REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES

11th Judicial Region

REGIONAL TRIAL COURT
Branch 3
Nabunturan, Davao de Oro

SOMOLONG MACOMPAS,
MANOLO MACOMPAS, Civil Case No. 1110-2013
DOROTEO ARELLANO and
EVELYN CAYANONG, FOR: Declaration of Nullity of
Plaintiffs, Original Certificate of
Title
No. P-20558 and
Damages
- versus -

HEIRS OF CLARITA PENIGAN,

Namely: ALBERTO ANTONIO,
EDITHA PENIGAN, JOSE MANUEL,
NORA PENIGAN,
Defendants.
x------------------------------------------------x

COMMENT/OPPOSITION TO THE DEFENDANTS’ MOTION

TO DISMISS

COME NOW, plaintiffs, by the undersigned counsel and unto

this Honorable Court, most respectfully states THAT:

1. The defendants filed its Motion to Dismiss and was received

by the undersigned counsel in open court on October 1,
2020 on the ground that the Plaintiffs’ instant civil action is
barred by the Statute of Limitations because the same has
been instituted more than one (1) year after the Original
Certificate of Title in favor of the late Clarita Penigan by
virtue of, among others, Section 32 of Presidential Decree
1529 which provides:

Section 32. Review of decree of registration;

Innocent purchaser for value. The decree of
registration shall not be reopened or revised by
reason of absence, minority, or other disability of
any person adversely affected thereby, nor by any
proceeding in any court for reversing judgments,
subject, however, to the right of any person,
including the government and the branches thereof,
deprived of land or of any estate or interest therein
by such adjudication or confirmation of title
obtained by actual fraud, to file in the proper Court

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 of First Instance a petition for reopening and review
of the decree of registration not later than one year
from and after the date of the entry of such decree
of registration, but in no case shall such petition be
entertained by the court where an innocent
purchaser for value has acquired the land or an
interest therein, whose rights may be prejudiced.
Whenever the phrase "innocent purchaser for value"
or an equivalent phrase occurs in this Decree, it
shall be deemed to include an innocent lessee,
mortgagee, or other encumbrancer for value.
Upon the expiration of said period of one year, the
decree of registration and the certificate of title
issued shall become incontrovertible. Any person
aggrieved by such decree of registration in any case
may pursue his remedy by action for damages
against the applicant or any other persons
responsible for the fraud.

2. With all due respect, the afore-cited ground for Motion to

Dismiss and its legal basis is misplaced. The instant action,
while seeking primarily to declare the nullity of the title, is
not a Review of Decree of Registration as contemplated in
the above provision, but an action for reconveyance for a
portion of land with damages originally filed on August 03,
1995;

3. A complaint for reconveyance is an action which admits the

registration of title of another party but claims that such
registration was erroneous or wrongful 1. It seeks the
transfer of the title to the rightful and legal owner, or to the
party who has a superior right over it, without prejudice to
innocent purchasers in good faith2. It seeks the transfer of a
title issued in a valid proceeding;

4. The complaint of the herein Plaintiffs asserted that they

were the true owners of the portion of the parcel of land
which was registered in the name of the Clarita Penigan.
They alleged that they are actual, continuous, exclusive and
notorious possessors of the portion of the subject land.
They claimed that Clarita Penigan had the property
registered without their knowledge and through fraud by
presenting a spurious Relinquishment of Rights allegedly
executed by Manolo Macompas. Thus, they sought to
recover the property and to cancel the title of the Clarita
Penigan;

1
Toledo vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 167838, August 5, 2015, 765 SCRA 104, 115 [Per J. Jardeleza,
Third Division].
2
Ibid.

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5. Granting without conceding that the instant action is
barred by Statute of Limitations, the instant motion to
dismiss is filed for the first time since the instant case
commenced in 1995, and hence, barred by estoppel in pais,
or estoppel by deed or by record, and of estoppel by laches,
as enunciated in the landmark case of Tijam vs.
Sibonghanoy;3

6. As a general Rule, defenses and objections not pleaded

either in a motion to dismiss or in the answer are deemed
waived. The exception to this rule, among others, is when it
appears from the pleadings or the evidence on record that
the action is barred by statute of limitations 4. Exception to
such exception is when the defense or objection is barred by
estoppel. The instant Motion to Dismiss, as aforementioned,
was only filed for the first time after the case has been in
litigation for almost twenty-five (25) years now. The Doctrine
of Estoppel, as introduced in the Tijam vs. Sibonghanoy
case, aptly applies in the instant case;

7. Likewise, should the instant Motion to Dismiss be granted,

no resolution will be attained by both parties other than a
refiling of another action for damages by the Plaintiffs that
will consequently drag the same issues for another
exhausting and lengthy period of litigation in court. It is
therefore respectfully submitted that the issues involving
the instant case be resolved in the present action— more so
that both parties are now manifesting its intention to settle
the case amicably and once and for all, put an end to the
issues involved.

PRAYER

WHEREFORE, premises considered, it is most

respectfully prayed of this Honorable Court that the instant
Motion to Dismiss filed by the Defendants be DENIED.

Such other reliefs just and equitable under the premises

are likewise prayed for.

Most respectfully Submitted. Nabunturan, Davao de Oro,

Philippines. October 9, 2020.

ATTY. LYNDON MELVI C. SUMI-OG

3
G.R. No. L-21450 April 15, 1968
4
Section 1, Rule 9 of the Revised Rules of Court

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 Counsel for the Plaintiffs
Roll No. 74318
PTR No. 2847859 Jul. 29, 2020
IBP No. 128282 Sep. 04, 2020
TIN: 288-886-690-000

Copy furnished:

ATTY. JONATHAN P. UY
2nd fr.,Pereyras Building,
Pioneer Ave., Tagum City,
Davao del Norte

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