Republic of the Philippines

SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
G.R. No. L-44606 November 28, 1938
VCENTE STO. !OMNGO "ERN#R!O, plaintiff-appellant,
vs.
C#T#LNO "#T#CL#N, defendant-appellant.
TOR"O TEO!ORO, purchaser-appellee.
Pedro de Leon for plaintiff-appellant.
Angel H. Mojica and Francisco Lavides for defendant appellant.
Jose Y. Garde for appellee.

L#UREL, J.:
This is an appeal taken b both the plaintiff and the defendant fro! the order of
"epte!ber #$, %&'(, hereinabove referred to, of the Court of )irst *nstance of Cavite in
Civil Case No. #+#,.
There is no controvers as to the facts. B a contract of sale e-ecuted fro! Pastor
"a!onte and others o.nership of a parcel of land of about &/ hectares situated in sitio
Balaunan, "ilan0, Cavite. To secure possession of the land fro! the vendors the said
plaintiff, on 1ul #/, %&#&, instituted Civil Case No. %&'( in the Court of )irst *nstance
of Cavite. The trial court found for the plaintiff in a decision .hich .as affir!ed b this
"upre!e Court on appeal 23.R. No. ''/%45.
%
6hen plaintiff entered upon the
pre!ises, ho.ever, he found the defendant herein, Catalino Bataclan, .ho appears to
have been authori7ed b for!er o.ners, as far back as %&##, to clear the land and
!ake i!prove!ents thereon. As Bataclan .as not a part in Case No. %&'(, plaintiff,
on 1une %%, %&'%, instituted a0ainst hi!, in the Court of )irst *nstance of Cavite, Civil
Case No. #+#,. *n this case, plaintiff .as declared o.ner but the defendant .as held
to be a possessor in 0ood faith, entitled to rei!burse!ent in the total su! of P%,$+#,
for .ork done and i!prove!ents !ade. The dispositive part of the decision reads8
Por las consideraciones e-puestas, se declara al de!andante 9icente "anto
:o!in0o Bernardo due;o con derecho a la posesion del terreno <ue se
describe en la de!anda, al de!andado Catalino Bataclan con derecho a
<ue del de!andante le pa0ue la su!a de P%,$+# por 0astos utiles hechos de
buena fe en el terreno, por el cerco ponos de coco abaca e-istentes en
el !is!o, con derecho, ade!as a retener la posesion del terreno hasta <ue
se le pa0ue dicha cantidad. Al de!andante puede optar, en el pla7o de
treinta dias, a partir de la fecha en <ue fuere notificado de la presente, por
pa0ar esa su!a al de!andado, haciendo asi suos el cerco todas las
plantaciones e-istentes en el terreno, u obli0ar al de!andado a pa0arle el
precio terreno, a ra7on de trescientos pesos la hectarea. En el caso de <ue el
de!andante optara por <ue el de!andado le pa0ara el precio del terreno, el
de!andado efectuara el pa0o en el pla7o convenientes por las partes o <ue
sera fi=ado por el 1u70ado. "in costas.
Both parties appealed to this court 23. R. No. '4'%&5.
#
The decision appealed fro!
.as !odified b allo.in0 the defendant to recover co!pensation a!ountin0 to P#,#%#
and b reducin0 the price at .hich the plaintiff could re<uire the defendant to purchase
the land in <uestion fro! P'// to P#// per hectare. Plaintiff .as 0iven b this court '/
das fro! the date .hen the decision beca!e final .ithin .hich to e-ercise his option,
either to sell the land to the defendant or to bu the i!prove!ents fro! hi!. >n
1anuar &, %&'+, the plaintiff !anifested to the lo.er court his desire ?to re<uire the
defendant to pa hi! the value of the land at the rate of P#// per hectare or a total
price of P%,,/// for the .hole tract of land.? The defendant infor!ed the lo.er court
that he .as unable to pa the land and, on 1anuar #+, %&'+, an order .as issued
0ivin0 the plaintiff '/ das .ithin .hich to pa the defendant the su! of P#,#%# statin0
that, in the event of failure to !ake such pa!ent, the land .ould be ordered sold at
public auction ?Para hacer pago al demandante de la suma de P!" # el remanente
despues de deducidos los gastos legales de la venta en pu$lica su$asta sera
entregado al demandante.? >n )ebruar #%, %&'+, plaintiff !oved to reconsider the
fore0oin0 order so that he .ould have preference over the defendant in the order of
pa!ent. The !otion .as denied on March %, %&'+ but on March %$ follo.in0 the
court belo., motu proprio !odified its order of 1anuar #+, ?en el sentido de %ue el
demandante tiene derecho preferente al importe del terreno no se vendiere en pu$lica
su$asta! a ra&on de P'' por hectares # el remanente! si acaso lo hu$iere se
entregara al demandado en pago de la cantidad de P!" por la limpie&a del terreno
# las mejoras introducidas en el mismo por el citado demandado.? >n April #+, %&'+,
the court belo., at the instance of the plaintiff and .ithout ob=ection on the part of the
defendant, ordered the sale of the land in <uestion at public auction. The land .as sold
on April (, %&'( to Toribio Teodoro, the hi0hest bidder, for P,,///. *n the certificate of
sale issued to said purchaser on the ver da of sale, it .as stated that the period of
rede!ption of the land sold .as to e-pire on April (, %&'$. @pon petition of Toribio
Teodoro the court belo. ordered the provincial sheriff to issue another certificate not
<ualified b an e<uit of rede!ption. This .as co!plied .ith b the sheriff on 1ul '/,
%&'(. >n "epte!ber %,, %&'(, Teodoro !oved that he be placed in possession of the
land purchased b hi!. The !otion .as 0ranted b order of "epte!ber #$, %&'(, the
dispositive part of .hich is as follo.s8
Por tanto, se ordena al "heriff Provincial de Cavite pon0a a Toribio Teodoro
en posesion del terreno co!prado por el en subasta publica por el cual se
le e-pidio certificado de venta definitiva, reservando al de!andado su
derecho de e=ercitar una accion ordinaria para recla!ar del de!andante la
cantidad de P#,#%# a <ue tiene derecho por la li!pie7a !e=oras del terreno
cua su!a, en =usticia e<uidad, debe ser descontada deducida de la
su!a de P,,/// <ue a ha recibido el de!andante.
1
The Civil Code confir!s certain ti!e-honored principles of the la. of propert. >ne of
these is the principle of accession .hereb the o.ner of propert ac<uires not onl
that .hich it produces but that .hich is united to it either naturall or artificiall. 2Art.
'('.5 6hatever is built, planted or so.n on the land of another, and the i!prove!ents
or repairs !ade thereon, belon0 to the o.ner of the land 2art. '(,5. 6here, ho.ever,
the planter, builder, or so.er has acted in 0ood faith, a conflict of ri0hts arises bet.een
the o.ners and it beco!es necessar to protect the o.ner of the i!prove!ents
.ithout causin0 in=ustice to the o.ner of the land. *n vie. of the i!practicabilit of
creatin0 .hat Manresa calls a state of ?forced coo.nership? 2vol. ', +th ed., p. #%'5,
the la. has provided a =ust and e<uitable solution b 0ivin0 the o.ner of the land the
option to ac<uire the i!prove!ents after pa!ent of the proper inde!nit or to obli0e
the builder or planter to pa for the land and the so.er to pa the proper rent 2art. '$%5.
*t is the o.ner of the land .ho is allo.ed to e-ercise the option because his ri0ht is
older and because, b the principle of accession, he is entitled to the o.nership of the
accessor thin0 2' Manresa, +th ed., p. #%'5. *n the case before us, the plaintiff, as
o.ner of the land, chose to re<uire the defendant, as o.ner of the i!prove!ents, to
pa for the land.
The defendant states that he is a possessor in 0ood faith and that the a!ount of
P#,#%# to .hich he is entitled has not et been paid to hi!. Therefore, he sas, he has
a ri0ht to retain the land in accordance .ith the provisions of article +(' of the Civil
Code. 6e do not doubt the validit of the pre!ises stated. ?(onsidera la le# tan
saarada # legitima la deuda! %ue! hasta %ue sea pagada! no consiente %ue la cosa se
restitu#a all vencedor.? 2+ Manresa, +th ed, p., '/+.5 6e find, ho.ever, that the
defendant has lost his ri0ht of retention. *n obedience to the decision of this court in
3.R. No. '4'%&, the plaintiff e-pressed his desire to re<uire the defendant to pa for
the value of the land. The said defendant could have beco!e o.ner of both land and
i!prove!ents and continued in possession thereof. But he said he could not pa and
the land .as sold at public auction to Toribio Teodoro. The la., as .e have alread
said, re<uires no !ore than that the o.ner of the land should choose bet.een
inde!nifin0 the o.ner of the i!prove!ents or re<uirin0 the latter to pa for the land.
6hen he failed to pa for the land, the defendant herein lost his ri0ht of retention.
The sale at public auction havin0 been asked b the plaintiff hi!self 2p. ##, bill of
e-ceptions5 and the purchase price of P,,/// received b hi! fro! Toribio Teodoro,
.e find no reason to =ustif a rapture of the situation thus created bet.een the!, the
defendant-appellant not bein0 entitled, after all, to recover fro! the plaintiff the su! of
P#,#%#. la)phi".net
The =ud0!ent of the lo.er court is accordin0l !odified b eli!inatin0 therefro! the
reservation !ade in favor of the defendant-appellant to recover fro! the plaintiff the
su! of P#,#%#. *n all the respects, the sa!e is affir!ed, .ithout pronounce!ent
re0ardin0 costs. "o ordered.
Avance*a! (.J.! +illa-,eal! -mperial and .ia&! JJ.! concur.
2