G.R. No.

117734 February 22, 2001

VICENTE G. DIVINA, petitioner,

vs.
HON. COURT OF APPEALS and VILMA GAJO-SY, respondents.
QUISUMBING, J.:

This case is a petition for review on the decision of the CA reversing and setting aside the judgement
of the CFI of Sorsogon.

FACTS:

A 2 hectare unirrigated, unregistered land (Lot 1893) with Tax declaration in Gubat, Sorsogon was
originally possessed by Antonio Berosa. In 1960 (July 22, ,1960), he sold it to Teotimo Berosa.

On 23 March 1961, Teotimo and his wife sold the same 2 hectare land to Jose Gamos, now described
in the title as a parcel of RICE LAND situated in Gubat, Sorsogon.

Prior to the said purchase, On 26 April 1960, Gamos had already acquired from the heirs of Felix
Arimado, the adjacent lot of Lot 1893 with an area of 20,687 sq m. He later consolidated the 2 lots
into 1 and declared it had a total of 4.0867 hectares. He also had it re surveyed by a private
surveyor.

However, the resurveyed plan of the 2 lots for Gamos showed that the consolidated area of the 2
properties had a total area of 100,034 sq m. The plan was approved by the Acting Director of Lands.

Gamos later declared on a new tax declaration certificate that the area of the consolidated property
was 10.0034 hectares.

On 19 Jan 1967, Teotimo Berosa (same person that sold the 2 hectare land to Gamos) conveyed to
Vicente Divina (petitioner), a portion of Lot 1893 referred as Lot 1893-B containing an area of 54,818
sq m.

On 28 Nov 1968, (2 years from the sale and 5 days after Gamos secured the new Tax Dec of the
100,034 sq m land), the deed of sale was registered. A subdivision plan of Lot 1893 was prepared
but it is without the Bureau of Lands approval showing that Lot 1893 is divided into 2 lots.

24 July 1970, Gamos sold the 10 hectares consolidated lots to Vilma Gajo-SY (Private-Respondent).

29 July 1970, Gajo-SY secured a new Tax Dec.

28 Aug 1972, Gajo-SY filed an application for registration of title to the CFI Sorsogon.

29 July 1975, the court ordered the registration of Gajo-SY's title over Lots No. 1466 and 1893.

13 July 1977, while the application for registration of Gajo-SY is pending, Vicente Divina filed in the
same court a Petition for Review of the registration judgement in favor of Gajo-SY. He alleged that
he is the owner of lot 1893 with an area of 54,818 sq m. w/c he bought from Teotimo Berosa and
that he is unaware of the registration because Gajo-Sy did not give him any notice.
7 June, 1979. Trial court found that the petition for review was filed in time. It also ruled that failure
of the applicant to inform an interested party in the registration proceedings constitutes a
"deliberate misrepresentation" that the lot was not contested where in fact it is. This amounted to
fraud according to the trial court.

The judgement of the court revoked the order for the issuance of a decree and declared Vicente
Divina the owner of the portion of the land and allowing the land registration to proceed but the
portion awarded to Vicente Divina was excluded. The court also ordered a re-survey of the area to
determine the boundaries.

Gajo-SY challenged to decision of the Trial court and file a case in the Court of Appeals. CA reversed
the trial court and dismissed the petition on the grounds that there is no misrepresentation made by
Gajo-Sy not knowing that Divina is a party in interest for he did not appear in the survey plan.

Vicente Divina filed a petition in the SC and assails the reversal of the CA. He raises the primary issue
of deliberate misrepresentation constituting actual fraud as she failed to give notice to Divina of her
application for registration of the contested land.

The main point is this, Divina's name may not appear in the survey plan as an adjacent owner, nor
claimant, nor possessor but that is not enough reason for Gajo-Sy to ignore him as a person with
interest in the land. Sec 15 PD 1529 required the due diligence of searching and giving every effort
possible in searching for persons with possible interest in the same property.
It should also be noted that Gajo-Sy's sister Lydia admitted that she had a conversation with Divina's
cousin Elena about Divina's apprehension that their land might be included in Gajo-Sy's application
for registration.

The court finds Vicente Divina's claim meritotious and granted the petition. CA's decision is
REVERSED and SET ASIDE. CFI Sorsogon's decision is REINSTATED.