SOLEDAD CAÑEZO v. CONCEPCION ROJAS, GR No.

148788, 2007-11-23

Facts:

Soledad Cañezo filed a Complaint[2] for the recovery of real property plus
damages with the Municipal Trial Court (MTC) of Naval, Biliran, against her
father's second wife, respondent Concepcion Rojas.

The subject property is... an unregistered land with an area of 4,169 square meters,
situated at Higatangan, Naval, Biliran. Cañezo attached to the complaint a Joint
Affidavit[3] executed on May 10, 1979 by Isidro Catandijan and Maximina
Cañezo attesting to her acquisition of the... property.

petitioner alleged that she bought the parcel of land in 1939 from Crisogono
Limpiado, although the transaction was not reduced into writing.

she immediately took possession of the property. When she and her husband left
for Mindanao in 1948,... she entrusted the said land to her father, Crispulo[4]
Rojas, who took possession of, and cultivated, the property.

In 1980, she found out that the respondent, her stepmother, was in possession of
the property and was cultivating the same. She also... discovered that the tax
declaration over the property was already in the name of Crispulo Rojas.

respondent asserted that, contrary to the petitioner's claim, it was her husband,
Crispulo Rojas, who bought the property from Crisogono Limpiado in 1948, which
accounts for the tax declaration being in Crispulo's name. From then on, until his
death in 1978,... Crispulo possessed and cultivated the property.

Upon his death, the property was included in his estate, which was administered by
a special administrator, Bienvenido Ricafort. The petitioner, as heir, even received
her share in the produce of the estate. The respondent further... contended that the
petitioner ought to have impleaded all of the heirs as defendants. She also argued
that the fact that petitioner filed the complaint only in 1997 means that she had
already abandoned her right over the property.

the MTC rendered a Decision in favor of the petitioner

Despite the respondent's objection that the verbal sale cannot be proven without
infringing the Statute of Frauds, the MTC gave credence to the testimony of the
petitioners' two witnesses attesting to the fact that Crisogono Limpiado sold the
property to the petitioner in 1939.

the RTC reversed the MTC decision on the ground that the action had already
prescribed and acquisitive prescription had set in.

However, acting on petitioner's motion for reconsideration, the RTC amended its
original decision on December 14, 1998.[10] This time, it held that the action had
not yet prescribed considering that the petitioner merely entrusted the property to
her... father. The ten-year prescriptive period for the recovery of a property held in
trust would commence to run only from the time the trustee repudiates the trust.

the Court of Appeals (CA), which reversed the Amended Decision of the RTC
The CA held that the petitioner's inaction for several years casts a serious doubt on
her claim of ownership over the parcel of land. It noted that 17 years lapsed since
she discovered that respondent was in adverse possession of the property before
she instituted an action to... recover the same.

during the probate proceedings, the petitioner did not even contest the inclusion of
the property in the estate of Crispulo Rojas.

CA was convinced that Crispulo Rojas owned the property

CA further held that, assuming that there was an implied trust between the
petitioner and her father over the property, her right of action to recover the same
would still be barred by prescription since 49 years had already lapsed since
Crispulo adversely possessed the... contested property in 1948.

Issues:

iled a Complaint[2] for the recovery of real property

That the Court of Appeals erred and committed grave abuse of discretion
amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it decided that the filing of the
case by SOLEDAD CAÑEZO for Recovery of Real Property was already barred
by PRESCRIPTION AND LACHES.

Ruling:
petition has no merit.

Indeed, if no trust relations existed, the possession of the property by the

Procedure).

Under Section 40 of Act No. 190, an action for recovery of real property, or of an
interest therein, can be brought only within ten years after the cause of action
accrues. This period coincides with the ten-year period for acquisitive...
prescription provided under Section 41[20] of the same Act.

the resolution of the second issue hinges on our determination of the existence of a
trust over the property --- express or implied --- between the petitioner and her
father.

It is true that in express trusts and resulting trusts, a trustee cannot acquire by
prescription a property entrusted to him unless he repudiates the trust.

As a rule, however, the burden of proving the existence of a trust is on the party
asserting its existence, and such proof must be clear and satisfactorily show the
existence of the trust and its elements.

The presence of the following elements must be... proved: (1) a trustor or settlor
who executes the instrument creating the trust; (2) a trustee, who is the person
expressly designated to carry out the trust; (3) the trust res, consisting of duly
identified and definite real properties; and (4) the cestui que trust, or...
beneficiaries whose identity must be clear.[28] Accordingly, it was incumbent
upon petitioner to prove the existence of the trust relationship. And petitioner sadly
failed to discharge that burden.

The existence of express trusts concerning real property may not be established by
parol evidence.

It must be proven by some writing or deed. In this case, the only evidence to
support the claim that an express trust existed between the petitioner and... her
father was the self-serving testimony of the petitioner. Bare allegations do not
constitute evidence adequate to support a conclusion. They are not equivalent to
proof under the Rules of Court.

In one case, the Court allowed oral testimony to prove the existence of a trust,
which had been partially performed. It was stressed therein that what is important
is that there should be an intention to create a trust

Although no particular words are required for the creation of an express trust, a
clear intention to create a trust must be shown; and the proof of fiduciary
relationship must be clear and convincing. The creation of an express trust must be
manifested with reasonable certainty... and cannot be inferred from loose and
vague declarations or from ambiguous circumstances susceptible of other
interpretations.

In the case at bench, an intention to create a trust cannot be inferred from the
petitioner's testimony and the attendant facts and circumstances. The petitioner
testified only to the effect that her agreement with her father was that she will be
given a share in the produce of... the property

What distinguishes a trust from other relations is the separation of the legal title
and equitable ownership of the property. In a trust relation, legal title is vested in
the fiduciary while equitable ownership is vested in a cestui que trust. Such is not
true in this... case. The petitioner alleged in her complaint that the tax declaration
of the land was transferred to the name of Crispulo without her consent. Had it
been her intention to create a trust and make Crispulo her trustee, she would not
have made an issue out of this because in a... trust agreement, legal title is vested in
the trustee. The trustee would necessarily have the right to transfer the tax
declaration in his name and to pay the taxes on the property. These acts would be
treated as beneficial to the cestui que trust and would not amount to... an adverse
possession.

Neither can it be deduced from the circumstances of the case that a resulting trust
was created. A resulting trust is a species of implied trust that is presumed always
to have been contemplated by the parties, the intention as to which can be found in
the nature of their... transaction although not expressed in a deed or instrument of
conveyance. A resulting trust is based on the equitable doctrine that it is the more
valuable consideration than the legal title that determines the equitable interest in
property.

While implied trusts may be proved by oral evidence, the evidence must be
trustworthy and received by the courts with extreme caution, and should not be
made to rest on loose, equivocal or indefinite declarations. Trustworthy evidence is
required because oral evidence can easily... be fabricated.

proof should be as fully convincing as if the acts giving rise to the trust obligation
are proven by an authentic document. An implied trust, in fine, cannot... be
established upon vague and inconclusive proof.[37] In the present case, there was
no evidence of any transaction between the petitioner and her father from which it
can be inferred that a resulting trust was intended.

no express trust or resulting trust established between the petitioner and her father.
Thus, in the absence of a trust relation, we can only conclude that Crispulo's
uninterrupted possession of the subject property for 49... years, coupled with the
performance of acts of ownership, such as payment of real estate taxes, ripened
into ownership.

The statutory period of prescription commences when a person who has neither
title nor good faith, secures a tax declaration in his name and may, therefore, be...
said to have adversely claimed ownership of the lot.[

While tax declarations and receipts are not conclusive evidence of ownership and
do not prove title to the land, nevertheless, when coupled with actual possession,
they constitute evidence of great... weight and can be the basis of a claim of
ownership through prescription.

Moreover, Section 41 of Act No. 190 allows adverse possession in any character to
ripen into ownership after the lapse of ten years. There could be prescription under
the... said section even in the absence of good faith and just title.

even if we sustain petitioner's claim that she was the owner of the property and that
she constituted a trust over the property with her father as the trustee, such a
finding still would not advance her case.
Assuming that such a relation existed, it terminated upon Crispulo's death in 1978.
A trust terminates upon the death of the trustee where the trust is personal to the
trustee in the sense that the trustor intended no other person to administer it.

If

Crispulo was indeed appointed as trustee of the property, it cannot be said that such
appointment was intended to be conveyed to the respondent or any of Crispulo's
other heirs. Hence, after Crispulo's death, the respondent had no right to retain
possession of the property. At... such point, a constructive trust would be created
over the property by operation of law. Where one mistakenly retains property
which rightfully belongs to another, a constructive trust is the proper remedial
device to correct the situation.

A constructive trust is one created... in order to satisfy the demands of justice. It

in constructive implied trusts, prescription may... supervene even if the trustee does
not repudiate the relationship. Necessarily, repudiation of the said trust is not a
condition precedent to the running of the prescriptive period.

The relation of trustee and cestui que trust does not in fact exist, and the holding of
a constructive trust is for the trustee himself, and therefore, at all times adverse.
the petitioner is estopped from asserting ownership over the subject property by
her failure to protest its inclusion in the estate of Crispulo... action is barred by
laches. The petitioner allegedly discovered that the property was being possessed
by the respondent in 1980.[47] However, it was only in 1997 that she filed the
action to recover the property.

petition is DENIED