Law School Noob: [CASE DIGEST] REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES v. HEIRS OF LUISA VILLA ABRILLE (G.R. No. L-39248)

Thursday, January 30, 2014

[CASE DIGEST] REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES v. HEIRS OF LUISA VILLA ABRILLE (G.R. No. L-39248)

May 7, 1976

Ponente: Esguerra, J.

FACTS:

On June 28, 1916, Lot 379-B-2-B was originally registered in the name of Francisco Villa Abrille Lim Juna, father of Luisa Villa Abrille.
Upon the death of the original owner, the said property was inherited by Luisa Villa Abrille, said lot was 525,652 sq m under the TCT.

That deceased Luisa Villa Abrille during her lifetime caused the subdivision of the aforesaid parcel of land into two lots under subdivision plan which was approved by the Land Registration Commissioner on March 17,1967.

Lot 1 contains an area of 30,100 Square Meters while Lot 2 contains an area of 577,679 Square Meters or a total area of 607,779 Square Meters, which is 82,127 Square Meters more than the original area covered in TCT in the name of said defendant Luisa Villa Abrille.

March 27, 1967 or ten days after the approval by the Land Registration Commissioner, said Luisa Villa Abrille was able to secure an order from the Court of First Instance of Davao directing the Register of Deeds for the City of Davao and Province of Davao, to correct the area of Certificate of Title No. T-1439 and thereafter to cancel the same and issue new TCT’s for the 2 lots.

The registration of Lot 2, which includes the aforementioned excess area of 82,127 Square Meters, was not in accordance with law for lack of the required notice and publication as prescribed in Act 496, as amended, otherwise known as the Land Registration Law.
The excess or enlarged area of 82,127 Square Meters as a result of the approval of the subdivision survey was formerly a portion of the Davao River which dried up by reason of the change of course of the said Davao River; hence a land belonging to the public domain.

RULING:

Whether or not the lower court erred in ordering the cancellation of TCT’s which cover the increased area in question totaling 82,127 square meters. - NO.

The SC said: “We are of the opinion and so hold that the lower court acted correctly in ordering the cancellation of TCT’s which admittedly covered the increased area of 82,127 square meters.

Certainly, the step taken by defendant-appellant in petitioning the court for the approval of their Subdivision Plan to include the questioned increased area of 82,127 square meters is, to say the least, unwarranted and irregular.

In order to bring this increase in area, which the parties admitted to have been a former river bed of the Davao River, under the operation and coverage of the Land Registration Law, Act 496, proceedings in registrations of land title should have been filed Instead of an ordinary approval of subdivision plan.

In the instant case, part of the tracts of land, particularly the area of 82,127 square meters, has not yet been brought under the operation of the Torrens System. Worse still, the approval of Subdivision Plans was without notice to all parties in interest, more particularly the Director of Lands.

For an applicant to have his imperfect or incomplete title or claim to a land to be originally registered under Act 496, the following requisites should all be satisfied:

1. Survey of land by the Bureau of Lands or a duly licensed private surveyor;
2. Filing of application for registration by the applicant;
3. Setting of the date for the initial hearing of the application by the Court;
4. Transmittal of the application and the date of initial hearing together with all the documents or other evidences attached thereto by the Clerk of Court to the Land Registration Commission;
5. Publication of a notice of the filing of the application and date and place of the hearing in the Official Gazette;
6. Service of notice upon contiguous owners, occupants and those known to have interests in the property by the sheriff;
7. Filing of answer to the application by any person whether named in the notice or not;
8. Hearing of the case by the Court;
9. Promulgation of judgment by the Court;
10. Issuance of the decree by the Court declaring the decision final and instructing the Land Registration Commission to issue a decree of confirmation and registration;
11. Entry of the decree of registration in the Land Registration Commission;
12. Sending of copy of the decree of registration to the corresponding Register of Deeds, and
13. Transcription of the decree of registration in the registration book and the issuance of the owner's duplicate original certificate of title to the applicant by the Register of Deeds, upon payment of the prescribed fees.

Hence, with the foregoing requisites not having been complied with, the lower court committed no error in its appealed decision dated January 27, 1970

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