Cacho vs. Court of Appeals

Cacho vs. Court of Appeals

GR No. 123361 March 3, 1997

FACTS: Demetria Cacho applied for the registration of two (2) parcels of land situated in Lanao, Moro Province. Both parcels were within the limits of the Military Reservation No. 43 known as “Camp Overton.”

The application was tried and decided by Judge Jesse Jorge and he granted the petitioner (Cacho) the entitlement to the two (2) parcels of land. On June 29, 1978, Teofilo Cacho, the sole heir of the deceased Demetria Cacho filed for a petition for the reconstitution of the two (2) original certificates of title under RA 26.

The petition was opposed to by the Republic of the Philippines, National Steel Corporation and the City of Iligan on the basis of the Regalian Doctrine – that states that – all lands of whatever classification belong to the State. The matter was elevated to the Court of Appeals (CA), the CA denied the petition for reconstitution of title and ordered that the decree of registration be reopened. Thus, the instant petition to the Supreme Court.

ISSUE: Whether or not the honorable Court of Appeals erred in its decision to reopen the decrees issued by the Judge Jesse Jorge.

HELD: A land registration proceeding is “in rem.” The decree of registration is binding upon and conclusive against all persons including the Government and its branches, irrespective of whether or not they were personally notified of the filing of the application, because all persons are considered as notified by the publication required by law. A decree of registration that has become final shall be deemed conclusive not only on the questions actually contested and determined but also upon all matters that might be litigated or decided in the land registration proceedings. It is no doubt that the decrees of registration had been issued and such decrees attained finality upon the lapse of one year from entry thereof. The decision of the CA to reopen the decrees previously issued runs counter to the very purpose of the Torrens System.

It also constitutes a derogation of the Doctrine of Res Judicata. The decrees are res judicata and these are binding upon the whole world, the proceedings being in the nature of proceedings in rem. Such a requirement is impermissible assault upon the integrity and stability of the Torrens System of registration because it also effectively renders the decree inconclusive.