l\epublic of tbe llbilippines

~upreme QCourt
;iffilanila

THIRD DIVISION

ROSITA V. ZAMORA, G.R. No. 254194

Petitioner,
Present:

- versus - CAGUIOA, J.,

Chairperson,
INTING,
RAMON BAGATSING, JR., GAERLAN,
ROSARITY L. BAGATSING, DIMAAMPAO, and
REYNALDO L. BAGATSING, SINGH, JJ
and MARILYN BAGATSING-
TOPACIO, Promulgated:
Respondents. March 29, 2023
\),.\ ~ te,i~'\\:
x------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------x

DECISION

GAERLAN, J.:

Assailed in this Petition for Review on Certiorari' are the Decision2

dated November 28, 2019 and the Resolution3 dated October 9, 2020 rendered
by the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CV No. 111516, which reversed
and set aside the Decision4 dated May 24, 2018 of the Regional Trial Court
(RTC) of Pasay City, Branch 118, in LRC Case No. R-PSY-16-24198-CV,
which dismissed the petition for cancellation of annotation of adverse claim
filed by respondents Ramon L. Bagatsing, Jr., Rosarity 5 L. Bagatsing,
Reynaldo L. Bagatsing, and Marilyn Bagatsing-Topacio (collectively,
Bagatsings) against petitioner Rosita V. Zamora (Rosita).

Rollo, pp. 17-30.

Id . at 39-51. Penned by Associate Justice Tita Marilyn Payoyo-Villordon , with Associate Justices
Ramon R. Garcia and Victoria Isabel A. Paredes, concurring.
Id . at 36-37.
Id . at 74-86. Penned by Presiding Judge Rowena Nieves A. Tan.
Rosarito in some pa1ts of 1he rollo.
Decision 2 G.R. No. 254194

The Facts

The present controversy involves a 439-square-meter parcel of land

(subject property) located in Pasay City that was originally owned and
registered under the names of spouses Rosita and Jesus Zamora (Jesus;
collectively, spouses Zamora), as evidenced by Transfer Certificate of Title
(TCT) No. 104125. 6

However, as claimed by the Bagatsings, spouses Zamora, by virtue of a

notarized Deed of Donation dated May 31, 1991, donated the subject property
to Zenaida Lazaro (Lazaro), the mother of the former and the aunt of Rosita. 7
On the basis of the said donation, TCT No. 141543 was issued in the name of
Lazaro, thereby cancelling TCT No. 104125 in the name of spouses Zamora. 8

Remarkably, Jesus died due to prostate cancer of even date to the

execution of the said deed, around 2:00 a.m., at their house located at the
subject property. 9

About 24 years after, or specifically on March 13, 2015, Rosita filed an

Affidavit of Adverse Claim for TCT No. 141543 on the ground of forgery,
claiming that the signatures appearing on the purported Deed of Donation do
not belong to her and her late husband, Jesus. 10 The said filing caused the
annotation on TCT No. 141543. 11

Sometime thereafter, Lazaro executed a Deed of Sale in favor of her

children, the Bagatsings, who then registered the subject property in their
names in a new certificate of title, TCT No. 003 -2016000407, which carried
with it the same annotation of adverse claim. 12 The annotation prompted the
Bagatsings to file a petition for cancellation of annotation of adverse claim
with the RTC. 13

For her part, Rosita narrated that she and her husband, Jesus, took out a
loan and mortgaged the subject property with L&R Corporation. 14 Lazaro,
who was Rosita's aunt, offered to pay the loan in order to cancel the mortgage
and redeem the subject property. 15 To effect the same, Lazaro asked for the

6
Rollo, p. 40.
7
ld.
8
Id .
9
Id . at 81.
10
Id. at 40.
II
Id .
12
Id. at 40-41.
13
Id. at 41.
14
Id.
15
Id.
Decision 3 G.R. No. 254194

owners' duplicate copy of TCT No. 104125 to which Rosita obliged. 16 When
Rosita went to the Register of Deeds to check on her title, as buyers became
interested on the subject property, she learned that TCT No. 104125 has been
cancelled and a new one has already been issued in the name ofLazaro. 17

Ruling of the Regional Trial Court

The RTC denied the petition for cancellation of annotation of adverse

claim, the dispositive portion of the Decision 18 dated May 24, 2018 reads:

WHEREFORE, all the foregoing premises considered, the

petitioner's prayer for cancellation of annotation of adverse claim is hereby
DENIED.

SO ORDERED. 19

In ruling so, the RTC found that the Deed of Donation supposedly
executed by spouses Zamora in favor of Lazaro was a forgery, thus,
prompting the Bagatsings to file an appeal before the CA. 20

On one hand, the Bagatsings asserted in their Appellants' Brief that the
RTC erred in giving more evidentiary weight on the self-serving testimonies
of Rosita. 21 They also argued that Rosita was already barred by the Statute of
Limitations, having asserted ownership only 24 years after the execution of
the Deed of Donation. 22

On the other hand, Rosita contended that there was no reversible error
on the part of the RTC when it gave more evidentiary weight on her evidence
than that of the Bagatsings. 23 She also alleged that the RTC did not err in
failing to rule based on estoppel by laches and prescription. 24

Ruling of the Court of Appeals

The CA reversed and set aside the ruling of the RTC, thereby
cancelling the adverse claim of Rosita. 25 The dispositive portion of the
November 28, 2019 Decision reads:
16
Id .
17
Id.
18
Id . at 74-86.
19
Id. at 86.
20
Id . at 42.
21
Id.
22 Id. at 102.
r_ J
Id. at 43.
24
Id.
25
Id. at 50.

1
Decision 4 G.R. No. 254194

ACCORDINGLY, foregoing premises considered, the appeal is

GRANTED . The Decision dated May 24, 2018 of the Regional Trial Court
(RTC) of Pasay City, Branch 118 in LTD Case No. R-PSY-16-24198-CV,
is hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE, and a new one rendered
CANCELLING THE ADVERSE CLAIM, annotated on TCT No. 003-
2016000407 of the Registry of Deeds of Pasay City.

SO ORDERED. 26 (Emphases in the original)

In ruling for the Bagatsings, the CA found that the case was barred by
prescription and laches. 27 The CA ruled that the right of Rosita had already
prescribed for failing to file an action for reconveyance within 10 years from
the registration of the subject property in the name of Lazaro dated November
20, 1998. 28 This is despite the CA finding that the signatures of spouses
Zamora in the Deed of Donation were forged. 29

Consequently, Rosita filed a Motion for Reconsideration, which was

denied by the CA in a Resolution dated October 9, 2020, to wit:

Accordingly, the Motion for Reconsideration is DENIED.

SO ORDERED. 30 (Emphases in the original)

Aggrieved, Rosita filed the present recourse before the Court.

Issues

For the resolution of this Court are the following issues:

I. WHETHER OR NOT THE HONORABLE COURT A QUO

COMMITTED AN ERROR IN LAW WHEN IT TACKLED MATTERS
RELATING TO PRESCRJPTION OF AN ACTION FOR
RECONVEY ANCE IN AN APPEALED LAND REGISTRATION CASE;
[AND]

II. WHETHER OR NOT THE HONORABLE COURT A QUO

COMMITTED AN ERROR IN LAVl WHEN IT RULED THAT THE
ACTION FOR RECONVEY ANCE BASED ON AN INSTRUMENT
WHOSE EXECUTION WAS FORGED HAD PRESCRJBED. 31

26
Id.
27
Id.at 47 .
28
Id. at 49.
29
Id. at 44.
30
Id. at 37.
31
Id. at 22.
Decision 5 G.R. No. 254194

The Ruling of the Court

The Court grants the petition.

The honorable court a quo did not commit

an error in law when it tackled matters
relating to prescription of an action for
reconveyance m an appealed land
registration case.

In resolving the first issue, the Court underscores that among the
matters raised by the Bagatsings in their Appellants' Brief before the court a
quo was the issue on Statute of Limitations, with Rosita having asserted
ownership only 24 years after the execution of the Deed of Donation. 32 Thus,
the court a quo was justified in tackling the same.

Nonetheless, it was erroneous for the CA to rule on the basis of

prescription of an action for reconveyance. The Court stresses that the original
action was a petition for cancellation of annotation of adverse claim filed by
the Bagatsings. Tracing it further, what sparked this whole case was the
Affidavit of Adverse Claim filed by Rosita. Yet, the court a quo resolved the
case on the basis of the prescription of an action for reconveyance on the part
of Rosita.

Although an action for reconveyance and the annotation of adverse

claim are both reliefs available to the rightful owner of the land which has
been wrongfully or erroneously registered in the name of another, these two
have different purposes. An action for reconveyance, on one hand, is for the
purpose of compelling the transfer of the land to the rightful owner. 33 On the
other hand, the annotation of adverse claim is designed to protect the interest
of a person over a real property by giving notice to third persons that there is a
controversy over the ownership of the said property. 34 Even more importantly,
an action for reconveyance is an original action filed before the Regional Trial
Courts or the Municipal Trial Courts, depending on the assessed value of the
property involved, 35 while an adverse claim is a type of involuntary dealing
made through the filing of a sworn statement before the Register ofDeeds. 36

32
Id . at 102.
33
Sps. Aboitiz v. Sps. Po , 810 Phil. 123 , 140(2017).
34
logarta v. Mangahis, 789 Phil. 244, 252(2016).
35
Sps. Aboitiz v. Sps. Po , supra note 33 .
36
PRESIDENTIAL D ECREE No. 1529, Section 70.
Decision 6 G.R. No. 254194

Applying the foregoing, the Court finds more reason to rule that an
action for reconveyance is entirely different from a petition for cancellation of
adverse claim, which is the original action in this case. In its very obvious
sense, the former may be filed with or without an adverse claim annotated on
the land title, while the latter cannot be filed without an adverse claim.

Therefore, although the court a quo was justified in discussing

prescription as it was one of the matters raised before it, a ruling on the basis
of prescription of an action for reconveyance is unwarranted in this case.

II

The honorable court a quo committed an

error in law when it ruled that the action for
reconveyance based on an instrument
whose execution was forged had prescribed.

Still ruling on prescription, the court a quo declared that the instant
case was barred by prescription, 37 having found that Rosita slept on her right
to file an action for reconveyance within the 10-year period from the
registration of the subject property in the name of Lazaro on November 20,
1998. 38

Again, at the risk of sounding repetlt10us, the appealed case was

regarding the denied petition for cancellation of annotation of adverse claim,
and not an action for reconveyance. Assuming arguendo that the case was an
action for reconveyance, the Court finds that the same has not yet prescribed.

In Heirs of Arao v. Heirs of Eclipse,39 the Court earlier ruled that a

complaint for cancellation of title based on the nullity of the Deed of
Conveyance does not prescribe. 40 Thus, it goes without saying that an action
predicated on the fact that the conveyance complained of was null and void ab
initio is, likewise, imprescriptible.

Applying the foregoing points to the case at bar, Rosita's right to file an
action for reconveyance does not prescribe, since, as aptly found by both the
RTC and the court a quo, the signatures of spouses Zamora appearing on the
Deed of Donation, from which the Bagatsings derive their title, were forged,4 1
making the conveyances made after the donation null and void.
37
Rollo, p. 4 7.
38
Id. at 49.
39
843 Phil. 391 (2 018).
40
ld .
41
Rollo, p. 44.

J
Decision 7 G.R. No. 254194

As observed by the court a quo, there were distinct inconsistencies in

the signature of Rosita as it appears on the Deed of Donation and on the
Affidavit of Adverse Claim. 42 The strokes of the signature found on the
fonner are rounded and paused, whereas the signature on the latter appears to
have thin and precise strokes. 43 For the signature of her deceased husband,
Jesus, the court a quo also found that the same was forged, based on the
testimony of Rosita who was familiar with Jesus' signature based from
documents that her husband executed when he was still alive 44 in accordance
with Section 22 of Rule 132 in the Rules ofEvidence. 45

Thus, there is no doubt that the Deed of Donation is spurious and the
signatures of the donors as they appear thereon are forged. As enunciated by
the Court in a number of cases, a forged deed is a nullity and conveys no title. 46
Henceforth, any and all transactions subsequent to the said donation, including
the purported sale made by Lazaro to the Bagatsings, shall be, likewise, null
and void. Therefore, an action for reconveyance predicated on these null and
void conveyances shall be deemed imprescriptible. Additionally, being an
imprescriptible right, laches cannot be set up to resist the enforcement of the
same. 47 Hence, as correctly argued by Rosita, the court a quo committed an
error in law when it ruled that the action for reconveyance based on an
instrument whose execution was forged had prescribed.

Applying the above discussion to the instant case, the RTC is correct in
denying the petition for cancellation of annotation of adverse claim filed by
the Bagatsings. As fittingly argued by the Bagatsings, Rosita carries the
burden of proof to show that her adverse claim over the subject property is
meritorious. After a careful and thorough perusal of the records, the Court
finds merit in Rosita's adverse claim, following the finding of forgery on the
Deed of Donation from which the Bagatsings derive their title.

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the petition is GRANTED. The

Decision dated November 28, 2019 and the Resolution dated October 9, 2020
of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 111516, ordering the cancellation
of the Notice of Adverse Claim, are REVERSED and SET ASIDE. The
Decision of the Regional Trial Court of Pasay City, Branch 118 dated May
24, 2018 in LRC Case No. R-PSY-16-24198-CV is hereby REINSTATED,
and respondents Ramon L. Bagatsing, Jr., Rosarito L. Bagatsing, Reynaldo L.
Bagatsing, and Marilyn Bagatsing-Topacio's Petition for Cancellation of
Annotation of Adverse Claim is DISMISSED.

42
Id. at 45.
43
Id.
44
Id. at 46.
45
Id.
46
Heirs of Arao v. Heirs of Eclipse, supra note 38.
47
Id.
Decision 8 G.R. No. 254194

SO ORDERED.

SA~:~N
Associate Justice

WE CONCUR:

S. CAGUIOA

HEN
Associate Justice

ATTESTATION

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.

ce
Decision 9 G.R. No. 254194

CERTIFICATION

Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII of the Constitution and the Division
Chairperson's Attestation, I certify 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.