455 Phil. 704
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of the plaintiffs and against the defendants,Instead of filing a motion for reconsideration, respondents filed a motion for new trial,[12] which was denied[13] on November 29, 1995.
- declaring the "Deed of Absolute Sale" dated October 10, 1975 marked Exhibit "L" for the plaintiffs; Exhibit "1" for the defendants, as inexistent and void from the beginning for being a product of forgery;
- declaring the "Deed of Sale of Three Parcels of Land" dated September 4, 1979 (Exh. "3" for the defendant) as inexistent and void from the beginning for being a simulated contract;
- ordering Prima B. Calingacion upon finality of this judgment to reconvey to the Heirs of Amado Celestial, by registrable deed of conveyance, the properties described and covered by Transfer Certificate of Title Nos. T-14819, T-14820, and T-14821 covering Lot Nos. 4112-A, 4112-B, and 4112-D, respectively, all of Psd-11-005479, and all registered in the name of Prima B. Calingacion. In case defendant Prima B. Calingacion refused to execute the necessary registrable deed of conveyance in favor of the Heirs of Amado Celestial, represented by Florencia Celestial, reconveying the said properties covered by TCT Nos. T-14819, T-14820, and T-14821, in favor of the Heirs of Amado Celestial, ordering the Clerk of Court in his capacity as Provincial Sheriff ex-oficio to execute the necessary registrable deed of conveyance in favor of the Heirs of Amado Celestial, represented by Florencia Celestial, which shall have like force and effect as if done by the said defendant PRIMA B. CALINGACION; ordering the Register of Deeds for General Santos City to accept the registration of the deed of conveyance executed by the sheriff, even without the presentation or surrender of the Owner's Duplicate copies of the aforesaid transfer of certificates of title to the Office of the Register of Deeds;
- ordering Prima B. Calingacion to surrender the Owner's Duplicate copies of TCT Nos. T-14819, T-14820, and T-14821 to the Provincial Sheriff;
- ordering Prima B. Calingacion to vacate the premises of the lots covered by TCT Nos. T-14819, T-14820, and T-14821, and surrender possession thereof to Florencia Celestial;
- ordering Prima B. Calingacion and the Estate of Editha Celestial, jointly and severally, to pay to plaintiff Florencia Celestial the following amounts:
SO ORDERED.[11]
- P20,000.00 for attorney's fees;
- P30,000.00 for moral damages;
- P20,000.00 for exemplary damages; and
- Costs.
THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS GROSSLY MISAPPRECIATED THE EVIDENCE AND COMMITTED SERIOUS AND MANIFEST ERROR WHEN IT REVERSED THE DECISION OF THE TRIAL COURT DECLARING NULL AND VOID THE DEED OF ABSOLUTE SALE DATED 10 OCTOBER 1975 IN A MANNER CONTRARY TO LAW AND THE SETTLED PRONOUNCEMENTS OF THIS HONORABLE TRIBUNAL.When the trial court and the appellate court reached divergent factual assessments in their respective decisions and the basis thereof refers to documents made available to the scrutiny of both courts, the well settled rule that factual findings of trial courts deserve respect and even finality will not apply.[17] In the case at bar, the differing factual assessments revolved around the authenticity of the signature of the late Amado Celestial on the questioned Deed of Sale dated October 10, 1975 conveying the 466 square meter lot in favor of Editha, his sister-in-law. There is therefore a need to review the evidence on record to arrive at the correct findings.II
THE FINDINGS OF FACT OF THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS ARE CONTRARY TO THE FINDINGS OF THE TRIAL COURT AND ARE CONTRADICTED BY THE EVIDENCE ON RECORD.III
THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN RENDERING A DECISION ON THE BASIS OF CONJECTURES AND SURMISES AND HAS DEPARTED FROM THE ACCEPTED AND USUAL COURSE OF JUDICIAL PROCEEDINGS WHICH URGENTLY CALL FOR AN EXERCISE OF THIS HONORABLE COURT'S SUPERVISION.[16]
The Court can see that the signatures "AMADO CELESTIAL" in the Deed of Absolute Sale marked as Exhibits "L" and "L-2", compared to the signatures "AMADO CELESTIAL" marked as Exhibit "M-1" on Exhibit "M"; Exh. "M-2-A" on exh. "M-2"; Exh. "M-3-A" on Exh. "M-3"; Exh. "M-4-A" on Exh. "M-4"; Exh. "M-5-A" on Exh. "M-5"; Exh. "M-6-A" on Exh. "M-6"; Exh. "M-7-A" on Exh. "M-7"; and on Exh. "N", could not be the signatures of the real Amado Celestial who was the husband of plaintiff Florencia Celestial. To the mind of the Court, even an ordinary layman can see that there are significant differences between the questioned signatures "AMADO CELESTIAL" on the questioned Deed of Absolute Sale marked as Exhs. "L" and "L-2" and the eight (8) standard signatures "AMADO CELESTIAL". Mrs. Rhoda B. Flores, the NBI Document Senior Examiner, was right when she said that "xxx I think this Honorable Court would agree with me that even a layman can see that there are significant differences even in the pictorial appearance." The court has examined the standard signatures of Amado Celestial in the several instruments submitted to the NBI to serve as basis for scientific comparative analysis with the questioned signatures, and the Court is inclined to believe the findings of the handwriting expert Mrs. Rhoda Flores, as contained in the Questioned Document Report No. 108-293 x x x which was "APPROVED" by Arcadio Ramos, Chief, Questioned Document Division of the NBI, and "NOTED" by Manuel Roura, Deputy director, Technical Services of the NBI, and as testified to by her in court. The questioned Document Report No. 108-293 (Exhs. "P" and "P-1"), which NBI Director Epimaco A. Velasco forwarded to this Court per letter of transmittal dated March 1, 1993, (Exh. "O"), and the testimony of NBI Senior Document Examiner Rhoda B. Flores have guided this Court in arriving at a judicious conclusion that the signatures of "AMADO CELESTIAL" on the Deed of Absolute Sale marked as Exhibits "L" and "L-2" are forgeries - that the signatures thereon were not the signatures of Amado Celestial (Emphasis supplied).[19]The fact that the trial court relied on the testimony of a single witness is of no moment. The trial court has the peculiar advantage to determine the credibility of a witness because of its superior advantage in observing the conduct and demeanor of the witness while testifying.[20] Settled is the rule that it is the quality, not the number of witnesses that will tilt the scale of evidence. Although the number of witnesses may be considered a factor in the appreciation of evidence, preponderance does not necessarily lie in the greatest number.[21] Accordingly, absent any showing of a fact or circumstance of weight and influence which would appear to have been overlooked and, if considered, could affect the outcome of the case, the factual findings and assessment on the credibility of a witness made by the trial court remain binding on an appellate tribunal.[22] In the case at bar, there appears no cogent reason to set aside the trial court's reliance on the credibility of the prosecution witness and its appreciation of the circumstantial evidence inasmuch as the evidence on record amply supports its conclusion.
SEC. 22. How genuineness of handwriting proved. - The handwriting of a person may be proved by any witness who believes it to be the handwriting of such person because he has seen the person write, or has seen writing purporting to be his upon which the witness has acted or been charged, and has thus acquired knowledge of the handwriting of such person. Evidence respecting the handwriting may also be given by a comparison, made by the witness or the court, with writings admitted or treated as genuine by the party against whom the evidence is offered, or proved to be genuine to the satisfaction of the judge.Under the foregoing rule, the genuineness of a handwriting may be proved: 1) by any witness who believes it to be the handwriting of such person because: (a) he has seen the person write; or (b) he has seen writing purporting to be his upon which the witness has acted or been charged; 2) by a comparison, made by the witness or the court, with writings admitted or treated as genuine by the party, against whom the evidence is offered, or proved to be genuine to the satisfaction of the judge.
Furthermore, Atty. Laurencio A. Oco, the notary public who notarized the Deed of Absolute Sale, testified that he did not personally know Amado. Rather, he merely presumed that the person who appeared before him to acknowledge the deed of sale was Amado Celestial, the vendor therein.[25] This falls short of what the law requires under Public Act No. 2103"[26] which states that -
B. Significant differences in handwriting characteristics existing between the questioned and the sample signatures; to wit: - Manner of execution of strokes; - Personalized proportion characteristics of letters; - Structural pattern of letters; and - Other identifying minute details.[24]
Sec. 1 (a) The acknowledgment shall be made before a notary public or an officer duly authorized by law of the country to take acknowledgment of instruments or documents in the place where the act is done. The notary public or the officer taking the acknowledgment shall certify that the person acknowledging the instrument or document is known to him and that he is the same person who executed it, and acknowledged that the same is his free act and deed. The certificate shall be made under his official seal, if he is by law required to keep a seal, and if not, his certificate shall so state (Emphasis supplied).Likewise, aside from being required to appear before the notary public, "it is similarly incumbent upon the person acknowledging the instrument to declare before the same Notary Public that the execution of the instrument was done by him of his own free will".[28] Accordingly, we find the observation of the appellate court "that the parties appeared before Atty. Laureano Oco for the preparation of the Deed of [Absolute] Sale", to be inaccurate and without evidentiary support in the record.
In Protacio v. Mendoza,[27] it was held:
It is necessary that a party to any document notarized by a notary public appear in person before the latter and affirm the contents and truth of what are stated in the document. The importance of this requirement cannot be gainsaid. The acknowledgment of a document is converted into a public document, making it admissible in court without further proof of its authenticity. For this reason, it behooves every notary public to see to it that this requirement is observed and that formalities for the acknowledgment of documents are complied with (Emphasis supplied).
A purchaser in good faith is one who buys the property of another without notice that some other person has a right to or interest in such property and pays a full and fair price at the time of purchase or before he has notice of the claim or interest of some other person in the property. As good faith primarily refers to a state of mind and is always a question of intention, evidence as to conduct and outward acts are usually resorted to in order to arrive at a reasonable determination of the inward motive or intention.The records show that respondent Chua knew for a fact that prior to 1962 and prior to the sale, there were erected on the land in question an old wooden house and a semi-bungalow house which were occupied by the father of Amado Celestial, Erlindo Celestial and their other relatives.[30] Carmencita Paradena, a witness for the petitioners, admitted residing with Amado and Florencia as their tenant on the land in question since 1963. She also testified that the brothers and sisters of Amado resided with them in the old wooden house.[31] This contradicts what respondent Chua's claim that prior to the sale, only spouses Editha and Erlindo Celestial occupied the land in question and nobody else.[32] These facts alone should have put respondent Chua on guard that there were possible defects in the title of the vendor. As enumerated in Mathay v. Court of Appeals,[33] viz:
Although it is a recognized principle that a person dealing on a registered land need not go beyond its certificate of title, it is also a firmly settled rule that where there are circumstances which would put a party on guard and prompt him to investigate or inspect the property being sold to him, such as the presence of occupants/tenants thereon, it is of course, expected from the purchaser of a valued piece of land to inquire first into the status or nature of possession of the occupants, i.e., whether or not the occupants possess the land en concepto de dueño, in concept of owner. As is the common practice in the real estate industry, an ocular inspection of the premises involved is a safeguard a cautious and prudent purchaser usually takes. Should he find out that the land he intends to buy is occupied by anybody else other than the seller x x x, it would then be incumbent upon the purchaser to verify the extent of the occupant's possessory rights. The failure of a prospective buyer to take such precautionary steps would mean negligence on his part and would thereby preclude him from claiming or invoking the rights of a `purchaser in good faith'.In the case at bar, respondent Chua failed to make the necessary inquiry as to the possessory rights of the relatives of Editha and Erlindo Celestial. The records show that respondent Chua failed to inquire on the respective rights of petitioner Florencia and Carmencita Paradena, who were in actual possession of the land in question, or of the other brothers and sisters of Erlindo Celestial, husband of Editha, who also resided on the questioned land.[34] No amount of good faith can therefore be appreciated in favor of respondent Chua's acquisition of the land in question.