Heirs of Ciriaco Bayog-Ang

HEIRS OF CIRIACO BAYOG-ANG, NAMELY: CELERINO VALLE AND PRIMITIVO VALLE, PETITIONERS, VS.
FLORENCE
QUINONES, JOINTLY WITH HER HUSBAND, JEREMIAS DONASCO, AS SUBSTITUTED BY THEIR SURVIVING CHILDREN,
NAMELY: JEANY FLOR Q. DONASCO, ROYCE Q. DONASCO, AND WILMER Q. DONASCO, RESPONDENTS.
DECISION
TIJAM, J.:
This present case involves the conflicting claims over a parcel of land between a buyer who claims title by virtue of a deed of sale executed in her favor by the
original owner of the land, but never had it titled in her name, and the heirs of the vendor who adjudicated unto themselves the same land and had it titled in their
names as part of the extrajudicial settlement of their grandfather's estate.
For resolution by the Court is a Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court, assailing the Decision [1] dated February 8, 2012 of the
Court of Appeals (CA)-Cagayan De Oro City, in CA-G.R. CV No. 00782-MIN, entitled Florence Quinones, jointly with her husband, Jeremias T. Donasco v. Heirs
of Ciriaco Bayog-Ang, namely, Celerino Valle and Primitivo Valle, and Register of Land Titles and Deeds for the Province of Cotabato. The said Decision of the
CA reversed and set aside the Judgment[2] dated February 27, 2006 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 18, of Midsayap, Cotabato which dismissed Civil
Case No. 98-014 for Specific Performance with Damages.
The Factual Antecedents
In 1998, an action for Specific Performance and Damages was filed by Florence Quinones (Florence), together with her husband Jeremias Donasco
(respondents), before the RTC of Midsayap Cotabato against the heirs of Bayog-Ang (petitioners). The subject of this dispute is a 10,848 square-meter parcel of
land which is part of the property previously owned by Ciriaco Bayog-Ang (Bayog-Ang), located at Barrio Sadaan, Municipality of Midsayap, Province of North
Cotabato covered by Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. RP-1078 (1596) (subject land). Respondents claimed that the said parcel of land was sold to her by
Bayog-Ang as evidenced by a Deed of Absolute Sale dated February 25, 1964, and she demanded from the petitioners that the said portion be segregated and
transferred but the same went unheeded. Worse, the petitioners, through alleged malicious manipulation, executed an Extrajudicial Settlement of Estate in 1996
adjudicating the land in their favor, and as a result of which, OCT No. RP-1078 (1596) was canceled and Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-91543 was issued on
April 3, 1997 under their names.[3] Respondents prayed for the nullification of the Deed of Extra-Judicial Settlement and for the segregation of the parcel of land
which they bought from Bayog-Ang, and asked for moral damages, attorney's fees and litigation expenses. [4]
Petitioners, in their Answer, denied any knowledge of the deed of sale executed by Bayog-Ang in favor of Florence nor of the latter's claim over the land. They
also claimed that before the execution of the extra-judicial settlement, they went to the Register of Deeds to verify the status of the land and found nothing was
annotated on the certificate of title. By way of affirmative defenses, they claimed that the respondents' action was barred by prescription and laches, and that
respondents were never in possession of the subject lot. They averred that the action was one based on written contract which prescribed in 10 years reckoned
from the execution of the Deed of Absolute Sale in 1964, and the complaint, filed only in 1998, [5] is thus belatedly filed.
In the proceedings before the RTC, Florence testified that she purchased a parcel of land from Bayog-Ang which was paid for by her father Pedro Quinones
(Pedro). As a result, a Deed of Absolute Sale was executed on February 25, 1964 and notarized before a certain Atty. Cambronero. Furthermore, the pertinent
documents (including the certificate of title and tax declaration) were given by Bayog-Ang to Pedro who in turn gave them to Atty. Domingo for purposes of
transferring title to her name. It was only in 1980 when Atty. Domingo returned the papers to her that she learned that the papers to the land were not processed.
[6]
Florence also presented Antonio Gasparillo, a resident of BPH, Sadaan, Midsayap, Cotabato, who testified that he was staying on the land owned by Florence,
which was formerly owned by Bayog-Ang. He further testified that after Pedro bought the land, he allowed him to enter and work there as a tenant from 1964
until 1995, when he stopped tilling the land because of sickness. After Pedro's death, Gasparillo remitted Pedro's share in the produce of the land to the latter's
children.[7]
Petitioners did not present evidence, and instead asked the court for leave to file a demurrer to evidence, which the RTC granted.[8]
The Ruling of the RTC
As earlier mentioned, the RTC of Midsayap, Cotabato, Branch 18, rendered judgment dismissing Civil Case No. 98-014. The dispositive portion of its Judgment
dated February 27, 2006 reads:
WHEREFORE, in light of the all the foregoing, the court hereby renders judgment in favor of the defendants and against the plaintiffs:
1. Ordering the dismissal of the complaint;
2. Declaring the defendants as the true owners of the land; being owners, they are entitled to possession. Thus, the plaintiffs are hereby
directed to turn over peacefully possession of the land to the defendants;
3. No pronouncement on damages.
4. No costs.

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HEIRS OF CIRIACO BAYOG-ANG, NAMELY: CELERINO VALLE AND PRIMITIVO VALLE, PETITIONERS, VS.

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