Republic vs. Southside Homeowners Association, Inc.

GR No. 156951; 22 Sept 2006

2nd Division: Garcia

Facts:
On July 12, 1957, Proclamation No. 423 was issued by the then President Carlos P. Garcia establishing a military
reservation as Fort William McKinley (renamed as Fort Andres Bonifacio Military Reservation or FBMR). The property
then covered by the said Proclamation is now inalienable.

On October 30, 1991, TCT No. 15084 was issued. Basis of which is the notarized Deed of Sale purportedly executed on
the same day by then Director Abelardo G. Palad of the Land Management Bureau in favor of Southside Homeowners
Association, Inc. (SHAI), a non-stock corporation organized mostly by wives of AFP military officers.

The Republic, represented by the Solicitor General, alleged, among others, that the property in question is inalienable,
being part of a military reservation under Proclamation No. 423; that fraud attended SHAI’s procurement of the said
Title Certificate.

On the other hand, Southside Homeowners Association, Inc. (SHAI) denied the material allegations and countered that
the impugned title and the Deed of Sale are valid documents; and that the Republic has to prove that the subject
property is inalienable.

Issue:
Can the courts take judicial notice of Proclamation No. 423 without its introduction?

Held: YES! Courts should take judicial notice of such Proclamation issued.

As provided in Rule 129, Section 1.:

Section 1. Judicial notice, when mandatory. — A court shall take judicial notice, without the introduction of
evidence, of the existence and territorial extent of states, their political history, forms of government and
symbols of nationality, the law of nations, the admiralty and maritime courts of the world and their seals, the
political constitution and history of the Philippines, the official acts of legislative, executive and judicial
departments of the National Government of the Philippines, the laws of nature, the measure of time, and the
geographical divisions. (1a) (emphasis supplied)

For discharging the burden of proving that the disputed property is part of the reservation, the Republic needs only to
demonstrate that all the disputed land has been reserved for military purposes.

The evidence, however, of the fact of the reservation is the law or, to be more precise, the Proclamation No. 423 itself,
the contents and issuance of which courts can and should take judicial notice of.

In conclusion, Proclamation No. 423, being an act of the executive department, courts should take judicial notice of
such, even without being introduced as evidence, pursuant to Section 1, Rule 129 of the Rules of Court.

Digest and report of:

Nono, Benjo Romil

3-SR