Heirs of Arturo Reyes vs. Elena Socco-Beltran, G.R. No. 176474, November 27
Heirs of Arturo Reyes vs. Elena Socco-Beltran, G.R. No. 176474, November 27
Heirs of Arturo Reyes vs. Elena Socco-Beltran, G.R. No. 176474, November 27
THIRD DIVISION
G.R. No. 176474
Heirs of Arturo Reyes vs. Elena Socco-Beltran, G.R. No. 176474, November 27, 2008
Heirs of Arturo Reyes vs. Elena Socco-Beltran, G.R. No. 176474, November 27, 2008
II
WHETHER OR NOT THE COURT OF APPEALS
ERRED WHEN IT HELD THAT PETITIONERS
"CANNOT LEGALLY ACQUIRE THE SUBJECT
PROPERTY AS THEY ARE NOT CONSIDERED
LANDLESS AS EVIDENCED BY A TAX
DECLARATION."
III
WHETHER OR NOT THE COURT OF APPEALS
ERRED IN HOLDING THAT "WHATEVER
RESERVATION WE HAVE OVER THE RIGHT
OF MYRNA SOCCO TO SUCCEED WAS
ALREADY SETTLED WHEN NO LESS THAN
MIGUEL
SOCCO
(PREDECESSOR-IN
INTEREST
OF
HEREIN
PETITIONERS)
EXECUTED HIS WAIVER OF RIGHT DATED
APRIL 19, 2005 OVER THE SUBJECT
PROPERTY IN FAVOR OF MYRNA SOCCO.
IV
WHETHER OR NOT THE COURT OF APPEALS
ERRED WHEN IT DENIED PETITIONERS
MOTION
FOR
NEW
TRIAL
THEREBY
BRUSHING ASIDE THE FACT THAT MYRNA V.
SOCCO-ARIZO GROSSLY MISREPRESENTED
IN
HER
INFORMATION
SHEET
OF
BENEFICIARIES
AND
APPLICATION
TO
PURCHASE LOT IN LANDED ESTATES THAT
SHE IS A FILIPINO CITIZEN, WHEN IN TRUTH
AND IN FACT, SHE IS ALREADY AN
AMERICAN NATIONAL.23
The main issue in this case is whether or not
petitioners have a better right to the subject property
over the respondent. Petitioners claim over the subject
property is anchored on the Contract to Sell executed
between Miguel Socco and Arturo Reyes on 5
September 1954. Petitioners additionally allege that
they and their predecessor-in-interest, Arturo Reyes,
have been in possession of the subject lot since 1954
for an uninterrupted period of more than 40 years.
The Court is unconvinced.
Petitioners cannot derive title to the subject property
by virtue of the Contract to Sell. It was unmistakably
stated in the Contract and made clear to both parties
thereto that the vendor, Miguel R. Socco, was not yet
the owner of the subject property and was merely
expecting to inherit the same as his share as a co-heir
of Constancias estate.24 It was also declared in the
Contract itself that Miguel R. Soccos conveyance of the
subject to the buyer, Arturo Reyes, was a conditional
sale. It is, therefore, apparent that the sale of the
subject property in favor of Arturo Reyes was
conditioned upon the event that Miguel Socco would
actually inherit and become the owner of the said
property. Absent such occurrence, Miguel R. Socco
never acquired ownership of the subject property
which he could validly transfer to Arturo Reyes.
Under Article 1459 of the Civil Code on contracts of
sale, "The thing must be licit and the vendor must
have a right to transfer ownership thereof at the time it
is delivered." The law specifically requires that the
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Heirs of Arturo Reyes vs. Elena Socco-Beltran, G.R. No. 176474, November 27, 2008
YNARES-SANTIAGO
Justice
MA. ALICIA
AUSTRIA-MARTINEZ
Associate Justice
Acting Chairperson
ANTONIO EDUARDO B.
NACHURA
Associate Justice
RUBEN T. REYES
Associate Justice
Page 4 of 5
Heirs of Arturo Reyes vs. Elena Socco-Beltran, G.R. No. 176474, November 27, 2008
ATTESTATION
I attest that the conclusions in the above Decision had
been reached in consultation before the case was
assigned to the writer of the opinion of the Courts
Division.
CONSUELO YNARES-SANTIAGO
Associate Justice
Chairperson
CERTIFICATION
Footnotes
Penned by Associate Justice Bienvenido L. Reyes with
Associate Justices Arturo D. Brion (now an Associate Justice
of the Supreme Court) and Mariflor Punzalan Castillo,
concurring. Rollo, pp. 32-40.
2 Penned by Senior Deputy Executive Secretary Waldo Q.
Flores. Rollo, pp. 81-82.
3 Records, p. 113.
4 Rollo, pp. 55-58.
5 Records, p. 26.
6 Rollo, p. 54.
7 Records, pp. 112-113.
8 Id. at 112. Art. 1091 of the Civil Code provides that:
Art. 1091. A partition legally made confers upon each heir the
exclusive ownership of the property adjudicated to him.
9 Id. at 114.
10 Rollo, pp. 59-61.
11 Id. at 60-61.
12 Id. at 65-66.
13 CA rollo, pp. 42-46.
14 Id. at 46.
15 Rollo, pp. 81-82.
16 Id. at 82.
17 Id. at 86-88.
18 CA rollo, pp. 153, 160-161.
19 Id. at 64.
20 Rollo, pp. 36-38.
21 Id. at 40.
22 Id. at 41-43.
23 Id. at 16.
24 In the Contract To Sell, Miguel R. Socco states that, "That I
am one of the co-heirs of the Estate of the deceased
Constancia Socco; and that I am to inherit as such a portion
of her lot consisting of Four Hundred Square Meters (400)
more or less located on the (sic) Zamora St., Municipality of
Dinalupihan, Province of Bataan." (Rollo, p. 54.)
25 12 Phil. 648 (1909).
26 G.R. No. 57667, 28 May 1990, 185 SCRA 722.
27 Sandoval v. Insular Government, supra note 25 at 654-656.
28 San Miguel Corporation v. Court of Appeals, supra note 26
at 724-726.
29 Id.
30 Rollo, p. 117.
31 Records, p. 105.
32 Spouses Calvo v. Spouses Vergara, 423 Phil. 939, 947
(2001); Dulos Realty and Development Corporation v. Court of
Appeals, 422 Phil. 292, 304 (2001); Advincula v. Dicen, G.R.
No. 162403, 16 May 2005, 458 SCRA 696, 712; Balbastro v.
Junio, G.R. No. 154678, 17 July 2007, 527 SCRA 680, 693.
33 Sec. 22, Rule 132 of the Revised Rules of Court states that:
1
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