This case has been cited 5 times or more.
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2009-07-31 |
NACHURA, J. |
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| While the Torrens system is not a mode of acquiring title, but merely a system of registration of titles to lands, justice and equity demand that the titleholder should not be made to bear the unfavorable effect of the mistake or negligence of the State's agents, in the absence of proof of his complicity in a fraud or of manifest damage to third persons. The real purpose of the Torrens system is to quiet title to land and put a stop forever to any question as to the legality of the title, except claims that were noted in the certificate at the time of the registration or that may arise subsequent thereto. Otherwise, the integrity of the Torrens system would forever be sullied by the ineptitude and inefficiency of land registration officials, who are ordinarily presumed to have regularly performed their duties.[64] Thus, where innocent third persons, relying on the correctness of the certificate of title thus issued, acquire rights over the property, the court cannot disregard those rights and order the cancellation of the certificate. The effect of such outright cancellation will be to impair public confidence in the certificate of title. The sanctity of the Torrens system must be preserved; otherwise, everyone dealing with the property registered under the system will have to inquire in every instance on whether the title had been regularly or irregularly issued, contrary to the evident purpose of the law. Every person dealing with the registered land may safely rely on the correctness of the certificate of title issued therefor, and the law will in no way oblige him to go behind the certificate to determine the condition of the property.[65] | |||||
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2009-07-07 |
NACHURA, J. |
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| The general rule that the direct result of a previous void contract cannot be valid will not apply in this case as it will directly contravene the Torrens system of registration. Where innocent third persons, relying on the correctness of the certificate of title thus issued, acquire rights over the property, this Court cannot disregard such rights and order the cancellation of the certificate. The effect of such outright cancellation will be to impair public confidence in the certificate of title. The sanctity of the Torrens system must be preserved; otherwise, everyone dealing with the property registered under the system will have to inquire in every instance as to whether the title had been regularly or irregularly issued, contrary to the evident purpose of the law. Every person dealing with the registered land may safely rely on the correctness of the certificate of title issued therefor, and the law will, in no way, oblige him to go behind the certificate to determine the condition of the property.[44] | |||||
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2008-07-09 |
TINGA, J, |
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| Q: After exerting diligent effort to locate the same and search seem to be futile[,] what did you do next, if any? A: I decided to execute an Affidavit of Loss of the title.[11] We deem the foregoing evidence sufficient to prove the loss of the owner's duplicate copy of TCT No. 11356 and the consequent entitlement of petitioners to the issuance of a new owner's duplicate copy. After all, in civil cases such as the one at bar, mere preponderance of evidence suffices. Preponderance of evidence is a phrase which, in the last analysis, means probability of the truth. It is evidence which is more convincing to the court as worthy of belief than that which is offered in opposition thereto.[12] | |||||
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2007-04-27 |
CALLEJO, SR., J. |
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| It is a basic rule in evidence that the burden of proof lies on the party who makes the allegations - Et incumbit probatio, qui dicit, non qui negat; cum per rerum naturam factum negantis probatio nulla sit (The proof lies upon him who affirms, not upon him who denies; since, by the nature of things, he who denies a fact cannot produce any proof).[48] In civil cases, the party having the burden of proof must establish his case by a preponderance of evidence. Preponderance of evidence is the weight, credit, and value of the aggregate evidence on either side and is usually considered to be synonymous with the term "greater weight of evidence" or "greater weight of the credible evidence." Preponderance of evidence is a phrase which, in the last analysis, means probability of the truth. It is evidence which is more convincing to the court as worthy of belief than that which is offered in opposition thereto.[49] Section 1, Rule 133 of the Revised Rules of Court offers the guidelines in determining preponderance of evidence: SEC. 1. Preponderance of evidence, how determined. - In civil cases, the party having the burden of proof must establish his case by a preponderance of evidence. In determining where the preponderance or superior weight of evidence on the issues involved lies, the court may consider all the facts and circumstances of the case, the witnesses' manner of testifying, their intelligence, their means and opportunity of knowing the facts to which they are testifying, the nature of the facts to which they testify, the probability or improbability of their testimony, their interest or want of interest, and also their personal credibility so far as the same may legitimately appear upon the trial. The court may also consider the number of witnesses, though the preponderance is not necessarily with the greater number. Unfortunately, petitioner Ching's testimony alone does not constitute preponderant evidence to establish respondent Nicdao's civil liability to him amounting to P20,950,000.00. Apart from the discredited checks, he failed to adduce any other documentary evidence to prove that respondent Nicdao still has unpaid obligations to him in the said amount. Bare allegations, unsubstantiated by evidence, are not equivalent to proof under our Rules.[50] | |||||
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2006-06-22 |
CALLEJO, SR., J. |
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| The evidence shows that Mira Bernal and Jennifer Ramirez were able to open respondent's vault and steal the owner's duplicate of TCT No. T-48521 and the tax declarations covering the property; with the connivance of a woman who pretended to be the respondent, they were able consummate the execution of the Real Estate Mortgage by forging the respondent's signature on said deed. We, thus, quote with approval the CA when it held: As to the claim of Querrer-Kauffman that her purported signatures on the mortgage are forgeries, the trial court believed her and held that there is "convincing proof to the contention of the plaintiff that the signature of Vida Dana Querrer as appearing on the question[ed] contract was a forgery because the real Vida Dana Querrer who is the plaintiff in this case was actually in the United States at the time of the questioned contract on 1 August 1997" (Decision, p. 226, record). And rightly so because of the immigration entries on her passport, her juxtaposed sample signatures which are clearly different from those in the deed, and the comic incongruity of Querrer-Kauffman as principal and Ramirez as her attorney-in-fact both signing the mortgage deed, all prove and declare beyond reasonable doubt that the subject real estate mortgage is a forgery.[44] The evidence on record further shows that Jennifer Ramirez and her husband, Richmond Ramirez, used a woman who introduced herself as Vida Dana Querrer to the petitioner and claim as owner of the property. That woman, an impostor, signed the Real Estate Mortgage as mortgagor and the Special Power of Attorney, as principal, and showed to petitioner the owner's duplicate copy of the title that was taken from the respondent's vault, and succeeded in having the Real Estate Mortgage annotated at the dorsal portion of the title. As correctly ruled by the appellate court: TCT No. T-48521 (Exh. "A") over the litigated lot was issued on June 26, 1995 in the name of the owner of the covered lot: Vida Dana Querrer, single. That the appellant now goes by the name and status of Vida Dana Querrer-Kauffman, married, has been well explained, and quibble on this raised by Ereña about the identity and interest of the appellant in the suit has been dismissed by the trial court as "of no moment as this discrepancy is negligible if no[t] bearing at all to the issue of nullity of the questioned contract" and "has no legal anchorage to cling on." The decision went on to state in no uncertain terms that the appellant Querrer-Kauffman "was able to prove preponderantly that she is the real owner of the subject property."[45] Indeed, case law is that a Torrens title is generally conclusive evidence of ownership of the land referred to therein.[46] While it serves as evidence of an indefeasible title to the property in favor of the person whose name appears therein[47] (and TCT No. T-48521 shows, on its face, that the owner is the respondent), when the instrument presented for registration is forged, even if accompanied by the owner's duplicate certificate of title, the registered owner does not thereby lose his title, and neither does the assignee or the mortgagee, for that matter, acquire any right or title to the property.[48] In such a case, the transferee or the mortgagee, based on a forged instrument, is not even a purchaser or a mortgagee for value protected by law. Thus, in Joaquin v. Madrid,[49] the Court had the occasion to state: In the first assignment of error, it is argued that since par. 2 of Sec. 55 of the Land Registration Act expressly provides that "in all cases of registration of fraud, the owner may pursue all his legal and equitable remedies against the parties to the fraud, without prejudice to the rights of any innocent holder for value of a certificate of title," the second proviso in the same section "that a registration procured by the presentation of a forged deed shall be null and void" should be overlooked. There is no merit in this argument, which would have the effect of deleting the last proviso. This last proviso is a limitation of the first part of par. 2 in the sense that in order that the holder of a certificate for value issued by virtue of the registration of a voluntary instrument may be considered a holder in good faith for value, the instrument registered should not be forged. When the instrument presented is forged, even if accompanied by the owner's duplicate certificate of title, the registered owner does not thereby lose his title, and neither does the assignee in the forged deed acquire any right or title to the property. | |||||