THE DIRECTOR OF LANDS ET AL., PLAINTIFFS AND APPELLANTS, VS. MANUEL SANTOS ET AL., DEFENDANTS AND APPELLEES.

On
June 1, 1908, the Government of the Philippine Islands, through the
Director of Lands and with the approval of the Secretary of the
Interior, sold to Macario Santos lot No. 665 of the Orion friar lands
for the sum of P1,244.37, payable by annual installments, the last of
which ended June 30, 1927. Macario Santos died before the filing of the
complaint in this case. The defendant Emiliana Rivera is his widow and
the other defendants his children. The installments agreed upon were
paid at the proper times until this action was commenced.

The plaintiffs are the Director of Lands and the alleged occupants of
this lot who pretend to have the right to purchase it under Act No.
1120, as amended. The complaint prays that the sale made to Macario
Santos be declared null and void and that the defendants be ordered to
vacate the land and deliver it to the plaintiffs, and to render account
of the fruits received by them. As a ground for complaint, it is
alleged that in the sale of this land the requisites of Act No. 1120
have not been complied with and that Macario Santos acted fraudulently
in the purchase of this land, he being, furthermore, a Government agent
in charge of the sale of this land at the time that he bought it.

The lower court absolved the defendants from the complaint and from this judgment plaintiffs have appealed.

Plaintiffs alleged, and attempted to establish, that in the sale of
this land, the announcements required by law before the sale were not
made and that Macario Santos had misled the occupants by informing them
that it was necessary to pay cash for the whole purchase price of the
land and the value of the improvements. The evidence, however, shows
that in general all the requisites of the law have been complied with
and that the occupants of the land in question were duly informed of
the conditions for its purchase. Suffice it to say in this connection
that some of the plaintiffs, supposed to be in possession of this land,
have acquired other lots of land east of the one here in question.

It is true, on the other hand, that Macario Santos was a friar lands
agent, that the purchase was made under the allegation that the lot in
question was unoccupied and that the contract was entered into before
notice thereof was published, but at any rate, even supposing that
these alleged causes of nullity of the sale do exist, yet they were
known to the plaintiffs from the very beginning, and since thirteen
years have elapsed from that time until the filing of the complaint, no
matter from what point of view these causes for nullity may be
considered, the action for annulment has prescribed, according to
existing laws which fix at ten years the maximum period for bringing
this action. (Act No. 190.)

The judgment appealed from is affirmed with costs against the appellants. So ordered.

Street, Malcolm, Ostrand, Johns, Romualdez, and Villa-Real, JJ., concur.