BENJAMIN GARCIA, ANATALIA GARCIA, FABIAN GARCIA AND VICENTE GARCIA, PETITIONERS, VS. HON. ELOY B. BELLO, JUDGE OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF PANGASINAN AND PEDRO DE GUZMAN, …

In their petition for certiorari
and prohibition, Benjamin, Anatalia, Fabian and
Vicente all surnamed Garcia, pray that respondent Hon. Eloy B. Bello, be ordered, as
Judge of First Instance of Pangasinan, to desist from
further proceeding in Land Registration Case No. 765, G.L.R.O. Record No. 18485,
of said Court.

The record shows that, on October
18, 1918, respondent Pedro de Guzman instituted said proceeding for the
registration, in his name, of a tract ,of land situated in the municipality of
San Carlos, province of Pangasinan; that, on January
30, 1923, judgment was rendered in said proceeding as prayed for by De Guzman;
that on July 18, 1923, Original Certificate of Title No. 25381 was, accordingly,
issued In his favor; that on March 24, 1959, herein petitioners instituted Civil
Case No. 13847-II of said court, against De Guzman, for the reconveyance of the aforementioned land in favor of herein
petitioners; that on April 4, 1959, De Guzman moved to dismiss said case No.
13847-II upon the ground that the same is barred by the judgment rendered in
Land Registration Case No. 765, that petitioners have no cause of action and
that the alleged light of said petitioners and their action based thereon are
barred by the statute of limitations; that on April 27,1959, said motion to
dismiss was granted; that, on appeal taken by herein petitioners, the case was
docketed in the Supreme Court as G. R. No. L-15988; that on September 1, 1959,
respondent Judge had authorized, in said land registration case, the issuance of
a writ of possession in favor of De Guzman; that this writ of possession was
not, however, executed, owing to the pendency of said
appeal in the Supreme Court; that the latter rendered, on August 30, l962, a
decision affirming the order of dismissal appealed from; that soon thereafter,
or on December 29, 1962, respondent De Guzman reiterated in the aforementioned
land registration case, his motion for issuance of a writ of possession in his
favor; that on January 2, 1963, petitioners herein objected to said motion of De
Guzman, which was granted by

 respondent judge on February 2, 1963; and
that, accordingly, on June 4, 1963, petitioners herein instituted the present
original action for certiorari and prohibition to restrain respondent Judge from
enforcing said writ of execution and further proceeding in said case, upon the
ground that the decision rendered in the land registration case is not binding
upon them because they were not parties therein and because they had taken
possession of the land in question after the rendition of said decision.

The petition herein is patently
devoid of merit. To begin with, a land registration case is a proceeding in
rem, and, accordingly, the decision therein
rendered is binding upon the whole world (Soroñgon vs.
Makalintal et al. 80 Phil. 259). Secondly, in civil
case No. 13847-II of the Court of First Instance of Pangasinan, petitioners herein sought to compel De Guzman to
reconvey the land in question upon the theory that the
decree of registration thereof in his name was based upon a deed of donation
dated June 1, 1918 which had been fraudulently secured by De Guzman from Juan
Garcia, the father of petitioners herein, who, allegedly, were in possession of
said land, at that time, and remained continuously in possession thereof. Apart
from the fact that petitioners’ complaint in said case indicated that
petitioners were in possession of said land prior to and at the time of the
institution of the land registration proceedings—thus
refuting their allegation in the present case to the effect that the decision in
the land registration case does not bind them because their possession is
subsequent to said decision—the trial court, whose
decision was affirmed by this Court, held that the alleged fraud in the
execution of the aforementioned deed of donation had been disapproved by the
fact that, although petitioners’ father Juan Garcia, did not die until 1950, or
thirty-two (32) years after the execution of said deed, he neither sought to
annul the same nor opposed De Guzman’s petition for the registration of the land
in question in his name. Lastly, it was held in said case No.13847-11 of the
lower court and G.R. No. L-15988 of this Court that the decree of land
registration in favor of De Guzman bars the claim of petitioners herein.

WHEREFORE, the petition herein is,
accordingly, dismissed, with costs against the petitioners.

SO ORDERED.

Bengzon, C.J., Bautista Angelo, Reyes,
J.B.L., Barrera, Paredes, Dizon, Regala, Makalintal and Bengzon, J.P., JJ., concur.