(legal title and equitable title)

Sps Jaime and Catherine Basa v. Angeline Joy Vda de Senly Loy, GR No 204131, June 4, 2018

FIRST DIVISION

G.R. No. 204131, June 04, 2018

SPOUSES JAIME AND CATHERINE BASA, SPOUSES JUAN AND ERLINDA OGALE
REPRESENTED BY WINSTON OGALE, SPOUSES ROGELIO AND LUCENA
LAGASCA REPRESENTED BY LUCENA LAGASCA, AND SPOUSES CRESENCIO AND
ELEADORA APOSTOL, Petitioners, v. ANGELINE LOY VDA. DE SENLY LOY, HEIRS
OF ROBERT CARANTES, THE REGISTER OF DEEDS FOR BAGUIO CITY, AND THE
CITY ASSESSOR'S OFFICE OF BAGUIO CITY, Respondents.

DECISION

DEL CASTILLO, J.:

This Petition for Review on Certiorari1 assails the May 31, 2012 Decision2 of the Court of
Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CV No. 95490 affirming the January 22, 2010 Decision of the
Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Baguio City, Branch 7 in Civil Case No. 6280-R, and the
CA's subsequent October 11, 2012 Resolution3 denying herein petitioners' Motion for
Reconsideration.4

Factual Antecedents

This case revolves around a 496-square meter residential lot situated in New Lucban,
Baguio City covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-30086 (subject property) in
the name of the late Busa Carantes, who is the predecessor-in-interest of Manuel
Carantes and herein respondent Robert Carantes.

The subject property was mortgaged to respondent Angeline Loy and her husband in
1994. Thereafter, they foreclosed on the mortgage, and at the auction sale, they
emerged the highest bidder. On March 31, 2006, after consolidating ownership over the
subject property, Branch 6 of the Baguio RTC - in LRC ADM Case No. 1546-R - issued in
their favor a writ of possession.

On May 30, 2006, herein petitioners - spouses Jaime and Catherine Basa, spouses Juan
and Erlinda Ogale, spouses Rogelio and Lucena Lagasca, and spouses Cresencio and
Eleadora Apostol - filed before Branch 7 of the Baguio RTC a petition for quieting of title
with prayer for injunctive relief and damages, docketed as Civil Case No. 6280-R.,
against respondents Angeline Loy, Robert Carantes, the Registry of Deeds for Baguio
City, and the Baguio City Sheriff and Assessor's Office. They essentially claimed that in
1992 and 1993, portions of the subject property - totaling 351 square meters - have
already been sold to them by respondent Robert Carantes, by virtue of deeds of sale
executed in their favor, respectively; that they took possession of the portions sold to
them; and that the titles issued in favor of Angeline Loy created a cloud upon their title
and are prejudicial to their claim of ownership. They thus prayed that the documents,
instruments, and proceedings relative to the sale of the subject property to respondent
Angeline Loy be cancelled and annulled, and that they be awarded damages and
declared owners of the respective portions sold to them.

In her answer with counterclaim, Angeline Loy alleged that she was entitled to the
subject property as a result of the foreclosure and consequent award to her as the
highest bidder during the foreclosure sale; that the subject property was later divided
by judicial partition, and new certificates of title were issued in the name of Manuel and
Robert Carantes, which titles were later cancelled and new titles were issued in her
name as co-owner of the subject property together with Manuel Carantes; that she had
no knowledge of the supposed sales to petitioners by Robert Carantes as these
transactions were not annotated on the title of Busa Carantes; and that the sales to the
petitioners were either unnotarized or unconsummated for failure to pay the price in
full.

In his answer, Robert Carantes alleged that the sales to petitioners did not materialize;
that petitioners failed to fully pay the purchase price; that his transactions with
Angeline Loy and her husband were null and void; and that he was the real owner of
the subject property in issue.

Respondents Angeline Loy and Robert Carantes failed to appear during the scheduled
mediation. Petitioners were then allowed to present their evidence ex parte.

Petitioners thereafter filed a Formal Offer of Evidence praying for admission of the
following documentary evidence:

1. Exhibit "A" - unnotarized 'Deed of Absolute Sale of a Portion of a Registered

Parcel of a Residential Land' between respondent Robert Carantes and
petitioners, spouses Jaime and Catherine Basa covering 107 square meters;

2. Exhibit "B" - unnotarized 'Deed of Absolute Sale of a Portion of a Parcel of Land'

between Robert Carantes and petitioners, spouses Juan and Erlinda Ogale,
covering 84 square meters;

3. Exhibit� "C" - 'Deed of Sale of Undivided Rights and Interests' in favor of

petitioners Rogelio and Lucena Lagasca, covering 80 square meters;

4. Exhibit "D" - 'Deed of Sale of Undivided Rights and Interests' in favor of

petitioners Cresencio and Eleadora Apostol, covering 80 square meters; and

5. Exhibit "E" - Affidavit of Robert Carantes.5

On July 24, 2009, the trial court issued an Order denying admission of Exhibits "A" to
"D" on the ground that Exhibits "A" to "C" were mere photocopies and were only
previously provisionally marked, while there was no such document marked Exhibit "D".

Ruling of the Regional Trial Court

On January 22, 2010, the trial court rendered its Decision in Civil Case No. 6280-R,
declaring thus:

At the outset, the Court would like to put emphasis on the ruling of the Supreme Court
in the case of Acabal vs. Acabal, 454 SCRA 555 that, 'It is a basic rule in evidence that
the burden of proof lies on the party who makes the allegations - el encumbit probatio,
qui dicit, non qui negat; cum per rerum natruam factum negatis probatio nulla sit (the
proof lies upon him who affirms, not upon him who denies; since by nature of things,
he who denies a fact cannot produce any proof). If he claims a right granted by law, he
must prove it by competent evidence, relying on the strength of his own evidence and
not upon the weakness of that of his opponent.'

In the present case, the petitioners Cresencio Apostol, Jaime Basa, Lucena Lagasca and
Erlinda Ogale was [sic] presented to substantiate the allegations in their petition. All
four gave similar testimonies that respondent Robert Carantes sold to them certain
portions of a parcel of land for different sums of money on different occasions.
However, although they identified photocopies of the deeds covering the transactions
which were provisionally marked, they failed to submit the original copies thereof for
which reason, the Court denied admission of the said documents when they were
formally offered. The only other piece of documentary evidence the petitioners
presented to back up their claims was an Affidavit purportedly executed by respondent
Robert Carantes. However, the said respondent was never presented to testify on his
affidavit, thus, the contents thereof could not be appreciated in favor of the petitioners
following the ruling in the case of People vs. Brioso, 37 SCRA 336, that, 'Affidavits are
generally rejected in judicial proceeding as hearsay, unless the affiants themselves are
placed on the witness stand to testify thereon.'

Considering that the petitioners failed to discharge their burden of proving the truth of
their claims even by preponderance of evidence, the court is left with no recourse but
to deny the reliefs prayed for in their petition.6

WHEREFORE, all the foregoing premises considered, the petition is hereby DENIED and
the above-entitled case is hereby DISMISSED without pronouncement as to costs.

SO ORDERED.7

Petitioners moved to reconsider, but the trial court - in a June 18, 2010 Order - would
not reverse. It held �

The court finds no cogent reason to reconsider the decision.

In the case of Llemos vs. Llemos, 513 SCRA 128, the Supreme Court had the occasion
to rule that, 'Under Section 3, Rule 130,� Rules of Court, the original document
must� be produced and no evidence shall be� admissible other than the original
document itself, except in the following cases: x x x a) When the original has been lost
or� destroyed or cannot be produced in court. without bad faith on the part of the
offeror: b) When the original� is in the custody or under the control of the party
against whom the evidence is offered, and the latter fails to produce it after reasonable
notice; c) When the original consists of numerous accounts or other documents which
cannot be examined in court without great loss of time and the fact sought to be
established from them is only the general result of the whole; and d) When the original
is a public record in the custody of a public officer or is recorded in a public office.'

In the present case, there is no showing that the plaintiffs' failure to produce the
original documents was based on the exceptions aforementioned. Moreover, the
plaintiffs never questioned the Court's resolution of their formal offer of evidence
contained in an Order dated July 24, 2009 admitting only Exhibit "E". Thus, their
assertion that they did not have to present the originals there being no objection from
the defendants who incidentally have lost their standing in this case as early as January
22, 2008, all the more appears to be untenable.8

Ruling of the Court of Appeals

Petitioners interposed their appeal before the CA which, on May 31, 2012, rendered the
assailed Decision containing the following pronouncement:

Petitioners x x x argue that ownership over the portions they occupied should be
transferred to them because (i) they were able to establish that the same were sold to
them by respondent x x x Robert Carantes and they had fully paid the purchase price
thereof; (ii) respondent x x x Angeline Loy was in bad faith 'in not making an
investigation before entering into mortgage with Robert Carantes'; and (iii) the trial
court should have reconsidered its Decision dated January 22, 2010 since petitioners x
x x filed a 'motion for reconsideration explaining the reason and simultaneously
submitting the original pieces of evidence.'

It is a basic rule that in civil cases, the burden of proof is on the plaintiff to establish his
case by preponderance of evidence. x x x

xxxx

Thus, although the trial court allowed petitioners x x x to present their evidence ex-
parte for failure of respondents x x x to appear in the mediation proceedings,
petitioners x x x still had to prove their allegations in their petition by preponderance of
evidence.

In Saguid vs. Court of Appeals, wherein respondent therein was allowed to present her
evidence ex-parte, the Supreme Court stressed:

'As in other civil cases, the burden of proof rests upon the party who, as determined by
the pleading or the nature of the case, asserts an affirmative issue. Contentions must
be proved by competent evidence and reliance must be had on the strength of the
party's own evidence and not upon the weakness of the opponent's defense. This
applies with more vigor where, as in the instant case, the plaintiff was allowed to
present evidence ex parte. The plaintiff is not automatically entitled to the relief prayed
for. The law gives the defendant some measure of protection as the plaintiff must still
prove the allegations in the complaint. Favorable relief can be granted only after the
court is convinced that the facts proven by the plaintiff warrant such relief: Indeed, the
party alleging a fact has the burden of proving it and a mere allegation is not evidence.'
In support of their allegation that portions of Lot No. T-30086 were sold to them by
respondent x x x Robert Carantes, petitioners x x x presented during the ex-
parte hearing two (2) sets of documents, to wit: (i) four (4) photocopied deeds of sale,
and (ii) an original affidavit executed by respondent x x x Robert Carantes. In its
Decision dated January 22, 2010, the trial court did not consider these pieces of
evidence because (i) petitioners x x x did not submit the original deeds of sale, and (ii)
respondent x x x Robert Carantes was not presented in court to identify his affidavit.

The trial court cannot be faulted in so ruling. Neither can it be faulted for not
reconsidering its Decision dated January 22, 2010 despite the purported 'original' deeds
of sale appended to petitioners' x x x motion for reconsideration. It must be considered
that:

Firstly, petitioners' x x x failure to append the original deeds of sale cannot be excused
on their alleged mistaken belief that submission of the same was no longer necessary
when respondents x x x did not object to the presentation of photocopies during
the ex-parte hearing, as the trial court itself required the submission of the original
deeds of sale. Record bears that the Branch Clerk of Court provisionally marked the
photocopied deeds of sole as Exhibits 'A' to 'D' subject to the submission of the original
thereof. In fact, petitioners x x x counsel manifested that they reserved the right to
present the original deeds of sale.

Secondly, while during the ex-parte hearing, two (2) documents, both denominated as
'Deed of Sale of Undevided [sic] Rights and Interests,' were presented to prove the sale
of portions of subject lot to petitioners x x x spouses Rogelio and Lucena Lagasca and
spouses Cresencio and Eleadora Apostol, what was appended to petitioners' x x x
motion for reconsideration was a different document, a carbon copy of a document
denominated as 'Deed of Sale or Undivided Portions of Registered Land,' between
respondent x x x Robert Carantes and petitioners x x x Rogelio Lagasca and Cresencio
Apostol.

Thirdly, the 'Deed of Absolute Sale of a Portion of a Registered Parcel of a Residential

Land' between respondent x x x Robert Carantes and petitioners x x x spouses Jaime
and Catherine Basa was a mere carbon copy.

The Court thus finds that the evidence adduced during the ex-parte hearing was
unsatisfactory and inconclusive. Moreover, instead of substantiating respondent x x x
Robert Carantes' 'Affidavit', the testimonies of petitioners' x x x witnesses contradicted
said 'Affidavit' as regards the areas allegedly sold and the price per square meter. In
the Affidavit, respondent x x x Robert Carantes stated that he sold to petitioners x x x
spouses Cresencio and Eleadora Apostol and spouses Rogelio and Lucena Lagasca
portions of the subject property measuring 80 square meters each for P320,000.00 per
portion. But during the ex-parte hearing, petitioner x x x Cresencio Apostol testified
that what was actually sold by respondent x x x Robert Carantes for P320,000.00 was
95 square meters. In petitioners' x x x motion for reconsideration, it appeared that
respondent x x x Robert Carantes sold to petitioners x x x spouses Cresencio and
Eleadora Apostol for P100,000.00 a total of 95 square meters. On the other hand, the
testimony of petitioner x x x Lucena Lagasca did not indicate the number of square
meters sold for the purchase price of P320,000.00, while the motion for reconsideration
indicated that a total of 99 square meters was sold by respondent x x x Robert
Carantes to petitioners x x x spouses Rogelio and Lucena Lagasca for P100,000.00.

In sum, the pieces of evidence presented by petitioners x x x do not preponderate in

their favor. The Court finds no cogent reason to reverse the findings of the trial court. x
xx

WHEREFORE, the appealed Decision dated January 22, 2010 and Order dated June 18,
2010 are AFFIRMED.

SO ORDERED.9 (Citations omitted; emphasis and italics in the original)

Petitioners flied their motion for reconsideration, which was denied by the CA via its
October 11, 2012 Resolution. Hence, the instant Petition.

Issue

Petitioners submit the lone issue of whether they have proved, by preponderant
evidence, their case for quieting of title.

Petitioners' Arguments

Praying that the assailed CA dispositions be set aside and that they be declared owners
of the respective portions of the subject property which they claim were bought from
respondent Robert Carantes, petitioners argue that they have adequately proved their
ownership of the disputed property; that the lower courts disregarded the fact that they
were in possession of the respective portions claimed, which otherwise constituted
proof of delivery and, thus, consummation of the sales in their favor;� that while the
trial court dismissed their case for failure to present the originals of the deeds of sale in
their favor during trial, the same were nonetheless attached to their motion for
reconsideration - but the trial court just the same refused to consider them, which is
erroneous on account of the principle that substantive law and considerations of justice
should outweigh technicalities and rules of procedure; that respondent Angeline Loy
was a buyer in bad faith, knowing as she did that they were in possession of the
disputed property when she and her husband acquired the same; and that between a
prior unrecorded sale and a subsequent mortgage by the seller, the former prevails on
account of the better right accorded to the buyer as against the subsequent mortgagee.

Private Respondents' Arguments

In her Comment,10 respondent Angeline Loy maintains that the CA committed no error
in affirming the trial court; that petitioners' case was frivolous and dilatory in that it
was aimed at delaying or thwarting the execution of the writ of possession issued in her
favor in LRC ADM Case No. 1546-R; and that the petition raised issues of fact which
were ably passed upon by the courts below and were beyond review by this Court.

On the other hand, the surviving heirs of Robert Carantes - who passed away during
these proceedings - failed to comment on the instant petition.
 Our Ruling

The Petition lacks merit.

In order that an action for quieting of title may prosper, it is essential that the plaintiff
must have legal or equitable title to, or interest in, the property which is the subject-
matter of the action. Legal title denotes registered ownership, while equitable title
means beneficial ownership. In the absence of such legal or equitable title, or interest,
there is no cloud to be prevented or removed.

xxxx

An action for quieting of title is essentially a common law remedy grounded on equity.
The competent court is tasked to determine the respective rights of the complainant
and other claimants, not only to place things in their proper place, to make the one who
has no rights to said immovable respect and not disturb the other, but also for the
benefit of both, so that he who has the right would see every cloud of doubt over the
property dissipated, and he could afterwards without fear introduce the improvements
he may desire, to use, and even to abuse the property as he deems best. But 'for an
action to quiet title to prosper, two indispensable requisites must concur, namely: (1)
the plaintiff or complainant has a legal or an equitable title to or interest in the real
property subject of the action; and (2) the deed, claim, encumbrance, or proceeding
claimed to be casting cloud on his title must be shown to be in fact invalid or
inoperative despite its prima facie appearance of validity or legal efficacy.'11

Petitioners' case for quieting of title was dismissed by the trial court for the reason that
they failed to present the originals of the purported deeds of sale executed by
respondent Robert Carantes in their favor. In other words, short of saying that
petitioners failed to prove the first element in a suit for quieting of title - the existence
of a legal or equitable title - the trial court simply held that they failed to discharge the
burden of proof required in such case. Petitioners then attempted to obtain a reversal
by attaching the supposed originals of the deeds of sale to their motion for
reconsideration, but the trial court did not reconsider as they failed to show that the
reason for their failure to present the original copies of the deeds fell within the
exceptions under the best evidence rule, or Section 3, Rule 130 of the Rules of Court.12

The trial court cannot be faulted for ruling the way it did. By petitioners' failure to
present the original copies of the purported deeds of sale in their favor, the case for
quieting of title did not have a leg to stand on. Petitioners were unable to show their
claimed right or title to the disputed property, which is an essential element in a suit for
quieting of title. Their belated presentation of the supposed originals of the deeds of
sale by attaching the same to their motion for reconsideration does not deserve
consideration as well; the documents hardly qualify as evidence.

The CA correctly found that petitioners' failure to append the original copies of the
deeds of sale was inexcusable; that the document that was appended to their motion
for reconsideration was different from what was presented and marked during the ex-
parte hearing; and that the testimonies of petitioners contradicted the affidavit of
Roberto Carantes, their supposed seller, with regard to the price and lot area of the
subject properties.13

Moreover, the unnotarized "Deed of Absolute Sale of a Portion of a Registered Parcel of

a Residential Land" between respondent Robert Carantes and petitioner-spouses Jaime
and Catherine Basa cannot stand without the corroboration or affirmation of Robert
Carantes. On its own, the unnotarized deed is self-serving. Since Robert Carantes's
affidavit - Exhibit "E" - was rendered inadmissible by his failure to appear and testify
thereon, then the supposed unnotarized deed of sale executed by him in favor of the
Basa spouses cannot sufficiently be proved.

To repeat, "for an action to quiet title to prosper, two (2) indispensable requisites must
concur, namely: (1) the plaintiff or complainant has a legal or an equitable title to or
interest in the real property subject of the action; and (2) the deed, claim,
encumbrance, or proceeding claimed to be casting cloud on his title must be shown to
be in fact invalid or inoperative despite its prima facie appearance of validity or legal
efficacy."14 "Legal title denotes registered ownership, while equitable title means
beneficial ownership."15

Even if petitioners are in possession of the disputed property, this does not necessarily
prove their supposed title. It may be that their possession of the disputed property is
by lease or any other agreement or arrangement with the owner - or simply by mere
tolerance. Without adequately proving their title or right to the disputed portions of the
property, their case for quieting of title simply cannot prosper.

WHEREFORE, for the foregoing reasons, the Petition is DENIED. The assailed
dispositions of the Court of Appeals are AFFIRMED.

SO ORDERED.