G.R. No. 189647
G.R. No. 189647
G.R. No. 189647
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SECOND DIVISION
DECISION
REYES, J.:
This is a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court filed by Nancy T. Lorzano (petitioner)
assailing the Court of Appeals (CA) Decision1 dated March 18, 2009 and Resolution2 dated September 16, 2009 in
CA-G.R. CV No. 87762 entitled "Juan Tabayag, Jr. v. Nancy T. Lorzano."
The instant case stemmed from an amended complaint3 for annulment of document and reconveyance filed by Juan
Tabayag, Jr. (respondent) against the petitioner, docketed as Civil Case No. Ir-3286, with the Regional Trial Court
(RTC) of Iriga City.
The petitioner and the respondent are two of the children of the late Juan Tabayag (Tabayag) who died on June 2,
1992. Tabayag owned a parcel of land situated in Sto. Domingo, Iriga City (subject property). Right after the burial of
their father, the petitioner allegedly requested from her siblings that she be allowed to take possession of and
receive the income generated by the subject property until after her eldest son could graduate from college. The
petitioner’s siblings acceded to the said request.
After the petitioner’s eldest son finished college, her siblings asked her to return to them the possession of the
subject property so that they could partition it among themselves. However, the petitioner refused to relinquish her
possession of the subject property claiming that she purchased the subject property from their father as evidenced
by a Deed of Absolute Sale of Real Property4 executed by the latter on May 25, 1992.
The respondent claimed that their father did not execute the said deed of sale. He pointed out that the signature of
their father appearing in the said deed of sale was a forgery as the same is markedly different from the real
signature of Tabayag.
Further, the respondent asserted that the said deed of sale was acknowledged before a person who was not a duly
commissioned Notary Public. The deed of sale was acknowledged by the petitioner before a certain Julian P.
Cabañes (Cabañes) on May 25, 1992 at Iriga City. However, as per the Certification5 issued by the Office of the
Clerk of Court of the RTC on May 16, 2002, Cabañes has never been commissioned as a Notary Public for and in
the Province of Camarines Sur and in the Cities of Iriga and Naga.
The respondent alleged that the petitioner purposely forged the signature of Tabayag in the said deed of sale to
deprive him and their other siblings of their share in the subject property. He then averred that the subject property
was already covered by Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. 17866 issued by the Register of Deeds of Iriga City on
January 9, 2001 registered under the name of the petitioner. OCT No. 1786 was issued pursuant to Free Patent No.
051716 which was procured by the petitioner on June 24, 1996.
For her part, the petitioner maintained she is the owner of the subject parcel of land having purchased the same
from Tabayag as evidenced by the May 25, 1992 deed of sale. Further, the petitioner asserted that the respondent
failed to establish that the signature of Tabayag appearing on the said deed of sale was a forgery considering that it
was not submitted for examination by a handwriting expert.
On April 28, 2006, the RTC rendered an Amended Decision7 the decretal portion of which reads:
b. Ordering the [petitioner] to reconvey to the heirs of the late Juan Tabayag, Sr. the land subject matter of this
case[;]
c. Declaring the property described in the complaint and in the spurious deed of sale to be owned in common
by the heirs of Juan Tabayag, Sr. as part of their inheritance from said Juan Tabayag, Sr[.];
d. Ordering [petitioner] to pay plaintiff the sum of One Hundred Thousand Pesos (P100,000.00)by way of
moral damages;
e. Ordering defendant to pay plaintiff the attorney’s fees in the sum of Fifteen Thousand Pesos (P15,000.00),
based on quantum meruit;
SO ORDERED.8
The RTC opined that a cursory comparison between the signature of Tabayag appearing on the said deed of sale
and his signatures appearing on other documents would clearly yield a conclusion that the former was indeed a
forgery. Moreover, the RTC asserted that the nullity of the said May 25, 1992 deed of sale all the more becomes
glaring considering that the same was purportedly acknowledged before a person who is not a duly commissioned
Notary Public.
The CA Decision
Thereafter, the petitioner appealed the decision with the CA. On March 18, 2009, the CA rendered the assailed
decision affirming in toto the RTC decision.9 The CA held that the testimony of a handwriting expert in this case is
not indispensable as the similarity and dissimilarity between the questioned signature of Tabayag as compared to
other signatures of the latter in other documents could be determined by a visual comparison.
Further, the CA upheld the award of moral damages and attorney’s fees in favor of the respondent as the petitioner’s
conduct caused "great concern and anxiety" to the respondent and that the latter had to go to court and retain the
services of counsel to pursue his rights and protect his interests.
Undaunted, the petitioner instituted the instant petition for review on certiorari before this Court asserting the
following: (1) the questioned signature of Tabayag in the May 25, 1992 deed of sale could not be declared spurious
unless first examined and declared to be so by a handwriting expert; (2) considering that the subject property was
registered under the petitioner’s name pursuant to a free patent, reconveyance of the same in favor of the
respondent is improper since only the Government, through the Office of the Solicitor General (OSG), could assail
her title thereto in an action for reversion; and (3) the respondent is not entitled to an award for moral damages and
attorney’s fees.
In his Comment,10 the respondent claimed that the issues raised in the instant petition are factual in nature and,
hence, could not be passed upon by this Court in a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45. Likewise, the
respondent asserted that the petitioner’s free patent, having been issued on the basis of a falsified document, does
not create a right over the subject property in her favor.
Issues
In sum, the threshold issues for resolution are the following: (a) whether the lower courts erred in declaring the May
25, 1992 deed of sale a nullity; (b) whether an action for reconveyance is proper in the instant case; and (c) whether
the respondent is entitled to an award of moral damages and attorney’s fees.
First and Third Issues: Nullity of the Deed of Sale and Award of Moral Damages and Attorney’s Fees
This Court shall jointly discuss the first and third issues as the resolution of the same are interrelated.
Primarily, Section 1, Rule 45 of the Rules of Court categorically states that the petition filed shall raise only
questions of law, which must be distinctly set forth. A question of law arises when there is doubt as to what the law is
on a certain state of facts, while there is a question of fact when the doubt arises as to the truth or falsity of the
alleged facts. For a question to be one of law, the same must not involve an examination of the probative value of
the evidence presented by the litigants or any of them. The resolution of the issue must rest solely on what the law
provides on the given set of circumstances. Once it is clear that the issue invites a review of the evidence
presented, the question posed is one of fact.11
That the signature of Tabayag in the May 25, 1992 deed of sale was a forgery is a conclusion derived by the RTC
and the CA on a question of fact. The same is conclusive upon this Court as it involves the truth or falsehood of an
alleged fact, which is a matter not for this Court to resolve.12 Where a petitioner casts doubt on the findings of the
lower court as affirmed by the CA regarding the existence of forgery is a question of fact.13
In any case, the CA aptly ruled that a handwriting expert is not indispensable to prove that the signature of Tabayag
in the questioned deed of sale was indeed a forgery. It is true that the opinion of handwriting experts are not
necessarily binding upon the court, the expert’s function being to place before the court data upon which the court
can form its own opinion. Handwriting experts are usually helpful in the examination of forged documents because
of the technical procedure involved in analyzing them. But resort to these experts is not mandatory or indispensable
to the examination or the comparison of handwriting. A finding of forgery does not depend entirely on the testimonies
of handwriting experts, because the judge must conduct an independent examination of the questioned signature in
order to arrive at a reasonable conclusion as to its authenticity.14
For the same reason, we would ordinarily disregard the petitioner’s allegation as to the propriety of the award of
moral damages and attorney’s fees in favor of the respondent as it is a question of fact. Thus, questions on whether
or not there was a preponderance of evidence to justify the award of damages or whether or not there was a causal
connection between the given set of facts and the damage suffered by the private complainant or whether or not the
act from which civil liability might arise exists are questions of fact.15
Essentially, the petitioner is questioning the award of moral damages and attorney’s fees in favor of the respondent
as the same is supposedly not fully supported by evidence. However, in the final analysis, the question of whether
the said award is fully supported by evidence is a factual question as it would necessitate whether the evidence
adduced in support of the same has any probative value. For a question to be one of law, it must involve no
examination of the probative value of the evidence presented by the litigants or any of them.16
Nevertheless, a review of the amount of moral damages actually awarded by the lower courts in favor of the
respondent is necessary.
Here, the lower courts ordered the petitioner to pay the respondent moral damages in the amount of ₱100,000.00.
We find the said amount to be excessive.
Moral damages are not intended to enrich the complainant at the expense of the defendant. Rather, these are
awarded only to enable the injured party to obtain "means, diversions or amusements" that will serve to alleviate the
moral suffering that resulted by reason of the defendant’s culpable action. The purpose of such damages is
essentially indemnity or reparation, not punishment or correction. In other words, the award thereof is aimed at a
restoration within the limits of the possible, of the spiritual status quo ante; therefore, it must always reasonably
approximate the extent of injury and be proportional to the wrong committed.17
Accordingly, the amount of moral damages must be reduced to ₱30,000.00, an amount reasonably commensurate
to the injury sustained by the respondent.
Second Issue: Propriety of the Reconveyance of the Subject Property to the Heirs of the late Juan Tabayag
The petitioner asserted that the CA erred in not finding that her ownership over the subject property was by virtue of
a free patent issued by the government and, thus, even assuming that the subject deed of sale is invalid, her title
and ownership of the subject property cannot be divested or much less ordered reconveyed to the heirs of Tabayag.
Simply put, the petitioner points out that the subject property, being acquired by her through a grant of free patent
from the government, originally belonged to the public domain. As such, the lower courts could not order the
reconveyance of the subject property to the heirs of Tabayag as the latter are not the original owners thereof. If at
all, the subject property could only be ordered reverted to the public domain.
An issue cannot be raised for the first time on appeal as it is already barred by estoppel.
This Court notes that the foregoing argument is being raised by the petitioner for the first time in the instant petition.
It is well-settled that no question will be entertained on appeal unless it has been raised in the proceedings below.
Points of law, theories, issues and arguments not brought to the attention of the lower court, administrative agency
or quasi-judicial body, need not be considered by a reviewing court, as they cannot be raised for the first time at
that late stage. Basic considerations of fairness and due process impel this rule. Any issue raised for the first time on
appeal is barred by estoppel.18
Accordingly, the petitioner’s attack on the propriety of the action for reconveyance in this case ought to be
disregarded. However, in order to obviate any lingering doubt on the resolution of the issues involved in the instant
case, this Court would proceed to discuss the cogency of the petitioner’s foregoing argument.
Title emanating from a free patent fraudulently secured does not become indefeasible.
The petitioner asserts that the amended complaint for annulment of document, reconveyance and damages that
was filed by the respondent with the RTC is a collateral attack on her title over the subject property. She avers that,
when the said amended compliant was filed, more than a year had already lapsed since OCT No. 1786 over the
subject property was issued under her name. Thus, the petitioner maintains that her title over the subject property is
already indefeasible and, hence, could not be attacked collaterally.
We do not agree.
A Free Patent may be issued where the applicant is a natural-born citizen of the Philippines; is not the owner of
more than twelve (12) hectares of land; has continuously occupied and cultivated, either by himself or through his
predecessors-in-interest, a tract or tracts of agricultural public land subject to disposition, for at least 30 years prior
to the effectivity of Republic Act No. 6940; and has paid the real taxes thereon while the same has not been
occupied by any person.19
Once a patent is registered and the corresponding certificate of title is issued, the land covered thereby ceases to be
part of public domain and becomes private property, and the Torrens Title issued pursuant to the patent becomes
indefeasible upon the expiration of one year from the date of such issuance.20 However, a title emanating from a free
patent which was secured through fraud does not become indefeasible, precisely because the patent from whence
the title sprung is itself void and of no effect whatsoever.21
On this point, our ruling in Republic v. Heirs of Felipe Alejaga, Sr.22 is instructive:
True, once a patent is registered and the corresponding certificate of title [is] issued, the land covered by them
ceases to be part of the public domain and becomes private property. Further, the Torrens Title issued pursuant to
the patent becomes indefeasible a year after the issuance of the latter. However, this indefeasibility of a title does
not attach to titles secured by fraud and misrepresentation. Well-settled is the doctrine that the registration of a
patent under the Torrens System does not by itself vest title; it merely confirms the registrant’s already existing one.
Verily, registration under the Torrens System is not a mode of acquiring ownership.23 (citations omitted)
A fraudulently acquired free patent may only be assailed by the government in an action for reversion.
Nonetheless, a free patent that was fraudulently acquired, and the certificate of title issued pursuant to the same,
may only be assailed by the government in an action for reversion pursuant to Section 101 of the Public Land Act.24
In Sherwill Development Corporation v. Sitio Sto. Niño Residents Association, Inc.,25 this Court pointed out that:
It is also to the public interest that one who succeeds in fraudulently acquiring title to a public land should not be
allowed to benefit therefrom, and the State should, therefore, have an even existing authority, thru its duly-
authorized officers, to inquire into the circumstances surrounding the issuance of any such title, to the end that the
Republic, thru the Solicitor General or any other officer who may be authorized by law, may file the corresponding
action for the reversion of the land involved to the public domain, subject thereafter to disposal to other qualified
persons in accordance with law. In other words, the indefeasibility of a title over land previously public is not a bar to
an investigation by the Director of Lands as to how such title has been acquired, if the purpose of such investigation
is to determine whether or not fraud had been committed in securing such title in order that the appropriate action
for reversion may be filed by the Government.26
In Kayaban, et al. v. Republic, et al.,27 this Court explained the reason for the rule that only the government, through
the OSG, upon the recommendation of the Director of Lands, may bring an action assailing a certificate of title
issued pursuant to a fraudulently acquired free patent:
Since it was the Director of Lands who processed and approved the applications of the appellants and who ordered
the issuance of the corresponding free patents in their favor in his capacity as administrator of the disposable lands
of the public domain, the action for annulment should have been initiated by him, or at least with his prior authority
and consent.28
However, the foregoing rule is not without an exception. A recognized exception is that situation where plaintiff-
claimant seeks direct reconveyance from defendant public land unlawfully and in breach of trust titled by him, on the
principle of enforcement of a constructive trust.29
A private individual may bring an action for reconveyance of a parcel of land even if the title thereof was issued
through a free patent since such action does not aim or purport to re-open the registration proceeding and set aside
the decree of registration, but only to show that the person who secured the registration of the questioned property
is not the real owner thereof.30
In Roco, et al. v. Gimeda,31 we stated that if a patent had already been issued through fraud or mistake and has
been registered, the remedy of a party who has been injured by the fraudulent registration is an action for
reconveyance, thus:
It is to be noted that the petition does not seek for a reconsideration of the granting of the patent or of the decree
issued in the registration proceeding. The purpose is not to annul the title but to have it conveyed to plaintiffs.
Fraudulent statements were made in the application for the patent and no notice thereof was given to plaintiffs, nor
knowledge of the petition known to the actual possessors and occupants of the property. The action is one based on
fraud and under the law, it can be instituted within four years from the discovery of the fraud. (Art. 1146, Civil Code,
as based on Section 3, paragraph 43 of Act No. 190.) It is to be noted that as the patent here has already been
issued, the land has the character of registered property in accordance with the provisions of Section 122 of Act No.
496, as amended by Act No. 2332, and the remedy of the party who has been injured by the fraudulent registration
is an action for reconveyance. (Director of Lands vs. Registered of Deeds, 92 Phil., 826; 49 Off. Gaz. [3] 935;
Section 55 of Act No. 496.)32
In the same vein, in Quiñiano, et al. v. Court of Appeals, et al.,33 we stressed that:
The controlling legal norm was set forth in succinct language by Justice Tuason in a 1953 decision, Director of
Lands v. Register of Deeds of Rizal. Thus: "The sole remedy of the land owner whose property has been wrongfully
or erroneously registered in another's name is, after one year from the date of the decree, not to set aside the
decree, as was done in the instant case, but, respecting the decree as incontrovertible and no longer open to
review, to bring an ordinary action in the ordinary court of justice for reconveyance or, if the property has passed into
the hands of an innocent purchaser for value, for damages." Such a doctrine goes back to the 1919 landmark
decision of Cabanos v. Register of Deeds of Laguna. If it were otherwise the institution of registration would, to
quote from Justice Torres, serve "as a protecting mantle to cover and shelter bad faith ...." In the language of the
then Justice, later Chief Justice, Bengzon: "A different view would encourage fraud and permit one person unjustly
to enrich himself at the expense of another." It would indeed be a signal failing of any legal system if under the
circumstances disclosed, the aggrieved party is considered as having lost his right to a property to which he is
entitled. It is one thing to protect an innocent third party; it is entirely a different matter, and one devoid of
justification, if [deceit] would be rewarded by allowing the perpetrator to enjoy the fruits of his nefarious deed. As
clearly revealed by the undeviating line of decisions coming from this Court, such an undesirable eventuality is
precisely sought to be guarded against. So it has been before; so it should continue to be.34 (citations omitted)
Here, the respondent, in filing the amended complaint for annulment of documents, reconveyance and damages,
was not seeking a reconsideration of the granting of the patent or the decree issued in the registration proceedings.
What the respondent sought was the reconveyance of the subject property to the heirs of the late Tabayag on
account of the fraud committed by the petitioner. Thus, the lower courts did not err in upholding the respondent’s
right to ask for the reconveyance of the subject property. To hold otherwise would be to make the Torrens system a
shield for the commission of fraud.
That the subject property was not registered under the name of the heirs of Tabayag prior to the issuance of OCT
No. 1786 in the name of the petitioner would not effectively deny the remedy of reconveyance to the former. An
action for reconveyance is a legal and equitable remedy granted to the rightful landowner, whose land was
wrongfully or erroneously registered in the name of another, to compel the registered owner to transfer or reconvey
the land to him.35
It cannot be gainsaid that the heirs of Tabayag, by themselves and through their predecessors-in-interest, had
already acquired a vested right over the subject property. An open, continuous, adverse and public possession of a
land of the public domain from time immemorial by a private individual personally and through his predecessors
confers an effective title on said possessors whereby the land ceases to be public, to become private property, at
least by presumption.36 Hence, the right of the heirs of Tabayag to ask for the reconveyance of the subject property
is irrefutable.
1âwphi1
At this juncture, we deem it necessary to reiterate our disquisition in Naval v. Court of Appeals,37 thus:
The fact that petitioner was able to secure a title in her name did not operate to vest ownership upon her of the
subject land. Registration of a piece of land under the Torrens System does not create or vest title, because it is not
a mode of acquiring ownership. A certificate of title is merely an evidence of ownership or title over the particular
property described therein. It cannot be used to protect a usurper from the true owner; nor can it be used as a shield
for the commission of fraud; neither does it permit one to enrich himself at the expense of others. Its issuance in
favor of a particular person does not foreclose the possibility that the real property may be co-owned with persons
not named in the certificate, or that it may be held in trust for another person by the registered owner.38 (citations
omitted)
WHEREFORE, in consideration of the foregoing disquisitions, the petition is DENIED. The Decision dated March 18,
2009 and Resolution dated September 16, 2009 issued by the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 87762 are
hereby AFFIRMED with MODIFICATION. The petitioner is ordered to pay the respondent moral damages in the
amount of Thirty Thousand Pesos (₱30,000.00).
SO ORDERED.
BIENVENIDO L. REYES
Associate Justice
WE CONCUR:
ANTONIO T. CARPIO
Associate Justice
ATTE STATI O N
I attest that the conclusions in the above Decision had been reached in consultation before the case was assigned
to the writer of the opinion of the Court’s Division.
ANTONIO T. CARPIO
Associate Justice
Chairperson, Second Division