HEIRS OF JOHN Z. SYCIP NAMELY NATIVIDAD D. SYCIP, JOSE SYCIP, JOHN SYCIP, JR., ALFONSO SYCIP II, ROSE MARIE NATIVIDAD D. SYCIP, PETITIONERS, VS. COURT OF APPEALS, MELENCIO YU AN…

This is a petition for review on certiorari seeking the
reversal of the September 22, 1986 decision*
of the Court of Appeals in CA- G.R. No. 69000 entitled “Melencio Yu, et al. v. Heirs of John Z. Sycip”
affirming the decision**
of the Court of First Instance of South Cotabato,
Branch I dated April 22, 1982 in Civil Case No. 1291 which, among others,
adjudged private respondents Melencio Yu and Talinanap Matualaga as the
registered absolute owners of Lot No. 4
and ordered the petitioner to deliver to the private respondents the property
in question and to pay the attorney’s fees.

The decretal
portion of the appealed decision reads as follows:

“WHEREFORE, no
reversible error in the decision appealed from, the same is hereby affirmed
with costs againsts defendant?appellants.

SO ORDERED.” (p. 50, Rollo)

The antecedent facts of the case as found by the appellate
court are as follows:

“The plaintiffs-spouses are native muslims.  Prior to 1952, Talinanap
Matualaga bought a parcel of land with an area of 54,.4980
hectares, more or less, situated at Makar, General
Santos City
(using the money given to her by her parents) from vendors Cosin
Bentaib and Hadji Abdaua Mohamad.  The land was, however, surveyed in the name
of Bangon Yu (father of plaintiff Melencio
Yu) on June 14 to 16, 1952
by private surveyor Justino Mendoza which was
approved by the Director of Lands on March
4, 1953.  On September 11 to 12, 1953, the land
was sub­divided into five (5) lots in another survey conducted and executed by Justino Mendoza, and approved by the Director of Lands on July 1, 1954.  The subdivision was as follows:  Lot No. 1 for Bengon
Yu; Lot No. 2 for Melencio Yu; Lot No 3 for Dominga Pinag­awang; Lot No. 4
for Talinanap Matualaga and
Lot No. 5 for Ison Yu (the brother of plaintiff Melencio Yu).  (Exh. “A”)

“Melencio Yu, together with his
wife, Talinanap Matualaga
filed on December 21, their respective Free Patent Application for both Lot
Nos. 4 and 2.  On April 18, 1961, the approval of the Director of
Lands of the Free Patent Application, Free Patent No. V­-178889 was issued on June 22, 1961 by authority of the
President of the Philippines
(Exh. “A”). 
Upon transmittal to the Register of Deeds on July 17, 1961, the latter issued to Melencio Yu, married to Talinanap
Matualaga, Original Certificate of Title No.
(C-14496) (P-523) on August 23, 1961
(Exh. “B”), “B-1” and
“BB”).  The owner’s copy of
said title, however, was not received by the patentee Melencio
Yu because the same was given to
defendant John Z. Sycip (now deceased).

“In 1958, on account of jealousy, Talinanap
Matualaga left her husband at Tocanabago,
General Santos, South Cotabato,
where they had a house in the land in question since their marriage and lived
with her parents at Baluan, Cotabato.  For the same period, Melencio
Yu lived in Tupi, South Cotabato. 
They reconciled, however, in 1963 and since then lived together in Buluan.

“Upon their reconciliation, however, Melencio
Yu asked his wife if a certain Alfonso Non had approached her regarding the
sale of their land to John Sycip.  Talinanap Matualaga answered in the negative and further said that
she never executed any instrument conveying her property to anyone.  Melencio Yu then
explained that while they were separated, Alfonso Non approached him and told
him that there was a buyer interested in their land at a price of P200.00 per
hectare.  Melencio
told Non that the land belonged to his wife as her paraphernal
property, hence, he did not have authority to sell the same.  Alfonso Non, however, convinced Melencio that if he would only sign the documents which Non
had prepared then Non will secure the signature of Talinanap
in Buluan, and if Non fails to get Talinanap’s signature,
then Melencio’s signature will be null and
void.  With such understanding, Melencio signed the “Agreement of Transfer of Rights
and Deed of Sale” (Exh. “B”) and the
“Quitclaim Deed” (Exh. “D”),
without receiving any consideration therefore. 
It turned out that the deeds involved the sale at the whole parcel of
land consisting of more than 54 hectares in favor of John Sycip
for a consideration of P9,500.00.

“By reason of these information, the spouses sought the
assistance of the Commission on National Integration of Southern Mindanao
office which informed them that their original certificate of titles were taken
and delivered to John Sycip by virtue of the sale
documents in question.

“Plaintiffs demanded the return of their land to them and the
declaration of nullity of the documents in question.” (pp. 45-46, Rollo)

On December 6, 1986 private respondents filed a complaint against
John Z. Sycip (later substitued
by his heirs upon his death) petitioners herein, before the trial court,
docketed as Civil Case No. 969 for the Declaration of Nullity of Document and
Recovery of Possession of Real Property with a prayer for a writ of Preliminary
Mandatory Injunction and Damages, with Lot No. 4 Psu 135740-Amd, as the subject matter which
was adjacent to Lot No. 2 Psu-135740-Amd.  (Rollo, p. 149) On March 2,
1971 the trial court
upheld the right of the private respondents to be restored to the possession of
the aforesaid parcel of land by declaring null and void ab initio or
inexistent all documents of conveyance of sale by the petitioners.  On appeal, the appellate court in its
decision dated October 2, 1978
affirmed in toto
the decision of the trial
court.  Said decision became final
and executory
and the private respondents were restored to the possession of Lot No. 4
Psu-135740-Amd by virtue of the
writ of execution issued by the trial court.  (Rollo, p. 150)

Meanwhile, on May 2, 1972, private respondents filed another
complaint in the Court of First Instance of Cotabato
Branch I for the Declaration of Nullity of Documents and Recovery of Possession
of Real Property with a prayer for a Writ of Preliminary Mandatory Injunction and Damages docketed as Civil Case
No. 1291, this time it was Lot No. 2 Psu-135740-Amd as the subject matter of
the aforesaid case.

On June 21, 1973,
the trial court issued its order dismissing the case on the ground of
prescription (Rollo, p. 95).  It was on July 18, 1973 that private respondents filed their urgent
motion for reconsideration to set aside the order dated June 21, 1973 which was denied on October 1, 1973 (Rollo,
p. 146).

On appeal, the    Court   of Appeals, Special Eighth Division, rendered
its decision in favor of private respondents thereby setting aside the order of
dismissal of the trial court dated June
21, 1973 and remanding the case for further proceedings (Rollo, p. 147).

On April 22, 1981, the trial
court in its order adopted the evidence presented in Civil Case No. 969
both oral and documentary and reversed its Order dated June 21, 1973 dismissing the complaint and declared private
respondent as the registered and absolute owners of the land in question.  (Rollo, p. 147;
Record on Appeal p. 71)

Petitioners’ motion for reconsideration was denied by the trial
court on June 5, 1981.  (Rollo, p. 96)

Hence, this petition for review before Us.

The pivotal issue of this case is whether or not the sale of lot
no. 2 Psu-135740-Amd is null and void ab initio.

The petition is devoid of
merit.

It is not disputed that the private respondents are Muslims who
belong to the cultural minority or non-Christian Filipinos as members of the Maguindanao Tribe. 
Any transaction, involving real property with them is governed by the provisions of Sections 145
and 146 of the Revised Administrative Code of Mindanao and Sulu,
Section 120 of the Public Land Act (Commonwealth Act No. 141), as amended, and
Republic Act No. 3872, further amending the Public Land Act.

Section 145 of the Revised Administrative Code of Mindanao and Sulu provides that any transaction involving real property
with said non-Christian tribes shall bear the approval of the provincial governor
wherein the same was executed or of his representative duly authorized in
writing for such purpose, indorsed upon it. 
Section 146 of the same code considers
every contract or agreement made in violation
of Section 145 as null and void.  (Underscoring supplied)

Section 120 of the
Public Land Act (Commonwealth Act No. 141) provides that conveyances and
encumbrances made by persons belonging to the so-called “non Christian
tribe” shall be valid if the person making the conveyance or encumbrance
is able to read and can understand the language in which the instrument of
conveyance or encumbrance is written. 
Conveyances and encumbrances
made by illiterate non-Christians shall not be valid unless duly approved by
the Commissioner of Mindanao and
Sulu.

Republic Act No. 3872 provides that conveyances and encumbrances
made by illiterate non-Christian or literate
non-Christians where the instrument of conveyance or encumbrance is in a
language not understood by said literate non-Christians shall not be valid unless duly approved by the Chairman
of the Commission on National Integration.

All the documents declared null and void or inexistent by the
trial court and affirmed by the Court of Appeals were found to have been
falsified in Civil Case No. 969; without consideration and more importantly
without approval by any of the following officials:  the Provincial Governor of Cotabato, Commissioner of Mindanao and Sulu,
or the Chairman of the Commission on National Integration and therefore null
and void.

With the resolution of this issue there appears to be no
necessity to dwell on the other issues of this case.

 PREMISES CONSIDERED,  the petition is hereby DISMISSED and the
decision of the Court of Appeals is hereby AFFIRMED.

SO ORDERED.

Melencio-Herrera, (Chairman),
Padilla, Sarmiento and
Regalado, JJ., concur.

*
Penned by Associate Justice Jose C. Campos, Jr., and concurred in by Associate
Justices Reynato S. Puno
and Venancio D. Aldecoa,
Jr.

**
Penned by Judge Pedro Samson C. Animas