Usual actions to recover possession of real property. – “Proceeding now to the main issue, it may be recalled that the three usual actions to recover possession of real property are:
1. Accion interdictal or a summary ejectment proceeding, which may be either for forcible entry (detentacion) or unlawful detainer (desahucio), for the recovery of physical or material possession (possession de facto) where the dispossession has not lasted for more than one year, and should be brought in the proper inferior court;
2. Accion publiciana or the plenary action to recover the better right of possession (possession de jure), which should be brought in the proper inferior court or Regional Trial Court (depending upon the value of the property) when the dispossession has lasted for more than one year (or for less than a year in cases other than those mentioned in Rule 70 of the Rules of Court)25; and
3. Accion reivindicatoria or accion de reivindicacion or reivindicatory action, which is an action for recovery of ownership which must be brought in the proper inferior court or Regional Trial Court (depending upon the value of the property)” (Citations omitted)[1]
Rule 70 of the Rules of Court govern unlawful detainer and forcible entry cases. – “Cases of forcible entry and unlawful detainer are governed by Rule 70 of the Rules of Court. Under Section 1 of Rule 70, “a person deprived of the possession of any land or building by force, intimidation, threat, strategy, or stealth, or a lessor, vendor, vendee, or other person against whom the possession of any land or building is unlawfully withheld after the expiration or termination of the right to hold possession, by virtue of any contract, express or implied, the legal representatives or assigns of any such lessor, vendor, vendee, or other person, may, at any time within one (1) year after such unlawful deprivation or withholding of possession, bring an action in the proper Municipal Trial Court against the person or persons unlawfully withholding or depriving of possession, or any person or persons claiming under them, for the restitution of such possession, together with damages and costs.”
Forcible entry and unlawful detainer cases are governed by the rules on summary procedure. – The judgment rendered in an action for forcible entry or unlawful detainer is conclusive with respect to the possession only, will not bind the title or affect the ownership of the land or building, and will not bar an action between the same parties respecting title to the land or building. When the issue of ownership is raised by the defendant in his pleadings and the question of possession cannot be resolved without deciding the issue of ownership, the issue of ownership shall be resolved only to determine the issue of possession.(Citations omitted)[2]
No collateral attack on title in cases of unlawful detainer and forcible entry. – “XXX. The answer to this is “No” because there is no real attack, whether direct or collateral, on the certificate of title in question for the simple reason that the resolution by the ejectment court cannot alter, modify, or cancel the certificate of title. Thus, the issue of whether the attack on a Torrens title is collateral or direct is immaterial in forcible entry and unlawful detainer cases because the resolution of the issue of ownership is allowed by the Rules of Court on a provisional basis only. To repeat: when the issue of ownership is raised by the defendant in his pleadings and the question of possession cannot be resolved without deciding the issue of ownership, the issue of ownership shall be resolved only to determine the issue of possession.”(Citation omitted) [3]
Accion reivindicatoria. – In an accion reivindicatoria, the cause of action of the plaintiff is to recover possession by virtue of his ownership of the land subject of the dispute. This follows that universe of rights conferred to the owner of property, or more commonly known as the attributes of ownership.32 In classical Roman law terms, they are:
1. Jus possidendi or the right to possess;
2. Jus utendi or the right to use and enjoy;
3. Jus fruendi or the right to the fruits;
4. Jus accessionis or right to accessories;
5. Jus abutendi or the right to consume the thing by its use;
6. Jus disponendi or the right to dispose or alienate; and
7. Jus vindicandi or the right to vindicate or recover.33
Jus vindicandi is expressly recognized in paragraph 2 of Article 428, Civil Code, viz.: “The owner has also a right of action against the holder and possessor of the thing in order to recover it.”
If the plaintiffs claim of ownership (and necessarily, possession or jus possidendi) is based on his Torrens title and the defendant disputes the validity of this Torrens title, then the issue of whether there is a direct or collateral attack on the plaintiffs title is also irrelevant. This is because the court where the reivindicatory or reconveyance suit is filed has the requisite jurisdiction to rule definitively or with finality on the issue of ownership – it can pass upon the validity of the plaintiffs certificate of title.
In this connection, the court’s jurisdiction to determine the validity of the Torrens title in question is limited by Section 32 of PD 1529, which provides:
SEC. 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 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. x x x
Upon the expiration of said period of one year, the decree of registration and the certificate of title issued shall become incontrove1iible. 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.
In the consolidated cases of Catindig v. Vda. de Meneses (Catindig) and Roxas, Sr. v. Court of Appeals,35 the Court reiterated that:
x x x [I]t is a fundamental principle in land registration that the certificate of title serves as evidence of an indefeasible and incontrovertible title to the property in favor of the person whose name appears therein. It is conclusive evidence with respect to the ownership of the land described therein. Moreover, the age-old rule is that the person who has a Torrens title over a land is entitled to possession thereof. In addition, as the registered owner, [the] right to evict any person illegally occupying [the] property is imprescriptible. In the recent case of Gaudencio Labrador, represented by Lulu Labrador Uson, as Attorney-in-Fact v. Sps. Ildefonso Perlas and Pacencia Perlas and Sps. Rogelio Pobre and Melinda Fogata Pobre, the Court held that:
As a registered owner, petitioner has a right to eject any person illegally occupying his property. This right is imprescriptible and can never be barred by laches. In Bishop v. Court of Appeals, we held, thus:
As registered owners of the lots in question, the private respondents have a right to eject any person illegally occupying their property. This right is imprescriptible. Even if it be supposed that they were aware of the petitioners’ occupation of the property, and regardless of the length of that possession, the lawful owners have a right to demand the return of their property at any time as long as the possession was unauthorized or merely tolerated, if at all. This right is never barred by laches.36
In turn, the imprescriptible right to evict ostensibly proceeds from paragraph 2 of Article 1126 of the Civil Code in relation to Section 47 of PD 1529, which provides:
SEC. 47. Registered land not subject to prescription. – No title to registered land in derogation of the title of the registered owner shall be acquired by prescription or adverse possession.
Section 47 of PD 1529 retains most of the wordings of its predecessor Section 4638 of Act No. 49639 or the Land Registration Act of 1902.
In an ordinary ejectment suit, the certificate of title is never imperiled because the decision of the ejectment court on the issue of ownership is merely provisional. On the other hand, in a reivindicatory suit, where the Torrens title or certificate of title is the basis of the complaint’s cause of action, there is always a direct attack on the certificate of title the moment the defendant disputes its validity in a counterclaim or a negative defense.”(citations omitted)[4]
Accion publiciana. – As to accion publiciana, this is an ordinary civil proceeding to determine the better right of possession of real property independently of title. It also refers to an ejectment suit filed after the expiration of one year from the accrual of the cause of action or from the unlawful withholding of possession of real property.[5]
Issue in accion publiciana. – “The issue in accion publiciana is the “better right of possession: of real property independently of title. This “better right of possession: may or may not proceed from a Torrens title. Thus, a lessee, by virtue of a registered lease contract or an unregistered lease contract with a term longer than one year, can file, as against the owner or intruder, an accion publiciana if he has been dispossessed for more than one year. In the same manner, a registered owner or one with a Torrens title can likewise file an accion publiciana to recover possession if the one-year prescriptive period for forcible entry and unlawful detainer has already passed.”[6]
[1] Heirs of Cullado v. Guttierez, G.R. No. 212938, July 30, 2019
[2] Heirs of Cullado v. Guttierez, G.R. No. 212938, July 30, 2019
[3] Heirs of Cullado v. Guttierez, G.R. No. 212938, July 30, 2019
[4] Heirs of Cullado v. Guttierez, G.R. No. 212938, July 30, 2019
[5] Enacarnacion v. Amigo, cited in Heirs of Cullado v. Guttierez, G.R. No. 212938, July 30, 2019
[6] Heirs of Cullado v. Guttierez, G.R. No. 212938, July 30, 2019