THE GOVERNMENT OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, APPLICANT, VS. EUSTAQUIA ABALLE ET AL., CLAIMANTS. LEVY HERMANOS, INC., PETITIONER AND APPELLEE, ANTONIO ALEGATO AND CHIONG BONCO, OPPO…

By virtue of the execution issued by the
Court of First Instance of Iloilo in civil case No. 8491, wherein
Gervasio Ignalaga was one of the defendants, the provincial sheriff of
Occidental Negros levied upon and sold to Levy Hermanos, Inc., all the
rights, interest and participation of Gervasio Ignalaga in lots Nos.
419, 762 and 763 of Cadastral Record No. 27, G. L. R. O. Record No.
284. These lots were originally adjudicated in the name of the spouses
Gervasio Ignalaga and Petra Maderazo.

On March 7, 1933, Levy Hermanos, Inc., filed a petition praying
that the register of deeds be ordered to cancel the certificates of
title to these lots in the name of Gervasio Ignalaga and Petra Maderazo
and to issue the corresponding transfer certificate of title in the
name of Levy Hermanos, Inc., for the reason that the legal period for
redemption has expired with nobody having exercised this right. To this
petition opposition was filed by Antonio Alegato with respect to lots
Nos. 762 and 419, claiming to be the owner thereof for having bought
them from their original owners, and by Chiong Bonco, with respect to
lot No. 763, claiming that he held a mortgage credit on this lot. The
court, overruling all these oppositions, ordered the register of deeds
of the Province of Occidental Negros to cancel the certificates of
title covering lots Nos. 419, 762 and 763 of this cadastral record and
issue the transfer certificate of title, free from all liens and
encumbrances, in favor of Levy Hermanos, Inc.

The attachment of these lots in case No. 8491 of the Court of First
Instance of Iloilo was presented and noted in the books of the registry
of deeds on November 14, 1930. This notice of attachment was likewise
noted on the original certificate of title covering lot No. 419, but,
through an involuntary oversight on the part of the register of deeds,
was not noted on the original certificate of title covering lot No. 762.

By virtue of a deed of sale executed by the spouses Gervasio
Ignalaga and Petra Maderazo in favor of Antonio Alegato, covering lots
Nos. 419 and 762, which was presented in the registry of deeds on
December 6, 1930, both original certificates of title were cancelled
and the corresponding transfer certificates of title in the name of
Antonio Alegato were issued, with a notation of the notice of
attachment on that covering lot No. 419, and without this notation on
that covering lot No. 762. Thereafter, the register of deeds, becoming
aware of the omission of the notice of attachment on the original as
well as on the transfer certificate of title covering lot No. 762,
asked permission of the court, which was granted him, to make the
annotation thus omitted.

As to lot No. 419, there is no doubt that the opposition of Antonio
Alegato is entirely unfounded. It appearing in the books of the
registry of deeds and on his transfer certificate of title that his
right to this lot is subject to the attachment levied against Gervasio
Ignalaga, his vendor, he cannot now oppose the effects of said
attachment (Buzon vs. Licauco, 13 Phil., 354).

Neither is his opposition with respect to lot No. 762 founded,
notwithstanding the fact that the notice of attachment had not been
noted on the original certificate of title to this lot in the name of
Gervasio Ignalaga and Petra Maderazo or on the transfer certificate of
title which was later issued in his name, inasmuch as this notice of
attachment was duly inscribed in the books of the registry of deeds.
According to section 51 of Act No. 496, the registration of the
instrument in the books of the registry of deeds is notice to all as
regards such document. It does not provide that it is the notation
thereof on the certificate of title. And section 56 of the same Act, in
prescribing the form in which the registers of deeds should keep their
entry books and directing the entry therein, in the order of their
reception, of all deeds and other voluntary instruments and all copies
of writs and other process filed with them relating to registered land,
noting therein the year, month, day, hour and minute when they received
them, provides that inscription or registration shall be regarded as
made from the time so noted. According to this, the notation of the
attachment of this lot in the entry book of the register of deeds
produces all the effects which the law gives to its registration or
inscription.

It is also alleged that, at all events, the levy and sale made by
the provincial sheriff in favor of Levy Hermanos, Inc., should affect
only one-half of each of these lots, which represents Ignalaga’s share
in the conjugal property, it not appearing that the execution entered
in case No. 8491 was for an indebtedness contracted during the
marriage. However, there is no evidence to the contrary and, on the
other hand, the circumstance that execution was issued during the
marriage authorizes the conclusion that said indebtedness was
contracted during the same. At any rate, inasmuch as the sale of these
lots to Levy Hermanos, Inc. was made with the legal formalities, it is
incumbent upon those who seek to annul it to prove the facts justifying
their claim.

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

Street, Abad Santos, Hull, and Vickers, JJ., concur.