- Petitioner
- Rodolfo Eusebio
- Respondent
- Intermediate Appellate Court
- Citation
- G.R. No. 72188
- Court
- Supreme Court
- Division
- First Division
- Ponente
- Melencio-Herrera, J.
- Decided
- September 15, 1986
Summary
This case involves a partition dispute between co-owners RODOLFO EUSEBIO and ROHIMUST SANTOS over an 811.30 sq. m. lot in Quezon City. The property originated from a leasehold inherited from Philip Zinsineth, with the parties eventually purchasing it from GA, Inc. Due to RODOLFO's additional payments, the trial court awarded him 611.30 sq. m. and ROHIMUST 200 sq. m. The key issue was whether ROHIMUST could retain improvements and demand compensation under Article 546 (possessor in good faith). The Supreme Court ruled that Article 546 was inapplicable since co-owners cannot claim exclusive good faith possession of undivided property. Instead, Article 543 applies - after partition, each co-owner is deemed to have exclusively possessed their allocated portion since co-ownership began, thus retaining all improvements therein without owing compensation to the other. The decision clarified important principles of co-ownership and partition rights under Philippine civil law.