GERVACIO D. VERCELES, PETITIONER, VS. HON. ANGEL P. BACANI, PRESIDING JUDGE OF BRANCH IX OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF PANGASINAN, AND GREGORIA LADINES Y QUINTOS, RESPONDENTS.

This case comes to us with a sentimental touch, this being a suit
between a grandmother, more than eighty years old when she filed her petition
in 1975, and her grandchildren.

The petitioner assails the Decision of the respondent Judge^[1]
which granted the private respondent’s petition for the surrender of the
“Owner’s Duplicate Copy” of Transfer Certificate of Title (T.C.T.,
for short) No. 78685 to the Register of Deeds for Pangasinan
to enable the petitioner in the trial court and private respondent herein (the
grandmother) to register whatever document she desires pertaining to the land
embraced therein.^[2]

The petitioner avers that on February 16, 1944, his grandmother,
the private respondent, Gregoria Ladines
y Quintos, and her husband executed a Deed of
Donation propter nuptias
of 1,064 square meters of residential land, situated in the poblacion
of Binalonan, Pangasinan,
in favor of their son, Dionisio Verceles
and his bride, Donata Antipaz
Rodriguez (now both deceased).  It was
only on April 17, 1970, however, that the herein petitioner and his four
brothers (surviving children of Dionisio Verceles and Donata Antipaz Rodriguez) were able to register an adverse claim
for the area covered by the said Deed of Donation and had the same annotated in
the Memorandum of Encumbrances of T.C.T. No. 78685.^[3]

The petitioner claims that after the execution of the Deed of
Donation propter nuptias,
the private respondent-donor disposed of several portions of the parcel of land
covered by T.C.T. No. 78685.  Some of
these dispositions were annotated in the Memorandum of Encumbrances of the
title.

On June 27, 1974,
the private respondent filed the petition adverted to earlier.  Grandmother Gregoria
averred in her petition before the respondent court that she is the registered
owner of the parcel of land described in T.C.T. No. 78685; that the
“Owner’s Duplicate Copy” is in, the possession of the petitioner, who
refuses to surrender the same despite several demands; and that she needs the
certificate of title very badly for registration purposes.

On July 22, 1974, the herein petitioner, grandson Gervacio, filed in the respondent court his opposition on
the grounds that an area of 1,064 square meters included in T.C.T. No. 78685
had been conveyed by grandmother Gregoria to his
parents, Dionisio Verceles
and Donata Antipaz
Rodriguez, by way of donation propter nuptias; that the petitioner and his four brothers
acquired the same area by inheritance and/or quitclaim from their deceased
parents; that the “Owner’s Duplicate Copy” was given to him (the
Petitioner) by his father before the latter’s death in February, 1974; that
there is a pending civil case regarding ownership of the land before the same
trial court; and that the private respondent is no longer the owner of the
Parcel of land described in T.C.T. No. 78685 due to the series of conveyances
and transfers she had already made.  The Torrens
title shows that the parcel of land registered has a total area of 1,728 square
meters only.  It is undeniable that the
petitioner and his four brothers have been in continuous adverse exclusive
possession and enjoyment of the donated portion of 1,064 square meters as
owners and have been paying the taxes thereon.

On September 12, 1974,
the respondent Judge issued the questioned Order, to wit:

WHEREFORE, the Court, finding the petition to be in order, hereby
orders the respondent to surrender the owner’s duplicate copy of Transfer
Certificate of Title No. 78685 within ten (10) days from receipt hereof to the
Register of Deeds for Pangasinan to enable the
petitioner to register whatever document she desires pertaining to the land
embraced therein.^[4]

The decision was primarily anchored on
the trial court’s skepticism that the disputed land in question, subject matter
of the donation propter nuptias,
is part of the area described in T.C.T. No. 78685.

On October 29, 1974,
the herein petitioner filed a Motion for Reconsideration.  On December
5, 1974, an Opposition thereto was filed by the private
respondent.  On December 10, 1974, the respondent Judge denied
the Motion for Reconsideration for lack of merit.  Hence, this Petition, which we have
considered as a special civil action in our Resolution of April 23, 1975.

This Petition lacks merit. 
The respondent trial Judge did not commit grave abuse of discretion in
rendering the decision now being questioned in these proceedings.

T.C.T. No. 78685 is still in the name of grandmother Gregoria, the private respondent herein.  The T.C.T. being in her name, she is the
owner of the “Owner’s Duplicate Copy,” and, therefore, entitled to
hold and keep the document.  Precisely,
that is why it is denominated “Owner’s Duplicate Copy.” The claim or
interest of the petitioner over a portion of the real property described in the
certificate of title does not affect at all the private respondent’s right of
possession of the “Owner’s Duplicate Copy” of the T.C.T. yet in her
name.  The petitioner’s adverse claim is
duly annotated in the Memorandum of Encumbrances of the T.C.T.  That is sufficient protection for the
petitioner.  His adverse claim does not
grant him the right to the physical possession of the Owner’s Duplicate
Copy.” Unless and until T.C.T. No. 78685 has been duly cancelled by the
Register of Deeds for the Province of Pangasinan, the
physical possession of the “Owner’s Duplicate Copy” thereof pertains
to the private respondent.  But, that is
not what the assailed decision mandates. 
The decision orders the delivery by the petitioner of the “Owner’s
Duplicate Copy” of T.C.T. No. 78685 “to the Register of Deeds for the
Province of Pangasinan to enable the private
respondent to register whatever document she desires pertaining to the land
embraced therein.” The delivery should be to the private respondent.

WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED.  The Decision dated September 12, 1974, is hereby MODIFIED to the
effect that the petitioner must deliver the “Owner’s Duplicate Copy”
of T.C.T. No. 78685 to the private respondent or her duly authorized
representative.  This DECISION IS IMMEDIATELY
EXECUTORY.

Costs against the petitioner.

SO ORDERED.

Yap (Chairman), Melencio-Herrera,
Paras, and
Padilla, JJ., concur.

^[1] Hon. Angel P. Bacani, Presiding Judge of
Branch IX of the then Court of First Instance of Pangasinan,
at Urdaneta.

^[2] Rollo, 6,
32.

^[3] Rollo,
17.

^[4] Rollo, 4,
32.