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Fudalan Vs Ocial PDF
Fudalan Vs Ocial PDF
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* SECOND DIVISION.
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MENDOZA, J.:
Before this Court is a petition for review under Rule 45
of the Rules of Court assailing the November 5, 2009
Resolution1 of the Court of Appeals (CA), in C.A.-G.R. CEB
CV No. 01733, which granted the respondents’ “Urgent
Motion to Dismiss Appeal,”2 dated September 23, 2009, on
the ground that petitioner Baldomera Foculan-Fudalan
(Baldomera) failed to file her appellant’s brief within the
non-extendible period of forty-five (45) days; and the
October 26, 2010 Resolution3 which denied her “Omnibus
Motion for Reconsideration of the Reso-
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The Antecedents
The present controversy began when the spouses Danilo
Ocial and Davidica Bongcaras-Ocial (Spouses Ocial),
represented by their Attorneyin-Fact, Marcelino
Bongcaras, filed an action for the declaration of validity of
partition and sale, recovery of ownership and possession
and damages against Flavio Fudalan (Flavio) and Cristobal
Fudalan (Cristobal) before the Regional Trial Court,
Branch 3, Tagbilaran City (RTC), docketed as Civil Case
No. 6672.
Later, Baldomera, the wife of Flavio and mother of
Cristobal, intervened as 3rd party plaintiff against third
party defendants, Heirs of Pedro and Ulpiano Fuderanan
(the Fuderanans), the predecessors-in-interest of Spouses
Ocial.
The subject of the said action was a parcel of land
designated as Cad. Lot No. 56-A located at Tangnan,
Panglao, Bohol, which was a portion of Lot No. 56, Cad
705-D, Panglao Cadastre, in the name of Juana Fuderanan
(Juana).
Spouses Ocial alleged in their complaint5 that on March
13, 2001, the heirs of Juana executed the Extrajudicial
Settlement Among Heirs with Simultaneous Deed of
Absolute Sale over Lot 56-A including two (2) fruit-bearing
mango trees in their favor as lawful vendees; that as the
new owners of the subject land, they caused the planting of
thirty (30) gemelina seedlings, twenty (20) mahogany
seedlings, and two (2) mango seedlings, and in October
2001, they claimed the landowner’s share of the mango
produce from Maximo Bolongaita who had been taking care
of the two (2) fruit-bearing mango trees; that in October
2001, they caused the placement of a “no-trespassing” sign
on one of the mango trees; that they also
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7 Id., at p. 124.
8 Id., at p. 102.
9 Id., at p. 104.
10 Id., at p. 107.
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11 Id.
12 Id., at p. 123.
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which is against the provision of Art. 1308 of the Civil Code on the
qualifications of a valid contract.
On the alleged promise of the heirs of Pedro and Ulpiano
Fuderanan to sell the property to defendants Fudalan for
P50,000.00 as shown in the minutes of the mediation proceedings
before the barangay captain of Tangnan, Panglao, Bohol of which
they did not comply, there is no evidence of tender of payment
made by the defendants. In fact, in the testimony of Maria Salome
Gutual in the witness stand during her cross-examination on
March 10, 2003 which was not refuted by defendants, the
Fudalans did not allegedly comply with their promise to buy the
land, and instead, they even signified refusal to pay it claiming
that they had already bought it from Teofredo and Teofista
Fuderanan so that the heirs of Pedro and Ulpiano Fuderanan
were forced to sell the land to herein plaintiffs Ocial spouses.
Their act of selling the land to the plaintiffs was therefore
justified as it was the defendants who first reneged from their
agreement. Moreover, as there was no tender of payment or
earnest money given by defendants as a consideration therefor, no
contract to sell was perfected that would bind the parties to it
(Art. 1479, par. 2, Civil Code) nor is there any basis for an action
of specific performance which defendants only initiated lately
upon the filing of the third party complaint.13
[Emphasis supplied]
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Not in conformity, the Fudalans and Baldomera filed
their respective notices of appeal with the trial court.
The CA’s Decision
On March 18, 2009, upon receipt of the records, the CA
issued a Resolution,15 requiring the Fudalans and
Baldomera, as well as Spouses Ocial; and Evagra F. Bacat,
as third party defendants, to file their respective briefs
within the non-extendible period of forty-five (45) days.
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14 Id., at p. 130.
15 Id., at pp. 131-132.
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Baldomera filed her Omnibus Motion for
Reconsideration of the Resolution dated November 5, 2009
with Leave of Court to Admit Appellant’s Brief for the
Intervenor-Third Party Plaintiff. On October 26, 2010,
however, the CA issued another resolution denying her
motion, to wit:
According to the CA, “[b]laming the failure to file the
required brief on counsel’s heavy workload, on the mistake
or ignorance of his client, and excusable neglect on his part
is not acceptable.”18 What happened was simply the
negligence
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16 Id., at p. 134.
17 Id., at p. 194.
18 Id., at p. 193.
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19 Id., at p. 194.
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Baldomera posits that it was erroneous for the CA to
dismiss her appeal on the ground that she failed to file her
appellant’s brief on time. She cited the case of Sebastian v.
Morales21 where it was written that liberal construction of
the rules is the controlling principle to effect substantial
justice.
Nevertheless, the Court in the same case made
qualifications with respect to the application of the said
principle. It was held therein:
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In other words, procedural rules are not to be belittled or
dismissed simply because their nonobservance may have
resulted in prejudice to a party’s substantive rights. Like
all rules, they are required to be followed except only for
the most persuasive of reasons when they may be relaxed
to relieve a litigant of an injustice not commensurate with
the degree of his thoughtlessness in not complying with the
procedure prescribed.23 Besides, as the oft-quoted quip
would put it, the bare invocation of “in the interest of
substantial justice” is not a magic wand that will
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all they need to do is sit back, relax and await the outcome
of the case; instead, they should give the necessary
assistance to their counsel for what is at stake is ultimately
their interest.”28
Even on the merits,
the petition must fail
Even on the merits, the petitioner’s quest must fail.
In essence, Baldomera claims that because they have
been in adverse possession for the requisite period, their
possession
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26 Dimarucot v. People, 645 Phil. 218, 228; 630 SCRA 659, 668 (2010).
27 Id.
28 Apostol v. Court of Appeals, 590 Phil. 88, 100-101; 569 SCRA 80, 92
(2008).
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ity towards the true owner, that is, possession under the
claim of title.31
Even the allegation that sometime on November 4, 1983,
a blue paper was executed wherein Teofredo and Eutiquia,
allegedly the duly authorized representatives of the heirs of
Juana to settle their claims over the land, acknowledged to
have received the sum of P1,000.00,32 cannot be considered
a valid basis for a possession in good faith and just title.
The alleged agreement which is, at best, a compromise
agreement cannot be made as the foundation of a
conclusion that Baldomera is a possessor in good faith and
with just title who acquired the property through ordinary
acquisitive prescription. By the nature of a compromise
agreement, which brings the parties to agree to something
that neither of them may actually want, but for the peace it
will bring them without a protracted litigation, no right can
arise therefrom because the parties executed the same only
to buy peace and to write finis to the controversy. It did not
create or transmit ownership rights over the subject
property.33
That being settled, the next question now is: Can
Baldomera acquire the property through extraordinary
acquisitive prescription?
The Court is still constrained to rule in the negative.
In extraordinary prescription, ownership and other real
rights over immovable property are acquired through
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31 Olegario v. Mari, 623 Phil. 48, 59; 608 SCRA 134, 145 (2009).
32 Rollo, p. 86.
33 Supra note 30 at p. 381; p. 337.
34 Heirs of the late Felix M. Bucton v. Go, G.R. No. 188395, November
20, 2013, 710 SCRA 457, 472.
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SO ORDERED.
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