413 Phil. 432; 98 OG No. 44, 6303 (March 4, 2002)
KAPUNAN, J.:
WHEREFORE, the judgment appealed from is hereby REVERSED, and plaintiffs' complaint, as a consequence, is hereby DISMISSED.The antecedents of this case are as follows:
SO ORDERED.[1]
WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered declaring as null and void TCT No. 63345 of the Register of Deeds for the City of Manila, signed by Mariano Villanueva as the same was proven by plaintiffs' evidence as fictitious and tainted with doubt in the acquisition of said Transfer Certifcate. It is hereby ordered further that defendants convey and transfer the ownership thereof to R.F. Navarro and Co. Inc., or the plaintiffs themselves and the latter to receive said parcels of land including the building thereon.On appeal, the Court of Appeals reversed the trial court's decision and ruled in favor of the private respondents. It held:
The Supreme Court decisions that we will have to take judicial notice of, quieted the title of Luzon Surety Co., Inc. to the property in question.The motion for reconsideration of the foregoing decision having been denied for lack of merit in the October 14, 1991 Resolution[6] of the Court of Appeals, petitioners now seek recourse to this Court and raise the following issues:
Plaintiffs-appellees contend that the Supreme Court decisions did not affect them as they did not intervene in said cases. Luzon Surety's title, according to them is derived from the sale to it by the late Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr., whose acquisition of the property from Raymundo F. Navarro and R.F. Navarro & Co. Inc, under a deed of sale notarized by Notary Public Rodolfo Medina they impugn as fraudulent and fictitious, as, according to their Exh. "C-2" (a certification dated June 1983 by the Chief of the Archives Division of the Bureau of Records Management), there is no record on file in the Bureau of Records Management of a notary public by the name of Rodolfo Medina, practicing his profession in Manila in 1941.
Oddly enough, the original sale of the Gibbs property (the property in question) to Raymundo F. Navarro and R.F. Navarro & Co., Inc. on April 18, 1941 was notarized by Notary Public Rodolfo M. Medina, and entered by said notary as Document No. 377 in Book II, page 79 of his notarial registry, series of 1941 (Exh. 13-A).
Section 49 of Rule 39 of the Revised Rules of Court, on the effect of a judgment by a court or judge of the Philippines having jurisdiction to pronounce the judgment, states in no uncertain terms that in case of a judgment against a specific thing, the judgment is conclusive upon the title to the thing
A decision by the Supreme Court, by the very nature thereof is a public document. Under our rules on evidence, public documents are evidence, even against a third person, of the fact which gave rise to their execution. One fact, among others, that gave rise to the decision in G.R. No. L-1494 and G.R. No. L-2003 of the Supreme Court in 1949 was the fact that it had been proved that the property in question (the very property involved in this case), covered by TCT No. 63345 in the name of Luzon Surety Co., Inc. (defendant-appellant herein) had been cleared in 1943 by said defendant and Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr. of the subsisting mortgage indebtedness to Gibbs, consisting of the balance of the purchase price that said defendants had assumed after the sale by Raymundo F. Navarro and R.F. Navarro and Co., Inc. to Eulogio Rodriguez in the month of August 1941.
There is merit, therefore, in appellant's thesis that the title of Luzon Surety Co., Inc. over the property is now indefeasible.
Plaintiffs anchor their claim upon TCT No. 61619 dated April 30, 41941. Said certificate of title appears to have been cancelled by TCT No. 62411 issued to Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr. on August 15, 1941 (Exh. L), and which is the root of TCT No. 63345 of Luzon Surety Co., Inc. dated December 17, 1941.
Plaintiffs' claim that these transfers were done behind the back of Raymundo F. Navarro is incredible.
If Raymundo F. Navarro had not sold the property in question to Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr., and did not know of the subsequent transfer to Luzon Surety Co., Inc., why is it that after liberation from Japanese occupation, the suit for collection of the balance of the purchase price was filed by Allison J. Gibbs and Finley Gibbs against Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr. and Luzon Surety Co., Inc., and not against Navarro.
And why should they demand reconveyance when by their own evidence they have shown that they have not paid for the property in full?
It even appears also from appellants' Exhibits 14 and 14-A that as far back as May 26, 1943 Raymundo F. Navarro and R.F. Navarro & Company, in a notarial instrument conceded and recognized the ownership of the appellant Luzon Surety Co., Inc. of the property in question under TCT No. 63345 and relinquished all claims on the building standing thereon.
That Raymundo F. Navarro had indeed transferred the property in question to Eulogio Rodriguez is borne out by the narration of facts by the Supreme Court in the two cases above-mentioned. It is even stated in the decision in G.R. No. L-2003, George Littton and Rosa Tulod de Litton vs. Luzon Surety Co., Inc. and Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr. that Raymundo F. Navarro was the one who squealed to the Japanese Military Administration the fact of 80% of the purchase price of the sale of the property in question was still owned by the Americans: Allison D. Gibbs and his sons, and was due from Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr. who was then the President of the Board of Directors of Luzon Surety Co., Inc. He (Raymundo F. Navarro) precipitated thereby the sequestration by the Japanese invaders of the credit due to Gibbs, as enemy property.
Even if the Navarro cause of action, if any they still had, may be considered to have accrued only in 1952 when the Litton case was decided by the Supreme Court, the commencement by the plaintiffs of this suit only 23 years later (1975) was much too late. Not only has prescription set in; plaintiffs are also already barred by laches. The law serves those who are vigilant, not those who sleep on their rights.
The registered owner of property, according to the Supreme Court, whose property has been wrongfully registered in another's name may bring an action for reconveyance but he must do so within ten (10) years reckoned from the date of the issuance of the certificate of title (Melquiades vs. IAC, G.R. 68291, March 6, 1991).
"A period of twenty-three years is definitely a long time to wait for one to finally claim his due. Considerable delay in asserting one's right before a court of justice is strongly persuasive of the lack of merit of his claim, since it is human nature for a person to enforce his right when the same is threatened or invaded. Thus, he is estopped by laches from questioning the ownership of the questioned land.[5] (Quinsay, et.al. vs. IAC, G.R. 67935, March 18, 1991)
The petition is without merit.I
WHETHER OR NOT THE MANIFESTATION AND MOTION FILED BY THE PRIVATE RESPONDENTS AS DEFENDANTS BELOW DURING THE PENDENCY OF APPEAL WHICH PRAYED THAT THE TRIAL COURT'S DECISION BE SET ASIDE AND A NEW ONE BE RENDERED IN THEIR FAVOR IS CONSIDERED A WITHDRAWAL OR AN ABANDONMENT OF THE APPEAL, SUCH THAT THERE IS NOTHING FOR THE COURT OF APPEALS TO CONSIDER AND DECIDE IN THE APPEALED CASE BEFORE IT.II
WHETHER OR NOT THE SALE, TRANSFER OR CONVEYANCE OF THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION BY RAYMUNDO F. BAVARRO IN FAVOR OF EULOGIO RODRIGUEZ SR. AND SUBSEQUENTLY TO THE SALE, TRANSFER OR CONVEYANCE OF SAID PROPERTY BY EULOGIO RODRIGUEZ SR. IN FAVOR OF HIS COMPANY, THE LUZON SURETY CO., INC. ARE SPURIOUS, FRAUDULENT, FICTITIOUS, FALSE, INEXISTENT AND NULL AND VOID.III
WHETHER OR NOT THE PRIVATE RESONDENTS SHOULD BE ASSESSED ACTUAL DAMAGES AND SUCH OTHER DAMAGES FOR HAVING BEEN RECEIVING AND HAVING BEEN ILLEGALLY AND UNLAWFULLY APPROPRIATING TO THEMSELVES THE RENTALS ON THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION DESPITE THE FACT THAT THEY ARE NOT THE REAL OWNERS OF THE PROPERTY IN QUESTION.[7]
Under American Law, a motion for new trial does not work as a waiver of the appeal, unless there is a rule to the contrary (U.S. v. Hodge, 12 L ed 437). Thus, both the motion for new trial and the appeal may be pursued at the same time (McCandless v. Kramer, 76 Idaho 516, 286 P2d 334; Labbe v. Cyr 111 A2d 330). This ruling is of persuasive effect on Us considering the source of our rules on appeal and new trial.The appellate court concluded that:
A perusal of the defendants' "Manifestation and Motion" shows that it can easily be treated as a motion for new trial or motion for reconsideration considering that the deed of sale mentioned in the decision as missing was later on found in the custody of the clerk of court of Branch 54 where the case was formerly assigned. For the sake of substantial justice and applying the aforecited authority by analogy, We cannot say there was abandonment of the appeal.[9]Hence, the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction to entertain the appeal of the private respondents as there was no abandonment thereof.
This certificate of Title is TOTALLY CANCELLED by virtue of a deed of sale (E-75807 T-62411) dated August 12, 1941; executed by Raymundo F. Navarro in favor of Eulogio Rodriguez Sr. for the sum of P242,500.00 and in lieu thereof Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-62411 has been entered on Page 151 of the Reg. Book T-208 (Doc. No. 203, Page No. 45, Book III of the Notary Public, Rodolfo Medina.Petitioners, however, posit that the alleged sale was null and void because of the absence of consideration. Petitioners argue that private respondents failed to produce any receipts for the payments issued by the seller. Considering that such transaction involved a substantial amount, it would be highly improbable that Eulogio Rodriguez would part with such money without asking for an official receipt. Petitioners further buttress their claim with the statement of Laura Navarro and the other heirs of Navarro that they did not receive any consideration for the sale of said lot.
Manila, August 15, 1941.
That I, Raymundo F. Navarro, of legal age, Filipino, married to Laura A. Navarro, and a resident of 2836 Taft Avenue, Pasay, Rizal, Philippines, for myself and in my capacity as President of the R.F. Navarro & Company, for and in consideration of the sum of FORTY THOUSAND PESOS (P40,000) Philippine currency, in hand to me paid by Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr., of legal age, Filipino, married to Juana Santiago, and a resident of 533 Legarda, Sampaloc, Manila, Philippines, receipt whereof is hereby acknowledged, do hereby forever sell, cede and convey unto the said Eulogio Rodriguez, Sr., his heirs, executors, administrators and assigns, all our rights, title, interest and participation in the following parcels of land including the concrete building and other improvements thereon existing, situated in Calle Dasmarinas, District of Binondo, City of Manila xxxPetitioners, however, claim that the above deed of sale is spurious as the same was not signed by Raymundo F. Navarro. Petitioners' attempts to show that the Deeds of Sale with Assumption of Mortgage executed by Navarro and Rodriguez are false do not impress us. The bare assertions on the part of Laura Adea Navarro that the signature appearing on the Deeds of Sale is not that of her husband is not enough. Forgery is not presumed; it must be proven by clear, positive and convincing evidence. Those who make the allegation of forgery have the burden of proving it since a mere allegation is not evidence.[10] In the case at bar, where the alleged forged signature was that of a President of a Corporation, petitioners could have easily presented other documents bearing the true signature of R.F. Navarro Sr., to substantiate their claim. Not having done so, Laura Navarro's uncorroborated claim cannot be given much weight. This is so especially in light of the fact that Laura Navarro was one of the plaintiffs and stood to gain by having the deeds of sale and the transfer certificate of title in the name of Luzon Surety Company declared void.
Private respondents, having waited for 36 long years before filing an action to annul the sale to Felipa in the trial court we hold that this constitutes laches.[15]Having slept on whatever rights they may have had, petitioners must now suffer the consequences of their inaction. Vigilentibus non dormientibus equitas.[16]