29 Heirs of Cecilio Claudel v. CA

Heirs of Cecilio Claudel (Children) v.
CA, Heirs of Macario, Esperidiona, Raymunda, and Celestina

Claudel (Siblings of Cecilio)
July 12, 1991
Sarmiento, J.
Doctrine
The purpose of the Statute of Frauds is to prevent fraud and perjury in the enforcement of obligations
depending on unassisted memory or witnesses by requiring certain contracts to be in writing.
Facts
- Dec 28 1922: Basilio (Cecilio) Claudel acquired Lot 1230 of the Muntinlupa Estate Subd. with an
area of 10,107 sqm. He secured a TCT in his name. He died in 1937.
- 1972: 39 years after his death, the lot was partitioned among the Heirs of Cecilio.
- 1976: The Siblings of Cecilio filed a complaint to cancel the titles and prayed for reconveyance of
the lot, alleging that 46 years earlier in 1930, their parents had bought the lot from Cecilio for
Php 30. It was a verbal transaction.
o Proof: a subdivision plan dated Mar 25 1930.
- CFI dismissed the complaint disregarding the evidence (statute of frauds; sale of real property in
the absence of any document evincing the sale).
- CA reversed and ordered the cancellation of the titles.
o Statute of Frauds only applies to executory contracts and not to consummated sales.
o The action was not for the recovery of possession of real property but for the
cancellation of titles issued to the HEIRS OF CECILIO in 1973. Since the SIBLINGS OF
CECILIO commenced their complaint for cancellation of titles and reconveyance with
damages on December 7, 1976, only four years after the HEIRS OF CECILIO partitioned
this lot among themselves and obtained the corresponding Transfer Certificates of
Titles, then there is no prescription of action yet.
Issues
1. WON the contract of sale of land may be proven orally. NO
2. WON the prescriptive period for the action for cancellation should be counted from the alleged
sale (1930) or from date of issuance of titles in favor of the Heirs of Cecilio (1976). 1930
Held
- Art. 1403 (Civil Code). The following contracts are unenforceable, unless they are ratified:
o xxx xxx xxx
o 2) Those that do not comply with the Statute of Frauds as set forth in this number.
In the following cases, an agreement hereafter made shall be unenforceable by action
unless the same, or some note or memorandum thereof, be in writing, and subscribed
by the party charged, or by his agent; evidence, therefore, of the agreement cannot be
received without the writing, or a secondary evidence of its contents:
o xxx xxx xxx
o e) An agreement for the leasing for a longer period than one year, or for the sale
of real property or of an interest therein;
o xxx xxx xxx
- The purpose of the Statute of Frauds is to prevent fraud and perjury in the enforcement of
obligations depending on unassisted memory or witnesses by requiring certain contracts to be
in writing.
- In this case therefore, the existence of the contract of sale cannot be proved.
- On the issue of prescription
o 1145 CC states that the actions upon an oral contract must be commenced within 6
years.
o If the parties SIBLINGS OF CECILIO had allegedly derived their right of action from the
oral purchase made by their parents in 1930, then the action filed in 1976 would have
clearly prescribed. More than six years had lapsed.
- Above all, the torrens title in the possession of the HEIRS OF CECILIO carries more weight as
proof of ownership than the survey or subdivision plan of a parcel of land in the name of
SIBLINGS OF CECILIO.
o A torrens title, once registered, cannot be defeated, even by adverse, open and
notorious possession. A registered title under the torrens system cannot be defeated by
prescription. The title, once registered, is notice to the world. All persons must take
notice. No one can plead ignorance of the registration.
o xxx xxx xxx
o Furthermore, a private individual may not bring an action for reversion or any action
which would have the effect of cancelling a free patent and the corresponding
certificate of title issued on the basis thereof, with the result that the land covered
thereby will again form part of the public domain, as only the Solicitor General or the
officer acting in his stead may do so.
- Mere registration of the sale is not good enough, good faith must concur with registration.
Otherwise registration becomes an exercise in futility.
- Even when the Siblings lived on the contested premises, they paid a sum designated as “taxes”
to Cecilio’s widow and heirs.
- The Siblings also had to ask permission to stay on the land from Jose, one of the Heirs.
Dispositive
WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED We REVERSE and SET ASIDE the decision rendered in CA-G.R. CV
No. 04429, and we hereby REINSTATE the decision of the then Court of First Instance of Rizal (Branch 28,
Pasay City) in Civil Case No. M-5276-P which ruled for the dismissal of the Complaint for Cancellation of
Titles and Reconveyance with Damages filed by the Heirs of Macario, Esperidiona Raymunda, and
Celestina, all surnamed CLAUDEL. Costs against the private respondents.

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