HAW PIA, PETITIONER, VS. FRANCISCO OMANA ET AL., RESPONDENTS.

This petition was filed by the petitioner
to compel the provincial sheriff of Tayabas to issue and turn over to
her the deed of sale of a parcel of land planted with coconuts, with an
area of 3 hectares, 1 are and 20 centiares, situated in the barrio of
Rizal, municipality of Unisan, Province of Tayabas.

In civil case No. 3705 of the Court of First Instance of Tayabas,
the petitioner, as plaintiff, obtained judgment in her favor against
Roman Par, the therein defendant, for the sum of P531.58, with legal
interest thereon from December 20, 1934, with the costs. After the
complaint had been filed, the petitioner, by means of a bond, obtained
a preliminary attachment of the above-described parcel of land. The
judgment having become final, a writ of execution was issued and on
July 1, 1935, the provincial sheriff sold the land for the sum of
p649.78 to the petitioner, having been the highest bidder, and
delivered the certificate of sale to her. Inasmuch as the property had
not been redeemed1 after one year, the petitioner asked the sheriff to
issue the deed of sale to her, but said officer refused to do so. The
petitioner then filed a motion in the above-cited civil case praying
the court to compel the sheriff to issue the deed of sale but the
court, in an order of August 6, 1936, denied the motion on the ground
that section 5, in connection with section 1, Article XII, of the
Constitution of the Philippines, prohibits the. petitioner, as an
alien, from acquiring private agricultural lands.

Section 463 of the Code of Civil Procedure which governs the matter
under discussion and sections 1 and 5 of the Constitution of the
Philippines upon which the order of the court was based, read as
follows:

“SEC. 463. Sale of real property and certificate thereof.—
Upon a sale of real property, the purchaser shall be substituted to,
and acquire all the right, interest, title, and claim of the judgment
debtor thereto, subject to the right of redemption as hereinafter
provided. The officer must give to the purchaser a certificate of sale
containing:

“1. A particular description of the real property sold;

“2. The price paid for each distinct lot or parcel;

“3. The whole price by him paid;

“4. The date when the right of redemption expires,.

“When the judgment under which the sale has been made is made payable
in a specified kind of money or currency, the certificate must also
show the kind of money or currency in which such redemption must be
made, which must be the same as that specified in the judgment. A
duplicate of such certificate must be filed by the officer in the
office of the registrar of land titles of the province.”

“SECTION 1. All agricultural, timber, and mineral lands of the
public domain, waters, minerals, coal, petroleum, and other mineral
oils, all forces of potential energy, and other natural resources of
the Philippines belong to the State, and their disposition,
exploitation, development, or utilization shall be limited to citizens
of the Philippines, or to corporations or associations at least sixty per centum
of the capital of which is owned by such citizens, subject to any
existing right, grant, lease, or concession at the time of the
inauguration of the Government established under this Constitution.
Natural resources, with the exception of public agricultural land,
shall not be alienated, and no license, concession, or lease for the
exploitation, development, or utilization of any of the natural
resources shall be granted for a period exceeding twenty-five years,
renewable for another twenty-five years, except as to water rights for
irrigation, water supply, fisheries, or industrial uses other than the
development of water power, in which cases beneficial use ‘may be the
measure and the limit of the grant.

* * * * * * *

“SEC. 5. Save in cases of hereditary succession, no
private agricultural land shall be transferred or assigned except to
individuals, corporations, or associations qualified to acquire or hold
lands of the public domain in the Philippines.”

It will be noted that section 463 clearly provides that by virtue
of the sale of real property, the purchaser is substituted to and
acquires all the right, interest, title and claim of the judgment
debtor thereto, subject only to the right of redemption. Under this
provision, the petitioner substituted Roman Par and acquired the
latter’s interest, title, and claim to the land sold from the time of
the sale thereof at public auction, his acquisition being subject only
to the right of redemption which may be exercised in the manner
established by law. On the other hand, section 5, in connection with
section 1, Article XII, of the Constitution, prohibits the transfer or
assignment of private agricultural lands to individuals and
corporations or associations not qualified to hold lands of the public
domain. The petitioner, being a citizen of the Chinese Republic, is
included within the prohibition but as the transfer of the land had
already been consummated when sections 1 and 5, Article XII, of the
Constitution took effect on November 15, 1935, this court is of the
opinion and so holds that the constitutional provisions above-cited are
inapplicable to the present case and the prohibition, therefore, does
not affect the petitioner.

In view of the foregoing considerations, it is ordered that the
writ of mandamus applied for be issued and the respondent provincial
sheriff shall issue the deed of sale sought, without special
pronouncement as to costs’. So ordered.

Avancena, C. J., Abad Santos, Diaz, Laurel, and Concepcion, JJ., concur.

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