
The Manotoks filed a motion for reconsideration, which was opposed by
the Barques with a prayer that the reconstitution be ordered immediately.
The LRA denied 12 the Manotoks' motion for reconsideration and the
Barques' prayer for immediate reconstitution.
Both the Manotoks and the Barques appealed the LRA decision to the
Court of Appeals (CA). The Barques' petition for review 13 was docketed as
CA-G.R. SP No. 66700, while the Manotoks' petition for review 14 was
docketed as CA-G.R. SP No. 66642. The Barques prayed that the LRA be
directed to immediately reconstitute the Barque title without being subjected
to the condition that the Manotok title should first be cancelled by a court of
competent jurisdiction. On the other hand, the Manotoks argued in their own
petition that the LRA erred in imputing that the Manotok title was spurious
and fake.
Meanwhile, in CA-G.R. SP No. 66700, Felicitas Manahan filed a motion
for leave to intervene. 15 She sought the dismissal of the cases in CA-G.R. SP
No. 66700 and CA-G.R. SP No. 66642 and claimed ownership over the subject
property. CTacSE

On 13 September 2002, the Second Division of the Court of Appeals


rendered a Decision 16 in CA-G.R. SP No. 66700, denying the Barques'
petition and affirming the LRA Resolution. The Barques filed a motion for
reconsideration. 17 Subsequently, the Special Division of Five of the Former
Second Division rendered an Amended Decision 18 dated 7 November 2003
wherein it held that:
WHEREFORE, our decision dated 13 September 2002 is hereby
reconsidered. Accordingly, the Register of Deeds of Quezon City is hereby
directed to cancel TCT No. RT-22481 of private respondents and the LRA is
hereby directed to reconstitute forthwith petitioners' valid, genuine and existing
Certificate of Title No. T-210177. 19
The Manotoks filed a motion for the reconsideration of the amended
decision in CA-G.R. SP No. 66700, but this was denied. 20
On the other hand, as to the Manotoks' petition, CA-G.R. SP No. 66642,
the Third Division of the Court of Appeals rendered a Decision 21 on 29
October 2003 which affirmed the resolution of the LRA. 22 The appellate
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court held that the LRA correctly deferred in giving due course to the
Barques' petition for reconstitution, since there was as yet no final judgment
upholding or annulling the Barque title. The Barques filed a motion for
reconsideration of this ruling. 23 As had occurred with the Barques' petition,
the Third Division of the Court of Appeals granted the Barques' motion for
reconsideration and on 24 February 2004, promulgated its Amended
Decision 24 wherein it held that:
WHEREFORE, the Motion for Reconsideration is hereby GRANTED. The
Decision of this Court dated 29 October 2003 is RECONSIDERED and a new one is
entered ordering the Register of Deeds of Quezon City to cancel petitioners' TCT
No. RT-22481 and directing the LRA to reconstitute forthwith respondents' TCT
No. T-210177.
Aggrieved with the twin decisions of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP
No. 66700 and CA-G.R. SP No. 66642, both ordering the cancellation of the
Manotok title, the Manotoks filed separate petitions for review before this
Court docketed as G.R. No. 162605 and G.R. No. 162335, respectively. On 2
August 2004, the Court ordered the consolidation of G.R. No. 162605 with
G.R. No. 162335. 25
On 12 December 2005, the Court's First Division rendered its Decision
26 affirming the two decisions of the Court of Appeals. 27 The Manotoks filed
a motion for reconsideration, which the Court's First Division denied in a
Resolution dated 19 April 2006. 28 Thereafter, the Manotoks filed a Motion
for Leave to File a Second Motion for Reconsideration, with their Motion for
Reconsideration attached. The Court denied the same in a Resolution dated
19 June 2006, and the Court further ordered that entry of judgment be
made. 29 Thus on 2 May 2006, entry of judgment was made in the Book of
Entries of Judgment. 30
The Barques filed multiple motions with the Court's First Division
concerning the execution of the judgment, including a Motion for Issuance of
Writ of Possession or For Execution. 31 In response, the Manotoks filed an
Urgent Motion to Refer Motion for Possession to the Supreme Court En Banc
(with prayer to set motion for oral argument). In a Resolution dated 19 July
2006, the Special First Division referred these cases to the Court en banc,
and on 26 July 2006, the Court en banc promulgated a Resolution accepting
the cases. 32
On 7 September 2006, Felicitas Manahan and Rosendo Manahan filed a
motion to intervene, to which was attached their petition in intervention. 33
Movants alleged that the property subject of the petition in G.R. No. 162335
and G.R. No. 162605 was owned by them. They claimed that their
predecessor-in-interest, Vicente Manahan, was issued Sales Certificate No.
511 which covered lot 823 of the Piedad Estate. Moreover, they attached to
their petition the findings of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) that
the documents of the Manotoks were not as old as they were purported to
be. 34 The Director of the Legal Division of the Land Management Bureau
(LMB) recommended to the Director of the LMB that:
. . . steps be taken in the proper court for the cancellation of TCT No. RT-
22481(372302) and all its derivative titles so that the land covered may be
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reverted to the State. 35

Ultimately, the Court found it necessary to involve the Office of the


Solicitor General (OSG) in these cases, directing the OSG to file its Comment.
The OSG filed its Comment on 04 April 2007. Oral arguments were
eventually held on 24 July 2007. TDSICH

After the oral arguments, the Court required the parties, the
intervenors, and the Solicitor General to submit their respective memoranda.
I
As can be gleaned from the foregoing statement of facts, these
petitions are attended by a few procedural unorthodoxies, such as, for
example, the Court en banc's move on the Special First Division's referral for
re-evaluation of these petitions when an entry of judgment had already been
made in favor of the Barques. Yet the prevailing consensus within the Court
en banc was to proceed with the re-evaluation of these cases on a pro hac
vice basis. There are good reasons for the Court to act in such rare manner
in these cases. Most urgently, the Court had felt that the previous rulings by
the First Division and the Special First Division warranted either affirmation
or modification by the Court acting en banc.
It is a constitutional principle that "no doctrine or principle of law laid
down by the [C]ourt in a decision rendered en banc or in division may be
modified or reversed except by the court sitting en banc". It has been argued
that the 2005 Decision of the First Division is inconsistent with precedents of
the Court, and leaving that decision alone without the imprimatur of the
Court en banc would lead to undue confusion within the bar and bench, with
lawyers, academics and judges quibbling over whether the earlier ruling of
the Division constitutes the current standard with respect to administrative
reconstitution of titles. Our land registration system is too vital to be stymied
by such esoteric wrangling, and the administrators and courts which
implement that system do not deserve needless hassle.
The Office of the Solicitor General correctly pointed out that this Court
before had sanctioned the recall entries of judgment. 36 The power to
suspend or even disregard rules of procedure can be so pervasive and
compelling as to alter even that which this Court itself has already declared
to be final. 37 The militating concern for the Court en banc in accepting these
cases is not so much the particular fate of the parties, but the stability of the
Torrens system of registration by ensuring clarity of jurisprudence on the
field.
It is beyond contention, even by the parties, that since the Court en
banc resolved to accept these petitions in 2006, we have effectively been
reviewing the 12 December 2005 Decision of the Court's First Division, as
well as the Resolutions dated 19 April and 19 June 2006 of that same
Division. This Resolution is the result of that review. As earlier stated, we
have opted to do so on a pro hac vice basis to lend much needed
jurisprudential clarity as only the Court en banc can constitutionally provide.
II
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In the context of an administrative reconstitution proceeding before
the LRA, the Barques have sought that the LRA exercise the power to cancel
the Manotok title and forthwith cause the reconstitution of their own title.
The LRA refused to do so, although it did rule that the Manotok title was
spurious and thus subject to cancellation through the proper judicial
proceeding. Upon appellate review of that LRA decision, the Court of Appeals
initially upheld the LRA's position, but ultimately, upon motion for
reconsideration, directed the cancellation of the Manotok title and the
reconstitution of the Barque title.
Our succeeding discussion centers on the ordered mechanism for the
cancellation of Torrens titles in the Philippines.
To recall, both assailed Amended Decisions of the Court of Appeals
notably directed the cancellation of the Manotok title even as it mandated
the reconstitution of the Barque title. The obvious question is whether the
Court of Appeals was empowered to direct the annulment of the Manotok
title through the petitions raised before it by the Barques and the Manotoks.
It could not.
Section 48 of Presidential Decree No. 1529, also known as the Property
Registration Decree, provides that "[a] certificate of title shall not be subject
to collateral attack [. . . and] cannot be altered, modified, or cancelled
except in a direct proceeding in accordance with law". 38 Clearly, the
cancellation of the Manotok title cannot arise incidentally from the
administrative proceeding for reconstitution of the Barque title even if the
evidence from that proceeding revealed the Manotok title as fake. Nor could
it have emerged incidentally in the appellate review of the LRA's
administrative proceeding.
There is no doubt that the Court of Appeals does not have original
jurisdiction to annul Torrens titles or to otherwise adjudicate questions over
ownership of property. Its exclusive original jurisdiction is determined by
law, particularly by Batas Pambansa (B.P. 129). Section 9 of that law restricts
the exclusive original jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals to special civil
actions and to actions for annulment of judgments of the regional trial court.
39 Still, the Court of Appeals did acquire jurisdiction over the Barques' and

the Manotoks' petitions, albeit in the exercise of its exclusive appellate


jurisdiction 40 over the ruling of the LRA, also pursuant to Section 9 of B.P.
Blg. 129, as amended. Thus, for the appellate court to be able to direct the
cancellation of a Torrens title in the course of reviewing a decision of the
LRA, the LRA itself must have statutory authority to cancel a Torrens title in
the first place.
Note that the Office of the Solicitor General, which acts as counsel for
the government and its agencies including the LRA, refutes the contention
that the LRA has jurisdiction to cancel the Manotok title, much less
jurisdiction to rule on the validity of a certificate of title. It invokes the
exclusive original jurisdiction of the RTC under Paragraph 2, Section 19 of
B.P. Blg. 129, conferring jurisdiction on the RTC over "all civil actions which
involve the title to or possession of real property, or any interest therein . . .
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." That the RTC has "exclusive original jurisdiction" over actions seeking the
cancellation of title to real property is so cardinal in our remedial law that it
is reflected in hundreds if not thousands of examples in jurisprudence.
Nonetheless, we may inquire whether, notwithstanding the statutory
delineation of "exclusive original jurisdiction of the RTC", there is statutory
basis for the LRA to exercise jurisdiction over the cancellation of Torrens
titles. If there is, we can perhaps assess such law separately from B.P. Blg.
129.
Section 6 of P.D. No. 1529 enumerates the general functions of the
Land Registration Commissioner, as follows:
SEC. 6. General Functions. —
(1) The Commissioner of Land Registration shall have the following
functions:
(a) Issue decrees of registration pursuant to final judgments
of the courts in land registration proceedings and cause the
issuance by the Registers of Deeds of the corresponding
certificates of title;
(b) Exercise supervision and control over all Registers of
Deeds and other personnel of the Commission;
(c) Resolve cases elevated en consulta by, or on appeal from
decision of, Registers of Deeds;
(d) Exercise executive supervision over all clerks of court and
personnel of the Court of First Instance throughout the
Philippines with respect to the discharge of their duties and
functions in relation to the registration of lands;

(e) Implement all orders, decisions, and decrees promulgated


relative to the registration of lands and issue, subject to the
approval of the Secretary of Justice, all needful rules and
regulations therefor;
(f) Verify and approve subdivision, consolidation, and
consolidation-subdivision survey plans of properties titled
under Act No. 496 except those covered by P.D. No. 957.

Nowhere in the aforecited provision is it stated that the LRA has the
power to cancel titles. Indeed, the Barques are unable to point to any basis
in law that confirms the power of the LRA to effect such cancellation, even
under Republic Act (R.A.) No. 26 as amended by Rep. Act No. 6732, which
authorizes the administrative reconstitution of titles in limited cases. In fact,
as we shall see shortly such laws take great care to ensure that a petition for
administrative reconstitution of title will not disturb existing Torrens titles.
It is thus clear that neither the Court of Appeals nor the LRA had
jurisdiction to cancel the Manotok title. The next matter of inquiry is whether
the LRA had acted correctly in ordering, conditional as it may have been, the
administrative reconstitution of the Barque title.
Under Rep. Act No. 26 as amended by Rep. Act No. 6732,
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administrative reconstitution of titles is permitted where the certificates of
titles have been lost due to "flood, fire and other force majeure". The
petitioner in such a case is required to execute an affidavit, containing the
following averments: AEIHaS

(1) That no deed or other instrument affecting the property had


been presented for registration, or, if there be any, the nature
thereof, the date of its presentation, as well as the names of the
parties, and whether the registration of such deed or instrument
is still pending accomplishment;
(2) That the owner's duplicate certificate or co-owner's duplicate is
in due form without any apparent intentional alterations or
erasures;
(3) That the certificate of title is not the subject of
litigation or investigation, administrative or judicial,
regarding its genuineness or due execution or issuance;
(4) That the certificate of title was in full force and effect at the
time it was lost or destroyed;
(5) That the certificate of title is covered by a tax declaration
regularly issued by the Assessor's Office; and
(6) That real estate taxes have been fully paid up to at least two (2)
years prior to the filing of the petition for reconstitution. 41

Section 19 of Rep. Act No. 26, as amended by Rep. Act No. 6732,
further provides:
Sec. 19. If the certificate of title considered lost or
destroyed, and subsequently found or recovered, is not in the name
of the same person in whose favor the reconstituted certificate of title
has been issued, the Register of Deeds or the party concerned should
bring the matter to the attention of the proper regional trial court,
which, after due notice and hearing, shall order the cancellation of the
reconstituted certificate of title and render, with respect to the
memoranda of new liens and encumbrances, if any, made in the
reconstituted certificate of title, after its reconstitution, such
judgment as justice and equity may require: Provided, however, That
if the reconstituted certificate of title has been cancelled by virtue of
any deed or instrument, whether voluntary or involuntary, or by an
order of the court, and a new certificate of title has been issued, the
procedure prescribed above, with respect to the memorandum of new
liens and encumbrances made on the reconstituted certificate of title,
after its reconstitution, shall be followed with respect to the new
certificate of title, and to such new liens and encumbrances, if any, as
may have been on the latter, after the issuance thereof. 42
Rep. Act No. 6732 itself also states:
Section 11. A reconstituted title obtained by means of fraud,
deceit or other machination is void ab initio as against the party
obtaining the same and all persons having knowledge thereof.
Section 12. Any person who by means of fraud, deceit or other
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machination obtains or attempts to obtain a reconstituted title shall be subject to
criminal prosecution and, upon conviction, shall be liable for imprisonment for a
period of not less than two years but not exceeding five years or the payment of a
fine of not less than Twenty thousand pesos but not exceeding Two hundred
thousand pesos or both at the discretion of the court.
Any public officer or employee who knowingly approves or assists in
securing a decision allowing reconstitution in favor of any person not entitled
thereto shall be subject to criminal prosecution and, upon conviction, shall be
liable for imprisonment of not less than five years but not exceeding ten years or
payment of a fine of not less than Fifty thousand pesos but not exceeding One
hundred thousand pesos or both at the discretion of the court and perpetual
disqualification from holding public office. 43
These provisions indubitably establish that the administrative
reconstitution of Torrens titles is intended for non-controversial cases, or
especially where the subject property is not covered by an existing title in
favor of a person other than the applicant. Such an implication is consonant
with the rule that the reconstitution proceedings are not the venue for
confirmation or adjudication of title, but merely a means by which a
previously adjudicated title whose original has been lost or destroyed may
be reissued to its owner. 44
The Solicitor General pertinently cites the rule in Alabang Development
Corporation v. Valenzuela, 45 which we held that "[t]he courts simply have
no jurisdiction over petitions by such third parties for reconstitution of
allegedly lost or destroyed titles over lands that are already covered by duly
issued subsisting titles in the names of their duly registered owners". 46 That
such doctrine was established for cases of judicial reconstitution does not
bar its application to cases of administrative reconstitution. None of the
provisions pertaining to administrative reconstitution in Rep. Act No. 26 or
6732 extraordinarily empowers the LRA to exercise jurisdiction over a
petition for reconstitution, where the property is already covered by a
Torrens title. After all, the LRA in such case is powerless to void the previous
title or to diminish its legal effect. Even assuming that the previously issued
title is obviously fraudulent or attended by flaws and as such cannot be
countenanced by the legal system, the corrective recourse lies with the
courts, and not with the LRA.
If a petition for administrative reconstitution is filed with the LRA, and it
appears from the official records that the subject property is already covered
by an existing Torrens title in the name of another person, there is nothing
further the LRA can do but to dismiss the petition. The dismissal of such
petition is subject to judicial review, but the only relevant inquiry in such
appellate proceeding is on whether or not there is a previously existing title
covering that property. Neither the LRA nor the Court of Appeals at that
point may inquire into the validity of the title or the competing claims over
the property. The only remedy is an action before the RTC for the
cancellation of the existing title, whether by the competing claimant or by
the OSG on behalf of the Republic. cSTDIC

III
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The 2005 Decision placed heavy reliance on Ortigas & Company
Limited Partnership v. Velasco, 47 where in the course of reviewing an action
for judicial reconstitution of title, the Court opted not to remand the
reconstitution case filed by Molina to the court of origin in order to permit
the appeals of Ortigas and the Solicitor General, which had been
improvidently disallowed by the trial court. Instead, owing to the "fatal
infirmities" of Molina's cause of action, the Court itself nullified the
reconstituted titles issued by the trial court. Ortigas had been cited by the
Court of Appeals and also by the 2005 Decision, in ruling on the Barques'
petition.
The unusual "shortcut" that occurred in Ortigas had become necessary
because in that case the trial court had denied or stricken out the notices of
appeal respectively filed by Ortigas and the Solicitor General from the order
for reconstitution of Molina's titles. Had these notices of appeal been
allowed, the Court of Appeals would have then reviewed the trial court's
decision on appeal, with the ultimately correct resolution which was the
annulment of Molina's titles. Ortigas was forced to institute a special civil
action of certiorari and mandamus with this Court, praying for either of these
alternative results — the more prudent recourse of directing the trial court to
act on the notices of appeal and to forward the case records to the Court of
Appeals, or the more immediate remedy of bypassing the appellate process
and the Court itself by directly annulling Molina's titles.
The Court of Appeals herein could not have equated its annulment of
the Manotok title with that undertaken by the Court in Ortigas since, unlike
in Ortigas, the Court of Appeals was not endowed with the proper appellate
jurisdiction to annul the Manotok title. As earlier pointed out, since the LRA
had no original jurisdiction to cancel the Manotok title, it follows that the
Court of Appeals had no jurisdictional competence to extend the same relief,
even while reviewing the LRA's ruling. Clearly, Ortigas cannot be applied as
a binding precedent to these cases. The fundamental jurisdictional defects
that attended the actions of both Divisions of the Court of Appeals have
effectively diminished Ortigas as a persuasive authority.
IV
The 2005 Decision accepted the findings of the LRA and the Court of
Appeals that the Manotok title was spurious and accordingly sanctioned its
cancellation, even though no direct attack on the title had been initiated
before a trial court. That the 2005 Decision erred in that regard is a
necessary consequence following our earlier explanation of why the mere
existence of the Manotok title necessarily barred the LRA from inquiring into
the validity of that title. ASIDTa

Moreover, it would have been pointless for the LRA or the Court of
Appeals to have ruled definitively on the validity of the Barques' claim to
title. After all, since neither the LRA nor the Court of Appeals could cause the
cancellation of the Manotok title, any declaration that the Barque claim was
valid would be inutile and inoperable. Still, in order to effectively review and
reverse the assailed rulings, it would be best for this Court to test the
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premises under which the LRA and the Court of Appeals had
concluded that the Barques had a valid claim to title. The available
record before the Court is comprehensive enough to allow us to engage in
that task.
The Barque title, or TCT No. 210177, under which the Barques assert
title to Lot 823 of the Piedad Estate, states that it was transferred from TCT
No. 13900. 48 The Barques assert that they bought the subject property from
a certain Setosta. Thus, it could be deduced that TCT No. 13900 should have
been registered under the name of Setosta. However, it was not. TCT No.
13900 was registered under the name of Manotok Realty, Inc. 49 This
detracts from the Barques' claim that the Manotoks do not have title to the
property, as in fact the Barque title was a transfer from a title registered
under the name of the Manotoks. The Barques have failed to explain the
anomaly.
The Barques hinge their claim on a purported subdivision plan, FLS-
3168-D, made in favor of Setosta. However, based on the records, it appears
that there is a conflict as to its actual existence in the files of the
government. Revelatory is the exchange of correspondence between the
LMB and the LRA. The LMB did not have any copy of FLS-3168-D in the EDP
listing, 50 nor did the LMB have a record of the plan. 51 However, a microfilm
copy of FLS-3168-D was on file in the Technical Records and Statistical
Section of the Department of Environment and Natural Resources Capital
Region (DENR-NCR). 52 The copy with the Technical Records and Statistical
Section, which bore the stamp of the LMB, was denied by the LMB as having
emanated from its office. 53
Further, the letter dated 2 January 1997 from the LMB stated that the
copy of FLS-3168-D as verified from its microfilm file was the same as the
copy sent by the Technical Records and Statistics Section of the National
Capital Region Lands Management Sector. 54 The LMB, however, denied
issuing such letter and stated that it was a forged document. 55 To amplify
the forged nature of the document, the LMB sent a detailed explanation to
prove that it did not come from its office. 56 In a letter to the administrator of
the LRA, the hearing officer concluded that "it is evident that there is an
attempt to mislead us into favorable action by submitting forged documents,
hence it is recommended that this case [be] referred to the PARAC for
investigation and filing of charges against perpetrators as envisioned by this
office under your administration". 57 IEaCDH

There are significant differences between the technical description of


Lot 823 of the Piedad Estate as stated in FLS-3168-D, the subdivision plan
relied on by the Barques, and the technical description provided by the
DENR. 58 The DENR-confirmed technical description reads:
Bounded on the E., along line-2 by Payatas Estate; on the SE., by Tuazon
Estate; along line 3-4 by Lot 824; along line 4-5 by Lot 818; and on the N., along
line 5-1 by Lot 822, all of Piedad Estate. 59
However, if we examine the subdivision plan, there are critical changes
with respect to the boundaries named therein. In effect, the boundaries as
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described in the subdivision plan would read:
Bounded on the E., along line-2 by Diez Francisco ; on the SE., by Diez
Francisco; along line 3-4 by Lot 824; along line 4-5 by Lot 826; and on the N.,
along line 5-1 by Lot 822, all of Piedad Estate. 60
The Barques offered no credible explanation for the discrepancy
between the subdivision plan it relies on and the DENR record. They also do
not contradict the finding of the National Archives that there is no copy in its
files of the deed of sale allegedly executed between Setosta and Barque. 61
Lastly, in the 1st indorsement issued by the Land Projection Section of
the LRA dated 23 August 2006, that Section stated that upon examination it
was found out that the land as described in the Barque title "when plotted
thru its tie line falls outside Quezon City". This is material, since Lot 823 of
the Piedad Estate is within the boundaries of Quezon City. 62 A similar finding
was made by the Land Management Bureau (LMB). It attested that the line
or directional azimuth of Lot No. 823 per the Barque title locates it at 5,889
meters away from point 1 of Lot No. 823 of the Piedad Estate. 63
These discrepancies highlight the error of the LRA and the Court of
Appeals in acknowledging the right of the Barques to seek reconstitution of
their purported Barque title. Even assuming that the petition for
reconstitution should not have been dismissed due to the Manotok title, it is
apparent that the Barques' claim of ownership is exceedingly weak.
V
In the course of fully reevaluating these cases, the Court could not turn
a blind eye on the evidence and points raised against the Manotok title. The
apparent flaws in the Manotoks’ claim are considerable and disturbing
enough. The Court, as the ultimate citadel of justice and legitimacy, is a
guardian of the integrity of the land registration system of the Philippines.
We will be derelict in our duty if we remain silent on the apparent defects of
the Manotok title, reflective as they are of a scourge this Court is dedicated
to eliminate.
Many of these flaws have especially emerged through the petition-for-
intervention of Felicitas and Rosendo Manahan, whom we have allowed to
intervene in these cases. The Manahans had filed a petition with the OSG
seeking that it initiate cancellation/reversion proceedings against the
Manotok title. That petition was referred by the OSG to the LMB of the DENR,
which duly investigated the claim of the Manahans. The Chief of the Legal
Division of the LMB recommended that the appropriate proceedings be
taken in the proper court for the cancellation of the Manotok title, through a
Memorandum dated 17 April 2000. 64
Around the same time, the LMB referred to the DENR Undersecretary
for Legal Affairs Roseller S. dela Peña a query on whether a deed of
conveyance could be issued to Felicitas Manahan. The DENR Undersecretary,
in answering that query through a Memorandum dated 6 July 2000, pointed
out that the titles of the Manotoks could not have been derived from OCT No.
614, the mother title of Lot 823 of the Piedad Estate. 65 The chain of
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transfers leading from OCT No. 614 to the Manotok title was a TCT No.
22813, purportedly issued by the Office of the Register of Deeds for the
Province of Rizal. The copy of said TCT No. 22813 submitted to the Court is
truncated in the upper half, to the point that it is not visually discernible
what year the same was issued. More crucially, a certification was issued by
the Register of Deeds of Rizal dated 7 January 2000 stating thus:
After a thorough verification from the files of this Office, it appears that the
documents leading to the issuance of TCT No. 22813, Blk. T-92 cannot be found
from the files of this Office. 66
These findings were twice verified with due diligence and reconfirmed
by the DENR, according to Undersecretary dela Peña. 67 TIADCc

The DENR also requested the assistance of the National Bureau of


Investigation (NBI) in conducting the said investigation. The NBI examined
various sales certificates and assignment of sales certificates in the names
of the purported predecessors-in-interest of the Manotoks Regina Geronimo,
Modesto Zacarias, and Felicisimo Villanueva — certificates that were all
dated prior to 1930. In its Chemistry Report No. C-99-152 dated 10 June
1999, the Forensic Chemistry Division of the NBI concluded that the said
documents "could not be as old as it (sic) purports to be". 68
According to the Manahans, the LMB did eventually forward to the
Office of the Register of Deeds of Quezon City a Deed of Conveyance for
registration and mandatory issuance of title to Felicitas Manahan as grantee,
pursuant to Section 122 of the Land Registration Act. The registration of said
Deed of Conveyance was referred to the Administrator of the Land
Registration Authority en consulta in 2001.
Also on record 69 is an Investigation Report on Lot No. 823 of the
Piedad Estate dated 5 July 1989, authored by Evelyn C. dela Rosa, Land
Investigator of the Community Environment and Natural Resources Office
(CENRO), NCR-North Sector and addressed to the CENRO Officer, North
CENRO. It was narrated therein that Lot No. 823 had actually been in the
possession of a Valentin Manahan beginning in 1908. In 1939, Valentin
Manahan applied for the purchase of the land, and he was issued Sales
Certificate No. 511. The Investigation Report stated:
Records show that the Sale Certificate No. 511 covering Lot 823, Piedad
Estate, was issued to Valentin Manahan as purchaser and transferred to Hilaria de
Guzman Manahan as (Assignee) and sold to Felicitas Manahan by way of Deed of
Absolute Sale dated August 23, 1974. Based on my research at the Land
Management Bureau (LMB), Central Office, it appears that original claimant of lot
823 was Valentin Manahan. 70
All told, these apparent problems with the Manotoks' claim dissuade us
from being simply content in reflexively dismissing the administrative
petition for reconstitution filed by the Barques. Indeed, we have to take
further action.
VI
The most formidable impediment to the Court reacting to the problems
apparent in the Manotok title is the fact that we are not engaged in the
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review of an original action for the cancellation of such title. If, as in Ortigas,
the validity of the questionable title were now properly at issue, the Court
would without hesitancy rule on such question. Because it is not, the matter
of how next to proceed warrants more deliberation.
The conservative approach would be to still affirm the continuing
validity of the Manotok title until the proper case for its cancellation is filed
with the regional trial court. Within that context, it would also be a plausible
recourse for us is to direct the Solicitor General to duly investigate the
circumstances behind the transmission of Lot No. 823, formerly a Friar Land,
to private persons. Thereafter, the Solicitor General can file the appropriate
proceedings for cancellation if warranted. However, it is already apparent,
following the evaluation of these cases, that there is evidence — unrefuted
thus far — indicating that the Manotoks' claim to title is just as flawed as
that of the Barques.
Can the Court declare the Manotok title void? In the 2002 decision in
Alonso v. Cebu Country Club, 71 the subject property therein had originally
formed part of the Banilad Friar Lands. Cebu Country Club had undertaken
the administrative reconstitution of the title to the property, leading Alonso
to file a complaint for nullification of such title in order to vindicate his own
claims to the property. Alonso's complaint was dismissed by the trial court
and the Court of Appeals. While the case was pending with this Court, the
Solicitor General was required to comment on the validity of Cebu Country
Club's administratively reconstituted title. Ultimately, the Court concluded
that Cebu Country Club had not been able to establish a clear title over the
contested estate, and in the dispositive portion of its decision declared "that
Lot No. 727 D-2 of the Banilad Friar Lands Estate covered by Original
Certificate of Title Nos. 251, 232, and 253 legally belongs to the Government
of the Philippines".
The following year, the Court, acting on the motions for reconsideration
in Alonso, 72 extensively discussed why it had taken that extraordinary step
even though the Republic of the Philippines, through the Solicitor General,
had not participated or intervened in that case before the lower courts.
It must be borne in mind that the disputed property is part of the "Friar
Lands" over which the Government holds title and are not public lands but private
or patrimonial property of the Government and can be alienated only upon proper
compliance with the requirements of Act No. 1120 or the Friar Lands Act.

xxx xxx xxx

It was thus primordial for the respondent to prove its acquisition of its title
by clear and convincing evidence in view of the nature of the land. In fact, it is
essential for both respondent and petitioners to establish that it had become
private property. Both parties failed to do so. As we have held earlier, petitioners
have not succeeded to prove their claim of ownership over the subject property.

xxx xxx xxx


Neither may the rewards of prescription be successfully invoked by
respondent, as it is an iron-clad dictum that prescription can never lie against the
Government. Since respondent failed to present the paper trail of the property's
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conversion to private property, the lengthy possession and occupation of the
disputed land by respondent cannot be counted in its favor, as the subject
property being a friar land, remained part of the patrimonial property of the
Government. Possession of patrimonial property of the Government, whether
spanning decades or centuries, can not ipso facto ripen into ownership. Moreover,
the rule that statutes of limitation do not run against the State, unless therein
expressly provided, is founded on "the great principle of public policy, applicable
to all governments alike, which forbids that the public interests should be
prejudiced by the negligence of the officers or agents to whose care they are
confided." DEAaIS

xxx xxx xxx

Finally, our declaration that Lot 727-D-2 of the Banilad Friar Lands Estate
legally belongs to the Government does not amount to reversion without due
process of law insofar as both parties are concerned. The disputed property is a
Friar Land and both parties failed to show that it had ceased to belong to the
patrimonial property of the State or that it had become private property. 73
The Alonso approach especially appeals to us because, as in this case,
the subject property therein was a Friar Land which under the Friar Lands
Law (Act No. 1120) may be disposed of by the Government only under that
law. Thus, there is greater concern on the part of this Court to secure its
proper transmission to private hands, if at all.
At the same time, the Court recognizes that there is not yet any
sufficient evidence for us to warrant the annulment of the Manotok title. All
that the record indicates thus far is evidence not yet refuted by clear and
convincing proof that the Manotoks' claim to title is flawed. To arrive at an
ultimate determination, the formal reception of evidence is in order. This
Court is not a trier of fact or otherwise structurally capacitated to receive
and evaluate evidence de novo. However, the Court of Appeals is sufficiently
able to undertake such function.
The remand of cases pending with this Court to the Court of Appeals for
reception of further evidence is not a novel idea. It has been undertaken
before — in Republic v. Court of Appeals 74 and more recently in our 2007
Resolution in Manotok v. Court of Appeals. 75 Our following explanation in
Manotok equally applies to this case:
Under Section 6 of Rule 46, which is applicable to original cases for
certiorari, the Court may, whenever necessary to resolve factual issues, delegate
the reception of the evidence on such issues to any of its members or to an
appropriate court, agency or office. 80 The delegate need not be the body that
rendered the assailed decision.
The Court of Appeals generally has the authority to review findings of fact.
Its conclusions as to findings of fact are generally accorded great respect by this
Court. It is a body that is fully capacitated and has a surfeit of experience in
appreciating factual matters, including documentary evidence.
In fact, the Court had actually resorted to referring a factual matter pending
before it to the Court of Appeals. In Republic v. Court of Appeals, this Court
commissioned the former Thirteenth Division of the Court of Appeals to hear and
receive evidence on the controversy, more particularly to determine "the actual
area reclaimed by the Republic Real Estate Corporation, and the areas of the
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Cultural Center Complex which are 'open spaces' and/or 'areas reserved for
certain purposes,' determining in the process the validity of such postulates and
the respective measurements of the areas referred to." The Court of Appeals
therein received the evidence of the parties and rendered a "Commissioner's
Report" shortly thereafter. Thus, resort to the Court of Appeals is not a deviant
procedure.
The provisions of Rule 32 should also be considered as governing the grant
of authority to the Court of Appeals to receive evidence in the present case.
Under Section 2, Rule 32 of the Rules of Court, a court may, motu proprio, direct
a reference to a commissioner when a question of fact, other than upon the
pleadings, arises upon motion or otherwise, in any stage of a case, or for carrying
a judgment or order into effect. The order of reference can be limited exclusively
to receive and report evidence only, and the commissioner may likewise rule
upon the admissibility of evidence. The commissioner is likewise mandated to
submit a report in writing to the court upon the matters submitted to him by the
order of reference. In Republic, the commissioner's report formed the basis of the
final adjudication by the Court on the matter. The same result can obtain herein.
76

The primary focus for the Court of Appeals, as an agent of this Court, in
receiving and evaluating evidence should be whether the Manotoks can
trace their claim of title to a valid alienation by the Government of Lot No.
823 of the Piedad Estate, which was a Friar Land. On that evidence, this
Court may ultimately decide whether annulment of the Manotok title is
warranted, similar to the annulment of the Cebu Country Club title in Alonso.
At the same time, the Court recognizes that the respective claims to title by
other parties such as the Barques and the Manahans, and the evidence they
may submit on their behalf, may have an impact on the correct
determination of the status of the Manotok title. It would thus be prudent, in
assuring the accurate evaluation of the question, to allow said parties, along
with the OSG, to participate in the proceedings before the Court of Appeals.
If the final evidence on record definitively reveals the proper claimant to the
subject property, the Court would take such fact into consideration as it
adjudicates final relief.
For the purposes above-stated, the Court of Appeals is tasked to hear
and receive evidence, conclude the proceedings and submit to this Court a
report on its findings and recommended conclusions within three (3) months
from notice of this Resolution.
To assist the Court of Appeals in its evaluation of the factual record,
the Office of the Solicitor General is directed to secure all the pertinent
relevant records from the Land Management Bureau and the Department of
Environment and Natural Resources and submit the same to the Court of
Appeals.
WHEREFORE, the Decision dated 12 June 2005, and the Resolutions
dated 19 April and 19 June 2006 of the Court's First Division are hereby SET
ASIDE, and the Entry of Judgment recorded on 2 May 2006 is RECALLED. The
Amended Decision dated 24 February 2004 in CA-G.R. SP No. 66642, the
Amended Decision dated 7 November 2003 and the Resolution dated 12
March 2004 in CA-G.R. SP No. 66700, and the Resolutions of the Land
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Registration Authority dated 24 June 1998 and 14 June 1998 in Admin.
Recons. No. Q-547-A[97] are all REVERSED and SET ASIDE. TcSICH

The instant cases are hereby REMANDED to the Court of Appeals for
further proceedings in accordance with this Resolution. The Court of Appeals
is directed to raffle these remanded cases immediately upon receipt of this
Resolution.
This Resolution is immediately executory.
Puno, C.J., Austria-Martinez, Velasco, Jr. and Brion, JJ., concur.
Quisumbing, J., joins in the dissent of J. Santiago.
Ynares-Santiago, J., please see Dissenting Opinion.
Carpio, J., see separate concurring opinion.
Corona, J., please see Separate Opinion.
Carpio-Morales, J., also concurs with J. Carpio's Separate Opinion.
Azcuna, J., joins the dissent of Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago.
Chico-Nazario, J., joins the dissent of Justice Consuelo Santiago in
addition to her dissenting opinion.
Nachura, J., related to one of the counsel. Took no part.
Reyes, J., joins the dissent of J. Santiago.
Leonardo-de Castro, J., joins the dissent of Justice Santiago.

Separate Opinions
CARPIO, J., concurring:

The Antecedents
On 22 October 1996, Homer L. Barque, Sr. (Barque, Sr.) represented by
Teresita Barque-Hernandez filed a petition for administrative reconstitution
of the original copy of TCT No. 210177 of the Registry of Deeds of Quezon
City. TCT No. 210177 was allegedly destroyed when a fire gutted the Quezon
City Hall on 11 June 1988. In support of the petition, Barque, Sr. submitted
the owner's duplicate certificate of title, Real Estate Tax Receipts and Tax
Declaration.
Atty. Benjamin M. Bustos (Atty. Bustos), Reconstituting Officer and
Chief of the Reconstitution Division, Land Registration Authority (LRA) wrote
a letter dated 29 October 1996, 1 addressed to Engineer Privadi J. Dalire
(Engineer Dalire), Chief of the Geodetic Surveys Division of the Lands
Management Bureau, Binondo, Manila. Atty. Bustos requested Engineer
Dalire to furnish him with a certified copy of Subdivision Plan Fls-3168-D (Fls-
3168-D). Atty. Bustos wrote a similar but undated letter addressed to the
Chief of the Surveys Division of the Lands Management Services,
Department of Environment and Natural Resources, National Capital Region
(LMS-DENR-NCR). 2
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In his reply dated 7 November 1996, 3 Engineer Dalire informed Atty.
Bustos that the Lands Management Bureau has no record of Fls-3168-D. In a
letter dated 28 November 1996, 4 Engineer Ernesto S. Erive (Engineer Erive),
Chief of the Surveys Division of the LMS-DENR-NCR, informed Atty. Bustos
that a microfilm copy of Fls-3168-D is on file in the Technical Records and
Statistical Section of their office.
The letter of Engineer Erive confirming the existence of a microfilm
copy of Fls-3168-D conflicted with the letter of Engineer Dalire that his office
has no record of Fls-3168-D. Thus, Atty. Bustos sent another letter dated 2
December 1996 5 to Engineer Dalire requesting for clarification. In a letter
dated 5 December 1996, 6 Engineer Dalire requested the Regional Technical
Director of LMS-DENR-NCR for a copy of Fls-3168-D for evaluation. Engineer
Dalire wrote:
In connection with the letter of clarification dated December 2, 1996 of the
Reconstituting Officer and Chief Reconstitution Division of LRA relative to the
certified reproduction plan FLS-3168-D (microfilm) issued by the Chief, Technical
Records & Statistical Section on September 23, 1996 and our letter dated
November 7, 1996 that we have no record of Fls-3168-D. In this regards (sic),
please forward to us the copy on file in that office (DENR-NCR) from where the
Chief of Technical Records and Statistical Section reproduced a copy he issued to
LRA for our evaluation. In the machine copy of Fls-3168-D (furnished to us
by LRA) from the copy of that office issued to LRA, the said copy on file
in your office did not emanate from this Office. The stamp, particularly,
bearing the name of this office and the Chief of Geodetic Surveys is not
the same stamp we are using.
Please forward to us the said plan for evaluation and comment.
A letter dated 2 January 1997, 7 purportedly from Engineer Dalire,
addressed to the LRA Administrator, was handcarried to, and received by the
LRA General Records Section on 7 January 1997. The letter states: TcDAHS

SUBJECT: Copy of Plan FLS-3168-D


Caloocan, M.M.
02 January 1997

The Administrator
Attn: The Reconstituting Officer &
Chief, Reconstitution Division
Land Registration Authority
East Avenue, Quezon City

Sir:

In reply to your letter dated December 2, 1996, please be


informed that the copy of the subject plan was forwarded to this office
by the Chief, Technical Records and Statistical Section of the National
Capital Region Lands Management Sector for our evaluation. As per
verification and comparison made in our microfilm records, it was
found out that they are identical and bore the same stamps and initials
used in this office.
In view hereof, it is further informed that in our reply
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letter dated Nov. 7, 1996 we indicated the status thereof
because we failed to verify from our index cards then for our
last result, hence, this case be given due course for
Administrative reconstitution (sic).

Very truly yours,


For the Director,
Lands Management Bureau

(SGD.)
PRIVADI J. G. DALIRE
Chief, Geodetic Surveys Division

Interestingly, Engineer Dalire wrote another letter dated 5 January


1997 8 addressed to the Regional Technical Director, LMS-DENR-NCR, thus:
This is a follow-up to our previous request dated 05 December
1996 to that Office in connection with the letter of clarification dated
December 2, 1996 of the Reconstituting Officer and Chief
Reconstitution Division of the Land Registration Authority relative to
the certified reproduction of plan Fls-3168-D (microfilm) issued by that
office (signed by Carmelita A. Soriano, Chief of Technical Records and
Statistics Section) on September 23, 1996 to Teresita Hernandez and
our letter dated November 7, 1996 to the LRA that we have no records
of Fls-3168-D.

The Land Registration Authority however, furnished us


with machine copy of Fls-3168-D reproduced from the copy
issued by that Office and we found out that the copy of Fls-
3168-D file (sic) in your office did not emanate from this Office.
We reiterate that we have no records (sic) of Fls-3168-D.

May we request you again to please forward to us the


said copy of plan Fls-3168-D on file in your office for our
evaluation and comment.

Engineer Dalire sent another letter dated 31 January 1997 9 to the LRA
Administrator. The letter states:
31 January 1997

The Administrator
Attn: The Reconstituting Officer
and Chief, Reconstitution Division
Land Registration Authority
East Avenue, Diliman, Quezon City

Sir:
In your letter dated December 2, 1996 (IN RE: Administrative
Reconstitution of the Original Transfer Certificate of Title No. 210177 in
the Register of Deeds of Quezon City, Homer L. Barque, Sr.,
Represented by Teresita Barque-Hernandez, Petitioner) you requested
us to clarify the fact that the Regional Office has a microfilm copy of
plan Fls-3168-D, while our office does not have a record of the same. In
that letter, you attached for our reference the following:
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1. Xerox copy of a certified true copy of plan Fls-3168-D, issued by
the TRSS, NCR;
2. Reply letter of Engineer Ernesto S. Erive, dated Nov. 28, 1996;

3. Our reply letter dated November 7, 1996 to your letter dated


October 29, 1996
In this connection, please be informed that we wrote on
December 5, 1996 the DENR-NCR about your letter dated December 2,
1996 informing them that the plan Fls-3168-D filed in that Office from
where the reproduced copy furnished to LRA did not emanate from our
office. We requested them to forward to us the said plan for our
evaluation and comment. Likewise, on January 5, 1997, we made a
follow-up, reiterating that we have no records (sic) of Fls-3168-D and
requesting them to forward the plan for our evaluation and comment.
It is regretted, they did not respond.

Upon examination of the copy of Fls-3168-D allegedly


issued by DENR-NCR, it is certain that the source of the copy is
a spurious plan which may have been inserted in the file. We
requested for the copy in their file last 05 December 1996 and 05
January 1997 but until this writing, NCR has not sent us the copy for
authentication as required by DENR Administrative Order. We are
sure that the copy did not come from this Office. The reasons
are:
a. Our inventory of approved plans enrolled in our file, our
Microfilm Computer list of plans available for decentralization all
show that we do not have this plan Fls-3168-D, logically we
cannot issue any copy.

b. The copy of the plan Fls-3168-D shows visible signs that it is a


spurious copy.

1) The certification (rubber stamp) serves a two piece stamp.


The certification and the signing official are separate. Ours
is one-piece.ADCTac

2) The alignment of: Lands, GEODETIC, this, Privadi, and Chief


in the syndicates (sic) stamp differ from our stamp. Chief,
Geodetic Surveys Division is our stamp, their (sic) is Survey
without the “s” plural.

3) We do not stamp the plan twice as the syndicate did on


the copy.

4) The size of the lettering in the rubber stamp "Not for


Registration/Titling For Reference Only" is smaller than our
stamp. It is also incomplete as an (sic) Stamp, in addition to
[the] above is "of _________".
5) The copy bears forged initials of my action officer
and myself. I sign completely certification.
6) The name of the claimant is very visible to have been
tampered in the master copy.
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7) Again, it is certified that this Bureau does not have
copy of Fls-3168-D.
In view of the foregoing, the copy of Fls-3168-D furnished
your Office as well as the alleged letter authenticating it
should be disregarded or rejected as they come from spurious
sources. This involves the reconstitution of title allegedly lot 823-A of
Fls-3168-D with an area of 171,473 Sq. M. Surely, the use of the
spurious copy of Fls-3168-D for the reconstitution of title will create
land problem involving prime lots in that area.
Meanwhile, we requested our Records Division to find out to
whom lot 823 (or portion thereof) Piedad Estate was conveyed.
Very truly yours,

For the Director,


Lands Management Bureau:
(SGD.)
PRIVADI J.G. DALIRE
Chief, Geodetic Surveys Division

In a letter dated 13 February 1997 10 to the LRA Administrator,


Engineer Dalire explained that the 2 January 1997 letter was forged. Thus:
13 February 1997

The Administrator
Land Registration Authority
East Avenue, NIA Road
Quezon City
ATTN: Atty. Benjamin M. Bustos
Reconstituting Officer
Sir:
In reply to your letter dated January 28, 1997 which we received
today, please be informed that as per the inventory of approved
surveys which are officially enrolled in our file, the locator cards, the
microfilm, list of plans on file which were decentralized to our regions,
that are on file in this Bureau show that plan Fls-3168-D is not among
the plans in our file. The non-existence of plan Fls-3168-D in our
file, hence there is none to decentralize to our National Capital
Region, is the subject of our reply to you dated 07 November
1996 (copy attached).
With respect to the letter dated 02 January 1997, xerox
copy attached to your letter, this letter definitely did not come
from this office; it is a forged document. The statement that
the subject plan was forwarded to us by the Chief, Technical
Records Statistics Section of the NCR-LMS is not true. Until
now the NCR has not turned over the plan they reproduced in
compliance with our urgent requests dated 03 January 1996
and followed up by our letters 03 January 1997 and 06
February 1997 (copies attached).
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With respect to the questioned plan of Fls-3168-D, xerox copy
attached to your letter of December 2, 1996, our detailed findings
tending to prove it is a spurious copy have been discussed in our
letter-reply dated 31 January 1997.
Meanwhile, we are retrieving the plan allegedly in the file of NCR
for investigation and/or validation under DENR Administrative Order
No. 40, s. 1991. HCISED

Very truly yours,


(SGD.)
PRIVADI J.G. DALIRE
Chief, Geodetic Surveys Division

Finally, in a letter dated 19 February 1997, 11 Engineer Dalire requested


Atty. Bustos to disregard Fls-3168-D for being spurious, thus:

19 February 1997
Atty. Benjamin M. Bustos
Reconstituting Officer
Land Registration Authority
East Avenue, Quezon City
Dear Atty. Bustos:

In reply to your query whether or not


a) the copy of plan Fls-3168-D submitted to you involving lot
823, Piedad Estate as surveyed for Emiliano Setosta;
b) the letter dated 07 November 1996, and
c) the letter dated 02 January 1997

are authentic and really coming from this office.


The letter dated 07 November 1996 (copy attached) stating that
this Bureau has no records of Fls-3168-D is authentic. Our Inventory
Record of Approved Surveys, our computerized list of plans officially
filed in this Bureau, the Locator Cards, and the microfilm all show that
we have no records or information about Plan Fls-3168-D.
The copy of Fls-3168-D attached to your letter dated
December 2, 1996 is not issued by this Office. There are many
markings on the copy to prove it did not come from LMB. Reasons,
among others, are:
1) We have no copy of Fls-3168-D on file so how can
we issue a copy of plan that is non-existing?
2) The copy of plan bears two "Certifications" at the top and
at lower half. This is not our practice;

3) The rubber-stamp shows there are two pieces; one for the
certification and another for the signing official. We use
one piece rubber stamp. The alignment of the letters/words
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of one rubber stamp is different from this marking on this
spurious plan;

4) The plan shows only initial. I sign in full copies of


plans with the initials of my action officers and their
codings below my signature. These are not present
in the spurious copy of plan;
5) The letter size of the rubber stamp “NOT FOR
REGISTRATION/TITLING, FOR REFERENCE ONLY” is smaller
than our rubber stamp;
6) The spurious copy of plan you furnished us does not carry
our rubber stamp "GOVERNMENT PROPERTY NOT TO BE
SOLD: FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY OF ___________________ "This
is stamped on all microfilm copies we issue because all
microfilm copies are for official use only of our LMS. We
have shown you our rubber stamps to prove that the copy
of Fls-3168-D in your possession is a spurious plan.
I firmly deny having prepared and issued the letter dated
02 January 1997 stating that copy of subject plan (Fls-3168-D)
was forwarded to us by the Chief Technical Records and
Statistics Section of the NCR and that as per verification, the
plan is identical to the microfilm and that the case be given
due course for administrative reconstitution. Certainly this is
not true. This is the handiwork of forgers. How can this be
when NCR has never given us the alleged copy in their file for
validation. The forwarding of the copy to us is mandatory
under DAO No. 49 for our validation. This is the subject of our
letters to NCR dated 05 December 1996, 03 January 1997 and
06 February 1997 (copies attached). Definitely this letter was
never prepared and issued by this Office. Our record books and
file attest to this. We do not use letterheads for letters
involving this topic.
Apparently our letter of 31 January 1997 (copy attached) was
intercepted and did not reach you. HcISTE

For all intent and purposes, please disregard the plan Fls-3168-D
and the letter dated 02 January 1997 as they are proven to be spurious
documents.

Very truly yours,


For the Director of Lands:
(SGD.)
PRIVADI J.G. DALIRE
Chief, Geodetic Surveys Division

The Ruling of the Reconstituting Officer


In an Order dated 30 June 1997, 12 Atty. Bustos denied the petition for
administrative reconstitution of TCT No. 210177 on the following grounds:
1. Lots 823-A and 823-B, Fls-3168-D, containing areas of 171,473
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Sq. Mtrs. and 171,472, respectively, covered by TCT No.
210177, appear to duplicate Lot 823 Piedad Estate,
containing an area of 342,945 Sq. Mtrs., covered by TCT No.
372302 registered in the name of Severino M. Manotok,
et al., reconstituted under Adm. Reconstitution No. Q-213
dated February 01, 1991;

2. The submitted plan Fls-3168-D is a spurious document as


categorically stated by Engineer Privadi J.G. Dalire, Chief,
Geodetic Surveys Division, Lands Management Bureau, in his
letter dated February 19, 1997. 13 (Boldfacing and underscoring
supplied)

Barque, Sr. moved for reconsideration of the Order. In an Order dated


10 February 1998, 14 Atty. Bustos denied the motion for lack of merit.
The Heirs of Barque (Barques) filed an appeal with the LRA, docketed
as Admin. Recons. No. Q-547-A [97].
The Ruling of the Land Registration Authority
In a Resolution dated 24 June 1998, 15 the LRA gave due course to the
appeal. The LRA ruled that under LRA Circular No. 13, 16 only the owner's or
co-owner's duplicate of an original or transfer certificate of title may be used
as a source of administrative reconstitution. Hence, Atty. Bustos erred in
requiring the submission of documents other than the owner's duplicate TCT.
The LRA further ruled that Engineer Dalire failed to deny or question the
genuineness of his signature in the letter of 2 January 1997. The LRA held
that the 2 January 1997 letter is an official communication from Engineer
Dalire. The LRA Administrator personally opined that the Manotoks' TCT
No. RT-22481 [372302] is sham and spurious. Thus:
It is undisputed that Lot 823 of the Piedad Estate, the property in question,
is located at Barrio Matandang Balara, Quezon City. Several documents
submitted by oppositors particularly the several Deeds of Sale and Unilateral
Deed of Conveyance including the real estate tax receipts would show that Lot
823 of the Piedad Estate is located at Barrio Payong, and/or Barrio Culiat
[Annexes "2" to "77" inclusive "79", "84" and "85" of Opposition] which is grossly
inaccurate. The map of Quezon City [Annex "N" of Petitioners' Position Paper]
would show that there is no such barrio as Payong. It must likewise be noted that
there is a Barrio Culiat but the same is separate and distinct from Barrio
Matandang Balara and they do not adjoin each other. Quite perplexing though is
the fact that the real estate tax receipts for payments made after the Quezon City
Hall was gutted by fire on 11 June 1988 would show that the property covered
thereby is already situated at Barrio Matandang Balara [Annexes "91" to "104"
inclusive of Opposition], while in other tax payment receipts [Annexes "103" to
"114" inclusive of Opposition], Barrio Capitol is indicated as the location of the
property in question. This is highly questionable and likewise highly irregular. The
said real estate tax receipts also reflect the tax declaration of the property
covered thereby. It is highly irregular that the tax declaration numbers indicated
therein would vary and those tax declarations which appear to have been
canceled would again be revived. STHAaD

The claim of the oppositors that the property in question per TCT No. RT-
22481 [372302] covers only one [1] lot is also inaccurate and without any basis.
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Plan FLS 3168D shows that the property in question indeed consists of two [2]
lots, Lot 823-A and Lot 823-B. The same is being buttressed and corroborated by
the certified copy of the tax map over the property in question issued by the
Quezon City Assessor's Office [annex "H" of Petitioners Position Paper]. Said tax
map shows that similar to TCT No. 210177 and Plan FLS 3168D, the property in
question covers two [2] lots, Lot 823-A and Lot 823-B. Granting arguendo that Lot
823 of the Piedad Estate has not yet been subdivided into two [2] lots from the
date of original survey in 1907, it is highly irregular that TCT No. RT-22481
[372302] would have Lot 822-A Psd 2498, Lot 818-A and Lot 818-C Psd 2507 as
boundaries when at the time of the original survey, there were no such Psd's yet.
Examination of the technical description and boundaries appearing in TCT
No. RT-22481 [372302] would show that the same do not, in all respects, conform
to the certified technical description and boundaries of Lot 823 of the Piedad
Estate [property in question] which are the B. L. Form No. 28-37-R and B. L. Form
No. 31-10 issued by the Bureau of Lands [Annexes "I" and "J" of Petitioners'
Position Paper]. There was never any mention of Payatas Estate nor Tuazon
Estate as the boundaries of the lot in question. The lot in question does not at all
adjoin the Payatas Estate which was surveyed only on January 12, 1923 as per
certification issued by the LMS-DENR-NCR [Annex "L" Petitioners' Position Paper].
As correctly pointed out by petitioners, Lot 822 was mentioned as one of the
boundaries of TCT No. RT-22481 [372302]. It was not, however, indicated
whether or not it was Lot 822 of the Piedad Estate. 17
However, the LRA ruled that TCT No. 210177 may only be reconstituted
after a court of competent jurisdiction cancelled TCT No. RT-22481
(372302) in the name of the Manotoks. The dispositive portion of the LRA
Resolution reads:
WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, it is hereby ordered that
reconstitution of TCT No. 210177 in the name of Homer L. Barque, Sr. shall be
given due course after cancellation of TCT No. RT-22481 (372302) in the name of
the Manotoks upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction.
SO ORDERED. 18 (Emphasis supplied)
The Manotoks filed a motion for reconsideration. In an Order dated 14
June 2001, 19 the LRA denied the motion.
The Manotoks filed a petition for review docketed as CA-G.R. SP No.
66642 before the Court of Appeals challenging the 24 June 1998 Resolution
and 14 June 2001 Order of the LRA.
The Barques filed a petition for review docketed as CA-G.R. SP No.
66700 praying for the modification of 24 June 1998 Resolution and 14 June
2001 Order of the LRA. The Barques prayed for the immediate reconstitution
of TCT No. 210177 without prior cancellation of TCT No. RT-22481 (372302)
by a court of competent jurisdiction. aHTcDA

The Ruling of the Court of Appeals


CA-G.R. No. 66642
CA-G.R. No. 66642 was initially dismissed in the Resolution of 23
October 2001 20 for failure to show that Rosa Manotok was authorized to
sign the verification and certification against forum shopping in behalf of the
other petitioners. Upon motion for reconsideration filed by the Manotoks, the
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petition was reinstated in the Resolution of 27 November 2001. 21

In its Decision of 29 October 2003, 22 the Court of Appeals denied the


Manotoks' petition and affirmed the LRA Resolution of 24 June 1998.
However, upon motion for reconsideration of the Barques, the Court of
Appeals promulgated an Amended Decision on 24 February 2004, 23 the
dispositive portion of which reads:
WHEREFORE, the Motion for Reconsideration is hereby GRANTED. The
Decision of this Court dated 29 October 2003 is RECONSIDERED and a new one is
entered ordering the Register of Deeds of Quezon City to cancel petitioners' TCT
No. RT-22481 and directing the LRA to reconstitute forthwith respondents’ TCT
No. T-210177.
SO ORDERED. 24

The Manotoks came to this Court for relief. Their petition was docketed
as G.R. No. 162335.
CA-G.R. SP No. 66700
In a Decision promulgated on 13 September 2002, 25 the Court of
Appeals dismissed the Barques' petition and affirmed the LRA Resolution of
24 June 1998. The Barques moved for reconsideration of the Decision.
In an Amended Decision promulgated on 7 November 2003, 26 the
Court of Appeals reconsidered its 13 September 2002 Decision, as follows:
WHEREFORE, our decision dated 13 September 2002 is hereby
reconsidered. Accordingly, the Register of Deeds of Quezon City is hereby
directed to cancel TCT No. RT-22481 of private respondents and the LRA is
hereby directed to reconstitute forthwith petitioners’ valid, genuine and existing
Certificate of Title No. T-210177.
No pronouncement as to costs.
SO ORDERED. 27

The Manotoks filed a motion for reconsideration of the Amended


Decision. In its Resolution of 12 March 2004, 28 the Court of Appeals denied
the motion.
The Manotoks filed a petition for review with this Court, docketed as
G.R. No. 162605.
The cases were consolidated in the Court's Resolution of 2 August
2004.
In a Decision dated 12 December 2005, 29 the First Division of this
Court denied the petitions and affirmed the Amended Decisions of the Court
of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 66642 and CA-G.R. SP No. 66700. In its 19 April
2006 Resolution, 30 the Special First Division of this Court denied the
Manotoks' motion for reconsideration. No proceeding of any kind took
place before any trial court assailing the validity of the Torrens title
of the Manotoks. Yet, as the final resolution of the Barques' simple petition
for administrative reconstitution, the First Division of this Court cancelled the
Torrens title of the Manotoks and declared the title of the Barques not only
reconstituted, but also valid.
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In a Resolution dated 12 September 2006, this Court, among others,
granted the Motion for Leave to Intervene filed by Felicitas B. Manahan and
Rosendo Manahan (Manahans).
In a Resolution dated 19 July 2006, the Special First Division of this
Court referred the cases to the Court en banc. In its 26 July 2006 Resolution,
the Court en banc accepted the cases. In the Oral Argument on 24 July 2007,
the Court en banc considered the following issues:
1. Does the Court of Appeals have jurisdiction to cancel petitioners'
TCT No. RT-22481 without a trial before the proper regional trial
court in a proceeding directly assailing the validity of petitioners'
title?
2. Does the LRA have jurisdiction to administratively reconstitute
the allegedly lost TCT No. 210177 in the name of respondents
despite the previously reconstituted TCT No. RT-22481 of the
petitioners over the same property?
3. Does the LRA have jurisdiction to adjudicate on the validity of
petitioners' TCT No. RT-22481 in the administrative
reconstitution case filed by respondents with the LRA?
4. Does the Court of Appeals or the LRA have jurisdiction to decide
the ownership of the disputed property in the administrative
reconstitution of title filed by respondents?

The Ruling of This Court


We set aside the 12 December 2005 Decision of the First Division of
this Court. cDTSHE

First, the 12 December 2005 Decision of the First Division of this Court
overturns well-entrenched doctrines of this Court, such as the decision
i n Sps. Antonio and Genoveva Balanon-Anicete, et al. v. Pedro Balanon. 31
Second, the LRA has no jurisdiction to reconstitute the Barques' title because
of the pre-existing Torrens title of the Manotoks. Third, a Torrens title can
only be cancelled if a direct proceeding assailing its validity is filed before
the proper Regional Trial Court. Fourth, the Barques submitted patently
forged documents in the administrative reconstitution of their title, and
even in the attachments to their Memorandum of 23 August 2007.
FOUR FIRSTS IN PHILIPPINE JURISPRUDENCE
The 12 December 2005 Decision of the First Division made four
"firsts". First, it is the first decision in Philippine jurisprudence where an
administrative reconstitution of title resulted in the cancellation of the
Torrens title of another person without a direct attack of the cancelled title
in any trial court. Second, it is the first decision in Philippine jurisprudence
authorizing the LRA to reconstitute administratively a Torrens title despite
the existence of a previously issued Torrens title over the same property in
the name of another person. Third, it is the first decision in Philippine
jurisprudence where the issue of ownership of land is decided with finality in
a petition for administrative reconstitution of title. And fourth, it is the first
decision in Philippine jurisprudence where the petitioner in an administrative
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petition praying for a simple reconstitution of title received an unexpected
and undeserved windfall — the declaration of validity of his reconstituted
title and the cancellation of a previously issued Torrens title in the name of
another person over the same property.
LANDMARK DOCTRINES OVERTURNED
The Decision of the First Division overturns three doctrines firmly
established in numerous decisions of this Court, both en banc and in division,
many of them landmark rulings. To name a few of these decisions starting
in the year 1915: Legarda and Prieto v. Saleeby, 32 Magay, etc. v.
Estiandan, 33 Republic v. Court of Appeals, 34 Alabang Development
Corporation, et al. v. Valenzuela, etc., et al., 35 MWSS v. Hon. Sison, etc., et
al., 36 Liwag v. Court of Appeals, 37 Ybañez v. Intermediate Appellate Court,
38 Serra Serra v. Court of Appeals, 39 Ortigas & Company Limited Partnership
v. Ve lasco, 40 Heirs of Santiago v. Heirs of Santiago, 41 and Alonso v. Cebu
Country Club, Inc. 42
The three well-established doctrines that the Decision of the First
Division has overturned are:

1. A Torrens title can be cancelled only in a proceeding directly


attacking the title's validity before the proper regional trial
court. 43 This is the bedrock principle that provides enduring
stability to Torrens titles.

2. A reconstitution of Torrens title, whether judicial or


administrative, cannot proceed once it is shown that another
Torrens title has already been issued to another person over
the same property. The reconstituting body or court has no
jurisdiction to issue another Torrens title over the same
property to the petitioner. 44 The existence of a prior title
ipso facto nullifies the reconstitution proceedings. 45 The
proper recourse is to assail directly in a proceeding before
the regional trial court the validity of the Torrens title already
issued to the other person.

3. The reconstituting officer or court has no jurisdiction to


decide the issue of ownership over the property or the
validity of the title. 46 The purpose of reconstitution is solely
to replace a certificate of title that was lost or destroyed in
the same legal status it existed at the time of the loss or
destruction. The validity of a Torrens title, reconstituted or
not, is a separate issue from the reconstitution of title.

DOCTRINE OF IMMUTABILITY NOT APPLICABLE


The dissenting opinion asserts that the 12 December 2005 Decision of
the First Division has already become final and executory, and thus has
become immutable and unalterable. The dissenting opinion states that there
is no compelling reason to depart from the doctrine of immutability and
unalterability of decisions.
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On the contrary, the 12 December 2005 Decision never became final
and executory. The doctrine of immutability and unalterability of decisions
necessarily applies only to final and executory decisions . If the
decision never became final and executory, the doctrine of immutability and
unalterability of decisions has no application. Before finality of a decision, a
court has "plenary power to alter, modify or even set aside, its own
decisions, and even order a new trial, at any time before the decision
becomes final." 47
There are two compelling jurisdictional reasons why the 12
December 2005 Decision of the First Division never became final and
executory. First, the First Division has no jurisdiction to overturn a doctrine
laid down by the Court en banc or in division. The Court en banc has ruled in
Group Commander, Intelligence and Security Group, Philippine Army v. Dr.
Malvar 48 that a decision of a division is void if it overturns a doctrine
established by the en banc or another division. There, the Court held:
Section 4, sub-paragraph (3), Article VIII of the 1987 Constitution, provides:
". . . no doctrine or principle of law laid down by the
(Supreme) Court en banc or its Divisions may be modified or
reversed except by the Court sitting en banc."
A Decision rendered by a Division of this Court in violation of the
above constitutional provision would be in excess of jurisdiction and,
therefore, invalid. 49 (Emphasis supplied)
A void decision vests no right, creates no obligation, grants no title,
and settles no issue. A void decision protects no one and is subject to attack,
directly or collaterally, 50 at any time. A void decision has no existence in
law. Therefore, a void decision cannot become final and executory against,
or in favor of, any one. ETDHaC

Second, the doctrine of immutability and unalterability of decisions


applies only if the trial court or hearing officer has jurisdiction over the
subject matter. A decision rendered by a trial court or hearing officer without
jurisdiction over the subject matter is void and cannot become final and
executory. Such decision cannot even become res judicata because there
can be no conclusiveness of judgment if the trial court or hearing officer has
no jurisdiction over the subject matter. 51
In these cases, the LRA has no jurisdiction to reconstitute
administratively the title of the Barques because such reconstitution
constitutes an indirect or collateral attack on the pre-existing Torrens title
of the Manotoks over the same property. Section 48 of the Property
Registration Decree 52 states that a "certificate of title shall not be
subject to a collateral attack". The LRA, or even any court for that
matter, has no jurisdiction to entertain a collateral attack 53 on a Torrens
title. The Manotoks' prior title must be deemed valid and subsisting as it
cannot be assailed through collateral attack in the reconstitution
proceedings. 54
THE MANOTOKS' PRIOR TITLE NULLIFIES RECONSTITUTION
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PROCEEDINGS OF BARQUES
In fact, the existence of a prior Torrens title over the same property in
the name of another person ipso facto nullifies the reconstitution
proceedings and renders the reconstituted title void. 55 Demetriou v. Court
of Appeals, 56 penned by Justice Vicente V. Mendoza, is instructive and
summarizes the law on this matter:
But a judgment otherwise final may be annulled not only on the ground of
extrinsic fraud but also because of lack of jurisdiction of the court which rendered
it. In Serra Serra v. Court of Appeals, on facts analogous to those involved in this
case, this Court already held 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. Consequently, the decision may be attacked any time.
Indeed, Rep. Act No. 26, § 18 provides that "in case a certificate of title,
considered lost or destroyed be found or recovered, the same shall prevail over
the reconstituted certificate of title". It was, therefore, error for the Court of
Appeals to dismiss the petition for annulment of judgment of the petitioners. 57
(Emphasis supplied)
Even before Demetriou, this Court had already ruled in Republic v.
Court of Appeals 58 that the existence of a prior Torrens title ipso facto
nullifies the reconstitution proceedings, thus:
The existence of the two titles of the Government for Lots Nos. 915
and 918 ipso facto nullified the reconstitution proceedings and signified
that the evidence in the said proceedings as to the alleged ownership of Laborada
and Bombasi cannot be given any credence. The two proceedings were sham and
deceitful and were filed in bad faith. Such humbuggery or imposture cannot be
countenanced and cannot be the source of legitimate rights and benefits.
Republic Act No. 26 provides for a special procedure for the reconstitution
of Torrens certificates of title that are missing and not fictitious titles or titles
which are existing. It is a patent absurdity to reconstitute existing certificates of
title that are on file and available in the registry of deeds.
The reconstitution proceedings in Civil Cases Nos. C-677 and C-763
are void because they are contrary to Republic Act No. 26 and beyond
the purview of that law since the titles reconstituted are actually
subsisting in the registry of deeds and do not require reconstitution at
all. As a rule, acts executed against the provisions of mandatory laws are void
(Art. 5, Civil Code).
To sustain the validity of the reconstituted titles in these cases
would be to allow Republic Act No. 26 to be utilized as an instrument for
landgrabbing (See Republic vs. Court of Appeals, Ocampo and Anglo, L-31303-
04, May 31, 1978, 83 SCRA 453, 480, per J. G.S. Santos) or to sanction
fraudulent machinations for depriving a registered owner of his land, to
undermine the stability and security of Torrens titles and to impair the
Torrens system of registration. 59 (Emphasis supplied)
These rulings of the Court are so essential in providing stability to land
titles that overturning them now would be catastrophic to our Torrens
system of land registration.
A TORRENS TITLE CAN ONLY BE CANCELLED IN A DIRECT ACTION
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ASSAILING ITS VALIDITY BEFORE THE REGIONAL TRIAL COURT
The LRA has also no jurisdiction to cancel the Torrens title of the
Manotoks because the exclusive original jurisdiction to cancel a Torrens
title belongs to the Regional Trial Court. The LRA, moreover, has no
jurisdiction to decide the ownership dispute over a parcel of land 60 between
the Barques and the Manotoks because jurisdiction to adjudicate ownership
of disputed real properties belongs to courts of justice.
Two specific provisions of law confer exclusive original jurisdiction on
Regional Trial Courts to cancel a Torrens title. Section 48 of the Property
Registration Decree provides: cTACIa

Section 48. Certificate not subject to collateral attack. — 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.
(Emphasis supplied)
Section 19 of the Judiciary Act 61 provides that the "Regional Trial
Court shall exercise exclusive original jurisdiction . . . in all civil
actions, which involve the title to . . . real property".
That the proper Regional Trial Court has exclusive original
jurisdiction to entertain any action to cancel a Torrens title is reinforced by
Section 108 of the Property Registration Decree. Section 108 states that "no
erasure, alteration or amendment shall be made upon the registration book
after the entry of a certificate of title . . ., except by order of the proper
Court of First Instance (now the Regional Trial Court)."
LRA DECISION ON RECONSTITUTION DOES NOT BECOME FINAL AND
EXECUTORY
The doctrine of immutability and unalterability of decisions applies only
to decisions that are capable of becoming final and executory. Decisions of
the LRA on administrative reconstitutions of title never become final and
executory. An administrative reconstitution of title is merely a restoration or
replacement of a lost or destroyed title in its original form at the time of the
loss or destruction. 62 The issuance of a reconstituted title vests no new
rights and determines no ownership issues. 63 At any time, the LRA can
revoke its issuance of a reconstituted title if the lost or destroyed
title is subsequently found. 64 The issuance by the LRA of a reconstituted
title is an executive function, not a judicial or quasi-judicial function. Only
judicial or quasi-judicial decisions can become res judicata. This Court stated
in A .G. Development Corp. v. Court of Appeals: 65 "[T]he doctrine of res
judicata applies only to judicial or quasi-judicial proceedings and
not to the exercise of administrative powers or to legislative, executive
or ministerial determination". 66
The 12 December 2005 Decision of the First Division grants to the
Barques much more than what the Barques prayed for in their petition for
administrative reconstitution of title. In their petition before the LRA, the
Barques only prayed for the reconstitution of their allegedly destroyed title.
The Decision of the First Division grants the reconstitution, declares the
reconstituted title valid, awards ownership over the disputed property to the
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Barques, and cancels the Torrens title of the Manotoks. This violates the
"cardinal principle that (a court) cannot grant anything more than what is
prayed for" 67 in the petition.
A SURFEIT OF FORGERIES AND BADGES OF FRAUD
Equally disturbing, there are patent forgeries, badges of fraud,
and other dubious circumstances that the First Division inexplicably
brushed aside in its Decision. These forgeries alone are more than sufficient
grounds to deny the reconstitution of the Barques' title. These forgeries
provide compelling reasons for this Court to require compliance with Section
48 of the Property Registration Decree in determining the validity of the
Manotoks' title. Section 48 requires a proceeding before the proper Regional
Trial Court directly assailing the validity of the Torrens title before such title
can be cancelled.
First: Forged Plan Fls-3168-D
The Barques submitted to the LRA reconstituting officer patently
forged documents in support of their petition. On 31 January 1997,
Engineer Dalire wrote the LRA reconstituting officer that the copy of the
Barques' plan Fls-3168-D submitted to the LRA "bears forged initials of
my section officer and myself", 68 and that the Lands Management
Bureau National Office "does not have copy of Fls-3168-D." 69 Engineer
Dalire urged the LRA that plan Fls-3168-D and the accompanying
authentication letter "be disregarded or rejected as they come from
spurious sources". 70
Plan Fls-3168-D is vital in establishing the authenticity of the Barques'
Torrens title, which contains two lots as subdivided by plan Fls-3168-D from
the original Lot 823. The Manotoks' title covers only one lot, Lot 823, without
subdivision. Both the Manotoks and the Barques claim the same original Lot
823. If there is no record in the Lands Management Bureau National Office of
plan Fls-3168-D showing the subdivision of Lot 823 into two lots, then the
Barques' title is spurious.
During the oral argument of these cases, counsel for the Barques was
asked if the Barques have ever secured a copy of plan Fls-3168-D as
certified by the Lands Management Bureau National Office. Counsel
for the Barques showed the Court a copy of what purported to be plan Fls-
3168-D but on closer examination the copy was certified not by the Lands
Management Bureau National Office but by the NCR Regional Office. What
counsel for the Barques showed was the same copy of plan Fls-3168-D that
Engineer Privadi Dalire, Chief of the Geodetic Surveys Division of the Lands
Management Bureau National Office, had rejected as a forgery in his 31
January 1997 and 19 February 1997 letters to Atty. Bustos. In his letters,
Engineer Dalire stated that there is no plan Fls-3168-D in the files of the
Lands Management Bureau National Office.
Second: Forged 2 January 1997 Letter
On 13 February 1997, Engineer Privadi J. Dalire, Chief of the Geodetic
Surveys Division of the Lands Management Bureau National Office, wrote the
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LRA reconstituting officer that the 2 January 1997 letter, purportedly coming
from Engineer Dalire, "definitely did not come from this office; it is a
forged document". 71
In his 19 February 1997 letter, Engineer Dalire also informed the LRA
reconstituting officer that the 2 January 1997 letter purportedly coming from
him was the "handiwork of forgers". 72 In the questioned 2 January 1997
letter 73 addressed to the LRA reconstituting officer, Engineer Dalire
allegedly stated that the Chief of the Technical Records and Statistics of the
National Capital Region-Lands Management Bureau (NCR Regional Office)
had forwarded a copy of Fls-3168-D to Engineer Dalire's office. Engineer
Dalire has repeatedly denounced this 2 January 1997 letter as a
forgery, not only because he never signed this letter, but also
because his office never received a copy of Fls-3168-D from the NCR
Regional Office. AcHCED

Third: Plan Fls-3168-D Is Void Unless Validated by the Geodetic Surveys


Division
During the oral argument, counsel for the Barques then undertook to
present to the Court a copy of plan Fls-3168-D as certified by the Lands
Management Bureau National Office. In their Memorandum dated 6
September 2007, counsel for the Barques explained why they could not
present a copy of plan Fls-3168-D as certified by the Lands Management
Bureau National Office:
Following the order of the Honorable Justice Carpio for respondents to
secure a certified true copy of Fls-3168-D from the Land Management Bureau,
National Office, they went to said National Office to secure said certified true
copy of Fls-33168-D but were instead given a copy of a form letter (Annex "J")
issued in reply to a prior request for transmittal of Plan FLS-3168-D with the
information that records of said plan had already been turned over to the
National Capital Region.
The form letter (Annex "J") from the Records Management Division of
the Lands Management Bureau National Office, that the Barques attached to
their Memorandum, states —
. . . plan FLS-3168-D covering parcel/s of and situated in Caloocan Rizal was
among those survey records already turned-over/decentralized to DENR-National
Capital Region (NCR), Roxas Boulevard, Manila on April 5, 1979 as recorded in
our file no. NCR-199, for their reference/file purposes.
The form letter bears the printed name of Rainier D. Balbuena, OIC, Records
Management Division, Lands Management Bureau National Office although
someone whose signature is not legible signed for Rainier D. Balbuena.
The Barques also submitted a Certification dated 19 June 2007 (Annex
"E-I") signed by Rainier D. Balbuena, OIC, Records Management Division,
Lands Management Bureau National Office, stating:
This is to certify that according to the verification of the Records
Management Division, Lands Management Bureau, Binondo, Manila, EDP's Listing
has available record with Fls-3168-D, Lot 823, Xerox copy of which is herewith
attached, situated in Caloocan, Rizal (Now Quezon City), in the name of Survey
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Claimant Emiliano Setosta.
In sharp contrast, the Manotoks attached to their Memorandum dated
23 August 2007 a certification signed by three persons from the Lands
Management Bureau National Office, namely, Bienvenido F. Cruz, Chief,
Geodetic Surveys Division; Rodel Collantes, Chief, Technical Services &
Survey Records Documentation Section; and Teodoro A. de Castro,
researcher. This certification, dated 2 August 2007, states:
August 2, 2007
LUISA T. PADORA
2830 Juan Luna St. Tondo
Manila
S i r /M a d a m:

This is in connection with your request on the verification of


survey plan. As per our inventory we found out the following:
Survey No. Accession No.
Location
Fls-3168-D Not listed in EDP listing.

Verified By:
(Sgd)
RODEL COLLANTES
Chief, Technical Services & Survey
Records Documentation Section
Researched by:
(Sgd)
TEODORO A. DE CASTRO

Very truly yours,


(Sgd)
BIENVENIDO F. CRUZ
Chief, Geodetic Surveys Division
OR#: 3041650
Date: 08/02/07
Amt. Php40.00

The certification of the Chief, Geodetic Surveys Division prevails over


the certification of the OIC, Records Management Division. Under paragraph
2.4 of Lands Memorandum Order No. 368-92 dated 17 August 1992, "no
copies of white print, blue prints or photographic copies of plans
shall be issued unless said secondary copies have been validated by
the Geodetic Surveys Division". The same paragraph 2.4 further states
that unless validated by the Geodetic Surveys Divisions, copies of such plans
"should be temporarily expunged from the records of the Records
Division until they are validated and returned for official file". SEDaAH

Thus, no secondary copies of plans, like the Barques' Fls-3168-D plan,


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can have any evidentiary value unless validated by the Geodetics Surveys
Division of the Lands Management Bureau National Office. More importantly,
copies of plans, like the Barques' Fls-3168-D plan, which have not been
validated by the Geodetic Surveys Division, are deemed "expunged from the
Records of the Records Division". The inescapable conclusion is that the
form letter (Annex "J") issued by the Records Management Division
of the Lands Management Bureau National Office, and the
Certification dated 19 June 2007 (Annex "E-I") signed by Rainier D.
Balbuena, OIC, Records Management Division, Lands Management
Bureau National Office, both of which refer to the existence of the
Barques' Fls-3168-D plan, are absolutely worthless and are mere
scraps of paper.
The Barques' explanation is further belied by the 19 February 1997
letter of Engineer Dalire, Chief of the Geodetic Surveys Division of the Lands
Management Bureau National Office, that:
. . . Our Inventory Record of Approved Surveys, our computerized list of
plans officially filed in this Bureau, the Locator Cards, and the microfilm
all show that we have no records or information about Plan Fls-3168-D.
xxx xxx xxx

. . . How can this be when NCR has never given us the alleged copy in
their file for validation. The forwarding of the copy to us is
mandatory under DAO No. 49 for our validation. This is the
subject of our letters to NCR dated 05 December 1996, 03 January
1997 and 06 February 1997 (copies attached). . . . . 74 (Emphasis
supplied)

As pointed out by Engineer Dalire, under DENR Administrative Order


No. 49, series of 1991, the copy of plan Fls-3168-D must be forwarded
by the NCR Regional Office for validation by the Geodetic Surveys
Division of the Lands Management Bureau National Office. No copy of
the survey plan can be issued by the NCR Regional Office without the
validation of the Geodetic Surveys Division. Sections 4.3 and 4.5 of DENR
Administrative Order No. 49 states:
Section 4. Preparation of Certified True Copies of Approved
Plans. — The following considerations on the preparation of Certified
True Copies of Approved Plans shall be observed:

xxx xxx xxx


4.3 Decentralized whiteprints or photographic copies of plans
especially those marked "SGD" (i.e. SIGNED) shall not be used for the
issuance of patent or certified true copy or titling purposes, EXCEPT,
upon or prior authentication by the Lands Management Bureau
( L M B ) after diligent comparison with the records of the Land
Registration Authority (LRA) and other depository of surveys records.

xxx xxx xxx


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4.5 The Chief of the Regional Surveys Division of the Lands
Management Service in the concerned Regional Office shall certify all
copies for land registration and for other purposes as true, correct and
exact replica of the original plan. (Emphasis supplied)

The requirement of validation by the Geodetic Surveys Division is


reiterated and amplified in Lands Memorandum Order No. 368-92 dated 17
August 1992, thus:
2.4 No copies of white print, blue prints or
photographic copies of plans shall be issued unless said
secondary copies have been validated by the Geodetic Surveys
Division (see paragraph 4.3, DENR A.O. 49, s-1991) . The Survey
Records Section shall turn over all print (white, blue, xerox) copies and
photographic copies in its file to the Geodetic Surveys Division for
examination, investigation and/or validation. These copies should
temporarily be expunged from the records of the Records
Division until they are validated and returned for official file.
(Boldfacing and underscoring supplied)

Unless validated by the Geodetic Surveys Division of the Lands Management


Bureau National Office, secondary copies of survey plans, such as the
Barques' plan Fls-3168-D, have no evidentiary value because they are
"temporarily . . . expunged from the records of the Records
Division".
The Geodetic Surveys Division validates the survey plans based on the
"back-up file in the Central Records Office ". Despite the
decentralization of the records of survey plans, the Lands Management
Bureau National Office retained "back-up files" of the decentralized records.
Lands Memorandum Order No. 368-92 states:
1. General Policy
1.1 It is the general policy that all isolated survey plans
and other survey records be decentralized immediately to the
Lands Management Sector for their reference and file after
establishing a back-up file in the Central office for records
preservation. The latter can be done thru microfilming or
reproduction of the original records. (Emphasis supplied)

The NCR Regional Office failed to submit to the Geodetics Survey


Division a copy of plan Fls-3168-D despite repeated requests from Engineer
Dalire. In his 31 January 1997 letter to the reconstituting officer, Atty.
Bustos, Engineer Dalire stated:
. . . please be informed that we wrote on December 5, 1996 the DENR-NCR
about your letter dated December 2, 1996 informing them that the plan Fls-3168-
D filed in that Office from where the reproduced copy furnished to LRA (sic) did
not emanate from our office. We requested them to forward to us the said
plan for our evaluation and comment. Likewise, on January 5, 1997, we
made a follow-up, reiterating that we have no records (sic) of Fls-3168-
D and requesting them to forward the plan for our evaluation and
comment. It is regretted, they did not respond. 75 (Emphasis supplied) TcADCI

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This repeated and manifest failure by the NCR Regional Office is echoed by
the glaring failure of the Barques to submit, as they had promised to the
Court during the oral argument, a copy of plan Fls-3168-D as certified by
the Lands Management Bureau National Office.
This Court has already recognized that copies of survey plans are void
unless validated by the Geodetic Surveys Division in accordance with DENR
Administrative Order No. 49, series of 1991. In Fil-Estate Golf and
Development, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, 76 the Court held:
Finally, private respondents' cause of action against
petitioner is defeated by the findings of Mr. Privadi Dalire,
Chief of the Geodetic Surveys Division of the Bureau of Lands,
contained in his letters to the Regional Technical Director of the
Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR), Region IV
dated 12 November 1992 and 15 December 1992, respectively:
12 November 1992
xxx
MEMORANDUM:
15 December 1992
FOR: The Regional Technical Director of Lands
The Chief, Regional Surveys Division
DENR, Region IV
L & S Building, Roxas Boulevard
Manila
FROM: LMB

SUBJECT: Psu-201
Records show that the region furnished us a white print copy certified
by Engineer Robert Pangyarihan to have been "prepared from a tracing
cloth plan on file in the NCR" for validation. We returned the white print
plan prepared by Engineer Pangyarihan because we should examine
the "tracing cloth plan" and it is the tracing cloth plan, white prints and
photographic copies sent by the Central Records Division to be
returned to LMB for validation by this Division.
In the letter dated 27 November 1992, Engineer Pangyarihan explained
that he prepared the copy which he certified from a white print plan on
file in the region as the applicant claims to have lost the tracing cloth.
While the explanation may be considered, yet the preparation of the
plan is not yet in accordance with Sections 1.3 and 4.3 of DENR
Administrative Order No. 49, s-1991 which requires that the
white prints or photographic print of the plan other than the
original plan which have been decentralized must first be
authenticated by this Bureau before a certified true copy is
issued by the region. It is evident therefore that the issuance
of a certified true copy of Psu-201 from a white print is
premature, and considered void ab initio.
Consider also that if the record of the Bureau is different from the print
copy is subjected to field ocular inspection of the land and on the basis
of the findings, the region may reconstruct the plan to be approved as
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usual. Certified copies may now be issued based on the reconstructed
and approved plan. The white print of Psu-201 should therefore be
subjected to ocular inspection.

Our records of inventory of approved plans show Psu-201 as a survey


of J. Reed covering a piece of land in Malate, Manila. That plan was
heavily damaged and its reconstruction was not finalized. This should
be included in the investigation.

For the Director of Lands:


(SGD.) PRIVADI J.G. DALIRE
Chief, Geodetic Surveys Division. 77 (Emphasis supplied)

Clearly, in the present cases the copy of the Barques' plan Fls-3168-D
issued by the NCR Regional Office is likewise void unless validated by the
Geodetic Surveys Division in accordance with DENR Administrative Order No.
49, series of 1991, as amplified in Lands Memorandum Order No. 368-92. Up
to this time, the Barques have failed to submit a copy of their plan
Fls-3168-D as certified by the Geodetic Surveys Division. The
inescapable conclusion is that the Barques' plan Fls-3168-D is void
ab initio.
In their Memorandum dated 6 September 2007, the Barques submitted
to the Court a copy of plan Fls-3168-D, certified by the NCR Regional
Office, to support the authenticity of the plan Fls-3168-D that the Barques
had earlier submitted to the reconstituting officer, Atty. Bustos, thus:
c. Photo Copy of Plan FLS-3168 (microfilm) duly certified by
Carmelito A. Soriano for the Chief, Regional Technical Director, NCR,
Annex "H" hereof. This microfilm copy is exactly the same as the
Tracing Cloth Plan copy, Annex G.

First, there does not appear in Annex "H" a signature over the printed
name Carmelito A. Soriano, Chief, Regional Technical Director, NCR National
Office.
Second, Annex "H" is not certified by the Chief of the Regional Surveys
Division, Lands Management Service of the NCR Regional Office as required
by Section 4.5 of DENR Administrative Order No. 49.
T h i r d , Annex "H" is the same copy of Fls-3168-D that
purportedly originated from the office of Engineer Privadi Dalire,
Chief of the Geodetic Surveys Division of the Lands Management
Bureau. Annex "H" is also the same copy of plan Fls-3168-D that counsel for
the Barques showed to the Court during the oral argument. Engineer
Privadi Dalire has categorically declared this copy of Fls-3168-D as
"spurious" in his 19 February 1997 letter to Atty. Bustos, thus: HETDAC

The copy of Fls-3168-D attached to your letter dated December


2, 1996 is not issued by this Office. There are many markings on the
copy to prove it did not come from LMB. Reasons, among others, are:
1. We have no copy of Fls-3168-D on file so how can we issue
a copy of plan that is non-existing?
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2. The copy of plan bears two "Certifications" at the top and
at lower half. This is not our practice;
3. The rubber-stamp shows there are two pieces; one for the
certification and another for the signing official. We use
one piece rubber stamp. The alignment of the letters/words
of one rubber stamp is different from this marking on this
spurious plan;
4. The plan shows only initial. I sign in full copies of
plans with the initials of my action officers and their
codings below my signature. These are not present
in the spurious copy of plan;
5. The letter size of the rubber stamp “NOT FOR
REGISTRATION/TITLING, FOR REFERENCE ONLY” is smaller
than our rubber stamp;
6. The spurious copy of plan you furnished us does not carry
our rubber stamp "GOVERNMENT PROPERTY NOT TO BE
SOLD: FOR OFFICIAL USE ONLY OF ___________________ "This
is stamped on all microfilm copies we issue because all
microfilm copies are for official use only of our LMS. We
have shown you our rubber stamps to prove that the copy
of Fls-3168-D in your possession is a spurious plan. 78
(Emphasis supplied)

Engineer Dalire ended his letter by advising Atty. Bustos to "disregard


the plan Fls-3168-D and the letter dated 02 January 1997 as they
are proven to be spurious documents". 79
Again, in his 31 January 1997 letter to Atty. Bustos, Engineer Dalire
reiterated that plan Fls-3168-D, which purportedly was certified by him, did
not come from his office. Engineer Dalire stated in his 31 January 1997
letter:
. . . We are sure that the copy did not come from this Office. The
reasons are:

a. Our inventory of approved plans enrolled in our file, our


Microfilm Computer list of plans available for
decentralization all show that we do not have this plan
Fls-3168-D, logically we cannot issue any copy.

b. The copy of the plan Fls-3168-D shows visible signs that


it is a spurious copy.
1) The certification (rubber stamp) serves a two piece stamp.
The certification and the signing official are separate. Ours
is one-piece.
2) The alignment of: Lands, GEODETIC, this, Privadi, and Chief
in the syndicates (sic) stamp differ from our stamp. Chief,
Geodetic Surveys Division is our stamp, their (sic) is Survey
without the "s" plural.
3) We do not stamp the plan twice as the syndicate did on
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the copy.
4) The size of the lettering in the rubber stamp "Not for
Registration/Titling for Reference Only" is smaller than our
stamp. It is also incomplete as an (sic) Stamp, in addition to
[the] above is "of _________".
5) The copy bears forged initials of my action officer
and myself. I sign completely certification.

6) The name of the claimant is very visible to have been


tampered in the master copy.

7) Again, it is certified that this Bureau does not have


copy of Fls-3168-D.
In view of the foregoing, the copy of Fls-3168-D furnished your
Office as well as the alleged letter authenticating it should be
disregarded or rejected as they come from spurious sources.
This involves the reconstitution of title allegedly lot 823-A of Fls-3168-D
with an area of 171,473 Sq. M. Surely, the use of the spurious copy of
Fls-3168-D for the reconstitution of title will create land problem
involving prime lots in that area. 80 (Emphasis supplied)

The Barques have the temerity to foist on this Court their copy of plan
Fls-3168-D which has been repeatedly denounced as a forgery by
Engineer Dalire, the very person whom the Barques claim certified
their copy of Fls-3168-D. Engineer Dalire is the best person to determine
the authenticity of Fls-3168-D not only because he allegedly signed it as
claimed by the Barques, but also because he is the Chief of the Geodetic
Surveys Division of the Lands Management Bureau National Office, the office
that has the "inventory of approved plans . . . (and) Microfilm Computer list
of plans available for decentralization". aESIDH

Fourth: The Barques Submitted a Tampered Copy of Administrative


Reconstitution Order No. Q-535(96)
On 7 February 1997, the Barques had written the LRA Administrator
complaining against the LRA reconstituting officer's alleged "pattern of effort
to delay the administrative reconstitution". 81 The Barques attached to their
7 February 1997 letter an alleged order of reconstitution signed by
Atty. Bustos approving the reconstitution of the Barques' TCT No.
210177. In his 14 February 1997 reply to the LRA Administrator, Atty.
Bustos exposed the alleged order of reconstitution submitted by the Barques
as a "tampered document".
The Barques also informed the LRA Administrator that there
was a "recommendation dated January 2, 1997 by the Chief,
Geodetic Surveys, Lands Management Bureau, DENR, Manila, to
give due course to the said reconstitution". However, in his 13
February 1997 letter 82 to the LRA reconstituting officer, Engineer Dalire,
the Chief, Geodetic Surveys, Lands Management Bureau, disowned this 2
January 1997 letter as a forgery.
On 14 February 1997, the LRA reconstituting officer wrote the LRA
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Administrator that: 83

1. There is no effort to delay the administrative reconstitution


of the aforesaid title. What we are doing is a thorough check of the
authenticity of the submitted documents;
2. The order of reconstitution containing TCT No.
210177 and the name of Homer L. Barque, attached to the
aforesaid letter is a tampered document. For your comparison,
herewith is a copy of the genuine order of reconstitution,
marked as annex "A";
3. The alleged letter-recommendation dated January 2,
1997, by the Chief, Geodetic Surveys Division, LMB-DENR, is
also a forged document. Attached for your reference is a copy of the
letter which is self-explanatory, together with its enclosures, directly
received by the undersigned from Engineer Privadi J.G. Dalire, Chief,
Geodetic Surveys Division, LMB-DENR, marked as annex "B";
4. Lots 823-A & 823-B, Fls-3168-D, containing areas of
171,473 Sq. m. & 171, 472 Sq. m., respectively, purportedly
covered by TCT No. 210177, appear to duplicate Lot 823,
Piedad Estate, containing an area of 342,945 Sq. m. covered by
TCT No. 372302, registered in the name of Severino M.
Manotok, et al., copy of which is hereto attached as annex "C".
(Boldfacing and underscoring supplied)

In his 14 February 1997 letter, the LRA reconstituting officer


complained to the LRA Administrator that "there is an attempt to mislead
us into favorable action by submitting forged documents".
The tampering refers to the insertion of (1) the name of "Homer L.
B a r q u e " , and (2) the title number "210177" in Administrative
Reconstitution No. Q-535(96). The Barques justified the authenticity of the
copy they presented by claiming that their copy was "initialed in each and
every page." 84 However, the Barques' copy of Administrative Reconstitution
No. Q-535(96) differed from the original of Administrative Reconstitution No.
Q-535(96) that the LRA reconstituting officer himself signed on 27 January
1997. To repeat, the original of Administrative Reconstitution No. Q-
535(96) was an order issued and signed by the LRA reconstituting
officer, Atty. Bustos. Indeed, the Barques' copy 85 of Administrative
Reconstitution No. Q-535(96) shows that it was signed by the same LRA
reconstituting officer, Atty. Bustos, handling the Barques' then pending
petition for administrative reconstitution.
The Barques also failed to explain why they still pursued their petition
for administrative reconstitution of their title if indeed they had already
obtained an approved reconstitution on 27 January 1997 under their copy of
Administrative Reconstitution Order No. Q-535(96). On 13 August 1998, the
LRA reconstituting officer filed before the LRA Administrator the following
Comment:
2. That we maintain our position denying the reconstitution of
TCT No. 210177, on the grounds stated in our Order dated June 30,
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1997, and on the following additional grounds, to wit:
2.1 If the late Homer L. Barque, really purchased the
subject property in the year 1975, why did he not take
possession of it upon purchase, and up to now his descendants,
the Petitioners, are not in possession of the property, but the
Oppositors?;
2.2 Why was the property declared, and realty taxes
were paid in the name of Barque, only in the year 1996?
Whereas, the Oppositors and their predecessors have been
paying realty taxes on the property since the year 1965;
2.3 Why did the Petitioner try to mislead us by
submitting a tampered copy of Adm. Reconstitution Order No.
Q-535(96)? 86 (Emphasis supplied)

The LRA reconstituting officer ended his Comment by urging the LRA
Administrator that "this case be referred to the Presidential Anti-
Organized Crime Commission for investigation".
In their Memorandum dated 6 September 2007, the Barques explained
the circumstances of the order of reconstitution they submitted to the LRA in
this manner:
The said resolution was issued on January 27, 1997 when there
was, as yet, no opposition from anyone to the Barques' petition for
reconstitution and after the Barque had already submitted their
Owner's Duplicate Copy of TCT No. 210177 which entitled them, like
the several other petitioners listed in Mr. Bustos' aforesaid Resolution,
to a reconstitution thereof under R.A. 6732.
In his letter, Atty. Turgano surmised that:
"The animosity and bias of Mr. Bustos against petitioners
may be explained by the fact that he was responsible in giving
due course and approving with dispatch the administrative
reconstitution of the Manotok title which is TCT No. RT-22481
(372302).
Mr. Bustos' bias was likewise shown when he alerted the Manotoks of the
Barques' Petition for Reconstitution which prompted them to file their opposition
to the Barques' petition on April 14, 1997. He, therefore, apparently had the
motive to delete the title and name of the Barques from his resolution.
At any rate, said resolution of Bustos was completely irrelevant to the LRA
proceedings since it is his Order denying Barques' petition for reconstitution that
was raised on appeal before the LRA Administrator. (Emphasis supplied)
In short, the Barques represent to this Court that their copy of
Administrative Reconstitution No. Q-535(96), listing their TCT No. 210177 in
the name of Homer L. Barque, Sr. as one of the titles approved for
reconstitution by Atty. Bustos, is authentic, genuine and untampered. This is
contrary to the categorical declaration of Atty. Bustos that the copy of
Administrative Reconstitution No. Q-535(96) submitted by the Barques is a
"tampered document", and that the original Administrative
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Reconstitution No. Q-535(96) that Atty. Bustos himself signed,
which original is on file in his office in the LRA, does not include TCT
No. 210177 in the name of Homer L. Barque, Sr.
Ironically, the Barques put the blame on Atty. Bustos for "delet(ing)
the title and name of the Barques from the resolution". The Barques
are now accusing Atty. Bustos of falsification by deleting the Barques' name
and title in Administrative Reconstitution No. Q-535(96). Before such
deletion, the Barques insist that Administrative Reconstitution No. Q-535(96)
included the Barques' name and title, which is the copy that the Barques
submitted to the LRA Administrator.
In the first place, there was no reason whatsoever for Atty. Bustos to
include the Barques' title and name in Administrative Reconstitution No. Q-
535(96). When Atty. Bustos signed the order on 27 January 1997, he was
still corresponding with Engineer Dalire on the forgery found in the Barques’
plan Fls-3168-D. The last letter of Engineer Dalire to Atty. Bustos was on 31
January 1997. On 14 February 1997, Atty. Bustos even wrote the LRA
Administrator about the "attempt to mislead us (LRA) into favorable action
by submitting forged documents". Clearly, Atty. Bustos could not have
included the Barques' title and name in Administrative Reconstitution No. Q-
535(96).
In their Memorandum dated 6 September 2007, the Barques gave the
lame excuse that Administrative Reconstitution No. Q-535(96) is now
"completely irrelevant" because what was raised on appeal to the LRA was
the order of Atty. Bustos denying the Barques' petition for reconstitution. If
their copy of Administrative Reconstitution Order No. Q-535(96) is truly
authentic and untampered, the Barques should insist that their petition for
administrative reconstitution was in fact approved by the reconstituting
officer Atty. Bustos. The Barques do not claim or even mention this now,
instead they agree that Atty. Bustos denied their petition, contrary to their
claim that Atty. Bustos granted their petition by including the Barques' title
and name in Administrative Reconstitution No. Q-535(96).
The Barques cannot simply brush aside their submission of tampered
or forged documents. These patent forgeries are grounds to render the
Barques' reconstituted title void ab initio. Section 11 of Republic Act No.
6732 (RA 6732), 87 the law allowing administrative reconstitution of titles,
provides:
SEC. 11. A reconstituted title obtained by means of fraud,
deceit or other machination is void ab initio as against the party
obtaining the same and all persons having knowledge thereof.
(Emphasis supplied)

This Court would never countenance these blatant and glaring forgeries. The
present cases involve 34 hectares of prime land located beside the Ayala
Heights Subdivision in Quezon City. Its value is estimated
conservatively at P1.7 billion. CIcTAE

Fifth: The Barques’ Title Surfaced Eight Years after the Quezon City Hall Fire
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The Barques filed their petition for administrative reconstitution on 22
October 1996, eight years after the original of their Torrens title was
allegedly burned in the 11 June 1988 fire that destroyed the records of the
Quezon City Register of Deeds. In contrast, the Manotoks administratively
reconstituted their Torrens title on 1 February 1991, three years after the
fire and just one year after the effectivity on 17 July 1989 of RA 6732
allowing again administrative reconstitution of titles under certain
circumstances.
Sixth: The Barques Cannot Explain Erasure of Notation on their Tax
Declarations
The Manotoks claim that the Barques erased the following notation in
the tax declarations they submitted to the LRA reconstituting officer:
"Memo: This property appear (sic) to duplicate the property of
Manotok Realty, Inc., declared under TD No. B-067-02136 with area
of 343,945 sq.m./P.I. no. 21-4202." 88 In their Petition For Review dated
30 March 2004, the Manotoks submitted certified true copies of the Barques'
Tax Declarations 06892 89 and 06895 90 containing this notation. In their
Memorandum of 23 August 2007, the Manotoks again submitted copies of
the Barques' tax declarations containing the same notation.
During the oral argument, counsel for the Barques denied the erasure
of the notation on the Barques' tax declarations. However, counsel for the
Barques admitted that he has not seen the original tax declarations on file
with the Assessor's Office, thus:
Justice Carpio:
. . . The Manotoks are claiming that the Barques erased, removed
annotation in the tax declaration of the Barques that in the tax
declaration on file with the Assessor's Office the tax declaration
of the Barques is supposed to contain annotation that this
property appears to be registered in the name of Manotok Realty
Inc., is that correct?
Atty. Flaminiano:

Well, that is a serious accusation, Your honor and I have no


knowledge about that.
Justice Carpio:
But does the tax declaration of the Barques contain that
notation?
Atty. Flaminiano:
There is none that I know, Your Honor.
Justice Carpio:
How about the tax declaration on file with the Assessor's Office?

Atty. Flaminiano:

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I have not seen those, Your Honor.
Justice Carpio:
You have not seen those?
Atty. Flaminiano:

I have not seen those. 91

In their Memorandum dated 6 September 2007, the Barques ignored


completely the Manotoks' claim that the Barques erased the notation.
Seventh: The Barques Paid Realty Tax only for 1987 to 1996
The Barques first paid real estate tax on the property only in
1996, 92 for realty taxes for the years 1987 to 1996, because the
Barques were required to pay the current and preceding years’
realty taxes before they could file their petition for administrative
reconstitution. The Barques have not paid any realty tax after 1996,
or before 1987. 93 In contrast, the LRA reconstituting officer found that the
Manotoks have been paying realty taxes on the property since 1965. In their
Memorandum dated 23 August 2007, the Manotoks claim that they paid their
realty taxes on the property from 1933 until the present, attaching to their
Memorandum representative copies of their realty tax payments.
Eighth: The Barques Have Never Set Foot on the Property
The Barques have never set foot on the property since the time Homer
L. Barque, Sr. allegedly purchased the property in 1975. Counsel for the
Barques admitted this when he stated during the oral argument that the
Barques merely "went around" the walled property. On the other hand, the
Manotoks assert that the property is publicly known in their neighborhood as
the Manotok Compound. The Manotoks further claim:
[A]s owners of said Lot 823, oppositors (Manotoks) had introduced
substantial improvements, amounting to several millions, thereon
consisting of, among others, high wall hollow block fence; their
respective houses, apartments; offices and employees
quarters, as early as in 1960, photographs of which are hereto
attached as Annexes "115" to "134"; 94 (Emphasis supplied)

During the oral argument, the Manotoks showed on the projector screen the
pictures of the various houses, buildings and concrete perimeter fence that
the Manotoks constructed on the property since 1960.
Ninth: LRA Administrator Relied only on Map Submitted by Barques
In calling the Manotoks' title "sham and spurious", the LRA
Administrator cited the non-existence of Barrio Payong in Quezon City. The
LRA Administrator stated: "The map of Quezon City [Annex "N" of
Petitioners' Position paper] would show that there is no such barrio
as Payong". 95 This is a finding of fact that is based not only on self-serving
and suspect evidence, but also on a patently erroneous claim.
The LRA Administrator relied on Annex "N" of "Petitioners", that is,
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the map of the Barques who were the petitioners before the LRA
Administrator assailing the LRA reconstituting officer's denial of their
reconstitution on the ground of pre-existence of the Manotoks' title and the
submission of a spurious document by the Barques. Obviously, this Court
should not rely on the LRA Administrator's findings which were admittedly
based on the map of the Barques, who had earlier submitted forged
documents to the LRA reconstituting officer.
The existence of Barrio Payong in Quezon City has been
judicially acknowledged almost three decades ago in the Decision of
the Court of Agrarian Relations, the court of origin in Spouses Tiongson, et
al. v. Court of Appeals and Macaya, 96 involving the same property under
dispute in these cases. In Spouses Tiongson, the Court of Agrarian Relations
made an ocular inspection of Barrio Payong in Quezon City, thus: CADacT

On June 20, 1978, the Court issued an Order directing the Clerk
of Court to conduct an ocular inspection of the landholding in question,
which is as follows:
"Conformably with 'Urgent Motion For An Ocular Inspection'
filed with this Court on even date and as stated in paragraph 2
thereof, the Clerk of Court is hereby directed to conduct an
ocular inspection of the landholding in question situated at
Payong, Quezon City, which as agreed upon between them is
set on June 23, 1978 at 8:30 o'clock A.M. (sic), wherein the
parties shall meet at the site of said landholding and to
determine:
(a) Portions of the property planted to rice (sic) by the
plaintiff and/or his children;
(b) Portions of the property where the rice paddies are
located;
(c) Portions of the property planted to (sic) corn and
vegetables;
(d) Portions of the property where the houses of the
plaintiff and/or his children are built and located;

(e) Portion of the property which, according to the


defendants, had been, before the filing of the complaint in this
case, worked on by Victorino Macaya and returned by him to the
defendants, through Atty. Perpetua Bocanegra, with an area of
more or less one hectare;
(f) Portions burned by the plaintiff."
Upon accomplishment thereof, said Clerk of Court is hereby
directed to submit his report as well as his sketch plan for further
disposition of the Court.
On June 27, 197[8], the Clerk of Court submitted his "REPORT",
which is as follows:

"In compliance with the Order of the Honorable


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Court dated June 20, 1978, undersigned together with Mr.
Victor Flores of this Branch, proceeded to Barrio Payong,
Quezon City on June 23, 1978, to conduct an ocular
inspection of the landholding involved in this case. . . . 97
(Boldfacing and underscoring supplied)

The recognition of the Court of Agrarian Relations that Barrio Payong


exists in Quezon City is based on the ocular inspection conducted on
23 June 1978 by the Clerk of Court of the Court of Agrarian Relations. In
contrast, the statement of the LRA Administrator that there is no Barrio
Payong in Quezon City is based merely on the map that the Barques
submitted in their petition for administrative reconstitution, which
was filed only on 22 October 1996.
I n Spouses Tiongson, there were 28 petitioners. 98 Of these 28
petitioners, at least sixteen are petitioners composing part of the
Manotoks in these cases. Of these sixteen petitioners, eight — Miguel A.B.
Sison, Ma. Cristina E. Sison, George M. Bocanegra, Philipp Manotok, Maria
Theresa Manotok, Ramon Severino Manotok, Jesus Jude Manotok, Jr., and
Jose Maria Manotok — were then minors at the time of Spouses Tiongson and
were thus represented by judicial guardians. These eight are now of age in
these cases.
Tenth: The Barques Bought the Property Knowing the Manotoks Had
Constructed Buildings and Perimeter Wall on the Property
During the oral argument, the Manotoks showed on the projector
screen a picture of the 34-hectare Manotok compound completely
surrounded by a high concrete perimeter wall. When counsel for the
Barques was asked if his clients made an ocular inspection of the property at
the time his clients purchased it in 1975, Barques' counsel answered as
follows:
Justice Velasco:
Did your client prior to buying the lot from Mr. Setosta go to the
land to investigate the ownership of Mr. Setosta?
Atty. Flaminiano:

The one who bought the property was the father of Barques now.
Justice Velasco:
Would you know if the father of respondent visit and inspect and
investigate the ownership of Mr. Setosta?
Atty. Flaminiano:

I was told that he visited the property because the father of the
Barques used to work for Mr. Antonio Florendo. I think he was the
manager of one of the businesses of Mr. Florendo in Davao City
having to do with accessory parts of cars and trucks and he was
at one time also the operator of a public transportation company.

Justice Velasco:
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Okay. Did the father of Mr. Barque find any building or structures
on the land now subject of this dispute?
Atty. Flaminiano:

We would not know because Mr. Barque died already, Your


Honor. 99
xxx xxx xxx
Justice Carpio:
Now, when did they take possession of the property since Mr.
Homer L. Barque purchased it in 1975, when did he take
possession of the property?

Atty. Flaminiano:
The reason why they could not take really possession of the
property because they were trying to get some papers from an
Aunt of Mr. Barque to whom the property was mortgaged before
he died. I understand that the property was mortgaged for
something like One Million to Two Million Pesos.
Justice Carpio:
So, from 1975 to the present they have not taken possession of
the property?
Atty. Flaminiano:

There were attempts to take possession, Your Honor.


Justice Carpio:
What kind of attempts, did they file ejectment suit?
Atty. Flaminiano:
In fact Your Honor I understand that some of the Barque girls
even went around the property. AEHTIC

Justice Carpio:
Went around the property (interrupted)
Atty. Flaminiano:
Went around the property to take a look at the property but after
that they left for the United States and for one reason or another
they have not been able to take the proper steps (interrupted)
Justice Carpio:

So, they never filed any suit to recover possession of the


property, is that right?
Atty. Flaminiano:
None that I know, Your Honor.
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Justice Carpio:
Did they send any demand letter to the Manotoks to vacate the
property since they were the owners?
Atty. Flaminiano:
None that I know, Your Honor.

Clearly, the Barques have never set foot on the property from 1975 up
to the present. The Barques merely "went around" the fully fenced
property. The Barques never sent a demand letter to the Manotoks to vacate
the property. The Barques never filed an ejectment or any action to recover
possession of the property.
Eleventh: The Barques' Chain of Title Stops in 1975
The Manotoks can trace their Torrens title to the purchase by
their predecessors-in-interest of the property from the Government
in 1919. In their Memorandum dated 23 August 2007, the Manotoks state:
9.5 The Manotok chain of titles began with the purchase by
Zacarias Modesto, Regina Geronimo and Feliciano Villanueva of Lot
823 from the Philippine government on March 10, 1919. Attached
hereto as Annex E is a Land Management Bureau-certified xerox copy
of Sale Certificate No. 1054 issued by the Friar Lands Division, Bureau
of Lands, to Modesto, Geronimo and Villanueva. Ownership over Lot
823 was later consolidated in Modesto, who in 1920 assigned his
interests thereon to M. Teodoro and Severino Manotok. Attached
hereto as Annexes F and G are Land Management Bureau-certified
xerox copies of Assignments of Certificate of Sale No. 1054 dated
March 11, 1919 and June 7, 1920.

9.6 In 1923, M. Teodoro assigned his share and interests over


Lot 823 to Severino Manotok, making him the sole and exclusive owner
of Lot 823. A certified xerox copy of Assignment of Certificate of Sale
No. 1054 dated May 4, 1923 is attached hereto as Annex H.
9.7 Through a series of transfers within the Manotok family
and the Manotok Realty, Inc., a company owned by petitioners, Lot 823
was titled under TCT No. 372302 on October 16, 1987 in the names of
all of the Manotoks. The Manotok's chain of titles to the property, with
deeds of conveyances, are attached hereto as Annex I, with sub-
annexes.

9.8 Fire gutted the Quezon City ROD on June 11, 1988, and
shortly thereafter (i.e., on August 31, 1988) the Manotoks filed
reconstitution proceedings before the LRA, and were issued a
reconstituted certificate of title, TCT No. RT-22841 (372302), by the
ROD of Quezon city in 1991. A xerox copy of the petition for
reconstitution filed by the Manotoks with the ROD, with attachments, is
attached hereto as Annex J, while a certified true copy of TCT No.
372302 (the title sought to be reconstituted in this petition) is attached
hereto as Annex J-1.

On the other hand, the Barques can trace their chain of title only up to
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1975 when Homer Barque, Sr. purchased the property from Emiliano
Setosta, who the Barques claim bought the property directly from the
Government in the 1940s. The Barques have not presented the deed of
conveyance by the Government to Setosta. The claim of the Barques
that Setosta purchased the property directly from the Government in the
1940s is belied by the 1927 Annual Report of the Director of Lands, stating
that:
With the exception of the estates of Calamba, Imus, Isabela,
Lolomboy, Naic, San Francisco de Malabon, Santa Cruz de Malabon,
Santa Maria de Pandi, and Talisay-Minglanilla, where there are still
some vacant lands, all the others of the 23 Friar land estates had
already been entirely disposed of. . . . 100 (Emphasis supplied)

At the end of 1927, the Government had already sold all of the Piedad
Estate, a Friar land. Thus, the Government could not have sold directly to
Setosta the disputed property in the 1940s.
Twelfth: Lands Management Bureau Relocation Survey Shows Barques'
Property Located 5.6 Kilometers from Piedad Estate
Intervenors Felicitas and Rosendo Manahan (Manahans) have
submitted a relocation survey made by the Lands Management Bureau
NCR Regional Office of the Barques' plan Fls-3168-D showing that the
Barques' property is located "some 5.6 kilometers away from Lot No.
823 of the Piedad Estate, outside of Quezon City". 101 The relocation
survey plan is signed by Ludivina L. Aromin, Chief of the Technical Services
Division, and Engineer III Evelyn G. Celzo. In their Memorandum dated 22
August 2007, the Manahans attached as Annex "M" a copy of the Lands
Management Bureau relocation survey of plan Fls-3168-D. SHaIDE

A DULY ISSUED TORRENS TITLE IS ONE ISSUED BY THE REGISTER OF


DEEDS IN THE REGULAR PERFORMANCE OF HIS DUTIES
This Court ruled in Alabang Development Corporation, et al. v.
Valenzuela, etc., et al. 102 that courts have no jurisdiction over petitions for
reconstitution of title involving a property already covered by an existing
Torrens title in the name of another person. The dissenting opinion claims
that the Barques' title was already existing at the time of the reconstitution
of the Manotoks' title in 1991. This is an egregious error. When the
Manotoks’ title was reconstituted in 1991, the Barques' title had not been
reconstituted, and even up to now the reconstitution of the Barques' title is
still pending resolution in the instant case. In contrast, when the Barques
filed their reconstitution in 1996, the Manotoks' title had already been finally
reconstituted and existing. Clearly, it is the Barques' still pending
reconstitution that can no longer proceed because of the existing title of the
Manotoks.
In Alabang, the Court held that a "duly issued existing Torrens title
. . . cannot be the subject of petitions for reconstitution of allegedly
lost or destroyed titles by third parties without first securing by
final judgment the cancellation of such existing titles". The phrase
"duly issued existing Torrens title" simply means a title verifiably issued
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by the proper Register of Deeds. The validity or invalidity of the title is
not material at that point. What is material is whether the Register of Deeds
actually issued the title as part of his regular functions.
Clearly, at the time of the reconstitution of the Manotoks' title, the
Barques had no "duly issued existing Torrens title" from the Register of
Deeds of Quezon City. When the Barques filed the reconstitution of their
title, the Manotoks already had a prior title, which was the only "duly issued
existing Torrens title" over the property issued by the Register of Deeds of
Quezon City. The Manotoks' title could be verified against the reconstituted
original title on file with the Register of Deeds. In fact, the LRA Administrator
has admitted that the Manotoks' title "is existing as a reconstituted title at
the Office of the Register of Deeds." 103
The Barques could not produce even up to now a "duly issued existing
Torrens title" from the Register of Deeds of Quezon City. The Barques'
owner's duplicate certificate of title could not be verified with the Register of
Deeds of Quezon City because the Barques' title has no corresponding
original title, whether reconstituted or not, on file with the Register of Deeds.
Thus, the reconstitution of the Barques' title, which is still pending in this
case, can no longer proceed.
Once the reconstituting court or officer establishes that the Register of
Deeds has in fact issued an existing title in the name of another person, the
proper step is to file an action before the Regional Trial Court to annul such
title. It is in such proceeding before the regional trial court that the
validity or invalidity of the title is determined. In such proceeding, any
party may introduce in evidence the LRA Administrator or the NBI's findings.
In the meantime, no reconstitution proceeding can prosper until
after the cancellation by final judgment of such existing title.
The Alabang ruling necessarily involves a situation where there is an
existing title issued by the Register of Deeds at the time of filing of a petition
to reconstitute another title over the same property in the name of another
person. The Alabang ruling states that in such a situation the reconstituting
authority has no jurisdiction to proceed with the reconstitution until a final
judgment cancels the other title. This is clear from the Court's ruling in
Alabang:
The Court stresses once more that lands already covered
by duly issued existing Torrens titles (which become
incontrovertible upon the expiration of one year from their issuance
under Section 38 of the Land Registration Act) cannot be the subject
of petitions for reconstitution of allegedly lost or destroyed
titles filed by third parties without first securing by final
judgment the cancellation of such existing titles. (And as the
Court reiterated in the recent case of Silvestre vs. Court of Appeals, "in
cases of annulment and/or reconveyance of title, a party seeking it
should establish not merely by a preponderance of evidence but by
clear and convincing evidence that the land sought to be reconveyed is
his".) The courts simply have no jurisdiction over petitions by such
third parties for reconstitution of allegedly lost or destroyed titles over
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lands that are already covered by duly issued subsisting titles in the
names of their duly registered owners. The very concept of stability
and indefeasibility of titles covered under the Torrens System
of registration rules out as anathema the issuance of two
certificates of title over the same land to two different holders
thereof. A fortiori, such proceedings for "reconstitution" without actual
notice to the duly registered owners and holders of Torrens Titles to the
land are null and void. Applicants, land officials and judges who
disregard these basic and fundamental principles will be held duly
accountable therefor. 104 (Emphasis supplied)

The Decision of the First Division misapplies the Alabang ruling by


holding that the LRA Administrator can adjudicate on the validity of a Torrens
title by a finding that the title was not "duly issued". Even the Register of
Deeds, who physically issues a Torrens title as part of his regular functions,
cannot adjudicate on the validity of a title. The Decision states that the
"function of the (LRA) is adjudicatory in nature — it can properly deliberate
on the validity of the titles submitted for reconstitution". This is grave error.
DHIaTS

Time and again, this Court has ruled that reconstitution, even
judicial reconstitution, does not confirm or adjudicate ownership
over a property. 105 Reconstitution merely restores a missing certificate of
title in the same condition that it was when lost or destroyed, nothing more.
If the original title had a legal defect at the time of the loss or destruction, as
when the land covered is part of the public forest, 106 the reconstituted title
does not cure such defect. As this Court held in Director of Lands v. Gan Tan:
107

But the lower court claims that petitioner, even if he complied


with all the requirements of the law, is not entitled to have his title
reconstituted for the reason that, being an alien, he is not
qualified to acquire the land covered by said title under our
Constitution. However, we find this claim untenable in the light
of the theory that a Torrens title cannot be collaterally
attacked. The rule on this matter is that this issue can only be
raised in an action expressly instituted for that purpose
(Legarda vs. Saleeby, 31 Phil., 590). Moreover, it is a well known
doctrine that a Torrens title, as a rule, is irrevocable and indefeasible
(Bachrach Motor Co. vs. Kane, 61 Phil., 504), and our duty is to see to
it that this title is maintained and respected unless challenged
in a direct proceeding.
To our mind, the only issue here is whether there is a title to be
reconstituted. That is the only purpose of the law (Rep. Act No. 26). If
there is, then it is the duty of the court to comply with its mandate.
Whether the petitioner has the right to acquire the land or not,
is beyond the province of this proceeding. That should be
threshed out in a proper action. The two proceedings are
distinct and should not be confused. 108 (Boldfacing and
underscoring supplied)

The fallacy in the dissenting opinion's argument is that it assumes that


the LRA Administrator can adjudicate on the validity of a Torrens title. The
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original jurisdiction to adjudicate or to decide the validity of a Torrens title is
vested by law exclusively in the Regional Trial Court pursuant to Section 48
of the Property Registration Decree. Section 19 of the Judiciary Act vests in
the Regional Trial Court the "exclusive original jurisdiction" to decide
factual and legal issues "which involve the title to . . . real property".
This means the Regional Trial Court first decides the validity of the Torrens
title, and this power to first decide is to the exclusion of all other organs of
the State. Not even the Court of Appeals or the Supreme Court can usurp
this exclusive original power of the Regional Trial Court. Any judgment
resulting from such usurpation is void.
What the LRA Administrator or agencies like the National
Bureau of Investigation (NBI) can issue are administrative, non-
adjudicatory findings on whether a Torrens title is spurious or
authentic. These findings are mere evidences that must be
submitted to the Regional Trial Court, which alone has the power to
adjudicate whether the title is void. Findings by the LRA or the NBI
that a title is spurious are merely administrative opinions, not a
judicial determination that settles rights and obligations between
parties over a disputed property. These findings are merely
evidences, not the judgment itself of validity or invalidity which can
only come from the Regional Trial Court. These findings do not
become res judicata, while the judgment of the Regional Trial Court
can become res judicata.
Clearly, the grant of a reconstituted title is not an adjudication
of the title's validity. The Barques received an undeserved windfall when
the First Division declared their reconstituted title valid when the only relief
they sought in the administrative reconstitution was the restoration of their
title in its condition at the time of the alleged loss or destruction. This Court
has ruled in Alonso v. Cebu Country Club, Inc.: 109
Respondent relies solely on its reconstituted title which, by itself,
does not determine or resolve the ownership of the land covered by
the lost or destroyed title. The reconstitution of a title is simply the re-
issuance of a lost duplicate certificate of title in its original form and
condition. It does not determine or resolve the ownership of the land
covered by the lost or destroyed title. A reconstituted title, like the
original certificate of title, by itself does not vest ownership of the land
or estate covered thereby. 110 (Emphasis in original)

Thus, the LRA has no jurisdiction, in administrative reconstitution


proceedings, to rule which between two titles over the same property is
valid, or who between two claimants over the same property is the lawful
owner. Section 19 of the Judiciary Act vests in courts of justice the
"exclusive original jurisdiction" to decide factual and legal issues
involving "the title to . . . real property".
EQUITY JURISDICTION DOES NOT APPLY
The dissenting opinion further argues that the Manotoks are estopped
from questioning the jurisdiction of the LRA Administrator or the LRA
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reconstituting officer. The dissenting opinion asserts that the Manotoks failed
to question in the proceedings before these LRA officials their jurisdiction to
reconstitute administratively the Barques' title. This invocation of equity
jurisdiction in favor of the LRA Administrator and the LRA reconstituting
officer — for the benefit of the Barques — is grossly erroneous.
First, the settled doctrine is "he who seeks equity must come to
court with clean hands". 111 The Barques have submitted patently forged
documents to the LRA reconstituting officer. In the development of equity
jurisdiction through the ages, the constant principle from which there was no
deviation was that equity could never be used to reward those who commit
fraud. This Court should not depart from the noble intention that motivated
the development and use of equity jurisdiction. As this Court aptly stated in
Pagasa Industrial Corporation v. Court of Appeals, et al.: 112
Pagasa cannot rely on equity because he who comes into equity
must come with clean hands. Equity refuses to lend its aid in any
manner to one seeking its active interposition who has been
guilty of unlawful or inequitable conduct in the matter with
relation to which he seeks relief 113 (30 C.J.S. 1009). (Emphasis
supplied) aSCHIT

Second, the principle of jurisdiction by estoppel applies only to those


who have sought affirmative relief in the wrong court, lost there, and then
assail the adverse decision of that court. This estoppel applies against a
party "who has invoked the jurisdiction of a court in a particular
matter to secure an affirmative relief, to afterwards deny that same
jurisdiction to escape an adverse decision". 114 However, it was the
Barques, not the Manotoks, who sought the affirmative relief of a
reconstituted title. In their Opposition 115 before the LRA reconstituting
officer, the Manotoks sought a defensive, negative relief — that the
Barques' petition "be dismissed for lack of merit". It was also the Barques,
not the Manotoks, who invoked the jurisdiction of the LRA, which had no
jurisdiction over the Barques' petition because of the pre-existing title of the
Manotoks. Moreover, it was the Barques, not the Manotoks, who lost before
the LRA reconstituting officer and who assailed the adverse decision before
the LRA Administrator. The Barques even lost before the LRA Administrator
who refused to reconstitute the Barques' title without the intervention of a
"court of competent jurisdiction". Clearly, jurisdiction by estoppel cannot
apply to the Manotoks.
Third, the LRA Administrator and the LRA reconstituting officer refused
to assume jurisdiction to reconstitute administratively the Barques' title. The
LRA Administrator denied the Barques' petition because of the existence of
the Manotoks' title, which in the words of the LRA Administrator must first be
cancelled by "a court of competent jurisdiction" before the Barques'
petition may be given due course. The LRA reconstituting officer also denied
the Barques' petition because of the existence of the Manotoks' title which
the LRA had already reconstituted. In short, these LRA officials admitted
that they had no jurisdiction over the Barques' petition. Since these
LRA officials refused to assume jurisdiction, there was no assumption of
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equity jurisdiction that the Manotoks could have questioned. For the same
reason, there is no assumption of jurisdiction that this Court can now
recognize and validate through equity principles.
Fourth, the principle of equity jurisdiction arising from estoppel or
any other reason applies only to courts of justice. The jurisdiction of
courts of justice arises from either statute or equity, or both. In legal systems
which recognize equity jurisdiction, equity is an inherent power of
courts by virtue of their duty to dispense justice to the full extent possible.
Equity jurisdiction is a judicial power. Administrative agencies or
officers exercising administrative, executive, or ministerial functions cannot
assume equity jurisdiction because they do not exercise judicial functions.
Thus, it is gross error to invest on the LRA Administrator and the LRA
reconstituting officer equity jurisdiction because these LRA officers perform
administrative or executive functions in petitions for administrative
reconstitution of titles.
Fifth, the Manotoks did in fact raise the issue of the LRA Administrator's
jurisdiction in relation to the LRA Administrator's opinion that the Manotoks'
title was "sham and spurious". In their Motion for Reconsideration dated 27
August 1998 before the LRA Administrator, 116 the Manotoks stated:
Moreover, it is not disputed that herein oppositors are the holder
of an existing valid and effective TCT No. RT-22481 (372302) covering
the same land embraced by TCT No. 210177 in question found which,
as stated, is non-existing and spurious. Given said fact, no
administrative reconstitution of TCT No. 210177 should
proceed. As held by the Supreme Court, to wit:
So too, this Court has stressed "that lands already
covered by duly issued existing Torrens titles (which
become incontrovertible upon the expiration of one year from
their issuance under section 38 of the Land Registration Act)
cannot be the subject of petitions for reconstitution of
allegedly lost or destroyed titles filed by third parties
without first securing by final judgment the cancellation
of such existing titles". (Ortigas & Company Limited
Partnership vs. Velasco, 234 SCRA 458 [1994]) 117 (Emphasis
supplied)

Sixth, the principle of estoppel applies only if the LRA had in


fact jurisdiction to rule on the validity of the Torrens title of the Manotoks,
so as to bar the Manotoks, who previously claimed that the LRA had no
jurisdiction, from later taking a contrary position. Thus, the Court declared in
People v. Casiano: 118
4. The operation of the principle of estoppel on the question
of jurisdiction seemingly depends upon whether the lower court
actually had jurisdiction or not. If it had no jurisdiction, but the
case was tried and decided upon the theory that it had
jurisdiction, the parties are not barred, on appeal, from
assailing such jurisdiction, for the same "must exist as a matter
of law, and may not be conferred by consent of the parties or
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by estoppel" (5 C.J.S., 861-863). However, if the lower court had
jurisdiction, and the case was heard and decided upon a given
theory, such, for instance, as that the court had no jurisdiction,
the party who induced it to adopt such theory will not be
permitted, on appeal, to assume an inconsistent position —
that the lower court had jurisdiction. Here, the principle of
estoppel applies. . . . 119 (Emphasis supplied)

The LRA never had jurisdiction to rule on the validity of the Torrens title of
the Manotoks. Jurisdiction, as ruled in People v. Casiano, "must exist as a
matter of law, and may not be conferred by consent of the parties
or by estoppel". It is axiomatic that only the law can confer jurisdiction. No
amount of estoppel can vest jurisdiction on an officer or court that the law
has not conferred jurisdiction.
The LRA Administrator expressly admitted that only the proper
Regional Trial Court has the jurisdiction to cancel the Torrens title of the
Manotoks. Only the Barques insist that the LRA has jurisdiction to cancel a
Torrens title of a third party in an administrative reconstitution proceedings
filed by another party, a contention that is patently baseless. SaIHDA

Seventh, and most important of all, equity jurisdiction can never be


used to violate the law. Equity jurisdiction aims to attain complete justice in
cases where a court of law is unable to render judgment to meet the special
circumstances of a case because of the limitations of its statutory
jurisdiction. 120 However, equity follows the law, and courts
exercising equity jurisdiction must still apply the law and have no
discretion to disregard the law. 121 Where the law prescribes a particular
remedy with fixed and limited boundaries, the court cannot, by exercising
equity jurisdiction, extend the boundaries further than the law allows. 122
Thus, this Court has ruled:
As for equity, which has been aptly described as ‘a justice
outside legality,' this is applied only in the absence of, and never
against, statutory law or, as in this case, judicial rules of
procedure. Aequetas nunquam contravenit legis. The pertinent
positive rules being present here, they should pre-empt and prevail
over all abstract arguments based only on equity. 123 (Emphasis
supplied)

Hence, no court can extend equity jurisdiction to the LRA where the
law has expressly reserved exclusive original jurisdiction to the
Regional Trial Court. No court, invoking equity jurisdiction, can also
allow a collateral attack on a Torrens title, either before the LRA or
before itself, in gross violation of Section 48 of the Property
Registration D e c r e e expressly prohibiting collateral attacks on
Torrens titles.
This rule has special application to Section 48 of the Property
Registration Decree, enacted specifically to foreclose any possible
collateral attack on a Torrens title, as well as any possible
cancellation or modification of a Torrens title without a proceeding
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in the Regional Trial Court directly assailing the validity of the title.
Strict compliance with Section 48 is what gives Torrens titles enduring
stability, preventing confusion and fraud in land ownership. To extend equity
jurisdiction to LRA officers to allow them to entertain collateral attacks on a
Torrens title is a gross and blatant violation of the clear and express
command of a positive law. Any extension of equity jurisdiction that
operates to negate Section 48 will destroy the most basic safeguard in the
Property Registration Decree. Certainly, equity jurisdiction cannot be used
for this purpose.
WHETHER ASSAILED AS FRAUDULENTLY ISSUED OR NOT, A TORRENS
TITLE CAN ONLY BE CANCELLED IN ACCORDANCE WITH SECTION 48
OF THE PROPERTY REGISTRATION DECREE
In cancelling the Manotoks' Torrens title without any trial before any
court, the First Division of this Court completely disregarded Section 48 of
the Property Registration Decree and Section 19 of the Judiciary Act. Section
48 of the Property Registration Decree provides that a Torrens title "cannot
be altered, modified, or cancelled except in a direct proceeding in
accordance with law".
That law is Section 19 of the Judiciary Act which states that the
"Regional Trial Court shall exercise exclusive original jurisdiction . .
. in all civil actions, which involve the title to . . . real property".
These two provisions mandate that no Torrens title can be cancelled unless
there is a proceeding in the proper Regional Trial Court directly assailing the
validity of such title.
Thus, the Court of Appeals committed a gross violation of Section 48 of
the Property Registration Decree and Section 19 of the Judiciary Act when it
ordered the cancellation of the Torrens title of the Manotoks without a prior
proceeding before the proper Regional Trial Court directly assailing the
validity of the Manotoks' title. Likewise, the First Division of this Court
committed the same violation — totally disregarding Section 48 of the
Property Registration Decree and Section 19 of the Judiciary Act, and in the
process overturning well-entrenched doctrines of this Court.
The validity of a Torrens title, whether fraudulently issued or not,
can be assailed only in a direct proceeding before the proper Regional Trial
Court in accordance with Section 48. In Ladignon v. Court of Appeals, 124 the
Court declared:
What is worse, in ordering the cancellation of Transfer Certificate of
Title No. 383675, respondent Court of Appeals acted without
jurisdiction. After all, it is hornbook law that a torrens title cannot be
collaterally attacked. The issue of validity of a torrens title,
whether fraudulently issued or not, may be posed only in an
action brought to impugn or annul it. Unmistakable, and
cannot be ignored, is the germane provision of Section 48 of
Presidential Decree No. 1529, that a certificate of title can
never be the subject of a collateral attack. It cannot be altered,
modified, or cancelled except in a direct proceeding instituted in
accordance with law. . . . 125 (Emphasis supplied)
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The LRA Administrator has admitted that the Torrens title of the
Manotoks "is thus presumed valid". 126 The law recognizes that the
Manotoks' Torrens title is "evidence of an indefeasible title to the property in
favor of the person whose name appears therein". 127 Even assuming, for
the sake of argument, that the prior title of the Manotoks is spurious, still
under Ladignon v. Court of Appeals, 128 such title can only cancelled by the
proper Regional Trial Court in a direct proceeding assailing its validity.
The dissenting opinion cites Rexlon Realty Group, Inc. v. Court of
Appeals, et al. 129 as authority that the Court of Appeals and this Court "have
jurisdiction to declare the title void even if the appealed case was not
originally filed with the Regional Trial Court for nullification of title" under
Section 48 of the Property Registration Decree. The ponente has obviously
misread Rexlon Realty. Rexlon Realty was a petition filed with the Court of
Appeals for annulment of judgment of the Regional Trial Court on the ground
that the trial court had no jurisdiction to grant the reconstitution of lost
owner's duplicates of titles to respondent Alex David. Rexlon Realty proved
that the titles were not lost but were in its possession as the first buyer of
the properties from Alex David who had later sold again the properties to
Paramount Development Corporation. Rexlon Realty also proved that Alex
David delivered the titles to Rexlon Realty pursuant to the sale. ECTSDa

Rexlon Realty does not involve two conflicting titles over the same
property, which is the situation in the present case. In Rexlon Realty, the
opposing parties agreed that there was only one set of titles covering the
same properties. The only issue in Rexlon Realty was whether the titles were
lost, and if so, the trial court had jurisdiction to grant the reconstitution of
the titles; but if the titles were not lost, then the trial court had no
jurisdiction to grant the reconstitution of titles.
Rexlon Realty did not question the validity of the titles of Alex David,
which covered properties that Rexlon Realty had purchased from Alex David.
Rexlon Realty's obvious interest was to maintain the validity of the
titles to the properties it had purchased, the titles to which were in
Rexlon Realty's possession. Thus, Rexlon Realty did not invoke Section
48 of the Property Registration Decree, the law requiring a direct proceeding
in the proper regional trial court in any attack assailing the validity of a
Torrens title. To reiterate, the validity of a Torrens title, which is at
issue in direct proceedings under Section 48, is a separate and
distinct issue from the propriety of a reconstitution of title.
What Rexlon Realty questioned was the jurisdiction of the trial court in
issuing replacement titles to the properties in the name of Alex David who
claimed that he lost the titles. In assailing as void the trial court's judgment,
Rexlon Realty invoked, as stated by the Court, "Section 2, of Rule 47 of the
1997 Revised Rules of Civil Procedure", which provides "the grounds to annul
a judgment of a lower court . . . [based on] fraud and lack of jurisdiction".
Thus, the Court in Rexlon Realty ruled:
. . . In the Strait Times case and in Demetriou v. Court of Appeals,
also on facts analogous to those involved in this case, we held that if
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an owner's duplicate copy of 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. Consequently, the decision may be
attacked any time. In the case at bar, the authenticity and genuineness
of the owner's duplicate of TCT Nos. T-52537 and T-52538 in the
possession of petitioner Rexlon and the Absolute Deed of Sale in its
favor have not been disputed. As there is no proof to support actual
loss of the said owner's duplicate copies of said certificates of title, the
trial court did not acquire jurisdiction and the new titles issued in
replacement thereof are void.
xxx xxx xxx
In this case at bar, we simply annulled the decision of the RTC,
acting as a land registration court in L.R.C. Record No. 8843, to issue
new owner's duplicate copies of TCT Nos. T-52537 and T-52538, for
lack of jurisdiction. The dispute between petitioner Rexlon and
respondent David regarding ownership over the parcels of land
will have to be threshed out or determined in a more
appropriate proceeding. In a petition for the issuance of a new
owner's duplicate copy of a certificate of title in lieu of one
allegedly lost, the RTC, acting only as a land registration court,
has no jurisdiction to pass upon the question of actual
ownership of the land covered by the lost owner’s duplicate
copy of the certificate of title. Possession of a lost owner’s
duplicate copy of a certificate of title is not necessarily
equivalent to ownership of the land covered by it. The
certificate of title, by itself, does not vest ownership; it is
merely an evidence of title over a particular property. 130
(Emphasis supplied)

Indeed, Rexlon Realty supports the Manotoks' contention that once it is


shown that there is a pre-existing title duly issued by the Register of Deeds
over the same property which is the subject of reconstitution proceedings,
the reconstitution cannot proceed for either of two reasons. First, the
reconstituting officer or court has no jurisdiction to reconstitute a title that
has never been lost or destroyed. Second, the reconstituting officer or court
has no authority to decide which of two conflicting titles is valid. Thus,
Rexlon Realty categorically ruled that in reconstitution proceedings, whether
administrative or judicial, the reconstituting officer or court has no
jurisdiction "to pass upon the question of actual ownership of the land"
covered by the lost title because the "certificate of title, by itself, does not
vest ownership".
GUARANTY OF STABILITY OF THE TORRENS SYSTEM
Section 48 of the Property Registration Decree is the cornerstone of our
land registration system providing stability to land titles. Without Section 48,
our land registration system will crumble. Section 48 guarantees every
landowner with a Torrens title that his title can never be cancelled unless the
validity of his title is first directly assailed in court where he can adduce
evidence in his favor. The Decision of the First Division erases this
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guarantee. In one stroke, the Decision of the First Division has overturned
over a century of jurisprudence fortifying a guarantee essential to the
stability of our land registration system.
In 1915, after the introduction in 1903 131 of the Torrens system in this
country, this Court waxed poetic in Legarda and Prieto v. Saleeby 132 in
describing the cornerstone of the then new system of land registration.
Declared the Court:
. . . 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. . . .
. . . 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. . . . 133 (Boldfacing and
underscoring supplied)

This Court has reiterated the doctrine in Legarda and Prieto v. Saleeby,
now embodied in Section 48 of the Property Registration Decree, in
innumerable decisions. In the 2003 case of Heirs of Santiago v. Heirs of
Santiago, 134 a decision penned by Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago,
this Court declared: DcCITS

Section 48 of P.D. 1529, the Property Registration Decree,


provides that a certificate of title shall not be subject to
collateral attack and can not be altered, modified, or canceled
except in a direct proceeding. An action is an attack on a title when
the object of the action is to nullify the title, and thus challenge the
judgment or proceeding pursuant to which the title was decreed. The
attack is direct when the object of an action is to annul or set
aside such judgment, or enjoin its enforcement. On the other
hand, the attack is indirect or collateral when, in an action to
obtain a different relief, an attack on the judgment or
proceeding is nevertheless made as an incident thereof. 135
(Emphasis supplied)

The Decision of the First Division cancels a Torrens title without any
proceeding in a trial court directly attacking the title as required by law.
What this Court warned against in Legarda and Prieto v. Saleeby is now
before us — a situation where "all security in registered titles [is] lost".
Every landowner holding a Torrens title will now have to camp in the
corridors of the courts, or constantly watch in the balcony of his house, just
to avoid losing his titled land. The Decision of the First Division, by
destroying the stability of land titles, will usher in an era of land disputes,
which before the advent of the Torrens system were often violent and
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bloody.
The Decision of the First Division denies to the Manotoks a basic
guarantee under the Constitution — that no person shall be deprived of his
property without due process of law. 136 The Decision deprives the Manotoks
of their P1.7 billion property without any trial in any court contrary to the
clear and express mandate of Section 48 of the Property
Registration Decree. This Court should never allow such blatant, gross and
shocking violation of a fundamental constitutional right.
A FINAL WORD ON RECONSTITUTION OF TITLES
This Court has often warned of the pitfalls of reconstitutions of titles,
which have resulted in innocent landowners losing their titled lands to crime
syndicates specializing in forged titles and documents. The patently forged
documents presented in these cases remind us of what this Court stated in
Heirs of Pedro Pinote v. Dulay: 137
There is no gainsaying the need for courts to proceed with
extreme caution in proceedings for reconstitution of titles to land
under R.A. 26. Experience has shown that this proceeding has many
times been misused as a means of divesting a property owner of the
title to his property. Through fraudulent reconstitution
proceedings, he wakes up one day to discover that his
certificate of title has been cancelled and replaced by a
reconstituted title in someone else's name. 138 (Emphasis
supplied)

Accordingly, I vote to (1) GRANT petitioners' letter motion for


reconsideration dated 19 July 2006, (2) REVERSE the Court's First Division
Decision dated 12 December 2005 and Resolution dated 19 April 2006, (3)
RECALL the Entry of Judgment dated 2 May 2006, and (4) DENY the petition
for administrative reconstitution of TCT No. 210177 filed by respondents
Heirs of Homer L. Barque, Sr.

CORONA, J : p

The integrity of the Torrens system of land registration should be


zealously guarded. Otherwise, transactions involving registered lands will be
utterly confusing and public faith in the Torrens system and the value of
certificates of titles may be seriously impaired. 1 It is therefore the duty of
courts, specially this Court, to tread carefully and cautiously in cases where
its adjudication will allow or tend to allow doubts on the integrity of the
Torrens system to linger. With this in mind, I respectfully submit the
following opinion.
The Court of Appeals May, in Proper
Instances, Order the Cancellation of a
Certificate of Title in an Appeal of the
Land Registration Authority's Decision
in an Administrative Reconstitution
Proceeding
In resolving controversies, this Court’s duty is to apply or interpret the
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law. It cannot make or amend the law without treading the perilous waters of
judicial legislation. It is not within the Court’s power to enlarge or abridge
laws; otherwise, the Court will be guilty of usurping the exclusive prerogative
of Congress.
Jurisdiction over the subject matter of a case is conferred by law. 2 It
cannot be (1) granted by the agreement of the parties; (2) acquired, waived,
enlarged or diminished by any act or omission of the parties or (3) conferred
by the acquiescence of the courts. 3
I submit that the First Division, in its December 12, 2005 decision,
enlarged the scope of the authority of the Land Registration Authority (LRA)
in administrative reconstitution proceedings when it recognized the authority
of the LRA to rule that petitioners' certificate of title was a sham, spurious
and not duly issued.
Section 6 of PD 4 1529 5 limits the LRA’s functions to the following:
SEC. 6. General Functions. —
(1) The Commissioner of Land Registration shall have the
following functions: HESAIT

(a) Issue decrees of registration pursuant to final


judgments of the courts in land registration proceedings and
cause the issuance by the Register of Deeds of the corresponding
certificate of title;
(b) Exercise supervision and control over all Register of
Deeds and other personnel of the Commission;
(c) Resolve cases elevated en consulta by, or on appeal
from decision of, Register of Deeds;

(d) Exercise executive supervision over all clerks of


court and personnel of the [RTCs] throughout the Philippines with
respect to the discharge of their duties and functions in relation
to the registration of lands;
(e) Implement all orders, decisions, and decrees
promulgated relative to the registration of lands and issue,
subject to the approval of the Secretary of Justice, all needful
rules and regulations therefore;
(f) Verify and approve subdivision, consolidation, and
consolidation-subdivision survey plans of properties titled under
Act No. 496 except those covered by PD No. 957.
(2) The [LRA] shall have the following functions:
(a) Extend speedy and effective assistance to the
Department of Agrarian Reform, the Land Bank, and other
agencies in the implementation of the land reform program of
the government;

(b) Extend assistance to courts in ordinary and


cadastral land registration proceedings; and
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(c) Be the central repository of records relative to original
registration of lands titled under the Torrens system, including
subdivision and consolidation plans of titled lands.

Thus, under PD 1529, the LRA has no authority to rule on the


authenticity and validity of a certificate of title. While Section 9 6 of RA 7
6732 vested the LRA with the quasi-judicial 8 power to "review, revise,
reverse, modify or affirm any decision of the reconstituting officer or
Register of Deeds" on appeal in administrative reconstitution proceedings,
the LRA nonetheless did not acquire any authority to declare a certificate of
title void. Such power properly and exclusively pertains to the Regional Trial
Court (RTC). 9
Indeed, the separate opinions on the December 12, 2005 decision
recognized that these cases should have been tried by the RTC. 10 However,
the said opinions stated that to remand these cases for trial at this stage
would only be "a time-consuming and pointless exercise". With due respect,
justice should not be sacrificed for expediency. After all, more important
than anything else is that this Court be right. 11
Nonetheless, while the LRA cannot rule on the authenticity and validity
of a certificate of title, the Court of Appeals possesses such power when
presented with an appeal of the decision of the LRA in a case such as this
where the validity and authenticity of a certificate of title covering a
particular property is challenged in the course of and in connection with the
administrative reconstitution of another certificate of title purportedly
covering the same property.
In this connection, it is noteworthy that while Section 48 12 of PD 1529
provides that a certificate of title "cannot be altered, modified, or cancelled
except in a direct proceeding in accordance with law", it is silent as to the
specific court where the petition for cancellation of a certificate of title
should be instituted. In contrast, Section 108 13 of PD 1529 expressly states
that petitions for amendment or alteration of a certificate of title covering a
particular property after original registration of that property should be filed
in the then Court of First Instance, now the RTC. This difference in the
treatment between cancellation of a certificate of title and the alteration or
amendment/modification thereof shows the legislative intent to distinguish
between these actions. Thus, courts other than the RTC, such as the
Court of Appeals, have the authority and jurisdiction to order the
cancellation of a certificate of title which may be found to be false
or fraudulent when this is necessary in the adjudication of a
controversy brought before them.
Specifically, the Court of Appeals is vested under Section 9 (3) of BP
129 (in connection with RA 5434) with exclusive appellate jurisdiction over
all final judgments, decisions, resolutions, orders or awards of the LRA in the
exercise of its quasi-judicial functions. This is reflected in Section 1, Rule 43
of the Rules of Court. However, while its jurisdiction to review the judgment,
decision, resolution or award of the LRA is designated under BP 129 as
"appellate", the Court of Appeals actually exercises original jurisdiction (in its
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traditional sense) as it is the first time that the said case becomes the
subject of a judicial action. 14 This is the proper character of the authority
exercised by the Court of Appeals in an appeal of the judgment, decision,
resolution, order or award of the LRA in an administrative reconstitution
proceeding. This also supports the view that the Court of Appeals has the
power to pass upon the authenticity and validity of a certificate of title
covering a particular property (and to order its cancellation) when the same
is put in issue in connection with the reconstitution of another certificate of
title covering the same property.
This neither runs counter to nor encroaches on the power of the RTC
under Section 19 (2) of BP 129, as amended, to exercise exclusive original
jurisdiction "[i]n all civil actions which involve the title to, or possession of,
real property or any interest therein". In so canceling a certificate of
title, the Court of Appeals does not resolve a civil action involving
title to real property. "Title" to real property is not the same as the
"certificate of title"; the certificate of title is distinct from the title itself. The
certificate of title may get lost, burned or destroyed and later on
reconstituted but the title subsists all the while and remains unaffected
unless transferred or conveyed to another or subjected to a lien or
encumbrance. CSTEHI

Title is the "union of all the elements (as ownership, possession and
custody) constituting the legal right to control and dispose of property". 15 It
is the "legal link between a person who owns property and the property
itself". 16
Though employed in various ways, title is generally used to describe
either the manner in which a right to real property is acquired, or the
right itself. In the first sense, it refers to the conditions necessary to
acquire a valid claim to land; in the second, it refers to the legal
consequences of such conditions. These two senses are not only
interrelated, but inseparable: given the requisite conditions, the legal
consequences or rights follow as of course; given the rights, conditions
necessary for the creation of those rights must have been satisfied.
Thus, when the word 'title' is used in one sense, the other sense is
necessarily implied. 17

On the other hand, a Torrens certificate of title is the certificate of


ownership issued under the Torrens system of registration by the
government thru the Register of Deeds naming and declaring the owner in
fee simple of the real property described therein, free from all liens and
encumbrances except such as may be expressly noted thereon or otherwise
reserved by law. 18 Legally defined, a certificate of title is the transcript of
the decree of registration made by the Registrar of Deeds in the registry. 19
Whereas title is the claim, right or interest in land, a certificate of title
is the document evidencing that right. The issuance of a certificate of title
does not give the owner any better title than what he actually has. He
secures his certificate of title by virtue of the fact that he has a fee simple
title. 20 To reiterate, the loss or destruction and subsequent reconstitution of
a certificate of title does not affect the subsistence of the title unless it (the
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title) is transferred or conveyed to another or subjected to a lien or
encumbrance.
These Cases Should Be Remanded
to the Court of Appeals for Consideration
of Contentious Factual Issues
Having affirmed the authority of the Court of Appeals to order the
cancellation of a certificate of title in this instance, does it follow that this
Court should uphold the December 12, 2005 decision of the First Division? I
do not believe so.
Considering the serious and grave imputations against the respective
certificates of titles of the contending parties, it would be precipitate as well
as imprudent for the Court to simply adopt the findings of the Court of
Appeals in CA G.R. SP Nos. 66642 and 66700. A "surfeit of forgeries, badges
of fraud and other dubious circumstances" 21 is alleged to have attended
respondents' administrative petition for reconstitution of their TCT No. T-
210177. Similarly, significant irregularities and fatal defects 22 have been
cast on petitioners' reconstituted TCT No. RT-22481. Indeed, the parties
trade serious accusations of fraud and deceit. Similarly, both parties invoke
Section 11 of RA 6732 in support of their respective positions:
SEC. 11. A reconstituted title obtained by means of fraud,
deceit or other machination is void ab initio as against the party
obtaining the same and all persons having knowledge thereof.

Any decision in favor of one party at this moment will be a declaration


(express or implied) that there is prima facie evidence that the other party
obtained or sought to obtain his certificate of title by means of fraud, deceit
or other machination. Such statement will give this Court no legal
option but to order the criminal prosecution of the losing party
pursuant to Section 12 of RA 6732:
SEC. 12. Any person who by means of fraud, deceit or other
machination obtains or attempts to obtain a reconstituted title shall be
subject to criminal prosecution and, upon conviction, shall be liable for
imprisonment for a period of not less than two years but not exceeding
five years or the payment of a fine of not less than Twenty thousand
pesos but not exceeding Two hundred thousand pesos or both at the
discretion of the court.

Any public officer or employee who knowingly approves or assists


in securing a decision allowing reconstitution in favor of any person not
entitled thereto shall be subject to criminal prosecution and, upon
conviction, shall be liable for imprisonment of not less than five years
but not exceeding ten years or payment of a fine of not less than Fifty
thousand pesos but not exceeding One hundred thousand pesos or
both at the discretion of the court and perpetual disqualification from
holding public office.

Since any declaration of fraud or deceit on the part of one party will
expose that party to criminal prosecution, this Court should refrain from
making any such declaration until and unless the complicated and
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contentious maze of factual matters is clearly resolved. While these matters
have been brought to the attention of the Court of Appeals in CA G.R. SP
Nos. 66642 and 66700, the Court of Appeals at that time was not able to
exhaustively evaluate and analyze them.
The controversial factual matters were, however, brought to light
extensively and in great detail during the oral arguments of these cases as
well as in the respective memoranda submitted by the parties and by Office
of the Solicitor General after the oral arguments.
To reiterate, what is crucial and critical in these cases is the complete
determination of contentious factual issues.
However, the investigation and appreciation of facts is beyond the
province of this Court as it is neither a trier of fact nor capacitated to
appreciate evidence at the first instance. 23 On the other hand, the Court of
Appeals has the competence to perform that task. Indeed, we stated in
Manotok Realty, Inc. v. CLT Realty Development Corporation: 24
Under Section 6 of Rule 46, which is applicable to original cases
for certiorari, the Court may, whenever necessary to resolve factual
issues, delegate the reception of the evidence on such issues to any of
its members or to an appropriate court, agency or office. The delegate
need not be the body that rendered the assailed decision. DcCIAa

The Court of Appeals generally has the authority to review


findings of fact. Its conclusions as to findings of fact are generally
accorded great respect by this Court. It is a body that is fully
capacitated and has a surfeit of experience in appreciating factual
matters, including documentary evidence.

There are indeed many factual questions looming over the respective
certificates of title of the contending parties. These can only be threshed out
in a remand to the Court of Appeals. Hence, I respectfully submit that the
proper and prudent course now is for the Court to constitute a special
division of the Court of Appeals to be composed of three associate justices to
be designated by us for the purpose of hearing these cases on remand. The
special division will hear and receive evidence, conclude the proceedings
and submit to this Court a report on its findings and recommended
conclusions within three months from finality of the Court’s resolution in this
case.
Accordingly, I vote that these cases be REMANDED to a special division
of the Court of Appeals for further proceedings.

YNARES-SANTIAGO, J., dissenting:


I maintain that the December 12, 2005 Decision 1 of the Court's First
Division in G.R. Nos. 162335 & 162605 became final and executory. The
same had been recorded in the Book of Entries of Judgments in a Resolution
dated May 2, 2006.
Despite the Entry of Judgment, the Court en banc took cognizance of
the cases when counsel for petitioners, Ret. Justice Florentino P. Feliciano
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wrote the Court and prayed for the suspension of the effects of the Entry of
Judgment. Thereafter, the cases were set for Oral Argument.
From the presentations made by the parties and the questions
propounded by the members of the Court during the oral argument held on
July 24, 2007, two main factual issues emerged, to wit: 1) Whether or not
Plan Fls-3168-D which is reflected in the technical description of
respondents' TCT No. 210177 duly exists in the official records of the Lands
Management Bureau (LMB); and 2) Whether or not Barrio Payong, which is
indicated in petitioners’ various documentary exhibits as location of the
property allegedly covered by their TCT No. RT-22481 (372302) exists as a
barrio in Quezon City or Caloocan City.
Re Plan Fls-3168-D:
During the Oral Argument, the following discussion took place on the
issue of whether Plan Fls-3168-D duly exists, to wit:
JUSTICE CARPIO:
When the Barques filed their petition for reconstitution, on 22
October 1996, they attached a copy of their TCT, TCT 210177
and in TCT 210177 it says there that property is subdivided into
two lots, lot 823A and lot 823B per subdivision plan FLS-3168-D
approved by the Bureau of Lands on 10 January 1941. Okay, so
Atty. Bustos of course he knows how to verify whether
this approved plan is genuine or not because there are
two agencies in the government that would possibly have
files of this approved plans and one of that is the
National Office, the Land Management Bureau, National
Office where all approved plans are stored. It is a
repository of all approved plans all over the country.
When the Land Management Bureau decentralized for
NCR they transmitted to the NCR all the approved plans
covering NCR.
RET. JUSTICE FELICIANO:
Yes, Your Honor.
JUSTICE CARPIO:
So, Atty. Bustos wrote the two offices, the national office and the
regional office asking for their comment on whether this FLS-
3168D exist in their files. Now, it looks like Atty. Bustos was
zeroing in on the authenticity of FLS-3168D. Of course, the
national office said, we don't have this on file. The regional office
said, we have this on file but they could not give a copy to Atty.
Bustos and they refused to answer Atty. Bustos despite several
demands or request for the copy. They never replied to Atty.
Bustos. My question is this, why did Atty. Bustos think or consider
the authenticity of FLS-3168D important for the purposes of the
reconstitution of the Barques title.
RET. JUSTICE FELICIANO:

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Yes, Your Honor. If the division or subdivision of lot 823 were
genuinely and truly, honestly undertaken they should have
applied for two certificates of title, they applied only for one
certificate of title and it is for that reason that Atty. Bustos
wanted to determine the correctness or authenticity of that
subdivision plan because the same piece of land or substantially
the same piece of land was covered only, constituted only one
lot per the title already reconstituted of the Manotoks. So the . . .
JUSTICE CARPIO:
Atty. Bustos was of the mind that if FLS-3168-D is not authentic,
is not on file, then there could have been no subdivision of lot
823 and therefore the title of the Manotoks specifying only one
lot 823 would seem to be in order. aSHAIC

RET. JUSTICE FELICIANO:


Correct, sir.
JUSTICE CARPIO:
But if there is on file FLS-3168-D then it will be the title of Barque
that would seem to be in order rather than the title of the
Manotok because the approved subdivision is on file, is that
correct?
RET. JUSTICE FELICIANO:
I would think so, sir. I would think so.
JUSTICE CARPIO:
Okay, thank you. 2

Thereafter, the Court required counsel for respondents to submit a


certified copy of plan Fls-3168-D from the LMB, National Office. This is in
addition to the certified photocopy of the Tracing Cloth plan 3 and certified
photocopy (microfilm) of Plan Fls-3168-D 4 which respondents obtained from
the LMB, Department of Environment and Natural Resources-National Capital
Region (DENR-NCR) and already submitted before the Court.
In compliance with the directive, respondents submitted a copy of a
letter 5 furnished them by the LMB, National Office, explaining why it could
not issue a certified copy of Fls-3168-D, thus:
In reply to your letter dated April 24, 2006, please be informed
that according to the verification made by the Survey Records Section,
Records Management Division from their Lists of Transmittal of Survey
Records, plan FLS-3168-D covering parcel/s of land situated in
Caloocan, Rizal was among those survey records already turned-
over/decentralized to DENR-National Capital Region (NCR), Roxas
Boulevard, Manila on April 5, 1979 as recorded in our file no. NCR-199,
for their reference/file purposes.
It is therefore suggested that you address your letter-request to
the Chief, Surveys Division, DENR-National Capital Region (NCR), L & S
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Bldg., 1515 Roxas Boulevard, Ermita, Manila, relative to the said plan.

Thus, as expressly mentioned in the above-quoted letter, "plan FLS-


3168-D covering parcel/s of land situated in Caloocan, Rizal was among
those survey records already turned-over/decentralized to DENR-National
Capital Region".
Pursuant to Executive Order No. 192 6 dated June 10, 1987, DENR was
reorganized and regional offices of the Bureau of Lands were established in
each of the country's 13 administrative regions. 7 The functions of a unit in
the national office were transferred to the newly established regional office,
which likewise include the transfer of records to said regional office. Hence,
the reason why respondents could not be furnished by the LMB Head Office
with a certified copy of Plan Fls-3168-D.
However, they were able to obtain a Certification dated June 19, 2007
from the Records Management Division of DENR Head Office that its
Electronic Data Processing (EDP) Listing includes plan Fls-3168-D, Lot 823 in
the name of Emiliano Setosta. 8 The Certification reads, thus:
This is to certify that according to the verification of the Records
Management Division, Lands Management Bureau, Binondo, Manila,
EDP's Listing has available record with Fls-3168-D, Lot 823, xerox copy
of which is herewith attached, situated in Caloocan, Rizal (now Quezon
City), in the name of Survey Claimant Emiliano Setosta.
xxx xxx xxx

The certification by the Records Management Division of the DENR-


Head Office also confirmed the authenticity of the other computer print-outs
submitted by respondents showing Fls-3168-D as among those listed,
namely:
1. A certified true photocopy of a computer print out earlier issued
by the Land Management Bureau, Head Office, showing that Plan
Fls-3168-D is listed in its EDP listing of approved plans and
Official Receipt #8994774 issued in payment for the
Certification. 9
2. The same computer print out, as that attached as Annex F,
which shows Fls-3168-D of E. Setosta as one of those listed
therein duly certified by Melchor Magsanoc, Asst. Regional Exec.
Director for Operation, LMB, DENR-NCR. 10

The computer print-outs show that Plan Fls-3168-D is the second plan
in said list, followed by Fls-3169-D of Chua, then Fls-3170-D of Loyola.
Said official list is a credible piece of evidence proving the existence of
Stetson's Plan Fls-3168-D.
Respondents also furnished the Court photo copies of Plan Fls-3168-D
issued by the Land Management Bureau-National Capital Region (LMB-NCR)
and certified by different officials:
1. A photo copy of Plan Fls-3168-D (microfilm) issued on September
23, 1996 and duly certified by Carmelito A. Soriano for Ernesto S.
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Erive, Chief, Regional Technical Director, NCR. 11

2. A photocopy of a File Copy of the Tracing Cloth Plan of Fls-3168-


D, duly certified on July 9, 1999 by Teofilo R. Laguardia, Chief,
Technical Records and Statistics Section, LMB, Regional Office,
NCR.

Notwithstanding the above certifications which clearly show the


existence of Plan Fls-3168-D, the Majority Opinion chose to lend credence to
petitioners' claim that Fls-3168-D does not exist in the government files
based solely on Engr. Dalire’s allegations in his February 19, 1997 letter.
This is unfortunate considering that Dalire's credibility was completely
repudiated by the LRA. Dalire’s claim that the documents presented by the
respondents were forgeries was disregarded as frivolous and baseless, thus:
ECaTDc

Based on the documents presented, petitioners (Barques)


have established by clear and convincing evidence that TCT
NO. 210177 was, at the time of the destruction thereof, valid,
genuine, authentic and effective. Petitioners duly presented the
original of the owner's duplicate copy of TCT No. 210177 . . . . The
logbook of the Register of Deeds of Quezon City lists TCT No. 210177
as among the titles lost . . . . The Register of Deeds of Quezon City
himself acknowledged the existence and authenticity of TCT No.
210177 when he issued a certification to the effect that TCT No.
210177 was one of the titles destroyed and not salvaged from the fire
that gutted the Quezon City Hall on 11 June 1988 . . . .
It is likewise noteworthy that the technical description and
boundaries of the lot reflected in TCT No. 210177 absolutely conform to
the technical description and boundaries of Lot 823 Piedad Estate . . .
as indicated in the B. L. Form No. 28-37-R dated 11-8-94 and B. L. Form
No. 31-10 duly issued by the Bureau of Lands . . . .
It therefore becomes evident that the existence, validity,
authenticity and effectivity of TCT No. 210177 was established
indubitably and irrefutably by the petitioners. Under such
circumstances, the reconstitution thereof should be given due course
and the same is mandatory.
xxx xxx xxx
It would be necessary to underscore that the certified
copy of Plan FLS 3168 D was duly issued by the office of Engr.
Ernesto Erive, Chief, Surveys Division LMS-DENR-NCR whose
office is the lawful repository of survey plans for lots situated
within the National Capital Region including the property in
question. Said plan was duly signed by the custodian thereof,
Carmelito Soriano, Chief Technical Records and Statistics
Section, DENR-NCR. Said plan is likewise duly supported by
Republic of the Philippines Official Receipt No. 2513818 Q
dated 9-23-96 . . . . Engr. Erive in his letter dated 28 November
1996 addressed to Atty. Bustos . . . confirmed that a microfilm
copy of Plan FLS 3168D is on file in the Technical Records and
Statistics Section of his office. Engr. Dalire, in his letter dated
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2 January 1997 addressed to Atty. Bustos even confirmed the
existence and authenticity of said plan. . . .
xxx xxx xxx
The claim of Engr. Dalire in his letter dated 19 February
1997 that his office has no records or information about Plan
FLS 3168-D is belied by the certified copy of the computer
print-out duly issued by the Bureau of Lands indicating therein
that FLS 3168D is duly entered into the microfilm records of
the Bureau of Lands and has been assigned Accession Number
410436 appearing on Page 79, Preliminary Report No. 1, List of
Locator Cards and Box Number 0400 and said computer print-
out is duly supported by an Official Receipt . . . .
The said Plan FLS 3168D is indeed authentic and valid coming as
it does from the legal repository and duly signed by the custodian
thereof. The documentary evidence presented is much too
overwhelming to be simply brushed aside and be defeated by the
fabricated statements and concoctions made by Engr. Dalire in his 19
February 1997 letter. . . . 12

In his letter dated January 31, 1997, Dalire alleged that plan Fls-3168-D
was not included in the inventory of approved plans enrolled in their file.
However, this allegation was belied upon presentation of a photocopy of the
tracing cloth plan of Fls-3168-D duly certified by Teofilo R. Laguardia, Chief
of the Technical Records and Statistics Section of the LMB-NCR.
Dalire next claimed that plan Fls-3168-D was not included in their
computer list of plans available for decentralization. However, this claim was
categorically debunked by the LRA, thus:
The claim of Engr. Dalire in his letter dated 19 February 1997
that his office has no records or information about Plan FLS 3168-D is
belied by a certified copy of the computer print-out issued by
the Bureau of Lands indicating therein that FLS 3168D is duly
entered in the microfilm records of the Bureau of Lands and
has been assigned Accession Number 410436 appearing on
Page 79, Preliminary Report No. 1, List of Locator Cards and
Box Number 0400 . . . .

In light of the evidence on record, I completely agree with the


conclusion reached by the LRA that the "evidence presented is much too
overwhelming to be simply brushed aside and be defeated by the fabricated
statements and concoctions made by Engr. Dalire in his February 19, 1997
letter".
Therefore, on the issue of due existence of Fls-3168-D, I find no
justifiable basis to disturb the LRA finding that Plan FLS-3168-D indeed exists
in the official files of LMB, DENR. Accordingly, I find respondents' title, TCT
No. 210177, which describes Lot 823 as subdivided into Lots 823-A and 823-
B in accordance with Fls-3168-D, in order.
Moreover, the LRA correctly found that petitioners' reconstituted title
TCT No. RT-22481 (372302) is spurious, considering petitioners' failure to
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prove facts contrary to the LRA findings. The long-settled rule is that factual
findings of an administrative agency which are not shown to be unsupported
by substantial evidence can be validly sustained and, in fact, are oftentimes
binding on the court, 13 especially when affirmed by the Court of Appeals, 14
as in this case. HSTaEC

Re Location of the Property:


Petitioners' documentary exhibits simultaneously and/or alternately
referred to Barrio Payong and Barrio Culiat as the location of the property
covered by their title. However, as noted by the LRA, after the fire that
burned the records of the Quezon City Register of Deeds on June 11, 1988,
the receipts for realty taxes of the property covered by petitioners' title
already indicated the location of the property as Barrio Matandang Balara.
However, no basis or explanation, whether in the form of official documents
or otherwise, was shown or presented by the petitioners before the LRA, the
Court of Appeals and this Court, why the location of the property supposedly
covered by their title was transferred from Barrio Payong and Barrio Culiat to
Barrio Matandang Balara. Significantly, petitioners' reconstituted title, TCT
No. RT-22481 (372302) does not state the barrio where the property
described therein is located.
Petitioners' counsel failed to give any explanation for this seemingly
anomalous situation. However, he readily agreed with the possible
rationalization provided during the Oral Argument:
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE CARPIO:
Counsel, can you flash on the screen again the 1940 Tax
Declaration of the Manotoks? It says there, what barrio is that
now?
RET. JUSTICE FELICIANO:
Payong, that's 1933, Sir.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE CARPIO:

That's 1933. The 1940. 1941 is okay. What is the barrio there?
RET. JUSTICE FELICIANO:
Barrio Culiat.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE CARPIO:
So, it started as Barrio Payong became Barrio Culiat later on it
became Matandang Balara the present name.
RET. JUSTICE FELICIANO:
Yes, Sir.
ASSOCIATE JUSTICE CARPIO:

Because the themes 15 of barrios changed overtime and we're


talking of eighty-five (85) years, is that correct?
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RET. JUSTICE FELICIANO:
That's right, Sir. 16

This is pure speculation which deserves no credence at all, especially


in the light of evidence in the form of official certifications from relevant
government offices in Quezon City 17 and Caloocan City 18 that Payong had
not existed as a barrio in Quezon City or in Caloocan City before the property
became a part of Quezon City.
The map of Quezon City, 19 as prepared by NAMRIA, the official
mapping agency of the government, also shows that both Barangay Culiat
and Barangay Matandang Balara are existing Barangays of Quezon City but
are clearly far away from each other. Payong does not exist in the map.
Moreover, Barangays Culiat and Matandang Balara were almost
simultaneously created as barangays. Culiat was created on March 26, 1962
while Matandang Balara was created as a barangay on May 10, 1962. The
simultaneous creation of Culiat and Matandang Balara as barangays thus
showed the fallacy of petitioners' claim during the Oral Argument that the
disputed property was originally located in Payong, but was later converted
into Barangay Culiat and finally as Barangay Matandang Balara.
Significantly, it also appears from Intervenors Manahans' Memorandum
that the property covered by their alleged Deed of Conveyance dated
October 30, 2000 is likewise located in Barangay Culiat, Quezon City. The
relevant portion of the technical description of Lot 823 of the Piedad Estate
in Manahans' Memorandum 20 which shows Barrio Culiat as the location of
the property is quoted below:
A parcel of land (Lot 823, Piedad Estate, LRC Record No. 5975),
situated in the Barrio of Culiat, Municipality of Caloocan, Metro Manila.
21

Intervenors Manahan also alleged that petitioners Manotoks' TCT No.


RT-22481 is fake and spurious for not being based on authentic documents.
22

I do not agree with the claim that Spouses Tiongson v. Court of Appeals
23which mentioned the Agrarian Court's order to its clerk of court to conduct
an ocular inspection of the landholding in question situated at Payong,
Quezon City, constitutes credible evidence as to the location of the property.
There was no mention at all as to how the said court made the
determination of the location of the property. Moreover, there was nothing in
the Agrarian Court’s Order stating exactly where, in Quezon City, Barrio
Payong was located, which indicates that petitioners themselves may have
brought the inspecting parties to the property they were occupying.
Similarly, the Court in the case of People v. Siguin, 24 did not make a
finding as to the existence and location of Sitio Payong but merely referred
to the Information filed which alleged that the crime was committed in Sitio
Payong, Matandang Balara. SaTAED

In any event, petitioners are bound by their own documentary


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evidence and verbal admission during the Oral Argument that the property is
located in Payong, Culiat or simply Barrio Payong or Barrio Culiat. Since
petitioners presented the said documentary evidence to prove their
ownership of the property and the source of their title, they have thereby
judicially admitted that the location of the property covered by their title, as
shown in said exhibits, is Payong, Culiat, or Barrio Payong, or simply Barrio
Culiat, Quezon City. They are, therefore, bound by said admissions, 25
especially since they have neither alleged nor proven that said admissions
were made through palpable mistake. 26
It is also important to note that, except for Tax Declarations and realty
tax payments that were issued after the fire that gutted the records of the
Register of Deeds of Quezon City, petitioners did not present any credible
evidence showing that the property they are occupying and covered by their
reconstituted TCT No. RT-22481 (372302) is located in Barrio Matandang
Balara.
Consequently, since the property covered by petitioners’ reconstituted
title is not the property in Matandang Balara that they are occupying as
clearly shown by their own documentary evidence, it necessarily follows that
they are not the owners of such property. The Court's ruling in Santiago v.
Court of Appeals, 27 is pertinent. Thus:
Documents proving ownership such as transfer and original
certificates of title are the legs on which petitioners' case stands.
Premised on the relevance of these documents, the trial court ruled in
favor of petitioners. However, the proverbial legs of evidence are
b r o ke n . While the titles presented by petitioners show
ownership, such ownership is not of the land claimed, but over
the adjoining parcels of land. The technical descriptions in the titles
presented by petitioners betray them as adjacent and adjoining owners
of the land claimed by MWSS for registration. . . .

The Deed of Sale between Emiliano


Setosta and Homer Barque, Sr.:
Petitioners alleged that the deed of sale between Emiliano Setosta and
Homer Barque, Sr. was not a public document because the document does
not appear to be recorded in the Notarial Register Records of Atty. Eliseo
Razon.
Granting that the Notarial Register of Atty. Eliseo Razon does not
reflect the said Deed of Sale executed by Emiliano Setosta in favor of Homer
Barque, Sr., nonetheless, applying the presumption that official duty has
been regularly performed, I find that the Deed of Sale was duly notarized as
otherwise the instrument would not have been registrable and the Register
of Deeds of Quezon City would not have issued TCT No. 210177 to Homer
Barque, Sr. on the basis of said Deed of Sale.
Such presumption cannot be overcome by the mere failure, even if
true, of Atty. Razon to record the deed in his Notarial Register since said
failure does not make the notarization less genuine. Neither could the
respondents be faulted for said failure. In any event, respondents submitted
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a Certification under oath of Mr. Gregorio B. Faraon 28 attesting to the
existence of said Deed of Sale in the records of the Clerk of Court of the
Manila Regional Trial Court.
Jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals
to cancel petitioners' TCT No. RT-22481.
The Decisions of the two Divisions of the Court of Appeals both
affirmed the LRA findings that petitioners' reconstituted TCT No. RT-22481
was spurious and a sham and that respondents' TCT No. 210177 sought to
be reconstituted is genuine, valid and existing.
The Court of Appeals, being the tribunal to which the appeal was
elevated pursuant to Rule 43 of the Rules of Court, which provides that final
Orders or Resolutions of the LRA may be appealed to the Court of Appeals,
has the corresponding authority and jurisdiction to decide the appealed case
on the basis of the uncontroverted facts and admissions contained in the
petition, comment, reply, rejoinder, and memoranda, filed by the parties, 29
and to apply the law applicable in administrative reconstitution proceeding
which is Republic Act (R.A.) No. 6732. 30
Section 10, Rule 43 of the Rules of Court specifically mandates that
"the findings of fact of the court or agency concerned, when supported by
substantial evidence, shall be binding on the Court of Appeals" . Since
petitioners were not able to show that the LRA findings of fact were
unsupported by evidence, 31 the Court of Appeals committed no error of
jurisdiction when it confirmed such findings.
Moreover, Section 11 of R.A. No. 6732 provides that:
SEC. 11. A reconstituted title obtained by means of fraud,
deceit or other machination is void ab intio as against the party
obtaining the same and all persons having knowledge thereof.

Thus, the Court of Appeals had the authority to order the cancellation of
petitioners' reconstituted TCT No. RT-22481 after it affirmed the findings of
the LRA that petitioners' TCT No. RT-22481 is spurious and void ab initio.
Having also affirmed the LRA finding that respondents' title, TCT No. 210177,
is genuine, valid and existing, the Court of Appeals likewise had the authority
to order its reconstitution since this was the final step in the administrative
reconstitution process.
It must be noted that Section 48 of Presidential Decree (P.D.) No. 1529
(or The Property Registration Decree) does not expressly provide for the
specific court that can order the cancellation of a certificate of title. On the
other hand, Section 108 thereof clearly provides that only the Court of First
Instance (now RTC) can order an erasure, alteration or amendment in a
certificate of title. AECcTS

The variance is a clear indication of the intent to distinguish between


these two actions. Thus, under Section 48, courts other than the Regional
Trial Court, such as the Court of Appeals and the Supreme Court, are
possessed with authority and jurisdiction to order the cancellation of a
Torrens title which they confirmed to be spurious, as in this case, when this
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is necessary in the disposition of a case elevated before them on appeal.
Moreover, there has been a change in the traditional concept of
"original jurisdiction" on account of Rule 43, Rules of Court, where the Court
of Appeals has the power to take judicial cognizance of a case for the first
time through its review powers. Thus, this Court said in Yamane v. BA
Lepanto Condominium Corporation 32 that:
Original jurisdiction is the power of the Court to take judicial
cognizance of a case instituted for judicial action for the first time
under conditions provided by law. Appellate jurisdiction is the authority
of a Court higher in rank to re-examine the final order or judgment of a
lower court which tried the case now elevated for review.

xxx xxx xxx


The stringent concept of original jurisdiction may seemingly be
neutered by Rule 43 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, Section 1 of
which lists a slew of administrative agencies and quasi-judicial
tribunals or their officers whose decisions may be reviewed by the
Court of Appeals in the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction.
However, the basic law of jurisdiction, Batas Pambansa Blg. 129 (B.P.
129), ineluctably confers appellate jurisdiction on the Court of Appeals
over final rulings of quasi-judicial agencies, instrumentalities, boards or
commission, by explicitly using the phrase "appellate jurisdiction". . . .

Consequently, when an administrative reconstitution proceeding


is appealed to the Court of Appeals under Rule 43, the Court of Appeals
would be acting as a court of original jurisdiction with regard to said
appealed cases, hence, BP 129 would not apply.
In view of the foregoing, the Court of Appeals correctly acted within its
jurisdiction when it ordered the cancellation of TCT No. RT-22481 (372302)
of petitioners after it confirmed the LRA finding that said title is fake and
spurious.
Significantly, the Court has ruled in Rexlon Realty Group, Inc. v. Court
of Appeals 33 that it has jurisdiction to declare the title void even if the
appealed case was not originally filed with the Regional Trial Court for
nullification of title. We held that the Court can rule on the validity or nullity
of the title issued in the name of Paramount in the light of the facts of this
case, and that:
[I]n order for a just, speedy and inexpensive disposition of the case, we
must decide on the effect of void duplicate copies of a
certificate of title that served as a basis for the sale of the property
it represents and the eventual issuance of title in the name of
respondent Paramount. To require another proceeding only for
the purpose of annulling the said new titles when the same
could be decided in this very petition would promote judicial
bureaucracy, a practice abhorred by our legal system. As we
have ruled in Gayos v. Gayos, it is a cherished rule of procedure that a
court should always strive to settle the entire controversy in a single
proceeding leaving no root or branch to bear the seeds of future
litigation. 34
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More pertinently, the Court ruled in Rexlon, thus:
On whether this Court can rule on the validity or nullity of the
titles issued in the name of respondent Paramount in the light of the
facts of this case, we rule in the affirmative.

xxx xxx xxx


Secondly, respondent Paramount has duly consented to
put in issue the validity of its titles by invoking in this appeal
the reasons espoused by the appellate court and respondent
David for the dismissal of the petition to annul the decision of
the trial court. In its Memorandum and respondent David’s
comment that it adopted, respondent Paramount has not made
any jurisdictional objection as regards its inclusion in the
appeal to the petition for annulment of judgment, and even
participated in the discussion of the merits of the case. Based
on the principle of estoppel, respondent Paramount is barred
from raising any objection over the power of this Court to
nullify its titles. 35

Jurisdiction of the Land Registration


Authority (LRA) to administratively
reconstitute the allegedly lost TCT
No. 210177 in the name of respondents
despite the previously reconstituted TCT
No. RT-22481 of the petitioners over
the same property.
To resolve this issue, it is relevant to first consider whether petitioners'
TCT No. RT-22481, in fact, covers the same property identified and described
in respondents' TCT No. 210177.
Respondents' title, TCT No. 210177, indicates Barrio Matandang Balara
as location of the property. On the other hand, the reconstituted title of
petitioners, TCT No. RT-22481, does not indicate the barrio where the
property described therein is located. As shown by petitioners' documentary
evidence, the property which they claim to be covered by their TCT No. RT-
22481 is located in Barrio Payong, or Barrio Culiat, Quezon City.
More importantly, the technical description in respondents' title, TCT
No. 210177, indicates boundaries totally different from those stated in
petitioners' title, TCT No. RT-22481. Furthermore, the technical description
of respondents' title shows that it covers two lots while petitioners' title
covers only one lot. TCHEDA

The claim that the LRA has no authority to pass upon the genuineness
of a certificate of title in an administrative reconstitution proceeding is an
absurdity. Will the LRA just accept any title and order its reconstitution
although it is facially void? Such an absurd interpretation would necessarily
result in the reconstitution of a patently fake and spurious title and the
consequent proliferation of fake titles, a situation that the legislature could
not have contemplated when it enacted R.A. No. 6732 authorizing the
administrative reconstitution of titles.
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It is, therefore, misleading and baseless for petitioners to assert that
their previously reconstituted title, TCT No. RT-22481 (372302) covers the
same property as that identified and described in respondents' TCT No.
210177 so as to deprive the LRA of jurisdiction over respondents’ petition for
reconstitution.
However, even assuming that both petitioners' and respondents' titles
cover the same property, the LRA would still have jurisdiction over
respondents' petition for reconstitution.
As petitioners themselves admit, they caused the administrative
reconstitution of their TCT No. RT 22481 in 1991 under R.A. No. 6732. On the
other hand, respondents' TCT No. 210177 shows that it was issued on
September 24, 1975 by the Register of Deeds of Quezon City. Its existence
was likewise confirmed by the LRA in its Resolution of June 24, 1998 based
on the logbook of the Register of Deeds, which contains the list of titles lost
during the fire that destroyed its records in 1988.
Respondents' TCT No. 210177 was, therefore, in existence at the time
petitioners filed their petition for reconstitution. In Alipoon v. Court of
Appeals, 36 the Court ruled that:
[I]nasmuch as TCT No. T-17224 has been in existence as early
as March 16, 1933, the issuance in 1989 of a reconstituted
original certificate of title bearing the number OCT No. RO
12890 (N.A.) over Lot No. 663 in the name of petitioners'
parents Fausto Alipoon and Silveria Duria is rendered legally
doubtful, and the reconstituted title is void.

It, therefore, follows that petitioners' reconstituted title, even assuming


the same to have been duly reconstituted, was deemed nullified by the mere
existence of respondents' title at the time of the administrative
reconstitution of petitioners' title. 37 Pertinently, the Court held in Alabang
Development Corp. v. Hon. Valenzuela 38 that:
The Court stresses once more that lands already covered by duly
issued existing Torrens Titles (which become incontrovertible upon the
expiration of one year from their issuance under Section 38 of the Land
Registration Act) cannot be the subject of petitions for reconstitution of
allegedly lost or destroyed titles filed by third parties without first
securing by final judgment the cancellation of such existing titles. . . .

Moreover, since petitioners recognized the jurisdiction of the LRA when


they filed their opposition to respondents’ petition for reconstitution and
submitting evidence therein, they cannot thereafter turn around and impugn
such jurisdiction after the LRA ruled against their prayer for the denial of the
petition for reconstitution. We ruled in Salva v. Court of Appeals: 39
In a long line of decisions, this Court has consistently held
that while an order or decision rendered without jurisdiction is a total
nullity and may be assailed at any stage, a party's active
participation in the proceedings in the tribunal which rendered
the order or decision will bar such party from attacking its
jurisdiction. . . .
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In the instant cases, it is undisputed that petitioners actively
participated in the proceedings and submitted evidence in support of their
claim. Estoppel does not apply only as against plaintiffs who sought
affirmative reliefs. It equally applies to defendants who actively participate in
the proceedings, thus:
Public policy dictates that this Court must strongly condemn any
double-dealing by parties who are disposed to trifle with the courts by
taking inconsistent positions, in utter disregard of elementary
principles of right dealing and good faith. This applies not only to
parties who are plaintiffs, complainants or others who initiated
the case by actually filing the action, but also to parties who
are defendants or respondents, if the latter fail to timely raise
the jurisdictional issue and instead actively participate in the
proceedings. 40

There is, therefore, no further need to require another proceeding for


the cancellation of petitioners' reconstituted title before the LRA can proceed
to reconstitute respondents' TCT No. 210177.
Jurisdiction of the LRA to adjudicate
on the validity of petitioners'
reconstituted TCT No. RT-22481
(372302) in the administrative
reconstitution case filed by
respondents.
In its comment dated March 30, 2007, the Office of the Solicitor
General categorically declared that:
While it is true that the Register of Deeds and the
Administrator of the LRA, in the exercise of their quasi-judicial
powers over petitions for administrative reconstitution, have
the authority to receive evidence, it is limited for the purpose
of determining whether or not the certificates of title sought to
be reconstituted are valid, authentic, genuine and in force at
the time they were lost or destroyed, and to the end of either
granting or denying the prayer of the petition. Also, their
jurisdiction to hear administrative petitions for reconstitution does not
encompass any other title except that which is the subject matter of
the petition. Otherwise, they exceed their jurisdiction. 41

Furthermore, the technical expertise of the LRA with regard to


reconstitution of titles is such that the Court has long directed the lower
courts to strictly observe the LRA circulars on reconstitution and land
registration cases. It said: DHIcET

In recognition of these developments that have placed under a


cloud the integrity of the once unassailable Torrens Title, spawned the
proliferation of fake land titles and encouraged the mushrooming of
land grabbers and squatters on legitimately-titled lands, Chief Justice
Andres R. Narvasa issued on July 15, this year, Administrative
Circular No. 7-96 addressed to all judges of all court levels and
their Clerks of Court enjoining the strict observance of Land
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Registration Authority (LRA) circulars on reconstitution and
land registration cases. 42

Since the LRA had the duty to resolve the petition for reconstitution as
well as petitioners' opposition thereto, it necessarily had to examine the title
of the parties, using its technical expertise, to determine if the petition for
reconstitution should be given due course, or denied as prayed for by the
petitioners. Thus:
[W]hen an administrative agency or body is conferred quasi-
judicial functions, all controversies relating to the subject
matter pertaining to its specialization are deemed to be
included within the jurisdiction of said administrative agency
or body. Split jurisdiction is not favored. 43

Moreover, even assuming that petitioners are correct in claiming that


the LRA had no jurisdiction to resolve the issue of validity of title in a petition
for reconstitution, nonetheless, since petitioners opposed respondents'
petition for reconstitution and, in fact, ventilated before the LRA the issue of
validity or genuineness of their title and submitted evidence in support
thereof, instead of going to the courts to enjoin the LRA proceedings on
account of their possession of a purported reconstituted title over the same
property covered by respondents' TCT No. 210177, petitioners are estopped
from raising the issue of jurisdiction. We ruled in Laxina, Sr. v. Office of the
Ombudsman, 44 that:
Petitioner is also estopped from questioning the jurisdiction of
the Ombudsman. A perusal of the records shows that he participated in
the proceedings by filing his counter-affidavit with supporting
evidence. . . . Thus, it has been held that participation in the
administrative proceedings without raising any objection thereto bars
the parties from raising any jurisdictional infirmity after an adverse
decision is rendered against them. 45

Again, even assuming that the Regional Trial Court should have had a
first chance at resolving the issue of validity of the title, nonetheless, under
the circumstances, this Court, upon elevation of the issue before it, had the
unquestionable jurisdiction to declare petitioners' reconstituted title void and
order its cancellation, under the same rationale relied upon by this Court in
Board of Commissioners (CID) v. dela Rosa: 46
Ordinarily, the case would then be remanded to the Regional
Trial Court. But not in the case at bar. Considering the voluminous
pleadings submitted by the parties and the evidence
presented, We deem it proper to decide the controversy right
at this instance. And this course of action is not without precedent
for "it is a cherished rule of procedure for this Court to always strive to
settle the entire controversy in a single proceeding leaving no root or
branch to bear the seeds of future litigation. No useful purpose will
be served if this case is remanded to the trial court only to
have its decision raised again to the Court of Appeals and from
there to this Court . . . .

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The ruling in Islamic Directorate of the Philippines v. Court of Appeals
47 is likewise applicable, to wit:
The resolution of the question as to whether or not the SEC had
jurisdiction to declare the subject sale null and void is rendered moot and
academic by the inherent nullity of the highly dubious sale due to lack of
consent of the IDP, owner of the subject property. No end of substantial
justice will be served if we reverse the SEC’s conclusion on the matter, and
remand the case to the regular courts for further litigation over an issue
which is already determinable based on what we have in the records.
Beyond all that, however, is the unalterable fact that this Court's First
Division had already resolved in its Decision of December 12, 2005, the
jurisdictional issues raised by petitioners.
Jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals
or the LRA to decide the ownership
of the disputed property in the
administrative reconstitution of
title filed by respondents.
Petitioners raised the issue of ownership before the LRA when they
presented evidence in the form of a Deed of Sale, five (5) Unilateral Deeds of
Conveyance, tax declarations, and realty tax receipts to prove their
ownership of the property allegedly covered by their reconstituted TCT RT
No. 22481. Petitioners supported their claim of genuineness of their
reconstituted title with documentary evidence showing their supposed
acquisition of ownership of the land.
However, the LRA gave no credence to the evidence of ownership
submitted by the petitioners, mainly because the property described therein
appears to be located in a barrio different and far from the barrio where the
property in dispute is actually located.
In their appeal to the Court of Appeals, petitioners again adverted to
the same documentary evidence they presented before the LRA in support
of their claim of ownership of the property covered by their TCT No. RT
22481 and to buttress their contention that their title is genuine and
authentic.
However, the Court of Appeals affirmed in toto the Resolution of the
LRA which found their reconstituted title a sham and spurious and
respondents' title, genuine, authentic and existing. In addition, the Court of
Appeals also ordered the cancellation of petitioners' TCT No. RT22481 and
the reconstitution of respondents' TCT No. 210177. AHTICD

In short, since petitioners themselves laid before the LRA and the Court
of Appeals all their evidence to prove the genuineness of their reconstituted
title and their ownership of the property in dispute, the Court of Appeals had
the corresponding authority and jurisdiction to pass upon these issues.
In Yusingco v. Ong Hing Lian, 48 the Court ruled, thus:
Therefore, it appearing from the records that in the previous petition
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for reconstitution of certificates of title, the parties acquiesced in submitting
the issue of ownership for determination in the said petition, that they were
given the full opportunity to present their respective sides of the issues and
evidence in support thereof, and that the evidence presented was sufficient
and adequate for rendering a proper decision upon the issue, the
adjudication of the issue of ownership was valid and binding. It being a valid
judgment, res judicata applies.
Indeed, petitioners are barred from thereafter impugning the
jurisdiction of the Court of Appeals to rule on these issues. In the leading
case of Tijam v. Sibonghanoy, 49 it was stressed that:
It has been held that a party can not invoke the jurisdiction of a
court to secure affirmative relief against his opponent and, after
obtaining or failing to obtain such relief, repudiate or question the
same jurisdiction . . . .
Furthermore, it has also been held that after voluntarily
submitting a cause and encountering an adverse decision on the
merits, it is too late for the loser to question the jurisdiction or the
power of the court. . . . [I]t is not right for a party who has affirmed and
invoked the jurisdiction of a court in a particular matter to secure an
affirmative relief, to afterwards deny that same jurisdiction to escape a
penalty.

. . . [W]e frown upon the “undesirable practice” of a party


submitting his case for decision and then accepting the judgment, only
if favorable, and attacking it for lack of jurisdiction when adverse . . . .

In the light of all the foregoing, I find no compelling reason or


overriding consideration to further require the referral of these cases to the
Regional Trial Court or the Court of Appeals for a re-litigation of the issues
already raised and resolved by the two divisions of the Court of Appeals and
affirmed by the Court's First Division in its final and executory Decision
dated December 12, 2005.
More importantly, the doctrine of immutability of final and executory
decisions which became part of our legal system almost a century ago and
reiterated time and again by this Court precludes the Court from taking this
unprecedented action.
As held in Anuran v. Aquino and Ortiz, 50 every consideration of
expediency and justice is opposed to the uncontrolled exercise of discretion
by the courts in opening up cases after judgments entered therein have
become final. 51 The interest of the individual, as well as of the community,
demands there should be a definite end to every litigation; and nothing
could be more impolitic than to leave it to the discretion of every court to
revise and review and reconsider its judgments without limit. 52
Furthermore, the question of whether the Court can reopen a final and
executory judgment has constitutional implications since a reopening of the
final and executory December 12, 2005 Decision would violate the prevailing
parties' right to due process. As the Court said in Insular Bank of Asia and
America Employees' Union (IBAAEU) v. Inciong: 53
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A final judgment vests in the prevailing party a right recognized and
protected by law under the due process clause of the Constitution. . . ..
Thereafter, in Fortich v. Corona, 54 the Court ruled against a reopening
of a final and executory judgment since this is not a mere question of
technicality but that of substance and merit, thus:
It should be stressed that when the March 2, 1996 OP
Decision was declared final and executory, vested rights were
acquired by the herein petitioners . . . . Thus, we repeat, the
issue here is not a question of technicality but that of
substance and merit. . . .

Considering all the foregoing and the fact that these cases do not
involve an issue of transcendental importance, such as life, liberty or the
security of the state, no compelling reason exists to depart from this well-
settled doctrine, nor to ignore the fundamental public policy behind it.
ACCORDINGLY, I vote that these cases be referred back to the Court's
Special First Division for final disposition in accordance with its Decision of
December 12, 2005.
CHICO-NAZARIO, J., dissenting:
This is to express my dissent in the majority opinion which set aside
the final and executory Decision dated 12 December 2005 of the First
Division of this Court, recalled the Entry of Judgment recorded on 2 May
2006 in the present cases, and remanded the same to the Court of Appeals
for reception of further evidence.
I emphatically call attention to the fact that the Decision, dated 12
December 2005, the fallo of which reads —
WHEREFORE, the petitions are DENIED. In G.R. No. 162335, the
February 24, 2004 Amended Decision of the Third Division of the Court
of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 66642, ordering the Register of Deeds of
Quezon City to cancel petitioners' TCT No. RT-22481 and directing the
Land Registration Authority to reconstitute respondents' TCT No.
210177; and in G.R. No. 162605, the November 7, 2003 Amended
Decision of the Special Division of Five of the Former Second Division in
CA-G.R. SP No. 66700 directing the Register of Deeds of Quezon City to
cancel petitioners' TCT No. RT-22481, and the Land Registration
Authority to reconstitute respondents' TCT No. T-210177 and the March
12, 2004 Resolution denying the motion for reconsideration, are
AFFIRMED[,] AIcECS

had become FINAL AND EXECUTORY. The two Motions for Reconsideration of
the petitioners were both denied in Resolutions dated 19 April 2006 and 19
June 2006. The Entry of Judgment was already made on 2 May 2006.
Nothing is more settled in law than that when a final judgment is
executory, it thereby becomes immutable and unalterable. The judgment
may no longer be modified in any respect, even if the modification is meant
to correct what is perceived to be an erroneous conclusion of fact or law, and
regardless of whether the modification is attempted to be made by the court
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rendering it or by the highest Court of the land. The doctrine is founded on
considerations of public policy and sound practice that, at the risk of
occasional errors, judgments must become final at some definite point in
time. 1
Litigation must at some time be terminated, even at the risk of
occasional errors. Public policy dictates that once a judgment becomes final,
executory and unappealable, the prevailing party should not be denied the
fruits of his victory by some subterfuge devised by the losing party.
Unjustified delay in the enforcement of a judgment sets at naught the role of
courts in disposing justiciable controversies with finality. 2
Apparent from the foregoing are the two-fold purposes for the doctrine
of the immutability and inalterability of a final judgment: first, to avoid delay
in the administration of justice and thus, procedurally, to make orderly the
discharge of judicial business; and, second, to put an end to judicial
controversies, at the risk of occasional errors, which is precisely why courts
exist. Obviously, the first purpose is in line with the dictum that justice
delayed is justice denied. But said dictum presupposes that the court
properly appreciates the facts and the applicable law to arrive at a judicious
decision. The end should always be the meting out of justice. As to the
second purpose, controversies cannot drag on indefinitely. The rights and
obligations of every litigant must not hang in suspense for an indefinite
period of time. It must be adjudicated properly and seasonably to better
serve the ends of justice and to place everything in proper perspective. In
the process, the possibility that errors may be committed in the rendition of
a decision cannot be discounted. 3
The only recognized exceptions to the foregoing doctrine are the
corrections of clerical errors or the making of the so-called nunc pro tunc
entries, which cause no prejudice to any party, and, where the judgment is
void. 4 Void judgments may be classified into two groups: those rendered by
a court without jurisdiction to do so and those obtained by fraud or collusion.
5 Petitioners assert, and the majority opinion effectively sustains, that the

Decision dated 12 December 2005 of the First Division of this Court,


affirming the decisions of the Court of Appeals and the LRA rendered without
jurisdiction, may be set aside for belonging to the first group of void
judgments. I cannot subscribe to such a view.
It is argued that the Land Registration Authority (LRA) has no
jurisdiction to reconstitute administratively the respondents' title because
such reconstitution supposedly constitutes an indirect or collateral attack on
the petitioners' pre-existing Torrens title over the same property.
It is worthy to note that the LRA itself, despite finding clear and
convincing evidence that respondents' title was valid, genuine, authentic,
and effective, while concluding that petitioners' title was fraudulently
reconstituted, held back from actually canceling the petitioners' title.
According to the dispositive portion of the LRA Decision —
WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, it is hereby ordered that
reconstitution of TCT No. 210177 in the name of [herein respondents'
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predecessor] Homer L. Barque, Sr. shall be given due course after
cancellation of TCT No. RT-22481 (372302) in the name of [herein
petitioners] Manotoks upon order of a court of competent jurisdiction.

From the said LRA Decision, the parties filed separate appeals with the
Court of Appeals.
Respondents' petition for review was docketed as CA-G.R. SP No.
66700, which the Special Division of Five of the Former Second Division of
the Court of Appeals, in its Amended Decision, dated 7 November 2003,
resolved as follows —
WHEREFORE, our decision dated 13 September 2002 is hereby
reconsidered. Accordingly, the Register of Deeds of Quezon City is
hereby directed to cancel TCT No. RT-22481 of [herein petitioners] and
the LRA is hereby directed to reconstitute forthwith [herein
respondents'] valid, genuine and existing Certificate of Title No. T-
210177.

Petitioners' petition for review, on the other hand, was docketed as CA-
G.R. SP No. 66642, disposed by the Third Division of the Court of Appeals in
its Amended Decision, dated 24 February 2004, in the following manner —
WHEREFORE, the Motion for Reconsideration is hereby GRANTED.
The Decision of this Court dated 29 October 2003 is RECONSIDERED
and a new one entered ordering the Register of Deeds of Quezon City
to cancel [herein petitioners'] TCT No. RT-22481 and directing the LRA
to reconstitute forthwith [herein respondents'] TCT No. T-210177. ICESTA

It was not the LRA which ordered the cancellation of petitioners' title
but the two Divisions of the Court of Appeals which separately decided CA-
G.R. SP No. 66700 and CA-G.R. SP No. 66642. Petitioners contend, however,
that even the Court of Appeals had no jurisdiction to order the cancellation of
their title. They maintain that their title can only be attacked in a direct
action before the Regional Trial Court (RTC). The Decision, dated 12
December 2005, of the First Division of the Court already addressed the said
arguments, thus —
Indeed, it would be needlessly circuitous to remand the case to
the RTC to determine anew which of the two titles is sham or spurious
and thereafter appeal the trial court’s ruling to the Court of Appeals.
After all, the LRA and the two divisions of the appellate court have
already declared that petitioners' title is forged. . . .
xxx xxx xxx

No useful purpose will be served if a case or the determination of


an issue in a case is remanded to the trial court only to have its
decision raised again to the Court of Appeals and then to the Supreme
Court. The remand of the case or of an issue to the lower court for
further reception of evidence is not necessary where the Court is in a
position to resolve the dispute based on the records before it and
particularly where the ends of justice would not be subserved by the
remand thereof.

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While the Court, when it finds that a lower court or quasi-judicial body
is in error, may simply and conveniently nullify the challenged decision,
resolution or order and remand the case thereto for further appropriate
action, it is well within the conscientious exercise of its broad review powers
to refrain from doing so and instead choose to render judgment on the
merits when all material facts have been duly laid before it as would buttress
its ultimate conclusion, in the public interest and for the expeditious
administration of justice, such as where the ends of justice would not be
subserved by the remand of the case. 6
Such a course of action is not without precedent for "it is a cherished
rule of procedure for this Court to always strive to settle the entire
controversy in a single proceeding leaving no root or branch to bear the
seeds of future litigation. No useful purpose will be served if this case is
remanded to the trial court only to have its decision raised again to the Court
of Appeals and from there to this Court." 7 Sound practice seeks to
accommodate the theory which avoids waste of time, effort and expense,
both to the parties and the government, not to speak of delay in the disposal
of the case. A marked characteristic of the judicial set-up in this country is
that where the dictates of justice so demand, the Supreme Court should act,
and act with finality. 8
The decisions of the LRA, the two Divisions of the Court of Appeals, as
well as the First Division of the Court, consistently finding that it is
respondents' title to the land which is authentic and genuine, and that of the
petitioners is false and fraudulent, are sufficiently supported by the evidence
on record. Petitioners' evidence to prove their title to the land was already
considered and weighed by the LRA and the courts as against the
respondents' evidence. There is no showing that petitioners had any other
significant evidence that they can only present before the RTC in another
proceeding directly attacking their title. Thus, although the proceedings
canceling petitioners' title to the land did not follow the ordinary course,
which should have been initiated with the RTC, the Court of Appeals and the
First Division of the Court had all the material facts before them and
evidence on record to already render judgment on the merits in the instant
cases.
Moreover, when petitioners opposed respondents' petition for
reconstitution of title, on the basis of their prior existing title to the same
piece of land, petitioners submitted their title to the scrutiny of the LRA. The
LRA could not dismiss respondents' petition for reconstitution of title on the
mere presentation by petitioners of their supposed title. It was still
incumbent upon the LRA to determine the existence, genuineness and
authenticity of petitioners' title, so as to preclude the reconstitution of
respondents' title over the same piece of land. To make such a
determination, the LRA had to examine and weigh the evidence of both the
respondents and the petitioners in support of their own respective titles; and
as a result thereof, the LRA came to the conclusion that petitioners' title was
fraudulently reconstituted.
Given the foregoing, it cannot be simply said that the issuance by the
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LRA of reconstituted titles is a purely executive function. Before the LRA can
issue a decision, either granting or denying petitions for reconstitution of
title, it must consider and weigh the arguments and evidence presented by
those seeking and those opposing the reconstitution; irrefragably, a quasi-
judicial function. An act by an executive agency or officer becomes quasi-
judicial in nature when the parties involved are given the opportunity to be
heard and to produce evidence, and such evidence is weighed before a
decision is rendered thereon. 9 The fact that the LRA is a quasi-judicial
agency exercising quasi-judicial function becomes incontestable especially
considering that its decisions are among those explicitly identified in the
Supreme Court Revised Administrative Circular No. 1-95 as appealable to the
Court of Appeals. 10
Again, it must be stressed that, despite its finding that petitioners' title
was fraudulent, the LRA left the cancellation of their title to a court of
competent jurisdiction. While under ordinary circumstances, such a court of
competent jurisdiction would have been the RTC, the First Division of the
Court properly found, in accordance with public policy and the dictates of
justice, that the instant cases need no longer be remanded to the RTC for
further proceedings. The two Divisions of the Court of Appeals, in
promulgating their respective Amended Decisions, already had all the
material facts and evidence before it to render judgment on the validity of
petitioners' title. Hence, the Decision, dated 12 December 2005, of the First
Division of the Court, declining to remand the instant cases to the RTC and
affirming the Amended Decisions of the Court of Appeals therein, is a valid
decision which could and had, in fact, attained finality. cDSaEH

It is time that the Court finally put an end to the controversies between
petitioners and respondents in these cases, and thwart further attempts by
any party to still prolong the same. Unfortunately, the Resolution of the
majority opinion has the contrary effect. It not only protracts the litigation,
but also complicates the same by giving undue consideration to the
evidence and points raised by Felicitas and Resendo Manahan (Manahans) in
their much delayed petition-in-intervention.
When the Court en banc reopened the present cases, it expressly
delineated the four issues to be resolved and upon which the parties were to
be heard in the oral arguments. These issues were:
1. Does the Court of Appeals have jurisdiction to cancel petitioners'
TCT No. RT-22481 without a trial before the proper Regional Trial
Court in the proceeding directly assailing the validity of
petitioners' title?
2. Does the Land Registration Authority [LRA] have jurisdiction to
administratively reconstitute the allegedly lost TCT No. 210177 in
the name of respondents despite the previously reconstituted
TCT No. RT-22481 of the petitioners over the same property?
3. Does the LRA have jurisdiction to adjudicate on the validity of
petitioners' TCT No. RT-22481 in the administrative
reconstitution case filed by respondents with the LRA?
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4. Does the Court of Appeals or the LRA have jurisdiction to decide
the ownership of the disputed property in the administrative
reconstitution of title filed by respondents?

Even just a cursory reading of the foregoing issues would readily reveal
that these are mainly legal and jurisdictional issues. The parties, namely, the
petitioners and the respondents, have the right to rely on the adherence by
the Court en banc to the said issues in its determination of whether or not to
still subject the said parties to more litigation proceedings. For the Court en
banc to consider and rule upon issues which are outside of the four afore-
stated and on which the parties were heard during the oral arguments is a
denial of due process.
The matter of whether or not the factual issues in the instant cases
should again be relitigated cannot be anchored on the factual allegations of
the parties, moreso, when such allegations were made by the Manahans.
The Manahans were not even allowed to intervene in the oral arguments nor
submit issues for the oral arguments. Thus, the majority opinion palpably
erred in remanding the cases to the Court of Appeals for further reception of
evidence on the basis of the assertions of the Manahans, which contradict
the claims of both the petitioners and the respondents, the original parties in
the cases at bar. The courts are bound to look no further than the record and
cannot even consider contrary evidence to determine where the
preponderance thereof lies. 11 These cases must be resolved upon the
evidence submitted to the LRA, since a judicial review of executive decisions
does not import a trial de novo, but only an ascertainment of whether the
executive findings are not in violation of the Constitution or of the laws, and
are free from fraud or imposition, and whether they find reasonable support
in the evidence. 12 Further proceedings before the Court of Appeals following
the remand of the instant cases thereto, would undoubtedly be tantamount
to a new trial and investigation.
Wherefore, I vote to DENY all motions and prayers of the petitioners for
the setting aside of the Decision dated 12 December 2005 of the First
Division of this Court and the remand of the present cases to the Court of
Appeals for the reception of further evidence, in my firm belief that the said
Decision must stand and be honored for already being final and executory. I
also vote to GRANT the motions for execution and possession filed by the
respondents pursuant to the same Decision.

Footnotes
1. F. Ponce, The Philippine Torrens System: A Textbook on Land Titles, Deeds,
Liens, Descent and Mortgage at 120.
2. Id. at 121.
3. Id. at 125.
4. G.R. No. 162605, rollo, pp. 666-732. See also 477 SCRA 339.
5. Id. at
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6. Id. at 969-A.
7. See, e.g., Medina v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 107595, 2 February 1994, 229
SCRA 601; Ortigas & Co. Ltd. v. Velasco, G.R. Nos. 109645 & 112564, 25 July
1994, 234 SCRA 455; In Re: Azucena Garcia, 393 Phil. 718 (2000); University
of the Philippines v. Rosario, 407 Phil. 924 (2001); Republic v. Holazo, G.R.
No. 146846, 31 August 2004, 437 SCRA 345; Cañero v. University of the
Philippines, G.R. No. 156380, 8 September 2004, 437 SCRA 630; Encinas v.
National Bookstore, G.R. No. 162704, 28 July 28, 2005, 464 SCRA 572;
Premiere Development Bank v. Court of Appeals, G.R. Nos. 128122, 128184
& 128229, 18 March 2005, 485 SCRA 234; Subido v. Republic, G.R. No.
152149, 25 April 2006, 488 SCRA 178: Heirs of Nicolas v. Development Bank,
G.R. No. 137548, 3 September 2007, 532 SCRA 38.
8. Rollo of G.R. No. 162605, p. 74.
9. Id. at 86.
10. Id. at 87.
11. Id. at 95.
12. Id. at 96.
13. CA-G.R. SP No. 66700, rollo, p. 2-23.
14. CA-G.R. SP No. 66642, rollo, p.7-45.
15. CA-G.R. SP No. 66700, rollo, pp. 172-201.
16. Id. at 244-248.
17. Id. at 256-275.
18. Penned by Justice Buenaventura J. Guerrero and concurred in by Justices
Eloy R. Bello, Jr., Edgardo P. Cruz and Danilo B. Pine. Justice Juan Q. Enriquez,
Jr. dissented.
19. CA-G.R. SP No. 66700, rollo, p. 432. aEHTSc

20. Justice Enriquez maintained his dissent.


21. Penned by Justice Eubulo G. Verzola and concurred in by Justices Remedios
Salazar-Fernando and Edgardo F. Sundiam.
22. CA-G.R. SP No. 66642, rollo, p. 144-149.
23. Id. at 151-171.
24. Id. at 218.
25. G.R. No. 162605. Rollo, p. 386.
26. Penned by Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago and concurred in by the Chief
Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr. and by Justices Leonardo A. Quisumbing and
Adolfo S. Azcuna. Justice Antonio T. Carpio dissented.
27. Id. at 667-684.
28. Id. at 830.
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29. Id. at 881. Entry of judgment was recorded on 2 May 2006.
30. Id. at 884.
31. Id. at 908-918.
32. Id. at. 947-A.
33. G.R. No. 162335, rollo, p. 891.
34. Id. at 1320.
35. Id. at 1075.
36. Citing Barnes v. Padilla, G.R. No. 160753, 30 September 2004, 439 SCRA
675; Chiong v. Hon. Cosico, 434 Phil. 753 (2002).
37. Ginete v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 127596, 24 September 1988, 292 SCRA
38.
38. See Sec. 48, Pres. Decree No. 1529.
39. Sec. 9(1) & (2), B.P. 129, as amended.
40. See Sec. 9(3), B.P. 129, as amended.
41. See Rep. Act No. 26, Sec. 5, as amended by Rep. Act No. 6732.
42. See Rep. Act No. 26, Sec. 19, as amended.
43. See Rep. Act No. 6732, Secs. 11 & 12, Rep. Act No. 6732.
44. See e.g., Serra Serra v. Court of Appeals, G.R. Nos. L-34080 & 34693, March
22, 1991, 195 SCRA 482. HCacTI

45. 201 Phil. 727 (1982).


46. Id. See also Serra Serra v. Court of Appeals, supra note 44.
47. G.R. Nos. 109645 & 112564, 25 July 1994, 234 SCRA 455.
48. Rollo, p. 127.
49. Id. at 1200-1201.
50. Rollo, p. 157.
51. Id. at 132.
52. Id. at 134.
53. Rollo, p. 136.
54. Id. at 137.
55. Id. at 142.
56. Id. at 144.
57. Id. at 143.
58. See "Annex A", Memorandum of Intervenor. "Extracted from Technical
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Descriptions appearing on Deed of Conveyance No. 200022 with Sales Cert.
No. 511 issued by the OIC Director of Land Management Bureau on Oct. 30,
2000 and was further checked and verified against the Land use Map of Q.C.,
C.M. 14-40 N. 121-05'E., Sec. 4-A, Brgy. of Matandang Balara on file at the
Projection Unit of LSVS-DENR-NCR and plan Sp-00-000779 on file at TSS-
DENR-NCR."

59. Id.
60. Annex "G", Respondents' Memorandum.
61. Rollo, p. 210.
62. Id. at 949.
63. See id. at 1107.
64. Id. at 1075
65. Id. at 1077.
66. Id.
67. Id.
68. Id. at 1320.
69. See id. at 1321-1322.
70. Id.
71. 426 Phil. 61 (2002).
72. See 462 Phil. 546 (2003) .

73. Id. at 563-566.


74. 359 Phil. 530 (1998).
75. G.R. Nos. 123346 & 134385, 14 December 2007, 540 SCRA 304.
76. Id. at 351-352.
CARPIO, J., concurring:
1. Rollo, (G.R. No. 162335), p. 131. The letter states:
In connection with the examination/verification of the petition for
administrative reconstitution of TCT No. 210177, supposedly registered in
the name of Homer L. Barque Sr., please furnish us with a certified copy of
subdivision plan Fls-3168-D, for our record and reference.
Attached is a xerox copy of TCT No. 210177 for your reference.
2. Id. at 133. The letter states:
In connection with the examination/verification of the above-entitled petition,
please furnish us with a certification as to the existence and authenticity of
plan Fls-3168-D, supposedly covered by TCT No. 210177, for our record and
reference. TSacID

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Attached is a xerox copy of TCT No. 210177 for your reference.
3. Id. at 132. The letter states:
In reply to your letter dated October 29, 1996 requesting for certified copy of
plan Fls- 3168-D for reference in connection with administrative
reconstitution of TCT No. 210177. Relative to the plan Fls-3168-D, please be
informed that we have no records (sic) of Fls-3168- D.
4. Id. at 134. The letter states:
In reply to your undated letter, please be informed that a microfilm copy of
Plan FLS- 3168-D is on file in the Technical Records and Statistical Section of
this Office.
5. Id. at 135. The letter states:
Relative to the above-entitled petition, we would like to clarify the fact that
the Regional Office has a microfilm copy of Plan Fls-3168-D, while your Office
does not have a record of the same.
Attached for your reference are the following:
a. Xerox copy of a certified true copy of plan Fls-3168-D, issued by the TRSS,
NCR;
b. Reply letter of Engineer Ernesto S. Erive, dated Nov. 28, 1996;
c. Your reply letter dated November 7, 1996.
Your clarification is of utmost importance in the resolution of the instant case.
6. Id. at 136.
7. Id. at 137. Emphasis supplied.
8. Id. at 138. Emphasis supplied.
9. Id. at 139-140. Emphasis supplied.
10. Id. at 142. Emphasis supplied.
11. Id. at 144-145. Emphasis supplied.
12. Id. at 146.
13. Id.
14. Id. at 147.
15. Rollo (G.R. No. 162605), pp. 88-95. Penned by Administrator Reynaldo Y.
Maulit.
16. Re: Administrative Reconstitution of Original Copies of Lost or Destroyed
Certificates of Title Pursuant to Republic Act No. 6732.
17. Rollo (G.R. No. 162605), pp. 93-94.
18. Id. at 95. HDTSCc

19. Rollo (G.R. No. 162605), pp. 96-97. Penned by Administrator Senecio O.
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Ortile.
20. CA rollo, pp. 78-79.

21. Id. at 90-91.


22. Rollo (G.R. No. 162335), pp. 106-111. Penned by Justice Eubulo G. Verzola,
with Justices Remedios Salazar-Fernando and Edgardo F. Sundiam,
concurring.
23. Id. at 113-118.
24. Id. at 117.
25. CA rollo, pp. 244-248. Penned by Justice Juan Q. Enriquez, Jr., with Justices
Buenaventura J. Guerrero and Eloy R. Bello, Jr., concurring.
26. Rollo (G.R. No. 162605), pp. 56-69. Penned by Associate Justice
Buenaventura J. Guerrero with Associate Justices Eloy R. Bello, Jr., Edgardo P.
Cruz and Danilo B. Pine, concurring and Associate Justice Juan Q. Enriquez,
Jr., dissenting.
27. Id. at 65.
28. Id. at 71-73.
29. Rollo (G.R. No. 162605), pp. 667-683.
30. Id. at 830-832.
31. 450 Phil. 615 (2003).
32. 31 Phil. 590 (1915).
33. 161 Phil. 586 (1976).
34. 183 Phil. 426 (1979).
35. 201 Phil. 727 (1982).
36. 209 Phil. 325 (1983).
37. G.R. No. 86074, 20 December 1989, 180 SCRA 420.
38. G.R. No. 68291, 6 March 1991, 194 SCRA 743.
39. G.R. No. 34080, 22 March 1991, 195 SCRA 482.
40. G.R. No. 109645, 25 July 1994, 234 SCRA 455.
41. 452 Phil. 238 (2003). EScHDA

42. Resolution, 462 Phil. 546 (2003).


43. Section 48, PD 1529; Legarda and Prieto v. Saleeby, supra note 32; Magay,
etc. v. Estiandan, supra note 33; Ybañez v. Intermediate Appellate Court,
supra note 38; Heirs of Santiago v. Heirs of Santiago, supra note 41.
44. Alabang Development Corporation, et al. v. Valenzuela, etc. et al., supra
note 35; MWSS v. Hon. Sison, etc., et al., supra note 36; Serra Serra v. Court
of Appeals, supra note 39; Ortigas & Company Limited Partnership v.
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Velasco, supra note 40.
45. Republic v. Court of Appeals, supra note 34.
46. Serra Serra v. Court of Appeals, supra note 39; Liwag v. Court of Appeals,
supra note 37; Alonso v. Cebu Country Club, Inc., supra note 42.
47. Francisco v. Bautista, G.R. No. 44167, 19 December 1990, 192 SCRA 388.
48. 438 Phil. 252 (2002); Vir-Jen Shipping and Marine Services, Inc. v. NLRC, et
al., 210 Phil. 482 (1983).
49. Id. at 278-279.
50. Estoesta, Sr. v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 74817, 8 November 1989, 179
SCRA 203.
51. Calalang v. Register of Deeds of Quezon City, G.R. No. 76265, 11 March
1994, 231 SCRA 88.
52. Presidential Decree No. 1529.
53. A direct attack on a Torrens title is an action whose principal purpose is to
alter or annul the title. Such direct attack can be filed only before the proper
regional trial court. An indirect or collateral attack is an action whose
principal purpose is other than to alter or annul a title but its indirect
consequence is at the very least to put doubt on the validity of the title. A
petition for reconstitution of title over property that is already covered by a
pre-existing Torrens title is an indirect attack on such Torrens title. See
Leyson v. Bontuyan, et al., G.R. No. 156357, 18 February 2005, 452 SCRA 94.
54. Caraan v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 140752, 11 November 2005, 474 SCRA
543.
55. Republic v. Court of Appeals, supra note 34; Demetriou v. Court of Appeals,
G.R. No. 115595, 14 November 1994, 238 SCRA 158; Alipoon v. Court of
Appeals, 364 Phil. 591, 597-598 (1999). In Alipoon, the Court ruled:
We are convinced that based on the evidence presented, the Court of
Appeals correctly upheld the genuineness of TCT No. T-17224 issued by the
Register of Deeds of Negros Occidental on March 16, 1933 covering Lot No.
663 in the name of Marcelina P. Alvarez, predecessor of private respondents
herein. Inasmuch as TCT No. T-17224 has been in existence as early as
March 16, 1933, the issuance in 1989 of a reconstituted original certificate of
title bearing the number OCT No. RO-12890 (N.A.) over Lot No. 663 in the
name of petitioners' parents Fausto Alipoon and Silveria Duria is rendered
legally doubtful, and the reconstituted title is void. (Emphasis supplied)
56. G.R. No. 115595, 14 November 1994, 238 SCRA 158.
57. Id. at 161-162.
58. Supra note 34.
59. Id. at 432-433. SaICcT

60. See note 46.


61. Batas Pambansa Blg. 129.
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62. Zafra v. Caballes, 93 Phil. 875 (1953); Bunagan v. Branch VI CFI of Cebu,
186 Phil. 31 (1980).
63. Serra Serra v. Court of Appeals, supra note 39.
64. Section 18 of RA No. 26 allows the Register of Deeds to cancel the
reconstituted title if the lost title is subsequently found and both titles are
still in the name of the same registered owner. Section 18 states:
SECTION 18. In case a certificate of title, considered lost or destroyed, be
found or recovered, the same shall prevail over the reconstituted certificate
of title, and, if both titles appear in the name of the same registered owner,
all memoranda of new liens or encumbrances, if any, made on the latter,
after its reconstitution, except the memorandum of the reservation referred
to in section seven of this Act, shall be transferred to the recovered
certificate of title. Thereupon, the register of deeds shall cancel the
reconstituted certificate of title and spread upon the owner's duplicate, as
well as on the co-owner's, mortgagee's or lessee's duplicate, if any has been
issued, such annotations of subsisting liens or encumbrances as may appear
on the recovered certificate of title, cancelling at the same time the
memorandum of the reservation referred to in section seven hereof:
Provided, however, That if the reconstituted certificate of title has been
cancelled by virtue of any deed or instrument, whether voluntary or
involuntary, or by an order of the court, and a new certificate of title has
been issued, the recovered certificate of title shall be likewise cancelled, but
all subsisting liens or encumbrances, if any, appearing thereon shall be
transferred to the new certificate of title and to its owner's duplicate, as well
as to any co-owner's mortgagee's or lessee's duplicate that may have been
issued, the memorandum of the reservation referred to in section seven of
this Act, if any, being thereby ipso facto cancelled. (Emphasis supplied)
65. 346 Phil. 136 (1997).
66. Emphasis supplied.
67. Potenciano v. Court of Appeals, 104 Phil. 156 (1958).
68. Supra note 9.
69. Id.
70. Id.
71. Supra note 10.
72. Supra note 11.
73. Supra note 7.
74. Supra note 11.
75. Supra note 9. ECDAcS

76. G.R. No. 120958, 16 December 1996, 265 SCRA 614.


77. Id. at 642-643.
78. Supra, note 11.

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79. Id.
80. Supra, note 9.
81. Rollo (G.R. No. 162335), p. 141. The Barques' 7 February 1997 letter states
in full:
February 7, 1997
Hon. Reynaldo Y. Maulit
Administrator
Land Registration Authority

Sir:
Re: Administrative Reconstitution of TCT No. 210177 of the Registry of Deeds
of Quezon City
We write in behalf of our clients, the Heirs of the late Homer L. Barque, Sr.,
the registered owner of the properties covered by TCT No. 210177.
We are constrained to bring to your immediate attention a pattern of effort to
delay the administrative reconstitution of the above title in accordance with
the provisions of R.A. No. 6732 and LRA Circular No. 13 dated July 26, 1989
SR [sic] notwithstanding the recommendation dated January 2, 1997 by the
Chief, Geodetic Surveys Division, Land Management Bureau, DENR, Manila,
to give due course to the said reconstitution.
We respectfully request that this matter be looked into in order to expedite
the long overdue reconstitution of the title to the said properties.
With our highest esteem.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.)
BENJAMIN D. TURGANO
Counsel of the Heirs of Homer L. Barque
Lot 9, Blk 11, Don Jose Avenue
Don Jose Heights, Fairview, Quezon City
82. Supra note 10.
83. Rollo (G.R. No. 162335), p. 143. The 14 February 1997 letter of the LRA
reconstituting officer states in full:
February 14, 1997
Hon. Reynaldo Y. Maulit
Administrator
This Authority
Sir:
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In connection with the letter dated February 7, 1997, of Benjamin D. Turgano,
counsel of the Heirs of Homer L. Barque, petitioners in the Administrative
Reconstitution of TCT No. 210177, please be informed of the following:
1. There is no effort to delay the administrative reconstitution of the
aforesaid title. What we are doing is a thorough check of the authenticity of
the submitted documents; EHCaDS

2. The order of reconstitution containing TCT No. 210177 and the name of
Homer L. Barque, attached to the aforesaid letter is a tampered document.
For your comparison, herewith is a copy of the genuine order of
reconstitution, marked as annex "A";
3. The alleged letter-recommendation dated January 2, 1997, by the Chief,
Geodetic Surveys Division, LMB-DENR, is also a forged document. Attached
for your reference is a copy of the letter which is self-explanatory, together
with its enclosures, directly received by the undersigned from Engineer
Privadi J.G. Dalire, Chief, Geodetic Surveys Division, LMB-DENR, marked as
annex "B";
4. Lots 823-A & 823-B, Fls-3168-D, containing areas of 171,473 Sq. m. & 171,
472 Sq. m., respectively, purportedly covered by TCT No. 210177, appear to
duplicate Lot 823, Piedad Estate, containing an area of 342,945 Sq. m.
covered by TCT No. 372302, registered in the name of Severino M. Manotok,
et al., copy of which is hereto attached as annex "C".
From the foregoing, it is evident that there is an attempt to mislead us into
favorable action by submitting forged documents, hence it is recommended
that this case be referred to the PARAC for investigation and filing of charges
against perpetrators as envisioned by this office under your administration.
Very truly yours,
(SGD.)
BENJAMIN M. BUSTOS
Reconstituting Officer
and Chief, Reconstitution Division
84. LRA Records, p. 204.
85. Id. at 357-360.
86. Id. at 253. The LRA reconstituting officer's Comment reads in full:
Republic of the Philippines
Department of Justice
LAND REGISTRATION AUTHORITY
QUEZON CITY
IN THE MATTER OF THE ADMINISTRATIVE RECONSTITUTION OF THE ORIGINAL
COPY OF TRANSFER CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. 210177 OF THE REGISTER OF
DEEDS FOR QUEZON CITY

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HEIRS OF HOMER L. BARQUE, Petitioner.
ADMIN. RECONS. NO. Q-547(97)
COMMENT ON OPPOSITOR'S
MOTION FOR RECONSIDERATION
dated July 27, 1998
COMES NOW, the undersigned Reconstituting Officer, by way of comment to
the Oppositor's Motion for Reconsideration, respectfully states:
1. That we support the Oppositor's prayer that the challenged Resolution
dated June 24, 1998, be reconsidered, reversed, and set aside for lack of
factual and legal basis;
2. That we maintain our position denying the reconstitution of TCT No.
210177, on the grounds stated in our Order dated June 30, 1997, and on the
following additional grounds, to wit:
2.1 If the late Homer L. Barque, really purchased the subject property in the
year 1975, why did he not take possession of it upon purchase, and up to
now his descendants, the Petitioners, are not in possession of the property,
but the Oppositors?;
2.2 Why was the property declared, and realty taxes were paid in the name
of Barque, only in the year 1996? Whereas, the Oppositors and their
predecessors have been paying realty taxes on the property since the year
1965; HDTCSI

2.3 Why did the Petitioner try to mislead us by submitting a tampered copy
of Adm. Reconstitution Order No. Q-535(96)? (Emphasis supplied)
WHEREFORE, it is prayed that the Oppositor's Motion for Reconsideration be
given due course; the challenged Resolution be set aside; and the Order
dated June 30, 1997 be upheld.
It is further prayed that this case be referred to the Presidential Anti-
Organized Crime Commission for investigation.
Quezon City, Philippines, August 13, 1998.
(SGD.) BENJAMIN M. BUSTOS Reconstituting Officer & Chief, Reconstitution
Division
Enclosure:
Xerox Copy of tampered Adm. Reconstitution Order No. Q-535(96)
87. An Act Allowing the Administrative Reconstitution of Original Copies of
Certificates of Titles Lost or Destroyed Due to Fire, Flood and other Force
Majeure, Amending for the Purpose Section One Hundred Ten of Presidential
Decree Numbered Fifteen Twenty-Nine and Section Five of Republic Act
Numbered Twenty-Six.
88. Rollo (G.R. No. 162605), p. 438.
89. Rollo (G.R. No. 162335), p. 213. Annex "BB", Manotoks' Petition for Review
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dated 30 March 2004.
90. Id. at 214. Annex "BB-1", Manotoks' Petition for Review dated 30 March
2004.
91. TSN, Oral Argument, pp. 353-355.
92. Supra note 86.
93. Annex "M-21", Petitioners' Memorandum dated 23 August 2007.
94. LRA Records, p. 412, Opposition dated 8 April 1997.
95. Rollo (G.R. No. 162335), p. 99.
96. 215 Phil. 430 (1984).

97. Rollo (G.R. No. 162335), pp. 174-175.


98. SPOUSES CAYETANO and PATRICIA TIONGSON, SPOUSES EDWARD and
PACITA GO, SPOUSES ROBERTO and MYRNA LAPERAL III, ELISA R. MANOTOK,
SPOUSES IGNACIO and PACITA MANOTOK, SEVERINO MANOTOK, JR.,
SPOUSES FAUSTO and MILAGROS MANOTOK, ROSA R. MANOTOK, Minors
MIGUEL A. B. SISON and MA. CRISTINA E. SISON, represented by their judicial
guardian FILOMENA M. SISON, SPOUSES MAMERTO and PERPETUA M.
BOCANEGRA, GEORGE M. BOCANEGRA, represented by his judicial guardian
MAMERTO BOCANEGRA, SPOUSES FRANCISCO and FILOMENA SISON, JOSE
CLEMENTE MANOTOK, SPOUSES JESUS and THELMA MANOTOK, Minors PHILIP
MANOTOK, MARIA TERESA MANOTOK and RAMON SEVERINO MANOTOK,
represented by their judicial guardian SEVERINO MANOTOK, JR., Minors JESUS
JUDE MANOTOK, JR. and JOSE MARIA MANOTOK, represented by their judicial
guardian JESUS MANOTOK, petitioners, vs. HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS
and TEODORO S. MACAYA, respondents. Supra note 96.
99. TSN, Oral Argument of 24 July 2007, pp. 445-447.
100. Annual Report of the Director of Lands For the Fiscal Year Ending
December 31, 1927, p. 106, Annex "M-22", Petitioners' Memorandum dated
23 August 2007.
101. Intervenors' Memorandum dated 22 August 2007, p. 22. In its 12
September 2006 Resolution, this Court granted the Motion for Leave to
Intervene of Felicitas B. Manahan and Rosendo Manahan
102. Supra note 35. DaCTcA

103. Rollo (G.R. No. 162605), p. 94. LRA Resolution dated 24 June 1998.
104. Supra note 35 at 744.
105. Serra Serra v. Court of Appeals, supra note 39.
106. Vallarta v. Intermediate Appellate Court, 235 Phil. 680 (1987).
107. 89 Phil. 184 (1951).
108. Id. at 186-187.
109. Supra note 42.
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110. Id. at 565.
111. Catingub v. Court of Appeals, et al., 206 Phil. 83 (1983); Luzon Brokerage
Co., Inc. v. Maritime Building Co., Inc., 175 Phil. 476 (1978).
112. 216 Phil. 533 (1984).
113. Id. at 535.
114. The dissenting opinion cited Tijam v. Sibonghanay, et al., 131 Phil. 556
(1968).
115. Supra, note 94.
116. LRA Records, pp. 254-277.
117. Id. at 273.
118. 111 Phil. 73 (1961).
119. Id. at 93-94.
120. Reyes v. Lim, 456 Phil. 1 (2003).
121. Arsenal v. IAC, 227 Phil. 36 (1986).
122. Alvendia v. Intermediate Appellate Court, G.R. No. 72138, 22 January
1990, 181 SCRA 252.
123. Imperial Victory Shipping Agency v. NLRC, G.R. No. 84672, 5 August 1991,
200 SCRA 178, 184 citing Zabat, Jr. v. Court of Appeals, 226 Phil. 489 (1986).
124. 390 Phil. 1161 (2000).

125. Id. at 1174.


126. See note 15.
127. Tirado v. Sevilla, G.R. No. 84201, 3 August 1990, 788 SCRA 321; Eduarte
v. Court of Appeals, 370 Phil. 18 (1999).
128. Supra.
129. 429 Phil. 31 (2002).
130. Id. at 44-46.
131. Act No. 496, otherwise known as the Land Registration Act, was approved
by the Philippine Commission on 6 November 1902 and took effect on 1
February 1903. See Sotto v. Sotto, 43 Phil. 688 (1922).
132. Supra note 32.
133. Id. at 593-594.
134. Supra note 41.
135. Id. at 252-253.
136. Section 1, Article III, 1987 Constitution.
137. G.R. No. 56694, 2 July 1990, 187 SCRA 12.
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138. Id. at 20. cIHSTC

CORONA, J.:
1. Concurring and dissenting opinion of Justice Renato C. Corona in Manotok
Realty, Inc. v. CLT Realty Development Corporation, G.R. Nos. 123346,
134385 and 148767, 14 December 2007, 540 SCRA 304.
2. Municipality of Kananga v. Madrona, G.R. No. 141375, 30 April 2005, 402
SCRA 330.
3. Republic v. Estipular, 391 Phil. 211 (2000).
4. Presidential Decree.
5. Property Registration Decree.
6. SEC. 9. The Land Registration Authority Administrator may review, revise,
reverse, modify or affirm any decision of the reconstituting officer or Register
of Deeds. Any appeal shall be filed within fifteen days from the receipt of the
judgment or order by the aggrieved party.
7. Republic Act.
8. Quasi-judicial function is a term which applies to the action, discretion, etc.,
of public administrative officers or bodies required to investigate facts, hold
hearings, and draw conclusions from them, as a basis for their official actions
and to exercise discretion of a judicial nature. (Midland Insurance
Corporation v. Intermediate Appellate Court, G.R. No. 71905, 13 August
1986, 143 SCRA 458.) A quasi-judicial adjudication would mean the
determination of rights, privileges, and duties resulting in a decision or order
which applies to a specific situation. (Lupangco v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No.
77372, 29 April 1988, 160 SCRA 180)
Under Section 9 of RA 6732, the power of the LRA Administrator to review,
revise, reverse, modify or affirm any decision of the reconstituting officer or
Register of Deeds is quasi-judicial in nature. He is given the authority to
exercise discretion of a judicial nature to investigate facts and draw
conclusions from them as a basis for his official action. His adjudication is
quasi-judicial as it is a determination of the right of the applicant or petitioner
to have his certificate of title reconstituted as well as of the correlative duty
of the Registrar of Deeds to reconstitute the said certificate of title.
9. Under Section 19 of Batas Pambansa (BP) Blg. 129 (Judiciary Reorganization
Act of 1980), as amended, it is the RTC which has sole jurisdiction to nullify
or declare as void a Torrens certificate of title.

SEC. 19. Jurisdiction in civil cases. — Regional Trial Courts shall exercise
exclusive original jurisdiction:
xxx xxx xxx
(2) In all civil actions which involve the title to, or possession of, real
property or any interest therein . . . (emphasis supplied)
10. In his separate opinion, Associate Justice Leonardo A. Quisumbing stated:
While at the inception of this controversy, a trial by the Regional Trial Court
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would have been in order, remand of this case for trial at this late stage
would only be a time-consuming and pointless exercise. Prompt resolution of
this controversy is in order to avoid further delay. (emphasis supplied)
On the other hand, Justice Azcuna noted the following in his separate
opinion:
. . . It is, therefore, in my view, unnecessary to go through the exercise of
proving this matter again in the regular courts, as would ordinarily be
required, since the point is indubitable.
I thus find applicable the ruling of this Court in Ortigas and Company Limited
Partnership v. Veloso, as it would be unjust to require respondents to
undergo a time-consuming and pointless exercise to cancel an evidently
sham and spurious title. (emphasis supplied)
11. Urbano v. Chavez, G.R. No. 87977, 19 March 1990, 183 SCRA 347.
12. SEC. 48. Certificate not subject to collateral attack. — 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. EICSDT

13. SEC. 108. Amendment and alteration of certificates. — No erasure,


alteration, or amendment shall be made upon the registration book after the
entry of a certificate of title or of a memorandum thereon and the attestation
of the same be Register of Deeds, except by order of the proper Court of First
Instance. A registered owner of other person having an interest in registered
property, or, in proper cases, the Register of Deeds with the approval of the
Commissioner of Land Registration, may apply by petition to the court upon
the ground that the registered interests of any description, whether vested,
contingent, expectant or inchoate appearing on the certificate, have
terminated and ceased; or that new interest not appearing upon the
certificate have arisen or been created; or that an omission or error was
made in entering a certificate or any memorandum thereon, or, on any
duplicate certificate; or that the same or any person on the certificate has
been changed; or that the registered owner has married, or, if registered as
married, that the marriage has been terminated and no right or interests of
heirs or creditors will thereby be affected; or that a corporation which owned
registered land and has been dissolved has not convened the same within
three years after its dissolution; or upon any other reasonable ground; and
the court may hear and determine the petition after notice to all parties in
interest, and may order the entry or cancellation of a new certificate, the
entry or cancellation of a memorandum upon a certificate, or grant any other
relief upon such terms and conditions, requiring security or bond if
necessary, as it may consider proper; Provided, however, That this section
shall not be construed to give the court authority to reopen the judgment or
decree of registration, and that nothing shall be done or ordered by the court
which shall impair the title or other interest of a purchaser holding a
certificate for value and in good faith, or his heirs and assigns, without his or
their written consent. Where the owner's duplicate certificate is not
presented, a similar petition may be filed as provided in the preceding
section.
All petitions or motions filed under this Section as well as under any other
provision of this Decree after original registration shall be filed and entitled in
the original case in which the decree or registration was entered.
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14. See Yamane v. BA Lepanto Condominium Corporation, G.R. No. 154993, 25
October 2005, 474 SCRA 258.
15. Black's Law Dictionary, Eighth Edition, p. 1522.
16. Id.
17. Id. citing Kent MacNeill, Common Law Aboriginal Title.
18. Philippine National Bank v. Intermediate Appellate Court, G.R. No. 71753,
26 August 1989, 176 SCRA 736.
19. Philippine National Bank v. Tan Ong Zse, 51 Phil. 317 (1927).
20. Legarda v. Saleeby, 31 Phil. 590 (1915).
21. These include the (a) letter dated January 2, 1997 of Engr. Privadi J. Dalire,
chief of the Geodetic Surveys Division of the Lands Management Bureau, (b)
plan Fls-3186-D, (c) copy of Administrative Reconstitution Order No. Q-
535(96) submitted by respondents, (d) the length of time it took respondents
from the occurrence of the Quezon City Hall fire to file their petition for
administrative reconstitution, (e) erasures of the notation on the tax
declarations of respondents, (f) realty taxes paid by respondents were only
for 1987 to 1996, (g) respondents have never set foot on the disputed
property, (h) the existence of Barrio Payong in Quezon City, (i) respondents'
knowledge that petitioners had constructed buildings and perimeter wall on
the disputed property, (j) respondents chain of title stops in 1975, (k)
location of respondents' property as showed by the relocation surveys of the
Lands Management Bureau and (l) the deed of sale between Emiliano Setosta
and respondents' predecessor-in-interest, Homer Barque, Sr.
22. These include the (a) identity and description of the property in petitioners'
certificate of title, particularly the location, boundaries and technical
description of the property indicated in the said certificate of title and (b) the
existence of respondents' title when petitioners' caused the reconstitution of
TCT No. RT-22481. AaHcIT

23. Manotok Realty, Inc. v. CLT Realty Development Corporation, supra.


24. Id.
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J., dissenting:
1. Penned by Associate Justice Consuelo Ynares-Santiago and concurred in by
Chief Justice Hilario G. Davide, Jr., and Associate Justices Leonardo A.
Quisumbing and Adolfo S. Azcuna; Associate Justice Antonio T. Carpio
dissented.
2. TSN, July 24, 2007, pp. 68-71; Emphasis supplied.

3. Annex G, Respondents' Memorandum.


4. Annex H, Respondents' Memorandum.
5. Annex J, Respondents' Memorandum.
6. EXECUTIVE ORDER NO. 192. PROVIDING FOR THE REORGANIZATION OF THE
DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT, ENERGY AND NATURAL RESOURCES;
RENAMING IT AS THE DEPARTMENT OF ENVIRONMENT AND NATURAL
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RESOURCES; AND FOR OTHER PURPOSES.
7. See Sec. 24 (c).
8. Annex I-1, Respondents' Memorandum.
9. Annexes F and F-1, respectively, Respondents' Memorandum.
10. Annex I, Respondents' Memorandum.
11. Annex H, Respondents' Memorandum.
12. Manotok IV v. Heirs of Homer L. Barque, G.R. Nos. 162335 & 162605,
December 12, 2005, 477 SCRA 339, 346-348. HTCDcS

13. Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corporation v. Factoran, Jr.,


No. L-75501, September 15, 1987, 154 SCRA 49, 57-58.
14. Miralles v. Go, G.R. No. 139943, January 18, 2001, 349 SCRA 596, 604.
15. Should be names.
16. TSN, July 24, 2007, pp. 146-148.
17. Annex D, Respondents' Memorandum.
18. Annex E, Respondents' Memorandum.
19. Annex B of Respondents' Memorandum.
20. Page 4.
21. Annex B, Intervenor Manahans' Memorandum.
22. Intervenors Manahans' Memorandum, p. 9.
23. 215 Phil. 430 (1984).
24. G.R. No. 126517, November 24, 1998, 299 SCRA 124.

25. RULES OF COURT, Rule 129, Sec. 4.


26. Id.
27. G.R. No. 109111, June 28, 2000, 334 SCRA 454, 462.
28. Annex N, Respondents' Memorandum. TSEAaD

29. See Torres, Jr. v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 120138, September 5, 1997,
278 SCRA 793, 809.
30. AN ACT ALLOWING ADMINISTRATIVE RECONSTITUTION OF ORIGINAL COPIES
OF CERTIFICATES OF TITLES LOST OR DESTROYED DUE TO FIRE, FLOOD AND
OTHER FORCE MAJEURE, AMENDING FOR THE PURPOSE SECTION ONE
HUNDRED TEN OF PRESIDENTIAL DECREE NUMBERED FIFTEEN TWENTY-NINE
AND SECTION FIVE OF REPUBLIC ACT NUMBERED TWENTY-SIX.
31. Atlas Consolidated Mining and Development Corporation v. Factoran, Jr.,
supra note 17.
32. G.R. No. 154993, October 25, 2005, 474 SCRA 258, 268.
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33. G.R. No. 128412, March 15, 2002, 379 SCRA 306.
34. Id. at 320.
35. Id. at 319, 320.
36. 364 Phil. 591 (1999).
37. See also Republic v. Court of Appeals, Nos. L-46626-27, December 27,
1979, 94 SCRA 865.
38. 201 Phil. 727, 744 (1982).
39. G.R. No. 132250, March 11, 1999, 304 SCRA 632, 652-653.
40. Id. at 654.
41. Comment, Office of the Solicitor General, pp. 21-22; Temporary rollo, no. 3.
42. Sandoval v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 106657, August 1, 1996, 260 SCRA
283, 287.
43. Tejada v. Homestead Property Corporation, G.R. No. 79622, September 29,
1989, 178 SCRA 164, 168.
44. G.R. No. 153155, September 30, 2005, 471 SCRA 542.
45. Id. at 554-555.
46. G.R. Nos. 95612-13, May 31, 1991, 197 SCRA 854, 875-876.
47. G.R. No. 117897, May 14, 1997, 272 SCRA 454, 472-473.
48. No. L-26523, December 24, 1971, 42 SCRA 589, 607.
49. No. L-21450, April 15, 1968, 23 SCRA 29, 35-36.
50. 38 Phil. 29 (1918).

51. Id. at 37.


52. Id.
53. No. L-52415, October 23, 1984, 132 SCRA 663, 681.
54. G.R. No. 131457, November 17, 1998, 298 SCRA 679, 693.
CHICO-NAZARIO, J., dissenting:
1. Mayon Estate Corporation v. Altura, G.R. No. 134462, 18 October 2004, 440
SCRA 377, 386.
2. Huerta Alba Resort, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, 394 Phil. 22, 28 (2000).
3. Ginete v. Court of Appeals, 357 Phil. 36, 55 (1998).
4. Mayon Estate Corporation v. Altura, supra note 1 at 386.
5. Legarda v. Court of Appeals, 345 Phil. 890, 910 (1997).
6. CAPANELA v. National Labor Relations Commission, 311 Phil. 744, 765
(1995).
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7. Board of Commissioners v. Hon. dela Rosa, 274 Phil. 1156, 1194 (1991).
8. Tejones v. Gironella, G.R. No. L-35506, 21 March 1988, 159 SCRA 100, 106.
IcDCaT

9. See Cruz, Jr. v. People, G.R. No. 110436, 27 June 1994, 233 SCRA 439, 450.
10. Relevant provisions of Supreme Court Revised Administrative Order No. 1-
95 read —
1 . Scope. — These rules shall apply from judgments or final orders of the
Court of Tax Appeals and from awards, judgments, final orders or resolutions
of or authorized by any quasi-judicial agency in the exercise of its quasi-
judicial functions. Among these agencies are the Civil Service Commission,
Central Board of Assessment Appeals, Securities and Exchange Commission,
Land Registration Authority, Social Security Commission, Office of the
President, Civil Aeronautics Board, Bureau of Patents, Trademarks and
Technology Transfer, National Electrification Administration, Energy
Regulatory Board, National Telecommunications Commission, Department of
Agrarian Reform under Republic Act 6657, Government Service Insurance
System, Employees Compensation Commission, Agricultural Inventions
Board, Insurance Commission, Philippine Atomic Energy Commission, Board
of Investments and Construction Industry Arbitration Commission.
11. Mauleon v. Court of Appeals, 160 Phil. 794, 801 (1975).
12. Lovina v. Moreno, 118 Phil. 1401, 1410 (1963).

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