G.R. No.

191696 April 10, 2013

ROGELIO DANTIS, Petitioner,
vs.
JULIO MAGHINANG, JR., Respondent.

A WRITTEN RECEIPT (NOT SIGNED BY THE VENDOR) DOES NOT SPECIFY A

DETERMINATE SUBJECT MATTER. IT ALSO DOES NOT DECLARE A PRICE
CERTAIN MONEY.
A DEFINITE AGREEMENT ON THE MANNER OF PAYMENT OF THE PURCHASE
PRICE IS AN ESSENTIAL ELEMENT IN THE FORMATION OF A BINDING AND
ENFORCEABLE CONTRACT OF SALE.

FACTS:

Rogelio alleged that he was the registered owner of a parcel of land with an area of 5,657
square meters; that he acquired ownership of the property through a deed of extrajudicial
partition of the estate of his deceased father, Emilio Dantis (Emilio) which he had been paying
the realty taxes. Rogelio filed a complaint against the respondent Julio Maghinang Jr. due to
the fact that the latter occupied and built a house on a portion of his property without any
right at all. However, Julio Jr. denied the allegations, that he claimed the actual owner of the
352 square meters lot he occupied which he inherited from his father, and has been in a
continuous possession of the said lot for 30 years. Julio Jr. added that the 352 sqm. lot was
bought by his father from Emilio Dantis, the father of Rogelio Dantis; but the affidavit was
not signed by Emilio, and receipt presented was a mere photocopy. On top of that, the
respondent admitted that he has not declared the property as his nor paid the taxes thereon
because there is a problem.

The RTC ruled in favor of Rogelio Dantis as the rightful owner of the entire 5,657 square
meters lot. However, the CA reversed the decision by the RTC on the grounds that the partial
payment of the purchase price, coupled with the delivery of the thing, gave efficacy to the oral
sale and brought it outside the operation of the statute of frauds.

ISSUE: WON, there is a perfected contract of sale between Emilio and Julio, Sr.?

RULING:

NO. There was no perfected contract of sale between parties.

By the contract of sale, one of the contracting parties obligates himself to transfer the
ownership of, and to deliver, a determinate thing, and the other to pay therefor a price certain in
money or its equivalent. (Art. 1458) A contract of sale is a consensual contract and, thus, is
perfected by mere consent which is manifested by the meeting of the offer and the acceptance
upon the thing and the cause which are to constitute the contract. Until the contract of sale is
perfected, it cannot, as an independent source of obligation, serve as a binding juridical relation
between the parties. The essential elements of a contract of sale are: a) consent or meeting of the
minds, that is, consent to transfer ownership in exchange for the price; b) determinate subject
matter; and c) price certain in money or its equivalent. The absence of any of the essential
elements shall negate the existence of a perfected contract of sale.

Julio, Jr. failed to establish by preponderance of evidence that there was a meeting
of the minds of the parties as to the subject matter and the purchase price.

The written receipt does not specify a determinate subject matter. Nowhere does it
provide a description of the property subject of the sale, including its metes and bounds, as well
as its total area. In addition, it does not categorically declare the price certain in money.
Neither does it state the mode of payment of the purchase price and the period for its payment. A
definite agreement on the manner of payment of the purchase price is an essential element
in the formation of a binding and enforceable contract of sale.

DECISION:

- the petition is GRANTED.