Remegia Y. Feliciano v. Spouses Aurelio

Summary

This case involves a property ownership dispute over a 243 square meter lot in Cagayan de Oro City. Remegia Y. Feliciano, the registered owner of a larger parcel under TCT No. T-8502, sought nullification of TCT No. T-17993 issued to Aurelio Zaldivar covering a portion of her property. The Supreme Court found that Zaldivar fraudulently obtained the title by falsely claiming Remegia's owner's duplicate was lost when it remained in her possession. The Court ruled that reconstitution of a title cannot be validly made when the original still exists, making the CFI's order void for lack of jurisdiction. The joint affidavit of confirmation of sale was deemed insufficient evidence, particularly since Remegia could not read English and the document's contents were not properly explained to her. The Court reinstated Remegia's ownership but applied Article 448 of the Civil Code, requiring her heirs to either appropriate the improvements built by the Zaldivars with payment of indemnity or sell the land to them, recognizing the mutual bad faith of both parties in the construction of the house.