1. Edilberto Noel Noel (Pinito Mercado) Mercado) as Administrator Administrator of the Intestate Intestate Estate of Gregorio Nanaman and Hilaria Tabuclin, vs. Court of Appeals and Jose Deleste. 240 SCRA 78 Grn59950 Jan.11, 1995 FACTS: FACTS: (Quiason, J.) PETITIONS for review on certiorari of a decision of the Court of Appeals. Gregorio Gregorio Nanaman and Hilaria Tabuc Tabuclin lin (Nanaman (Nanaman spouses) spouses) were a childless, childless, legally-married couple. Gregorio, however, had a child named Virgilio Nanaman (IC) by another woman. woman. Since Since he was two years old, Virgilio was reared by Gregorio and Hilaria. He was sent to school by the couple until he reached third year of the law course. During their marriage, Gregorio and Hilaria acquired certain property including a 34.7-hectare land in Tambo, Tambo, Iligan City on which they planted sugarcane, corn and bananas. They also lived there with Virgilio and 15 tenants. On October 2, 1945, Gregorio died. Hilaria then administered the property with the help of Virgilio. Through their tenants, Hilaria and Virgilio enjoyed the produce of the land to the exclusion of Juan Nanaman, the brother of Gregorio, and Esperanza and Caridad Nanaman, Nanaman, Gregorio's Gregorio's daughter daughters s by still another another woman. In 1953, 1953, Virgilio Virgilio (IC) declared the property in his name for taxation purposes. On November 1, 1952, Hilaria Hilaria and Virgil Virgilio, io, mortga mortgaged ged the 34.7-h 34.7-hect ectar are e land land in favor favor of privat private e respondent, in consideration of the amount of P4,800.00. On February 16, 1954, Hilaria and Virgilio executed a deed of sale over the same tract of land also in favor of private respondent in consideration of the sum of P16,000.00. P16,000.00. Witnesses Witnesses to the sale were the wife of Virgilio, Virgilio, Rosita S. Nanaman, Nanaman, Rufo Rufo C. Salas, Salas, the driver of private private respondent, respondent, and Remedio Remedios s Pilotan. Pilotan. The tax declaration in the name of Virgilio was cancelled and a new tax declaration was issued in the name of private respondent, Jose Deleste. Having discovered that the property property was in arre arrears ars in the payment payment of taxes taxes from from 1952, 1952, privat private e responden respondentt paid the taxes taxes for 1952, 1953 and 1954. From then on, private private respondent has paid the taxes on the property. On May 15, 1954, Hilaria died. On October 27, 1954, Esperanza and Caridad Nanaman filed intestate estate proceedings concerning the estate of their father, Gregorio. Included in the list of property of the estate was the 34.7-hectare land. Inasmuch as only Esperanza, Caridad and Virgilio Nanaman were named as heirs of Gregorio Gregorio in the petition, Juan Nanaman, Nanaman, Gregorio's Gregorio's brother, opposed opposed it. On
November 26, 1954, the petition was amended to include the estate of Hilaria with Alejo Tabuclin, Hilaria's brother, and Julio Tabuclin, (nephew)a son of Hilaria's deceased brother, Jose, as additional petitioners. Having been appointed special administrator of the estate of the Nanaman couple, Juan Nanaman included the 34.7-hectare land in the list of the assets of the estate. Juan also reported that Virgilio took the amount of P350.00 from the produce of the estate without prior permission and that five tenants delivered sugar and palay to private private respondent. respondent. Hence Juan prayed prayed that the court cite private private responde respondent nt and the tenants in contempt contempt of court. court. Accordingly, Accordingly, in its Order of January 30, 1956, the probate court required private respondent and said tenants to appear before it and "show cause why they should not be cited for contempt for illegally interfering in the land" under special administration. On June 16, 1956, when Edilberto Noel took over as regular administrator of the estate, he was not able to take possession of the land in question because it was in the possession of private respondent and some heirs of Hilaria. Later, Private respo responde ndent nt and the heirs heirs of the Nanama Nanaman n spouse spouses s execu executed ted an amicab amicable le settlement of the Nanaman estate. In the document, private respondent agreed "to relinquish his rights to one-half (1/2) of the entire parcel of land in Tambo, Iligan City, indicated in item 1 under the Estate, sold to him by Hilaria Tabuclin, in favor of all the heirs of the abovementioned intestate [estate] for the reason that not all of the heirs of Gregorio Nanaman have signed and agreed.” The court approved the amicable settlement but when it was questioned by some heirs, the court set aside its approval and declared it null and void. Noel, as regular administrator, and as ordered by the court filed an action against private private responden respondentt for the reversion reversion of title over the 34.7-hectar 34.7-hectare e land to the Nanaman estate and to order private respondent to pay the rentals and attorney's fees to the estate.
RTC: action for annulment of the deed of sale had prescribed in 1958 inasmuch as the sale was registered in 1954 and that Gregorio's heirs had slept on their rights by allowing Hilaria to exercise exercise rights of ownership ownership over Gregorio's Gregorio's share of the conjugal property after his death in 1945. On the issue that Hilaria had no authority to dispose of one-half of the property pertaining to her husband, the trial court ruled: (1) that Hilaria in effect acted as administratrix over the estate of Gregorio; (2) that she sold the 34.7- hectare land in order to pay the debts of the conjugal partnership; and (3) that out of the purchase price of P16,000.00, P4,000.00 was in payment to private respondent (who was a doctor of medicine) for medical services rendered and medicine administered during Gregorio's ailment and P800.00 was used to pay taxes in arrears. Noel appealed. transaction between Hilaria and Virgilio Virgilio on one hand and private respondent respondent on the CA: the transaction other, was indeed a sale. It found that no fraud, mistake or misrepresentation attended in the
execution of the deed of sale and that no proof was shown that the contract was merely a mortgage. The appellate court, however, agreed with Noel that Hilaria could not validly sell the 37.7hectare hectare land because because it was conjugal conjugal property, and Hilaria could sell only her one-half share thereof. On the issue of prescr prescript iption ion,, the appell appellate ate court court ruled ruled that that since since no fraud, fraud, mistake mistake or misrepresentation attended the execution of the deed of sale, the prescriptive period of ten years had not yet elapsed when the action to recover the property was filed in 1963. Moreover, the appellate court held that in the absence of proof of adverse possession by Hilaria, she should be considered as holding the property pursuant to her usufructuary rights over the same under the provisions of the Spanish Civil Code of 1889, the law in force at the time of the death of Gregorio. Finding that Noel's claim for rentals of P5,000.00 per annum from 1957 was uncontroverted, the appellate court ruled that one-half thereof belonged to the estate of Gregorio.
CA AMENDED DECISION: affirmed its previous decision regarding the due execution of the Deed of Sale adding that since no fraud attended its execution, there was no basis for the action to annul the sale, and therefore there was no starting point in reckoning the prescriptive period of four years. It reconsidered the Decision of Feb. 18, 1980 insofar as it declared Deleste and the estate of Gregorio as co-owners of the said land. The appellate court tacked "the physical possession of Hilaria and Virgilio to the possession of the defendant for another nine (9) years up to the time the complaint was filed." It considered the "change of conditions conditions or relations" which had transpired transpired in the case such as private respondent's registration of his muniment of title over the property; the cancellation of Virgilio's tax declaration and the issuance of another tax declaration in the name of private respondent; private respondent's payment of taxes from 1952 "up to the present;" the execution of a new tenancy tenancy agreement agreement between private private respondent respondent and the tenants; and private private respondent' respondent's s purchase of plows, a carabao and insecticides for use in the ricefield. Stating that it was "proscribed from taking away property from the alert and the industrious and dumping dumping it into the hands and possession possession of one has previously previously slept on his rights," rights," the appellate appellate court affirmed the decision of the lower court in all its parts, including the award of damages and the costs of suit.
ISSUE: W/N Hilaria and Virgilio could dispose of the entire property sold to private respondent and assuming that they did not have full ownership thereof, whether the right of action to recover the share of the collateral heirs of Gregorio had prescribed or been lost through laches.
HELD: NO. Gregorio died in 1945 long before the effectivity of the Civil Code of the Philippines on August 30, 1950. Under Article 2263 of t he said Code, "rights to the inheritance of a person who died, with or without a will, before the effectivity of this Code, shall be governed by the Civil Code of 1889, by other previous laws, and by the rules of Court." Thus, Thus, succes successio sion n to the estate estate of Grego Gregorio rio was govern governed ed primar primarily ily by the provisions of the Spanish Civil Code of 1889. Under Article 953 thereof, a spouse
like Hilaria, who is survived by brothers or sisters or children of brothers or sisters of the decedent, as is obtaining in this case, was entitled to receive in usufruct the part of the inheritance pertaining to said heirs. Hilaria, however, had full ownership ownership,, not merely usufruct, over the undivided undivided half of the estate (Spanish (Spanish Civil Code of 1889, Art. 493). It is only this undivided half-interest that she could validly alienate. On the other hand, Virgilio was not an heir of Gregorio under the Spanish Civil Code of 1889. Although he was treated as a child by the Nanaman spouses, illegitimate children who were not natural were disqualified to inherit under the said Code (Cid v. Burnaman, 24 SCRA 434 [1968]). Article 998 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, which gave an illegitimate child certain hereditary rights, could not benefit Virgilio Virgilio because because the right of ownership ownership of the collateral collateral heirs of Gregorio had become vested upon his death (Civil Code of the Philippines, Art. 2253; Uson v. Del Rosario, 92 Phil. 530 [1953]). Therefore, Virgilio had no right at all to transfer ownership over which he did not own. In a contract of sale, it is essential that the seller is the owner of the property he is selling. The principal obligation of a seller is "to transfer the ownership of" the property sold (Civil Code of the Philippines, Art. 1458). This law stems from the principle that nobody can dispose of that which does not belong to him (Azcona v. Reyes, 59 Phil. 446 [1934]; Coronel v. Ona, 33 Phil. 456 [1916). NEMO DAT QUAD NON HABET . HABET . While it cannot be said that fraud attended the sale to private respondent, clearly there was a mistake on the part of Hilaria and Virgilio in selling an undivided interest in the property which belonged to the collateral heirs of Gregorio. The sale, having been made in 1954, was governed by the Civil Code of the Philippines. Under Article 1456 of said Code, an implied trust was created on the one-half undivided interest over the 34.7-hectare land in favor of the real owners Under the law in force in 1945, the surviving spouse was given the management of the conjug conjugal al prope property rty until until the affair affairs s of the conjug conjugal al partne partnersh rship ip were were terminated. The surviving spouse became the owner of one-half interest of the conjugal estate in his own right. He also became a trustee with respect to the other half for the benefit of whoever may be legally entitled to inherit the said portion. "He could therefore no more acquire a title by prescription against those for whom he was administering the conjugal estate than could a guardian his ward or a judicial administrator against the heirs of an estate. . . . The surviving husband as the administrator and liquidator of the conjugal estate occupies the position of a trustee of the highest order and is not permitted by the law to hold that estate or any portion thereof adversely to those for whose benefit the law
imposes upon him duty of administration and liquidation" (Pamittan v. Lasam, 60 Phil. 908 [1934]). The The posses possessio sion n of Virgil Virgilio, io, his regis registra tratio tion n of the land in his name for tax purposes, his hiring of tenants to till the land, and his enjoyment of the produce of the tenants, appear more as acts done to help Hilaria in managing the conjugal property. There is no evidence to prove indubitably that Virgilio asserted a claim of ownership over the property property in his own right and adverse to all including including Hilaria. Amended judgment reversed and set aside, original judgment reinstated in toto.
2. Heirs of Ignacio Conti and Rosario Cuario, vs. Court of Appeals, et al. 300 SCRA 345 GRN 118464 Dec. 21, 1998 FACTS: (Bellosillo, J.) PETITION for review on certiorari of a decision of the Court of Appeals. Lourdes Lourdes Sampayo and Ignacio Ignacio Conti, Conti, married married to Rosario Rosario Cuado, were the coowners of the property in litigation consisting of a 539-square meter lot at the corner corner of Zamora and Abellanosa Abellanosa Streets, Streets, Lucena Lucena City, with a house erected erected thereon. thereon. On 17 March March 1986 Lourdes Lourdes Sampayo Sampayo died intestate without issue. Subsequently, on 1 April 1987 private respondents Josefina S. Reyes, Bernardita S. Palilio, Herminia S. Palilio, Remedios A. Sampayo, Iluminada A. Sampayo, Enrico A. SAMPAY SAMPAYO, O, Carlos Carlos A. Sampayo, Sampayo, Gelleroso C. Sampayo, Sampayo, Myrna C. Sampayo, Sampayo, Rosal Rosalina ina C. Sampay Sampayo, o, Manuel Manuel C. Sampay Sampayo, o, Delia. Delia. A. Sampay Sampayo, o, Corazo Corazon n C. Sampayo, Sampayo, Nilo C. Sampayo, Lolita A. Sampayo and Norma A. Sampayo, Sampayo, all represent represented ed by their Attorney-in Attorney-in-F -Fact act Lydia S. Reyes, Reyes, with Lolita A. Sampayo Sampayo acting also in her own behalf and as Attorney-in-Fact of Norma A. Sampayo, all claiming claiming to be collateral collateral relatives relatives of the deceased Lourdes Lourdes Sampayo, Sampayo, filed an action for partition and damages. The spouses Ignacio Conti and Rosario Cuario refused the partition on the ground that private respondents failed to produce any document to produce that they were the rightful heirs of Lourdes Sampayo. On 30 August 1987 Ignacio Conti died and was substituted substituted as party-de party-defenda fendant nt by his children children Asuncion, Asuncion, Franci Francisco, sco, Milagros, Joselito, Luisito, Diego and Teresita, Teresita, all surnamed Conti. To rebut whatever rights the alleged heirs of Lourdes had over the subject lot, petitioners presented Rosario Cuario Conti, Rosal Ladines Malundas and Rodolfo Espineli. Rosario testified that the subject property was co-owned in equal shares by her husband Ignacio Conti and Lourdes Sampayo and that her family (Rosario) had been staying in the subject property since 1937. In fact, she said that her late
husband Ignacio Conti paid for the real estate taxes and spent for the necessary repairs and improvements thereon because by agreement Lourdes would leave her share of the property to them. However, as correctly found by the trial court, no will, either testamentary or holographic, was presented by petitioners to substantiate this claim. Rosario also disclosed that when Lourdes died her remains were taken by her-relatives from their house. When cross examined on who those relatives were, she replied that the only one she remembered was Josefina since there were many relatives who came. When asked who Josefina's parents were, she said she could not recall. Likewise, when asked who the parents of Lourdes were, Rosario denied having ever known them.
RTC: declared private respodents as the rightful heirs of Lourdes Sampayo. It further ordered private respondents and petitioners to submit a project of partition of the residential house and lot for confirmation by the court CA: affirmed the decision of RTC. Private respondents] were able to prove and establish by preponderance of evidence that they are the collateral heirs of deceased Lourdes Sampayo and therefore the lower court did not err in ordering private respondents and petitioners to submit a project of partition of the residential house and lot owned in common by the deceased Lourdes Sampayo and defendant spouses Conti for confirmation by the court citing Hernandez v. Padua and Marabilles v. Quito, a prior and separate judicial declaration of heirship was not necessary and that private respondents became the co-owners of the portion of the property owned and registered in the name of Lourdes Sampayo upon her death and, consequently consequently,, entitled to the immediate possession possession thereof thereof and all other incidents/righ incidents/rights ts of ownership as provided for by law, including the right to demand partition under Art. 777 of the Civil Code, and Ilustre v. Alaras Frondosa holding that the property belongs to the heirs at the moment of death of the decedent, as completely as if he had executed and delivered to them a deed for the same before his death. ISSUE: W/N a prior settlement of the estate of the deceased be first made before the heirs can commence an action for partition. HELD: NO. A prior settlement of the estate is not essential before the heirs can
commence any action originally pertaining to the deceased as we explained in Quison died in 1902. It was proven at the trial that the present Quison v. Salud- Claro Quison plaintiffs are next of kin and heirs, but it is said by the appellants that they are not entitled to maintain this action because there is no evidence that any proceedings have been taken in court for the settlement of the estate of Claro Quison; and that without such settlement, the heirs cannot maintain this action. There is nothing in this point. As well by the Civil Code as by the Code of Civil Procedure, the title to the property owned by a person who dies intestate passes at once to his heirs. Such transmission is, under the present law, subject to the claims of administration and the property may be taken from the heirs for the purpose of paying debts and expenses, but this does not prevent an immediate passage of the title, upon the death of the intestate, from himself to his heirs. Without some showing that a judicial administrator had
been appointed in proceedings to settle the estate of Claro Quison, the right of the; plaintiffs to maintain this action is established.
Conformably with the foregoing and taken in conjunction with Arts. 777 and 494 32 of the Civil Code, from the death of Lourdes Sampayo her rights as a co-owner, incidental to which is the right to ask for partition at any time or to terminate the co-ownership, were transmitted to her rightful heirs. In so demanding partition private private responde respondents nts merely merely exercis exercised ed the right originally originally pertaining pertaining to the decedent, their predecessor-in-interest. predecessor-in-interest. Petitioners' theory as to the requirement of publication would have been correct had the action been for the partition of the estate of Lourdes Sampayo, or if we were dealing with extrajudicial settlement by agreement between heirs and the summary settlement of estates of small value. But what private respondents are pursuing is the mere segregation of Lourdes' one-half share which they inherited; from her through intestate succession. This is a simple case of ordinary partition between co-owners. The applicable law in point is Sec. 1 of Rules 69 of the Rules of Court. There are two (2) simultaneous issues in an action for partition. First, whether the plaintiff plaintiff is indeed indeed a co-owner co-owner of the property property sought to be partitioned, partitioned, and second , if answered in the affirmative, the manner of the division of the property, i.e., what portion should go to which co-owner. 34 Thus, in this case, we must determine determine whether whether private private responden respondents, ts, by preponder preponderance ance of evidence, evidence, have been able to establish that they are co-owners by way of succession as collateral heirs of the late Lourdes Sampayo as they claim to be, either a sister, a nephew or a niece. These, private respondents were able to prove in the trial court as well as before respondent Court of Appeals. Succession is a mode of acquisition by vietue of which the property, rights and obliga obligatio tions ns to the extent extent of the value of the inherita inheritance nce of a person person are transmitted transmitted through through his death to another another or others others either either by his will or by operation of law. Legal or intestate succession takes place if a person dies without a will, or with a void will, or one which has subsequently lost its validity. If there are no descendants, ascendants, illegitimate children, or a surviving spuoses, the collateral relatives shall succeed to the entire estate of the decedent. 38 It was established during the trial that Lourdes died intestate and without issues. Private respondents as sister, nephews and nieces now claim to be the collateral relatives of Lourdes. Under Art. 172 of the Family Code, 39 the filiation of ligitimate children shall be proved by any other means allowed by the Rules of Court and special laws, in the absence of a record of birth or a parent's admission of such legitimate filiation in
a public or private document duly signed by the parent. Such other proof of one's filiation may be a baptismal certificate, a judicial admission, a family Bible in which his name has been entered, common reputation respecting his pedigree, admission admission by silence, silence, the testimonies testimonies of witnesses witnesses and other kinds of proof proof admissible under Rule 130 of the Rules of Court. 40 By analogy, this method of proving filiation may also be utilized in the instant case Petition DENIED; judgment AFFIRMED. 3. Coronel vs. CA, Concepcio Alcaraz and Ramona Patricia Alcaraz, assisted by Gloria Noel, as atty-in-fact 263 SCRA 15 GRN 103577 Oct. 7, 1996
FACTS: (Melo, J.) PETITION for review on certiorari of a decision of the CA. On January January 19, 1985, petitioner petitioners s Romulo Romulo Coronel, Coronel, et al. (Coronels (Coronels)) executed executed a document document entitled "Receipt "Receipt of Down Payment" Payment" in favor of private private responden respondentt Ramona Patricia Alcaraz (Ramona). The conditions appurtenant to the sale are the following: 1. Ramona will make a down payment of P50,000.00upon execution of the document; 2. The Coronels will cause the transfer in their names of the title of the property registered in the name of their deceased father upon receipt of the P50,000.00 down payment; 3. Upon the transfer in their names of the subject property, the Coronels will execute the deed of absolute absolute sale in favor of Ramona and the latter will pay the former former the whole balance of P1,190,000.00.
On the same date (January 15, 1985), private respondent Concepcion D. Alcaraz (Concepcion), mother of Ramona, paid the down payment of P50,000.00. On February February 6, 1985, 1985, the property property originally originally registered registered in the name of the Coronels' Coronels' father was transferr transferred ed in their names. On Februar February y 18, 1985, the Corone Coronels ls sold sold such such prope property rty to interv interveno enorr-app appell ellant ant Catalin Catalina a B. Mabana Mabanag g (Catalina) (Catalina) for P1,580,000 P1,580,000.00 .00 after after the latter has paid P300,000.0 P300,000.00. 0. For this reason, Coronels canceled and rescinded the contract with Ramona by depositing the down payment paid by Concepcion in the bank in trust for Ramona Patricia Alcaraz On Febru February ary 22, 1985, 1985, Concep Concepcio cion, n, et al., al., filed filed a compla complaint int for specif specific ic performance against the Coronels and caused the annotation of a notice of lis pendens at the back of TCT No. 327403. On April 2, 1985, Catalina Catalina caused the annotation annotation of a notice notice of adverse adverse claim covering the same property with the Registry of Deeds of Quezon City. City.
On April 25, 1985, the Coronels Coronels executed executed a Deed of Absolute Absolute Sale over the subject property in favor of Catalina. On June 5, 1985, a new title over the subject property was issued in the name of Catalina under TCT No. 351582. judgment for specific specific performan performance ce was rendered rendered ordering Coronels Coronels to RTC: judgment execute in favor of private respondents a deed of absolute sale covering the land, together together with all the improvemen improvements ts existing thereon thereon free from all liens and encumbrances. The DoAS be immediately delivered to private respondents and upon receipt thereof the PRs are ordered to pay petitioners the whole balance of the purchase price amounting to P1,190,000.00 in cash. Pets’ MR DENIED.
CA: Affirmed RTC decision. Petitioners argue that there could not have been a perfected contract on Jan. 19, 1985 because because they were were then not yet the absolute absolute owners of the inherited inherited property. contract ct betwee between n petitio petitioner ners s and respo responde ndents nts had been been ISSUE: W/N the contra perfected on Jan. 19, 1985, despite that title to the land in question was not yet in their names. YES. Article 774 of the Civil Code defines defines Succession Succession as a mode of HELD: YES. transferring ownership as follows: Art. 774. Succession is a mode of acquisition by virtue of which the property, rights and obligations obligations to be extent and value of the inheritance inheritance of a person are transmitted transmitted through his death to another or others by his will or by operation of law.
Petit Petition ioners ers-se -seller llers s in the case case at bar being the sons sons and daughte daughters rs of the decede decedent nt Consta Constanci ncio o P. Corone Coronell are are compul compulsor sory y heirs heirs who were were called called to succession by operation of law. Thus, at the point their father drew his last breath, petitioners stepped into his shoes insofar as the subject property is concerned, such that any rights or obligations obligations pertaining pertaining thereto became binding binding and enforceable upon them. It is expressly provided that rights to the succession are transmitted from the moment of death of the decedent (Article 777, Civil Code; Cuison vs. Villanueva, 90 Phil. 850 [1952]). Be it also noted that petitioners' petitioners' claim that succession succession may not be declared declared unless the creditors have been paid is rendered moot by the fact that they were able to effect the transfer of the title to the property from the decedent's name to their names on February 6, 1985. Aside from this, petitioners petitioners are precluded precluded from raising their supposed supposed lack of capacity to enter into an agreement at that time and they cannot be allowed to now take a posture contrary to that which they took when they entered into the
agreement with private respondent Ramona P. Alcaraz. The Civil Code expressly states that: Art. 1431. Through estoppel an admission or representation is rendered conclusive upon the person making it, and cannot be denied or disproved as against the person relying thereon.
Having represented themselves as the true owners of the subject property at the time of sale, petitioners cannot claim now that they were not yet the absolute owners thereof at that time. Petition DISMISSED; appealed judgment AFFIRMED.
4. Viardo vs. Belmonte 5 SCRA 859 GRN L-14127 Aug. 21, 1962 FACTS: (Padilla, J.) APPEAL from a judgment of the CFI of Nueva Ecija. In civil case No. 7611 of the Court of First Instance of Nueva Ecija, entitled Leon C. Viardo vs. Bartolome Driz and Pilar Belmonte, a writ of execution was issued and levy was made "upon all the rights, interest and participation which the spouses Bartol Bartolome ome Driz and Pilar Pilar Belmon Belmonte te have have or might might have" have" in a parcel parcel of land land covered by original certificate of title No. 3484 of the Registrar of Deeds in and for the province of Nueva Ecija. This certificate of title covers a parcel of land (Lot No. 1, Psu-14 Psu-14371 371)) in the barrio barrios s of Nieves Nieves and Santo Santo Rosar Rosario, io, munici municipal pality ity of Zaragoza, Zaragoza, province province of Nueva Nueva Ecija, Ecija, containing containing an area of 1,192,775 1,192,775 square meters, more or less. The land is registered in the names of "Leonor Belmonte, Felisa Belmonte, Pilar Belmonte and Ines de Guzman, subject . . . to the condition that 1/4 share [that] belongs to Ines de Guzman is usufructuary "correspondiendo la nuda propiedad propiedad a sus tres hijas arriba citadas citadas en participacione participaciones s iguales iguales quiene quienes s se consol consolida idara ra el domini dominio o despue despues s del fallec fallecimie imiento nto de su madre madre'' " (corresp (correspondin onding g the ownership ownership of the naked naked property property to her three three daughters daughters above mentioned who are in equal shares to consolidate the dominion after the death of their mother) On 25 February 1941, by virtue of the writ of execution above mentioned, the provincia provinciall sheriff sheriff of Nueva Ecija sold at public auction auction one-half (1/2) of the following property: TAX DECLARATION NO. 11313 OF THE MUNICIPALITY OF ZARAGOZA, PROVINCE OF NUEVA ECIJA AND COVERED BY ORIGINAL CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. 3484 OF THE LAND RECORDS OF NUEVA ECIJA. A parcel of land, situated in the sitio of Valdez, barrio Sto. Rosario, municipality of Zaragoza, Province of Nueva Ecija. Bounded on the North by property of Felisa Belmonte; on the East by Sapang Dalagot; on the Southeast by Ines de Guzman; on the South by the property of Felisa Belmonte; and
on then West by the property of Cirilo Acosta; containing an area of THIRTY (30) HECTARES, more or less. Declared Declared under tax No. 11313 in the name of Pilar Pilar Belmonte Belmonte with an assessed assessed value of P8,400.00.
The highest bidder at the auction sale was the judgment creditor, Leon C. Viardo, who who paid paid P2,1 P2,125 25.6 .64 4 for for the the inte intere rest st sold sold and and P83. P83.15 15 for for the the land land tax tax corresponding to such interest. When the judgment debtors failed to redeem the property property within the statutory statutory period of one year from the date of sale (21 February 1941), the provincial sheriff of Nueva Ecija executed on 12 May 1943 a Final Bill of Sale of the property in favor of Leon C. Viardo. On 3 May 1943 a coowner's copy of the certificate of title was issued to Leon C. Viardo. On 28 Decemb December er 1945 1945 the Court Court of First irst Instan Instance ce of Nueva Nueva Ecija, Ecija, in Land Land Registration Case No. 918, G.L.R.O. Record No. 17910, acting upon a verified petition of Leon C. Viardo, ordered the Registrar of Deeds in and for Nueva Ecija to cancel Original Certificate of Title No. 3484 and to issue another in lieu thereof in the name of and in the proportion as follows: LEONOR BELMONTE ¼ share; FELISA BELMONTE, BELMONTE, ¼ share; share; PILAR BELMONTE, BELMONTE, 1/8 share; LEON C. VIARDO, 1/8 share; share; and INES DE GUZMAN, ¼ share, upon the payment of the corresponding fees .However, it appears from Original Certificate of Title No. 3484 that the abovementioned order was not carried out and that said original certificate of title was not cancelled. On 27 May 1946 Bartolome Driz and Pilar Belmonte filed in the Court of First Instance of Nueva Ecija a complaint against Leon C. Viardo praying that judgment be rendered against the defendant: (a) Ordering the defendant to reconvey reconvey the property property in question question in favor of plaintiffs herein upon payment by the latter of the lawful redemption price in accordance with law, or the sum of P2,125.64 with interest at the rate of one per centum centum (1%) per month for twelve twelve (12) months from February February 27, 1941 to February 27, 1942. On 4 June 1946 Patricia Blando, attorney for Bartolome Driz and Pilar Belmonte, requested the Registrar of Deeds in and for Nueva Ecija for the annotat annotation ion of a Notice Notice of LIS PENDENS PENDENS on the back back of ORIGI ORIGINAL NAL CERTIFICATE OF TITLE NO. 3484 of the Office of the Register of Deeds for the Province Province of Nueva Nueva Ecija, Ecija, affecting affecting the undivided undivided one-half one-half (½) portion of the property property of the plaintiffs plaintiffs in the above-en above-entitled titled cause, cause, situated situated in the Sitio of Valdez, Barrio of Sto. Rosario, Municipality of Zaragoza, which is involved in the said controversy controversy against the defendant defendant LEON C. VIARDO, VIARDO, and which is more particularly described under paragraph (4) of the plaintiffs' complaint a copy of which is hereby presented, hereunto attached.
