PHI

LIPPI
NESUPREMECOURTDECI
SIONS

ENBANC

[
G.R.No.L-
4935.May28,
1954.
]

J.
M.TUASON&CO.,I
NC.,r
epr
esentedbyi
tsManagi
ngPARTNER,GREGORIOARANETA,
I
NC.
,Pl
aint
if
f-
Appel
l
ee,v.QUIRI
NOBOLAÑOS,Def
endant-
Appel
l
ant.

SYLLABUS

1.PARTI ES;REAL PARTY I NINTEREST;ATTORNEY MAY BRI NG ACTI ON I

N THE
PLAINTIFF’
SNAME.—Sect ion2oftheRulesofCour tr
equi
resthatanact i
onbebrought
i
nt henameof ,butnotnecessari
l
yby ,t
her ealproper
tyi
nter
est.Infactthepracti
ceis
foranattor
ney-
at-
lawtobringtheacti
on,thatis,
tofil
ethecomplaint
,inthenameoft he
plai
nti
ff
.

2.I D.;CORPORATI ON AS PARTY MAY BE REPRESENTED BY ANOTHER PERSON.

NATURALORJUDI CIAL.—Ther eisnot hingagainstonecor por
ati
onbeingrepresented
byanot herperson,naturalorj
uri
dical
, i
nasuitincour t,
forthetr
uerulei
sthat"alt
hough
acor porati
onhasnopowert oenterintoapar t
nership,i
tmaynev ert
hel
essenterintoa
j
ointv entur
ewi thanotherwher ethenat ureofthatvent ur
eisinli
newiththebusi ness
authorizedbyi tscharter.
"(Wyomi ng-I
ndianaOi lGasCo.v .Weston,80A.L.R.,1043,
ci
ting2Fl etcherCyc.E.1082.)

3.COMPLAI NTS;AMENDMENTSTO CONFI RM TO EVIDENCENOT NECESSARY TO

RENDERJUDGMENTONFACTSPROVEDTHOUGHNOTALLEGED.— Wher et
hef acts
shown entit
led pl
ainti
fftoreli
efotherthan thatasked f
or,no amendmentt ot he
complaintisnecessary,especi
allywher
edef endanthashimselfraisedt
hepointon
whichrecoveryisbased,andtheappell
atecourtmaytreatt
hepleadingasamendedt o
confi
rmt ot heevidence,al
thoughthepleadingswerenotactuall
yamended.( Ci
ti
ng
Maran,RulesofCour t
,1952ed.,389-
390.
)

4.LANDREGI STRATI ON;REOPENI NGOFDECREEAFTERONEYEAR, NOTALLOWED.—

Adecr eeofr egi str
ati
oncannol ongerbeimpugnedont hegroundoffraud,errororlack
ofnot i
cet odef endant,afteroney earhasel apsedf rom theissuanceandent ryofthe
decree.Neithercoul dthedecr eebecol l
aterall
yattackedbyanyper sonclaimingt i
tleto,
orinteresti
n, thel andpr i
ortot heregist
rati
onpr oceedings,norcouldti
tl
etot hatlandin
derogationoft hatofpl ai
nt i
ffbeacqui r
edbyadv ersepossessionorpr escr
iptionsince
adverse,notor i
ousandcont inuouspossessi onundercl aim ofownershipisinef f
ecti
ve
agai
nstTor
rensti
tl
eandst
her
ightt
osecur
epossessi
onunderadecr
eeofr
egi
str
ati
on
doesnotpr
escri
be.

5.ACTIONS;
IDENTI
TYOFCAUSEOFACTI ON.—Wher eoneact
ioni
sfortherecover
yof
ownershi
pandtheotheri
sforr
ecov
eryofpossessi
on,t
her
eisnoident
ityofcauseof
act
ion.

6.ID.
;CLASSSUIT.—Wheretheacti
onseeksr
eli
eff
oreachindi
vi
dualpl
aint
if
fandnot
rel
i
efforandonbehal
fofot
hers,
theact
ioni
snotacl
asssui
t.

DECISION

REYES,
J.:

Thisisanact
ionori
ginal
lybroughtintheCour
tofFir
stI
nst
anceofRizal
,QuezonCi
ty
Branch,
tor
ecoverpossessi
onofr egi
ster
edl
andsi
tuat
edi
nbarr
ioTat
alon,
QuezonCit
y.

Plai
nti
ff’
s compl ai ntwas amended t hree t imes wi thr espectt ot he ext entand
descri
pti
onoft hel andsoughtt ober ecov ered.Theor igi
nalcompl aintdescr ibedt he
l
andasapor t
ionofal otr egisteredinpl ai
nt i
ff’
snameunderTr ansf
erCer t
if
icateofTi tl
e
No.37686oft helandr ecor dofRi zalProv i
nceandascont aini
nganar eaof13hect ares
moreorl ess.Butt hecompl aintwasamendedbyr educingthear eato6hect ar es,mor e
orless,af terdef endanthad i ndicated thepl ai
nti
ff’
ssur veyorsthepor tionofl and
cl
aimedandoccupi edbyhi m.Thesecondamendmentbecamenecessar yandwas
al
lowedf ollowingt het estimonyofpl ai
ntiff’
ssur veyorsthatapor ti
onoft hear eawas
embracedi nanot hercer tifi
cat eoft i
tl
e,whi chwaspl ai
ntif
f’
sTr ansf
erCer t
if
icateofTi tl
e
No.37677.Andst il
llater,int hecour seoft r
ial,aft
erdefendant ’
ssurveyorandwi tness,
Quir
inoFer i
a,hadt esti
fiedt hatt heareaoccupi edandcl aimedbydef endantwasabout
13hectares,asshowni nhi sExhi bit1,plainti
ffagain,witht heleaveofcour t,amended
i
tscompl ainttomakei tsal l
egat ionsconf ormt ot heevidence.

Defendant ,i
nhisanswer ,
setsupprescripti
onandt it
lei
nhi msel fthru"open,continuous,
exclusiveandpubl icandnot ori
ouspossessi on( ofthelandi ndi spute)undercl aim of
owner ship,adverset otheentir
ewor ldbydef endantandhi spr edecessorsini nterest
"
fr
om " ti
mei mmemor ial
."Theanswerf urt
heral l
egest hatr egistr
ati
onoft hel andi n
disputewasobt ainedbypl ai
nti
fforitspredecessorsininterestt hr
u" f
raudorer rorand
withoutknowl edge( of)ornoti
ceeitherpersonalorthrupublicationtodef endantand/ or
predecessor sinint erest.
"Theanswert herefor
epr aysthatthecompl aintbedi smi ssed
withcost sandpl aintiffr
equir
edt or
econv eythelandtodef endantorpayi t
sv al
ue.
Aftertri
al,t
hel owercourtrender
edjudgmentforplai
nti
ff
,declar
ingdefendanttobe
withoutanyrighttothelandi
nquesti
onandorderi
nghimt orest
orepossessionther
eof
toplaint
if
fandt opayt helat
teramonthl
yrentofP132.62fr
om January,1940,unti
lhe
vacatestheland,andalsotopaythecost
s.

Appeal
i
ngdir
ectl
ytothiscourtbecauseoftheval
ueofthepropert
yinv
olv
ed,
def
endant
makesthef
oll
owingassignmentoferror
s:j
gc:
chanr
obl
es.com.ph

"I
.Thet r
ialcour
terr
edinnotdi
smissi
ngt
hecaseont
hegr
oundt
hatt
hecasewasnot
broughtbythereal
part
yini
nter
est
.

"
II
.Thet
ri
alcour
ter
redi
nadmi
tt
ingt
het
hir
damendedcompl
aint
.

"
II
I.Thet
ri
alcour
ter
redi
ndeny
ingdef
endant
’smot
iont
ost
ri
ke.

"
IV.Thet
ri
alcour
ter
redi
nincl
udi
ngi
nit
sdeci
sionl
andnoti
nvol
vedi
nthel
i
tigat
ion.

"V.Thet r
ialcourter
redinholdi
ngthatthel
andi
ndi
sput
eiscov
eredbyt
ransf
er
cert
if
icat
esofTitl
eNos.37686and37677.

"
VI.Thetr
ialcour
ter
redi
nnotf
indi
ngt
hatt
hedef
endanti
sthet
rueandl
awf
ulownerof
t
heland.

"VI
I.Thet
ri
alcourter
redi
nfi
ndi
ngt hatthedefendanti
sliablet
opaytheplai
nti
fft
he
amountofP132.
62monthl
yfr
om January
, 1940,
unti
lhevacatest
hepr
emises.

"
VII
I.Thetr
ialcour
terr
edinnotor
deri
ngt
hepl
aint
if
ftor
econv
eyt
hel
andi
nli
ti
gat
iont
o
t
hedefendant.
"cr
alawvi
rt
ua1awli
brar
y

Ast ot hef i
rstassigneder ror,thereisnothingtot hecontentionthatt hepr esentaction
i
snotbr oughtbyt her ealpar tyininterest
,thatis,byJ.M.Tuason&Co. ,Inc.Whatt he
RulesofCour trequir
ei st hatanact i
onbebr oughtinthenameof ,butnotnecessar il
yby ,
ther ealpartyininterest.(Sect i
on2, Rule2.)Infactthepr acti
ceisf oranat torney-at-
law
tobr ingtheaction,thatist of il
et hecomplaint,
inthenameoft heplaintif
f.Thatpr acti
ce
appear st ohav ebeenf ollowedi nthiscase,sincet hecompl ai
ntissi gnedbyt hel aw
fi
rm ofAr aneta&Ar anet a,"counself orplaint
if
f"andcommenceswi t
ht hest at
ement
"Comesnowpl ainti
ff,throughi tsunder si
gnedcounsel .
"Itistruethatt hecompl aintalso
statest hattheplainti
ffis" representedhereinbyi t
sManagi ngPartnerGr egor i
oAr aneta,
I
nc.",anot her cor por ati
on,but t herei s nothing agai nst one cor por ati
on bei ng
representedbyanot herper son, natur
alorj ur
idical,i
nasui ti
ncour t.Thecont entiont hat
GregorioAr aneta,Inc.cannotactasmanagi ngpar tnerforplaintif
font het heoryt hati t
i
si l
legalf ort wocor porationst oenteri ntoapar t
nershipi swithoutmer i
t,fort het rue
ruleist hat" t houghacor porationhasnopowert oent erint
oapar t
nership,i tmay
neverthelessent erintoaj ointventurewi thanotherwher ethenat ur
eoft hatv entureisi n
l
inewi t
ht hebusi nessaut horizedbyi tschar ter.
"( Wy oming-I
ndi anaOi lGasCo.v .
West on,80A.L.R. ,1043,ci t
ing2Fl etcherCy c.ofCor p.
,1082.)Ther eisnot hingi nt he
recordtoi ndi catethatt hev entureinwhi chpl ai
ntiffi
sr epresentedbyGr egorioAr anet a,
I
nc.as" itsmanagi ngpar t
ner "isnotinlinewitht hecor poratebusinessofei theroft hem.

Err
orsI
I,I
II
,andI
V,referri
ngt otheadmissi
onoft hethi
rdamendedcomplai
nt,maybe
answer
edbymerer eferencetosection4ofRul e17,RulesofCour
t,whi
chsancti
ons
suchamendment
.Itreads:chanr
ob1esvir
tual1awlibr
ary

SEC.4.Amendmentt oconformt oev i

dence.—Wheni ssuesnotr aisedbyt hepl eadings
aret r
iedbyexpr essori mpl i
edconsentoft hepar ti
es,theyshal lbet reatedi nal l
respects,asiftheyhadbeenr aisedi nthepl eadings.Suchamendmentoft hepl eadings
asmaybenecessar ytocauset hem t oconf ormt otheev idenceandt or aiset hese
i
ssuesmaybemadeuponmot i
onofanypar tyatmyt i
me,ev enaf terjudgment ;but
fail
uresot oamenddoesnotaf fectt heresultoft hetr
ialofthesei ssues.I fev i
dencei s
objectedt oatt het r
ialont hegr oundt hatiti snotwi thi
nt hei ssuesmadebyt he
pleadi
ngs, thecourtmayallowt hepl eadi
ngst obeamendedandshal lbesof reelywhen
thepresent at
ionofthemer it
soft heact ionwi llbesubservedt herebyandt heobj ecti
ng
partyfail
st osati
sfythecourtt hatt headmi ssi
onofsuchev idencewoul dpr ejudicehim
i
nmai nt
aininghisacti
onordef enseupont hemer i
ts.Thecour tmaygr antacont i
nuance
toenablet heobjecti
ngpartytomeetsuchev i
dence."cr
alawv ir
tua1awl i
brary

Undert
hisprovisi
onamendmentisnotevennecessar yforthepurposeofrender
ing
j
udgmentoni ssuesprovedt
houghnotalleged.Thus,commentingont heprovi
sion,
Chi
efJust
iceMor ansay
sinhi
sRulesofCourt:
jgc:
chanr
obles.
com.
ph

"Undert his secti

on,Ameri
can court
s have,undert he New Feder alRules ofCi vi
l
Pr ocedure,ruledthatwher
et hefactsshownentitl
edplainti
fftor el
iefotherthant hat
askedf or,noamendmentt ot hecomplaintisnecessary,especiall
ywher edef endant
hashi msel fraisedthepoi
ntonwhi chrecoveryi
sbased,andt hatt heappell
at ecourt
treatthepl eadingsasamendedt oconformt otheev i
dence,althought hepl eadings
wer enotact uall
yamended.
"(IMoran,RulesofCourt,
1952ed. ,389-390.)

Ourconcl
usi
ont
her
efor
eist
hatspeci
fi
cat
ionofer
rorI
I,
II
I,
andI
Var
ewi
thoutmer
it
.

Letusnow passont heerrorsVandVI .Admi t

ti
ng,t hr
oughhi sat tor
ney,attheear ly
stageofthet r
ial
,thatthelandindi spute"isthatdescr i
bedorr epresentedinExhi bitA
andi nExhibitBenclosedinr edpenci lwiththenameQui ri
noBol años,"defendantl ater
changedhi slawy erandalsohi stheoryandt r
iedt opr ovethatthel andindisput ewas
notcoveredbypl ainti
ff
’scerti
fi
cateoft i
tl
e.Theev idence,however,isagainstdefendant ,
foritcl
earlyestabli
shesthatplai
ntif
fisther egisteredownerofl otNo.4- B-3-
C,situatei n
barri
oTat alon,QuezonCi t
y ,wit
hanar eaof5, 297,429.3squaremet ers,moreorl ess,
coveredbyt ransfercer ti
fi
cateoftit
leNo.37686oft helandr ecor dsofRi zalprov i
nce,
andofl otNo.4- B- 4,sit
uatedinthesamebar ri
o,havinganar eaof74, 789squar emet ers,
mor eorl ess,cov eredbyt ransf
ercertifi
cateoft i
tl
eNo.37677oft hel andrecordsoft he
samepr ovince,bot hlotshav i
ngbeenor i
ginall
yregisteredonJul y8, 1914underor iginal
certi
fi
cat eoft i
tleNo.735.Thei dentityoft helotswasest abl
ishedbyt het est
imonyof
AntonioManahanandMagnoFaust ino,wi tnessesf orplainti
ff,andt heidentit
yoft he
porti
ont hereofcl aimedbydef endantwasest abli
shedbyt het esti
monyofhi sown
witness,Qui ri
coFer i
a.Thecombi nedt estimonyoft heset hreewi tnessescl earl
yshows
thatthepor t
ioncl ai
medbydef endanti smadeupofapar toflot4B-3- Candmaj oron
porti
onofl ot4-B-4,andi swellwit
hint hear eacoveredbyt hetwot ransfercerti
fi
catesof
ti
tl
eal r
eadyment i
oned.Thi sfactalsoappear sadmi tt
edi ndef endant ’
sanswert ot he
thi
rdamendedcompl ai
nt.

Ast hel andi ndi sput eiscov eredbypl ainti

ff’
sTor r enscer ti
f i
cateoft itl
eandwas
registeredi n1914, thedecr eeofr egi strat
ioncannol ongerbei mpugnedont heground
off raud,errororl ackofnot i
cetodef endant ,asmor et hanoney earhasal r
eadyel apsed
from t hei ssuanceandent ryoft hedecr ee.Neithercoul dt hedecr eebecol l
aterall
y
attackedbyanyper soncl aimingt itleto,ori nter
estin,t hel andpr i
ortot her egist
ration
proceedi ngs.( Soroñgonv .Makal intal,145Of f.Gaz.,3819. )Norcoul dtit
let othatland
i
nder ogationoft hatofpl aint
iff,ther egi
steredowner ,beacqui redbypr escri
ptionor
adv ersepossessi on.( Sect i
on46,ActNo.496. )Adv erse,not ori
ousandcont i
nuous
possessi onundercl aim ofowner shi pf ortheperiodf i
xedbyl awi sineffectiveagainsta
Tor renstit
le.(Val i
ent ev .JudgeofCFIofTar l
ac,2et c.
, 45Of f
.Gaz. ,
Supp.9, p.43.)And
i
ti sl i
kewiseset tl
edt hatther i
ghtt osecur epossessi onunderadecr eeofr egist
ration
doesnotpr escribe.( Franciscov .Cr uz ,
43Of f
.Gaz.,5105, 5109-5110.)Ar ecentdeci sion
oft hisCour tont hispoi nti st hatr ender edi nthecaseofJoseAl cantaraEt .Al.,v.
Mar inaoEt .Al.,92Phi l.
,796.Thi sdi sposesoft heall
egeder rorsVandVI .

Ast oer r
orVI I,itiscl aimedt hat’therewasnoev i
dencet osust aint hef i
ndingt hat
defendantshoul dbesent encedt opaypl aint
iffP132. 62mont hl yfrom Januar y
,1940,
untilhev acatest hepr emises."Buti tappear sf r
om t her ecordt hatt hereasonabl e
compensat ionfort heuseandoccupat ionoft hepr emises,asst ipulatedatt hehear ing
wasP10amont hf oreachhect areandt hatt hear eaoccupi edbydef endantwas
13.2619hect ares.Thet otalrenttobepai df ort heareaoccupi edshoul dtherefor
ebe
P132. 62amont h.I talsoappear sfrom thet esti
monyofJ.A.Ar anet aandwi t
ness
Emi gdioTanjuatcot hatasear l
yas1939anact i
onofej ectmenthadal readybeenf iled
againstdefendant .Andi tcannotbesupposedt hatdefendanthasbeenpay ingrents,for
hehasbeenasser tingal lal
ongt hatthepr emisesi nquestion" haveal way sbeensi nce
ti
mei mmemor i
ali nopen,cont i
nuous,exclusiveandpubl i
candnot oriouspossessi on
and undercl aim ofowner shi
p adv er
se t ot he enti
re wor l
d bydef endantand hi s
predecessorsini nterest.
"Thi sassi
gnmentofer roristhusclearlywi t
houtmer it
.

Err
orNo.VII
Iisbutaconsequenceoft
heot
herer
ror
sal
l
egedandneedsf
orf
urt
her
consi
der
ati
on.

Duringt hependencyoft hiscasei nthisCour tappel

l
ant,t
hruothercounsel
,hasfileda
mot i
ont odismissallegi
ngt hatt hereispendi ngbefor
etheCour tofFir
stInst
anceof
Rizalanot heracti
onbet weent hesamepar t
iesandforthesamecauseandseeki ngto
sustaint hatallegat
ion wi th a copyoft he complaintfi
led i
n sai
d acti
on.Butan
exami nationofthatcompl ai
ntrev eal
st hatappell
ant
’sall
egat
ionisnotcorrect
,forthe
pretendedi dent
ityofpartiesandcauseofact i
oninthetwosuitsdoesnotappear.That
othercaseisoneforrecoveryofownership,whil
ethepr esentonei sforrecoveryof
possessi
on.Andwhi l
eappel l
antclai
mst hatheisal soinvolvedint hatotheraction
becauseitisacl
asssuit,t
hecompl ai
ntdoesnotshowt hatsuchisr eal
lythecase.On
thecontrar
y,i
tappear
sthatt heacti
onseeksrel
iefforeachi ndiv
idualplai
ntif
fandnot
rel
ieff
orandonbehalfofothers.Themoti
onfordismissalisclear
lywithoutmer i
t.

Wher
efor
e,t
hej
udgmentappeal
edf
rom i
saf
fi
rmed,
wit
hcost
sagai
nstt
heAppel
l
ant
.