34 NHA Vs Baello 2013
34 NHA Vs Baello 2013
SECOND DIVISION
DECISION
CARPIO, J.:
The Case
Before the Court is a petition for review on certiorari[1] assailing the 28 November 2011
Decision[2] and the 27 February 2012 Resolution[3] of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R.
CV No. 93512.
The facts, gathered from the assailed decision of the Court of Appeals, are as follows:
On 21 September 1951, Pedro Baello (Pedro) and Nicanora Baello (Nicanora) filed an
application for registration of a parcel of land with the Court of First Instance (CFI) of
Rizal, covering the land they inherited from their mother, Esperanza Baello. The land,
situated in Sitio Talisay, Municipality of Caloocan, had an area of 147,972 square
meters. The case was docketed as LRC Case No. 520.
On 2 November 1953, the CFI of Rizal rendered its decision confirming the title of the
applicants to the land in question. The CFI of Rizal awarded the land to Pedro and
Nicanora, pro indiviso. Pedro was awarded 2/3 of the land while Nicanora was awarded
1/3. The Republic of the Philippines, through the Director of the Bureau of Lands, did
not appeal. The decision became final and executory.
On 27 October 1954, acting on the orders of the CFI of Rizal, the Land Registration
Commission issued Decree No. 13400 in favor of “Pedro T. Baello, married to Josefa
Caiña” covering the 2/3 portion of the property and in favor of “Nicanora T. Baello,
married to Manuel J. Rodriguez” covering the remaining 1/3 portion. The Register of
Deeds issued Original Certificate of Title (OCT) No. (804) 53839 in favor of Pedro and
Nicanora. The property was later subdivided into two parcels of land: Pedro’s lot was
Lot A (Baello property), with an area of 98,648 square meters, and covered by TCT No.
181493, while Nicanora’s lot was Lot B (Rodriguez property), with an area of 49,324
square meters. The subdivision plan was approved on 27 July 1971.
On 30 October 1974, during the martial law regime, President Ferdinand E. Marcos
issued Presidential Decree No. 569 creating a committee to expropriate the Dagat-
Dagatan Lagoon and its adjacent areas, including the Baello and Rodriguez properties.
The government wanted to develop the properties into an industrial/commercial
complex and a residential area for the permanent relocation of families affected by the
Tondo Foreshore Urban Renewal Project Team. First Lady Imelda R. Marcos also
launched the Dagat-Dagatan Project, a showcase program for the homeless. It also
covered the Baello and Rodriguez properties. The National Housing Authority (NHA) was
tasked to develop the property into a residential area, subdivide it, and award the lots
to the beneficiaries.
On 13 April 1983, Proclamation No. 2284 was issued declaring the Metropolitan Manila,
including the Dagat-Dagatan area, as area for priority development and Urban Land
Reform Zones. Again, the Baello and Rodriguez properties were included in the areas
covered by the proclamation. On 17 January 1986, Minister of Natural Resources
Rodolfo P. Del Rosario issued BFD Administrative Order No. 4-1766 declaring and
certifying forestlands in Caloocan City, Malabon, and Navotas, covering an aggregate
area of 6,762 hectares, as alienable or disposable for cropland and other purposes.
On 23 February 1987, after the EDSA People Power Revolution, the heirs of Baello
executed an extrajudicial partition of Pedro’s estate, which included the Baello property.
Respondents were issued TCT No. 280647 over an undivided portion, comprising 8,404
square meters, of the Baello property. Corazon and Wilhelmina later sold their shares to
Ernesto who was issued TCT No. C-362547 in his name.
On 18 August 1987, the NHA filed an action for eminent domain against the heirs of
Baello and Rodriguez before the Regional Trial Court of Caloocan City, Branch 120 (RTC
Branch 120). The case was docketed as Civil Case No. C-169. The NHA also secured a
writ of possession. In an Order dated 5 September 1990, the RTC Branch 120 dismissed
the complaint on the ground of res judicata and lack of cause of action. The NHA
appealed to the Court of Appeals, docketed as CA-G.R. CV No. 29042. On 21 August
1992, the Court of Appeals affirmed the Order of the RTC Branch 120. The NHA filed a
petition for review before this Court, docketed as G.R. No. 107582. In a Resolution
dated 3 May 1993, this Court denied due course to the petition on the ground that the
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Court of Appeals did not commit any reversible error in affirming the order of the RTC
Branch 120. The NHA filed a motion for reconsideration but it was denied in a
Resolution dated 16 January 1993. The Clerk of Court later made an Entry of Judgment.
On 5 November 1993, the NHA filed a complaint for nullity of OCT No. (804) 53839
issued in the names of Pedro and Nicanora. The case was raffled to the RTC of Caloocan
City, Branch 128 (RTC Branch 128) and docketed as Civil Case No. C-16399. In a
Resolution dated 17 October 1995, the RTC Branch 128 dismissed the complaint on
grounds of estoppel and res judicata and because the issue on the legal nature and
ownership of the property covered by OCT No. (804) 53839 was already barred by a
final judgment in LRC Case No. 520. The NHA appealed to the Court of Appeals,
docketed as CA-G.R. CV No. 51592. In a Decision dated 26 January 2000, the Court of
Appeals affirmed the decision of the RTC Branch 128. Again, the NHA went to this Court
to assail the decision of the Court of Appeals. The case was docketed as G.R. No.
143230. In a Decision[5] promulgated on 20 August 2004, this Court denied the NHA’s
petition for lack of merit. The Court ruled that NHA’s action was barred by the decision
of the CFI of Rizal in LRC Case No. 520. This Court held that the NHA was already
barred from assailing the validity of OCT No. (804) 53839 and its derivative titles based
on judicial estoppel.
Meanwhile, on 30 June 1994, during the pendency of Civil Case No. C-16399,
respondents filed an action for Recovery of Possession and Damages against the NHA
and other respondents,[6] docketed as Civil Case No. C-16578. NHA, in its Answer,
alleged that OCT No. (804) 53839, respondents’ derivative title, was obtained
fraudulently because the land covered was declared alienable and disposable only on 17
January 1986. The case was initially sent to archives, upon joint motion of the parties,
pending resolution by this Court of G.R. No. 143230. Trial resumed upon the denial by
this Court of the NHA’s petition in G.R. No. 143230.[7]
On 13 May 2009, the Regional Trial Court of Caloocan City, Branch 128 (trial court)
rendered its Decision[8] in favor of respondents. The trial court ruled that the dismissal
of NHA’s complaint for expropriation and for declaration of nullity of OCT No. (804)
53839 in the names of Pedro and Nicanora left NHA with no right to hold possession of
respondents’ property which was admittedly a part of Pedro’s land. The trial court ruled
that this Court already declared respondents as the bona fide owners of the land and as
such, their right to possession and enjoyment of the property becomes indisputable.
The trial court further held that respondents were entitled to compensation equal to the
fair rental value of the property, as well as to moral and exemplary damages, for the
period NHA was in possession of the property.
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SO ORDERED.[9]
The NHA appealed the trial court’s decision to the Court of Appeals.
In its 28 November 2011 Decision, the Court of Appeals denied the NHA’s appeal. The
Court of Appeals took judicial notice of the rulings of this Court in G.R. No. 107582 and
G.R. No. 143230.
The Court of Appeals ruled that the main issue raised by the NHA, that is, the alleged
nullity of OCT No. (804) 53839 from which respondents derived their title, was already
resolved by this Court in G.R. No. 143230. This Court already declared in G.R. No.
143230 that the NHA was judicially estopped from assailing OCT No. (804) 53839. The
Court of Appeals further ruled that this Court already declared that the NHA acted in
bad faith when it took possession of respondents’ property in 1976 despite knowledge
of the ownership of the Baello and Rodriguez heirs. The Court of Appeals also sustained
the findings of the trial court that respondents were entitled to moral and exemplary
damages as well as attorney’s fees.
SO ORDERED.[10]
In its 27 February 2012 Resolution, the Court of Appeals denied the motion.
The Issues
(1) Whether the Court of Appeals committed a reversible error in finding that the NHA
was a builder or possessor in bad faith;
(2) Whether the Court of Appeals committed a reversible error in adopting the facts in
G.R. No. 143230 when the case was not tried on the merits; and
(3) Whether the Court of Appeals committed a reversible error in awarding damages to
respondents.
The rule is that when material facts or questions, which were in issue in a
former action and were admitted or judicially determined are conclusively
settled by a judgment rendered therein, such facts or questions become res
judicata and may not again be litigated in a subsequent action between the
same parties or their privies regardless of the form of the latter.
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and conclusive in the second if that same point or question was in issue and
adjudicated in the first suit; but the adjudication of an issue in the first case
is not conclusive of an entirely different and distinct issue arising in the
second. Hence, facts and issues actually and directly resolved in a former
suit cannot again be raised in any future case between the same parties,
even if the latter suit may involve a different claim or cause of action.[12]
In this case, the NHA’s petition is barred by conclusiveness of judgment which states
that -
We sustain the Court of Appeals in ruling that the main issue raised by the NHA, which
it alleged in its Answer before the trial court, is the validity of OCT No. (804) 53839.
The validity of OCT No. (804) 53839 had long been settled by this Court in G.R. No.
143230. In that case, the Court ruled that the action to annul OCT No. (804) 53839
was barred by the decision in LRC Case No. 520. The Court noted that the Republic did
not oppose Pedro and Nicanora’s application for registration in LRC Case No. 520, and
neither did it appeal the decision. OCT No. (804) 53839 was issued by the Register of
Deeds in 1959 and the Republic did not file any action to nullify the CFI’s decision until
the NHA filed a complaint for nullity of OCT No. (804) 53839 on 5 November 1993, the
case which was the origin of G.R. No. 143230. As pointed out by this Court in G.R. No.
143230, the NHA was already barred from assailing OCT No. (804) 53839 and its
derivative titles.
The NHA further alleges that the Court of Appeals erroneously declared it as a
possessor in bad faith. The NHA alleges that this Court’s decision in G.R. No. 143230
affirmed the dismissal by the trial court of the case but there was no proceeding that
proved it acted in bad faith. The NHA claims that there was no basis to declare it as a
possessor in bad faith. The NHA wants this Court to reverse its decision that had long
become final and executory on the ground that the facts in G.R. No. 143230 were not
proven in the trial court.
The issue of whether the NHA was a builder in bad faith was one of the issues raised in
G.R. No. 143230. In G.R. No. 143230, the Court categorically declared that the NHA
was a builder in bad faith. The Court extensively discussed, thus:
On the last issue, the petitioner avers that the trial and appellate courts
erred in not holding that it was a builder in good faith and the respondents
as having acted in bad faith. The petitioner avers that it believed in good
faith that respondents’ property was part and parcel of the Dagat-Dagatan
Lagoon owned by the government, and acting on that belief, it took
possession of the property in 1976, caused the subdivision of the property
and awarded the same to its beneficiaries, in the process spending
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P45,237,000.00. It was only in 1988 when it learned, for the first time, that
the respondents owned the property and forthwith petitioner filed its
complaint for eminent domain against them. The petitioner further avers
that even assuming that it was a builder in bad faith, since the respondents
likewise acted in bad faith, the rights of the parties shall be determined in
accordance with Article 448 of the New Civil Code, and they shall be
considered as both being in good faith. The petitioner, however, posits that
any award in its favor as builder in good faith would be premature because
its complaint was dismissed by the court a quo, and its consequent failure to
present evidence to prove the improvements it had made on the property
and the value thereof.
ART. 526. He is deemed a possessor in good faith who is not aware that
there exists in his title or mode of acquisition any flaw which invalidates it.
In this case, no less than the trial court in Civil Case No. C-169 declared that
the petitioner not only acted in bad faith, but also violated the Constitution:
And the Court cannot disregard the fact that despite persistent
urging by the defendants for a negotiated settlement of the
properties taken by plaintiff before the present action was filed,
plaintiff failed to give even the remaining UNAWARDED lots for
the benefit of herein defendants who are still the registered
owners. Instead, plaintiff opted to expropriate them after having
taken possession of said properties for almost fourteen (14)
years.
True it is, that the plaintiff may have a laudable purpose in the
expropriation of the land in question, as set forth in the plaintiff’s
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1.02. From this period up till the end of the Marcos misrule, no
decree, no court order, no ordinance was shown or made known
to the defendants to justify the invasion, assault, and occupation
of their property. Worse, defendants were not even granted the
courtesy of a letter or memorandum that would explain the
government’s intention on the subject property.
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Here, it is even pointless to take up the matter of said requisites for the
issuance of writ of possession considering that, as stated, NO complaint was
ever filed in Court AT THE TIME of the seizure of defendants’ properties.
The aforequoted findings of the trial court were affirmed by the Court of
Appeals and by this Court in G.R. No. 107582.[14]
The Court, in ruling against NHA in G.R. No. 143230, did not contrive the facts of the
case but cited exhaustively from the records, belying the NHA’s assertion that the facts
have no basis at all. This Court likewise pointed out in G.R. No. 143230 that the trial
court’s findings that it cited were affirmed by the Court of Appeals and the Supreme
Court in another case, that is, in G.R. No. 107582.
The NHA asserts that respondents did not attempt to claim the property in question and
that they negligently slept on their rights. The NHA alleges that respondents justified
their inaction by creating a scenario of terror, forcible military take-over, and other
falsehoods. The NHA’s allegation cannot prevail over findings of this Court in G.R. No.
143230 on the circumstances on how respondents lost their property: that a truckload
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of fully armed military personnel entered the Baello property; that at gunpoint, the
military personnel forcibly ejected the family’s caretaker; and that the soldiers
demolished the two-storey residential structure and destroyed all the fishpond
improvements on the property. It was not a “scenario of terror” created by petitioners
but clearly established facts.
The NHA likewise assails the award of damages to respondents. The NHA alleges that it
is not liable for damages because it acted in good faith. The NHA further alleges that,
granting it is liable, it should only be from the time ownership was transferred to
respondents. Further, the NHA claims that it has the right to retain the property until it
is reimbursed of the expenses incurred in its development.
Again, it was already established that the NHA acted in bad faith. The NHA also raised
the same issue in G.R. No. 143230. Having established that the NHA acted in bad faith,
the Court of Appeals did not err in sustaining the award of damages and attorney’s fees
to respondents.
The issue of reimbursement was also raised in G.R. No. 143230 where the NHA alleged
that the Court of Appeals gravely erred in ruling that it was a builder in bad faith and
therefore, not entitled to reimbursement of the improvement it introduced on the
property.[15] Article 449 of the Civil Code applies in this case. It states:
Art. 449. He who builds, plants or sows in bad faith on the land of another,
loses what is built, planted or sown without right of indemnity.
Thus, under Article 449 of the Civil Code, the NHA is not entitled to be reimbursed of
the expenses incurred in the development of respondents’ property.
WHEREFORE, we DENY the petition. We AFFIRM the 28 November 2011 Decision and
the 27 February 2012 Resolution of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 93512.
SO ORDERED.
[2] Rollo, pp. 32-50. Penned by Associate Justice Socorro B. Inting with Associate
[4] Erroneously referred to as Francisco in the body of the Court of Appeals’ decision.
[6] Spouses Nestor and Evangeline Ponce and several John and Jane Does. The case
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