Alcantara-daus v. Spouses de Leon

ALCANTARA-DAUS v. SPOUSES DE LEON

G.R. No. 149750 June 16, 2003 FACTS:

Spouses De Leon are the owners of a pare! of !an" s#tuate" #n the $un##pa!#t% of San $anue!, &an'as#nan w#th an area of (our )housan" )wo )wo *un"re" )we!+e suare -eters -ore or !ess. Respon"ent *er-oso De Leon #nher#te" the sa#" !ot fro- h#s father $are!#no De Leon % +#rtue of a Dee" of /traJu"##a! &art#t#on. &art#t#on. Sa#" !ot #s o+ere" % r#'#na! ert#f#ate of )#t!e No. 22134 of the Lan" Reor"s of &an'as#nan. So-et#-e 1960s, Spouses De Leon en'a'e" the ser+#es of the !ate tt%. (!oren#o (!oren#o Juan to tae are of the " ou-ents of the#r propert#es. )he% were ase" to s#'n +o!u-#nous "ou-ents % the !atter. fter fter the "eath of tt%. tt%. Juan, so-e "ou-ents surfae" an" -ost re+ea!e" that the#r propert#es ha" een on+e%e" % sa!e or u#t!a#- to *er-osos rothers an" s#sters, to tt%. tt%. Juan an" h#s s#sters, when #n truth an" #n fat, no suh on+e%anes were e+er #nten"e" % the-. (urther-ore, respon"ent foun" out that h#s s#'nature #n the Dee" of /trau"##a! &art#t#on w#th 8u#t!a#- -a"e #n fa+or of Ro"o!fo "e Leon was for'e". )he% "#so+ere" that the !an" #n uest#on was so!" % Ro"o!fo "e Leon to urora !antara Spouses De Leon "e-an"e" the annu!-ent of the "ou-ent an" reon+e%ane ut "efen"ants refuse". &et#t#oner,  urora urora !antaraDaus !antaraDaus a+erre" that she ou'ht the !an" #n uest#on #n 'oo" fa#th an" for +a!ue on Dee-er 1975 an" that she has een #n ont#nuous, pu!#, peaefu!, open possess#on o+er the sa-e an" has een appropr#at#n' the pro"ue thereof w#thout oet#on fro- an%one. )he R) of r"aneta, &an'as#nan ren"ere" #ts De#s#on #n fa+or of here#n pet#t#oner. :t ru!e" that respon"ents !a#- was was arre" % !ahes, eause -ore than 1; %ears ha" passe" s#ne the !an" was so!". :t further ru!e" that s#ne #t was a notar#a! "ou-ent, the Dee" of /trau"##a! &art#t#on #n fa+or of Ro"o!fo "e Leon was presu-pt#+e!% authent#. ISSUES:


N. :t #s "ur#n' the "e!#+er% that the !aw reu#res the se!!er to ha+e the r#'ht to transfer ownersh#p of the th#n' so!". :n 'enera!, a perfete" ontrat of sa!e annot e ha!!en'e" on the 'roun" of the se!!ers nonownersh#p of the th#n' so!" at the t#-e of the perfet#on of the ontrat. (urther, e+en after the ontrat of sa!e has een perfete" etween the part#es, #ts onsu--at#on % "e!#+er% #s %et another -atter. :t #s throu'h tra"#t#on or "e!#+er% that the u%er au#res the rea! r#'ht of ownersh#p o+er the th#n' so!". Undisputed is the fact that at the time of the sale, Rodolfo De Leon was not the owner of the land he delivered to petitioner. petitioner. Thus, the consummation of the contract and the consequent transfer of ownership would depend on whether he subsequently acquired ownership ownership of the land in accordance accordance with Article 1! of the "ivil "ode.  Therefore,  Therefore, we need need to resolve resolve the issue issue of the authenticity authenticity and the the due e#ecution e#ecution of the $#tra%udicial &artition and 'uitclaim in his favor.