G.R. No. 118114 December 7, 1995 ACAP vs. COURT OF APPEALS FACTS: Felixberto, an only son, inherited from his parents a lot. He executed a duly notarized document entitled "Declaration of Heirship and Deed of Absolute Sale" in favor of Pido. When ownership was transferred, Acap continued to be the tenant of a portion of the said land and religiously paid his leasehold rentals to Pido. When Pido died intestate his surviving heirs executed a notarized Declaration of Heirship and Waiver of Rights of the said lot to de los Reyes. De los Reyes informed Acap that, as the new owner, the lease rentals should be paid to him. When petitioner refused and failed to pay any further lease rentals after repeated demands, he filed a complaint for recovery of possession and damages. The lower court rendered a decision in favor of private respondent which was eventually affirmed by the Court of Appeals (CA). Hence, this present petition. ISSUES: 1. WON the subject Declaration of Heirship and Waiver of Rights is a recognized mode of acquiring ownership by private respondent over the lot in question. 2. WON the said document can be considered as Deed of Sale in favor of private respondent of the lot in question. HELD: The Court GRANTS the petition and SET ASIDE the decision of the CA. On Issue No. 1 No.
Private respondent cannot conclusively claim ownership over the subject lot on the sole basis of the waiver document. Under Article 712 of the Civil Code, the modes of acquiring ownership are generally classified into 2 classes: (1) original mode (i.e., through occupation, acquisitive prescription, law or intellectual creation) and (2) the derivative mode (i.e., through succession mortis causa or tradition as a result of certain contracts, such as sale, barter, donation, assignment or mutuum). In a contract of sale, one of the contracting parties obligates himself to transfer the ownership of and to deliver a determinate thing, and the other party to pay a price certain in money or its equivalent. Whereas, a declaration of heirship and waiver of rights operates as a public instrument when filed with the Registry of Deeds whereby the intestate heirs adjudicate and divide the estate left by the decedent among themselves as they see fit. Hence, private respondent, being then a stranger to the succession of Pido, cannot conclusively claim ownership over the subject lot on the sole basis of the waiver which neither recites the elements of either a sale, or a donation, or any other derivative mode of acquiring ownership. On Issue No. 2 No. A notice of adverse claim was filed with the Registry of Deeds which contained the Declaration of Heirship with Waiver of rights and was annotated at the back of the Original Certificate of Title (OCT) to the land in question. This said notice, by its nature, does not however prove private respondent's ownership over the tenanted lot. The Court emphasized that while the existence of said adverse claim was duly proven, there was no evidence whatsoever that a deed of sale was executed between the parties transferring the rights in favor of private respondent. An adverse claim cannot by itself be sufficient to cancel the OCT to the land and title the same in private respondent's name.
