VOL.

524, JUNE 15, 2007

699

UngabValeroso vs. UngabGrado

*

G.R. No. 163081. June 15, 2007.

ANITA UNGABVALEROSO, joined in by her husband,

RUSELO VALEROSO, petitioners, vs. AMANCIA
UNGABGRADO, FELIX UNGAB, represented by his son
ROSENDO UNGAB, ESPENILA UNGABJAICTIN and
RUSTICINA UNGABTAMALA, respondents.
Remedial Law Certiorari A question involving the due
execution of the Affidavit of Acknowledgement would require an
inquiry into the appreciation of evidence by the trial court, a
matter which the Court cannot do in a petition for review on
certiorari under Rule 45 The truth or falsehood of the Affidavit of
Acknowledgment is a question of fact, of which the Court cannot
take cognizance.Petitioners contend that respondents cannot
use the Affidavit of Acknowledgment signed by Anita and her
mother as Anita was misled in signing it. A question involving the
due execution of the Affidavit of Acknowledgment would require
an inquiry into the appreciation of evidence by the trial court, a
matter which this Court cannot do in a petition for review on
certiorari under Rule 45. The truth or falsehood of the Affidavit of
Acknowledgment is a question of fact, of which this Court cannot
take cognizance. Moreover, the Affidavit of Acknowledgment,
being a notarized document, enjoys the presumption of regularity.
Petitioners mere allegation that Anita was misled by her mother
into signing the affidavit could not overcome this presumption.
Civil Law Property Coownership Reconveyance The law
limits the term of a coownership to ten years, but this term limit
may nevertheless be extended The action to reconvey does not
prescribe so long as the property stands in the name of the trustee.
Petitioners argue that the coownership was already
extinguished because the Civil Code provides that an agreement
to keep a thing undivided shall not exceed ten years. Indeed, the
law limits the term of a coownership to ten years, but this term
limit may nevertheless be extended. The action to reconvey does
not prescribe so long as the property stands in the name of the

trustee. To allow prescription would be tantamount to allowing a

trustee to acquire title against his principal and true owner.
_______________
*

SECOND DIVISION.

700

700

SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

UngabValeroso vs. UngabGrado

Same Same Same Trusts There are no particular words

required in the creation of an express trust, it being sufficient that
a trust is clearly intended Express trusts do not prescribe except
when the trustee repudiates the trust.As properly held by the
trial and appellate courts, the execution of the Affidavit of
Acknowledgment and the compromise agreement established an
express trust wherein the respondents, as trustors, reposed their
confidence on petitioner Anita and her mother, as trustees, that
they will hold the land subject of the coownership. There are no
particular words required in the creation of an express trust, it
being sufficient that a trust is clearly intended. This express trust
is shown in the two documents. Express trusts do not prescribe
except when the trustee repudiates the trust.

PETITION for review on certiorari of the decision and

resolution of the Court of Appeals.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.
Dionisio A. Galido for petitioners.
Arthur L. Abundiente for respondents.
QUISUMBING, J.:
1

This petition for review assails both the Decision dated

September 19, 2003 of the Court
of Appeals in CAG.R. CV
2
No. 68895 and its Resolution dated March 2, 2004, which
denied petitioners motion for reconsideration. The Court
of
3
Appeals had affirmed with modification the Decision dated
December 20, 1999 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of
Iligan City, Branch 3, in Civil Case No. 4048.
The antecedent facts, borne by the records, are as
follows:
_______________

Rollo, pp. 5975A. Penned by Associate Justice Mercedes GozoDadole,

with Associate Justices Eugenio S. Labitoria and Rosmari D. Carandang

concurring.
2

Id., at pp. 8889.

Id., at pp. 127143. Penned by Acting Presiding Judge Moslemen T.

Macarambon.
701

VOL. 524, JUNE 15, 2007

701

UngabValeroso vs. UngabGrado

Subject of this case is a 14.3375hectare land in Binuni,

Kolambugan, Lanao (now Binuni, Bacolod, Lanao del
Norte) registered in the name of Timoteo Ungab under4
Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. (P41)1,550.
Petitioner Anita Ungab is the only child of Timoteo, now
deceased. Respondent Felix Ungab is the brother of
Timoteo while the other respondents are the heirs of
Timoteos other brothers and sisters, namely Simeona,
Eugenia, Lorenzo, Lazaro, and Margarito.
In 1972, the heirs of Ciriaco Ungab filed a complaint
docketed as Civil Case No. II74 in the Court of First
Instance (CFI) of Iligan City, Lanao del Norte against the
brothers, sisters and heirs of Timoteo for the partition,
accounting and reconveyance of the subject land. When the
case was called for trial, the parties submitted a written
compromise agreement.
On February 15, 1973, the CFI rendered judgment
adopting in toto the compromise agreement. The decretal
portion reads:
WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered as follows: (1) that
the plaintiffs will be given an area of 4,779 square meters of the
coconut land which is a portion of the titled land in the name of
Heirs of Timoteo Ungab, under Original Certificate of Title No. T
41 (should be P41), Homestead Patent No. V4777, located at
Binoni, Bacolod, Lanao del Norte (formerly Kolambugan, Lanao)
(2) that defendants are entitled to an area of 138,596 square
meters (13.8596 Has.) from said titled land abovementioned (3)
that the expenses for segregation survey of the 4,779 square
meters will be shouldered equally among the nine (9) heirs3
heirs representing the plaintiffs and the 6 heirs representing the
defendants (4) that the squatters of the abovedescribed titled
parcels of land to wit: (a) Dioscoro Buco, (b) Porferio Sugabo, (c)
heirs of Severo Buco, (d) Jesus Buco, (e) and others inside the said
titled land will be ejected with damages thru Court action, all
expenses will be borne equally among the heirs aforementioned,

for each recovery and whatever damages that will be awarded by

the court in said ejectment action will be equally
_______________
4

Records, pp. 126127.

702

702

SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

UngabValeroso vs. UngabGrado

divided among the nine sets of heirs, as well as the produce of the
income of the squatted area (5) that meantime that the squatters
on the land will not be as yet finally ejected, the 4,779 square
meters of the plaintiffs will not as yet be segregated and plaintiffs
cannot as yet enjoy the produce, and income thereof, until the
squatters will be ejected and all expenses of the ejectment suits
against the squatters will be borne by Margarito Ungab and his
wife, subject to the reimbursement with receipts upon the final
ejectment of the squatters by all nine sets of heirs
aforementioned (6) the portion pertaining to Simona Ungab is
acknowledged to have been sold under Pacto de Retro for the sum
of P3,000.00 more or less (the Pacto de Retro Sale consideration
controls) unto Margarito Ungab and wife which should be paid
likewise by the nine sets of heirs both plaintiffs and defendants
(8) all other prayers and remedies invoked in the complaint and
countercomplaint are hereby denied, and (9) no costs is adjudged
in this proceeding. 5
SO ORDERED.

The parties did not have the land partitioned but divided
the proceeds of the land in accordance with the decision.
However, in December 1996, Anita refused to give
respondents their respective shares. Respondents then filed
against petitioners Anita and her husband Ruselo
Valeroso, a complaint for recovery of possession, partition,
enforcement of compromise agreement and damages
docketed as Civil Case No. 4048 with the RTC of Iligan
City.
During the pretrial, respondents presented in court the
affidavit dated March 13, 1939 of Timoteo acknowledging
that he coowned with his brothers and sisters, Simeona,
Eugenia, Lorenzo, Lazaro, Felix and Margarito, a parcel of
land with an area of 18.8993 hectares in Binuni,
Kolambugan,
Lanao under Homestead Application No.
6
218565. Respondents also presented the Affidavit of
Acknowledgment dated August 4, 1960 of Anita Ungab and
her mother Aurelia Ungab acknowl

_______________
5

Id., at pp. 122123.

Id., at p. 124.
703

VOL. 524, JUNE 15, 2007

703

UngabValeroso vs. UngabGrado

edging the rights of Simeona, Eugenia, Lorenzo,

Lazaro,
7
Felix and Margarito as coowners of the land.
In their defense, the Spouses Anita and Ruselo claimed
that Anita exclusively owns the land as sole heir of
Timoteo. They maintained that the decision in Civil Case
No. II74 had become dormant and could no longer be
executed. Besides, they aver, Anita was not privy to the
compromise agreement, which led to the decision in Civil
Case No. II74.
On December 1999, the RTC held that the compromise
agreement bound all the parties thereto including their
heirs and assigns, and Timoteos affidavit whose
presumption of regularity petitioners failed to overcome,
and the compromise agreement created an express trust
which has not yet prescribed. The RTC ruled as follows:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby
rendered in favor of the plaintiffs (herein respondents) and
against the defendant, Anita UngabValeroso ordering the latter:
1) To have the property, OCT No. (P41)1,550, partitioned
for her to retain only oneseventh (1/7) share another one
seventh (1/7) to Felix Ungab and the remaining 5/7 to the
heirs of Simeona, Eugenia, Lorenzo, Lazaro, and
Margarito, all surnamed Ungab
2) To reimburse Amancia UngabGrado and Espenila Ungab
Jaictin the sum of P24,000.00 for their shares for three (3)
years at a rate of P2,000.00 per harvest in every three (3)
months the sum of P24,000.00 for plaintiff Felix Ungab
and another P24,000.00 for Rusticina UngabTamala
3) To pay plaintiffs attorneys fees and appearance fees of
P30,000.00.
8

SO ORDERED.

Petitioners elevated the case to the Court of Appeals, which

affirmed the trial courts decision but deleted the award of

_______________
7

Id., at p. 125.

Id., at pp. 258259.

704

704

SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

UngabValeroso vs. UngabGrado

attorneys fees. It held there is evidence showing that the

land under OCT No. (P41)1,550 was owned in common by
the parties, and that Anita is estopped by her own act of
signing the Affidavit of Acknowledgment dated August 4,
1960 from denying the coownership.
The dispositive portion of the decision dated September
19, 2003 of the Court of Appeals states:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the decision dated
December 20, 1999, of the Regional Trial Court of Iligan City,
Twelfth Judicial Region, Branch 3, in Civil Case No. 4048 is
hereby AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION as to attorneys fees,
the award thereof is 9deleted. Costs against the appellants.
SO ORDERED.

Petitioners moved for reconsideration but it was denied in

the Resolution dated March 2, 2004. Petitioners now come
before us raising the following issues:
I.
WHETHER OR NOT RESPONDENTS ARE COOWNERS OF
THE PARCEL OF LAND COVERED BY OCT No. (P41)1,550
II.
WHETHER OR NOT RESPONDENTS SUIT FOR
10
PARTITION IN THE COURT BELOW IS LEGALLY PROPER.

The main issue before us is: Did the Court of Appeals

commit a reversible error of law which merits review by
this Court under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court?
We rule in the negative.
Petitioners point that the property was registered in the
name of Timoteo. They assert that by the law of intestate
succession, Anita, being the sole heir of Timoteo, is the sole
owner of the land. Petitioners maintain that respondents
_______________

Rollo, p. 75A.

10

Id., at p. 218.
705

VOL. 524, JUNE 15, 2007

705

UngabValeroso vs. UngabGrado

could not base their claim on Timoteos affidavit dated

March 13, 1939 because this referred to a different parcel
of land. Considering that the description of the property in
the OCT and in Timoteos affidavit differed, petitioners
maintain that respondents bear the burden of proving that
these lots in the affidavit are the same as those under OCT
No. (P41)1,550. However, according to petitioners,
respondents failed to discharge this burden.
Respondents counter that the case is not about
succession. They are not claiming as heirs of Timoteo, but
as his coowners. They assert that where one does not have
any rightful claim over real property, the Torrens system of
registration can confirm or record nothing. They claim that
the land was already governed by a state of coownership
even before the title was issued. According to respondents,
this fact is shown by the Affidavit of Acknowledgment
signed by Anita herself.
At the outset, we agree that the instant case does not
involve successional rights as correctly pointed out by
respondents, who are claiming an alleged right of co
ownership existing prior to the issuance of the land title in
the name of Timoteo. The threshold issue is whether
respondents are truly coowners of the land.
The records lack evidence sufficiently showing that the
land covered by Homestead Application No. 218565
referred to in the Affidavit of Timoteo is the same land
covered by OCT No. (P41)1,550 which originated from
Homestead Patent No. V4777. The records do not show
whether Homestead Application No. 218565 was the one
granted in Homestead Patent No. V4777. The court cannot
just fill in the deficiency in the evidence submitted by the
concerned parties.
We note, however, that even without the Affidavit of
Timoteo, there is still evidence on record proving that the
respondents and Timoteo indeed own the land in common.
For one, there is the Affidavit of Acknowledgment dated
August 4, 1960.
706

706

SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

UngabValeroso vs. UngabGrado

Petitioners contend that respondents cannot use the

Affidavit of Acknowledgment signed by Anita and her
mother as Anita was misled in signing it. A question
involving the due execution of the Affidavit of
Acknowledgment would require an inquiry into the
appreciation of evidence by the trial court, a matter which
this Court cannot
do in a petition for review on certiorari
11
under Rule 45. The truth or falsehood of the Affidavit of
Acknowledgment is a question
of fact, of which this Court
12
cannot take cognizance. Moreover, the Affidavit of
Acknowledgment, being a notarized
document, enjoys the
13
presumption of regularity. Petitioners mere allegation
that Anita was misled by her mother into signing the
affidavit could not overcome this presumption.
Petitioners claim that by respondents failure to execute
the judgment within the tenyear prescription period, the
judgment had prescribed. It could not be used to convey
any right. This claim, in our view, is unmeritorious. When
the parties started sharing the proceeds of the land, they
had in effect partially executed the compromise agreement
and the judgment in Civil Case No. II74. Such partial
execution weighs heavily as evidence that they agreed on
the coownership arrangement. Note also that the
judgment did not explicitly order the partition of the land
itself, but merely identified the rights to and respective
shares of the parties in said land.
Petitioners argue that the coownership was already
extinguished because the Civil Code provides that an
agreement to keep a thing undivided shall not exceed ten
years. Indeed, the law limits the term of a coownership to
ten years, but this
_______________
11

Pacific Airways Corporation v. Tonda, 441 Phil. 156, 162 392 SCRA

625, 629 (2002).

12

Towne & City Development Corporation v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No.

135043, July 14, 2004, 434 SCRA 356, 360.

13

Macaspac v. Puyat, Jr., G.R. No. 150736, April 29, 2005, 457 SCRA

632, 644.
707

VOL. 524, JUNE 15, 2007

707

UngabValeroso vs. UngabGrado

14

term limit may nevertheless be extended. The action to

reconvey does not prescribe so long as the property stands
in the name of the trustee. To allow prescription would be
tantamount to allowing a trustee
to acquire title against
15
his principal and true owner.
Moreover, as properly held by the trial and appellate
courts, the execution of the Affidavit of Acknowledgment
and the compromise agreement established an express
trust wherein the respondents, as trustors, reposed their
confidence on petitioner Anita and her mother, as trustees,
that they will hold the land subject of the coownership.
There are no particular words required in the creation of
an express
trust, it being sufficient that a trust is clearly
16
intended. This express trust is shown in the two
documents. Express trusts do not
prescribe except when
17
the trustee repudiates the trust.
Petitioners contend that an affidavit of acknowledgment
is not one of the modes of acquiring ownership recognized
18
under the Civil Code. They cite Acap v. Court of Appeals,
where we held that a stranger to succession cannot
conclusively claim ownership over a lot on the sole basis of
a waiver document which does not cite the elements of any
of the derivative modes of acquiring ownership.
_______________
14

CIVIL CODE, Art. 494. No coowner shall be obliged to remain in the

coownership. Each coowner may demand at any time the partition of the
thing owned in common, insofar as his share is concerned.
Nevertheless, an agreement to keep the thing undivided for a certain
period of time, not exceeding ten years, shall be valid. This term may be
extended by a new agreement.
xxxx
15

Ringor v. Ringor, G.R. No. 147863, August 13, 2004, 436 SCRA 484,

500.
16

CIVIL CODE, Art. 1444.

17

See Vda. de Esconde v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 103635, February

1, 1996, 253 SCRA 66, 75.

18

321 Phil. 381 251 SCRA 30 (1995).

708

708

SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED

UngabValeroso vs. UngabGrado

But we find that the ruling in Acap is not applicable to this

case. In Acap, the claim of a right over the property was
based on a declaration of heirship and waiver of rights,
and a notice of adverse claim. Therein we held that the
declaration of heirship and waiver of rights relates to an
abdication of a right in favor of other persons who are co
heirs in the succession. A stranger to a succession cannot
conclusively claim ownership over the property on the sole
basis thereof. We also held that a notice of adverse claim is
nothing but a notice of claim adverse to the registered
owner, the validity of which is yet to be established in
court. Hence, the declaration of heirship and waiver of
rights and a notice of adverse claim did not sufficiently
show how a stranger to the succession acquired ownership
of the property. In the present case, the Affidavit of
Acknowledgment and the compromise agreement were
presented not to show how respondents acquired their
rights over the property but as proof that their rights
therein exist.
WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED for lack of merit.
The Decision dated September 19, 2003 and the Resolution
dated March 2, 2004 of the Court of Appeals in CAG.R. CV
No. 68895 are AFFIRMED.
Costs against petitioners.
SO ORDERED.
Carpio, Tinga and Velasco, Jr., JJ., concur.
CarpioMorales, J., On Official Leave.
Petition denied, judgment and resolution affirmed.
Note.A trust is defined as a fiduciary relationship
with respect to property which involves the existence of
equitable duties imposed upon the holder of the title to the
property to deal with it for the benefit of another. (Tala
Realty Services Corporation vs. Banco Filipino Savings and
Mortgage Bank, 392 SCRA 506 [2002])
o0o
709

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