[No. 5981-R.

February 27, 1954]

Francisco Bassig, applicant-appellee and appellant, vs.
the Director of Lands, Cipriano Maribbay, Abelardo Lopez, Guillermo Nadal, Juan Maramag and
Mario Saquing, oppositors. The Director of Lands,
Juan Maramag, Abelardo Lopez and Guillermo Nadal, appellants and appellees.
Land Registration; Opposition to Application for Land of the
Public Domain; Burden of Proof of Absence of Composition
Title or Possessory Information Title. In many registration
cases coming from the provinces, the opposition to
applications
for alleged lands of public domain is usually based on the
ground that neither the applicants nor their predecessors in
interest have composition title or possessory information title
under the Royal Decree of February 13, 1894, and ordinarily
the Government does not present any evidence on this
particular point, leaving the applicants to prove this affirmative
allegation of the Government. Without touching on the question
of whether lands of public domain may be acquired by
continued
possession or prescription, we are of the opinion that when
the
record shows that a certain property, the registration of
which
is applied for, has been possessed and cultivated by the
applicant
and his predecessors in interest for a long number of years
without the Government taking any action to dislodge the
occupants
from their holdings and when these lands have passed from
one
hand to another by inheritance or by purchase, the
Government
is in duty bound to prove that the lands which it avers to be
of
public domain are really of said nature. We hold this opinion

because after the lapse of over 60 years since the

promulgation
of the Royal Decree of February 13, 1894, and after the burning or destruction of public records on account of the
revolution
against the Spanish regime, and of several wars that have
ravaged this country, it would be unjust and unfair to hold applicants duty bound to prove that they and their predecessors
in
interest have been in possession of the land before 1894.
APPEAL from a judgment of the Court of First Instance
of Cagayan. Quitoriano, J.
The facts are stated in the opinion of the court.
B. Pobre for applicant and appellant Bassig.
Crecenciano L. Saquing for oppositor Maramag.
First Assistant Solicitor General Ruperto Kapunan, Jr.
and Solicitor Jaime de los Angeles for appellant and. appellee
Director of Lands.
Felix, J.:
On June 15, 1949, Francisco Bassig filed this land registration case in the Court of First Instance of Cagayan,
claiming to be the owner of eight lots, assessed at PI, 790
and situated in the barmo of Aggugaddan, municipality of
Penablanca, Cagayan, more particularly described in the
plans and technical descriptions attached to the application.
Applicants claim of ownership of said eight lots is based
on a deed of sale executed by Fructuoso Eclipse in his
favor, dated December 4, 1939, at Tuguegarao, Cagayan,
duly registered in the Office of the Register of Deeds of
Cagayan. Francisco Bassig is of legal age, Filipino citizen
and resident of Ugac, Tuguegarao, Cagayan. His application was opposed by the Director of Lands on December
19, 1949, who contends that said lots are of public domain
and belong to the Republic of the Philippines, for neither

the applicant nor his predecessors in interest possess

sufficient title to said parcels of land, the same not having
been acquired either by composition title from the Spanish
Government or by possessory information title under the
Royal Decree of February 30, 1894.

produce evidence to show that they or their respective predecessors in interest had been respectively in possession of
lots 1, 2 and 7 since July 26, 1894; hence the court left the
adjudication of these three lots undecided and subject of
future action.

On February 20, 1949, various private individuals filed

their corresponding oppositions, to wit : Juan Maramag,

The Director of Lands as well as the oppositors Juan Maramag, Abelardo Lopez and Guillermo Nadal appealed from
said decision and, together with applicant Francisco Bassig
who also appealed, requested authority, which was granted,
to submit, as they did, a joint record on appeal.

claiming as his lots Nos. 1, 3 and 6 ; Mario Saquing, lot No.

2; Abelardo Lopez, lot No. 4; Guillermo Nadal, lot No. 5;
and Cipriano Maribbay, lot No. 7. No private individual
claimed ownership over lot No. 8. Mario Saquing was allowed to submit his opposition in writing and an order of
general default was issued on December 20, 1949, with the
exception of the Director of Lands, Cipriano Maribbay,
Abelardo Lopez, Guillermo Nadal, Juan Maramag and Mario Saquing.
After proper proceedings and hearing the court rendered
judgment on February 27, 1950, the dispositive part of
which, translated into English, is as follows :
Wherefore, the Court orders and decrees the registration of
lots
Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 in accordance with the provisions of Act
No.
496 in the name of Francisco Bassig, of legal age, married to
Maria
Lunato, Filipino and resident of Ugac, Tuguegarao, Cagayan;
and
dismisses the application in so far as lots Nos. 1, 2 and 7.
With regard to these three lots the court said in the decision that the evidence submitted by the oppositors shows
that Juan Maramag is in possession of lot No. 1 ; that Mario
Saquing is in possession of lot No. 2; and that lot No. 7
is in the possession of Cipriano Maribbay, and that apparently these oppositors are respectively entitled to these lots
which, however, were not adjudicated to them because in
their oppositions said oppositors did not apply for adjudication of said lots to them and, on the other hand, failed to

In this instance the three groups of appellants respectively assign the commission of various errors in the decision appealed from, to wit:
(1) Applicant Francisco Bassig maintains that the lower court erred in not finding that he and his predecessors
in interest have been in possession of lots Nos. 1, 2 and 7,
and in failing to order the registration of these lots in his
name;
(2) The Director of Lands contends that the lower court
erred in adjudicating lots Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 of plan Exhibit A to the applicant, and in not declaring these lots as
well as lots Nos. 1, 2 and 7 as lands of public domain;
and
(3) The other private oppositors claim in substance that
the lower court erred in declaring that Abelardo Lopez,
Guillermo Nadal and Juan Maramag failed to present clear
and convincing evidence of their ownership of lots Nos. 3.
4, 5 and 6; and in not declaring lots Nos. 1, 3 and 6 as of
the ownership of Juan Maramag, lot No. 4 of Abelardo Lopez, and lot No. 5 of Guillermo Nadal.
An examination of the record shows that applicant produced evidence to show that on December 4, 1939, applicant
Francisco Bassig purchased lots Nos. 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8
from Policarpo Eclipse (Exhibit I), and was ever since
in possession of said lots in the concept of owner until oppositors Juan Maramag, Abelardo Lopez and Guillermo Na-

dal entered into lots 3, 4, 5 and 6. There is sufficient proof

to establish that these four lots and lot No. 8 of plan (Exhibits A and Y) were exclusively owned by Policarpo
Eclipse who has been in possession thereof continuously,
publicly, peacefully and adversely to the whole world and
in the concept of owner from the demise of his father-inlaw, Andres Herrera ; that the latter was in turn in possession of a portion of 1 hectare, 68 ares and 60 centiares of
lot No. 8 in the concept of owner since the Spanish regime,
having in his favor composition title from the Spanish Government duly registered in the Office of the Register of
Deeds of Cagayan (Exhibit B) ; and that this land of Andres Herrera is bounded on the south by property of Agapito Martin and on the west by property of Teodoro Martin who were brothers-in-law of Policarpo Eclipse who
bought these adjoining properties, thus making lot No.
8 to have an actual area of 26,247 square meters. Although
the sitio of Callao wherein said lot No. 8 is located was then
under the territorial jurisdiction of the municipality of Tuguegarao, it is of public knowledge that it is now under
the jurisdiction of the municipality of Penablanca and is
now the barrio designated with the name of Aggugaddan.

tion of said lot up to the present; that lots Nos. 3 and 7

were likewise delivered to Juan Maramag in 1947 on the
same condition of being relieved from paying canon during
the first three years, and Juan Maramag started the clearing of the land but has not finished that task until now;
that lot No. 4 was requested by Abelardo Lopez for planting bananas, but he has never planted any such trees yet;
that lot No. 5 was delivered to Guillermo Nadal in the
same year in which lots Nos. 1, 3 and 6 were delivered to
Juan Maramag (1947) on the same condition of not paying
any canon during the first three years, and Guillermo Nadal has already finished clearing said lot No. 5; and that
he ,(the applicant ) received Exhibit H from Policarpo
Eclipse.

The eight lots covered by the application are of a total

area of 103,325 square meters, while the land sold and
deeded by Policarpo Eclipse in favor of the applicant (Exhibit I) is of an area of 117,160 square meters. In this
connection Francisco Bassig declared that at the time of
the purchase of this land, part of it, now lot No. 8, was
cleared, that in 1940 he delivered the portion that was
cleared to Cipriano Maribbay who paid the corresponding
rent for three years, after which the land was transferred
to Domingo Bassig who has been cultivating it and paying
the corresponding canon or rent to him (Francisco Bassig)
up to the present; that in 1943 he delivered to Cipriano
Maribbay lot No. 7, which had not been cleared at the
time of his purchase, on condition that he would till the
same free from rent for the first three years; that Cipriano Maribbay paid him the corresponding canon from
the fourth year up to 1948; that lot No. 1 Was delivered to
Juan Maramag in 1947, also free from canon during the
first three years, but Juan Maramag never cleared any por-

Pantaleon Caina and the notary public Honorio P. Reyes

before whom Exibit I was executed, also corroborated the
testimony of the applicant, who produced Exhibit J, Declaration of Real Property (Rural) No. 17910, issued on December 5, 1939, to cover the former land of Policarpio
Eclipse of 117,160 square meters deeded to Francisco
Bassig (Exhibit I) ; Exhibit K, Tax Receipt for the lots in
question for the year 1932, paid by Policarpo Eclipse ; Exhibit iK-I, another Tax Receipt for the same lots for half
of 1938 and 1939 : Exhibit K-2, Tax Receipt for the same
lots for 1940 in the name of Francisco Bassig; and other
tax receipts for the same lots also in the name of Francisco
Bassig (Exhibits K-3, K-4, K-5 and K-6).

These statements of Francisco Bassig have been substantially corroborated by Porfirio Dayag who said that Cipriano Maribbay was tenant of Francisco Bassig in the land
at Callao-Aggugaddan and that in the years 1946, 1947 and
1948 he received from Cipriano Maribbay the canon consisting of corn which he transported in a raft along the
Picanauan river to the house of Francisco Bassig.

The evidence submitted by the private oppositors tends

to show that Cipriano Maribbay bought lot No. 7 from
Policarpo Eclipse in 1930, although it is claimed that the
document executed therefor was lost; that he has been in
possession of this lot since then up to the present, his ten-

ant being his brother Adriano Tanguilan; that Maribbay

constructed a camarin (warehouse) on the lot and that
after the war he constructed his house; that he has not
received this lot from Francisco Bassig and never paid him
any canon for the same. He (Maribbay) submitted Declarations of Real Property (Exhibits 1 and 2) issued on January 3, 1929, and May 17, 1947, and Exhibit 3 which bears
no date. The applicant, however, states that the boundaries mentioned in these exhibits do not coincide with the
boundaries of lot No. 7.
Abelardo Lopez, who claims lot No. 4, stated that he has
possessed this lot for nearly 20 years and that he acquired
the same from his father, Vicente Lopez, and produced
in this connection Exhibit 5, which is Tax Declaration of Real Property No. 549 A. Applicant contends
that the boundaries given in this Exhibit 5 are very different from those of lot No. 4.
Guillermo Nadal claims for him lot No. 5 and stated that
he acquired this lot from his father and has been in possession thereof for 20 years. To support his claim he produced Declarations of Real Property (Exhibits 7 and 8) issued in the name of Dionisio Andal and Genaro Andal respectively. Exhibit 7 has no date of issuance, and Exhibit
8 must have been issued in 1947.
Juan Maramag claims lots Nos. 1, 3 and 6, and stated
that he has possessed these lots for 30 years now; that he
inherited them from his grandfather Salvador Maramag,
and supports his claim by Revisions of Declaration of Real
Property (Exhibits 10, 11, 12, 13 and 14). Lots Nos. 3
and 6 were adjudicated to the applicant. With regald to
lot No. 1, although the court believed that the evidence submitted by this claimant-oppositor shows that he was in
possession of this lot, it was not adjudicated to him for the
reasons stated before.
The whole contention of the Director of Lands on which
the opposition of the Government is based, depends upon
the testimony of witness Jose Valencia who testified that
the land referred to in applicants title Exhibit H is represented in the plan Exhibit Y of the Director of Lands with

these words: Andres Herrera Composition Title No.

510 cleared, meaning to say that it is the land on the
south of lots Nos. 1, 2 and 3 which is not involved in these
registration proceedings. The Director of Lands has not
presented any proof to establish his averment that neither
the applicant nor his predecessors in interest have acquired
the land involved in this case either by composition title
from the Spanish Government or Iby possessory information
title under the Royal Decree of February 13, 1894, undoubtedly because he felt it incumbent upon the applicant to
show this fact.
Upon going over record, We are of the opinion that
the applicant has by preponderance of evidence shown his
right to the registration in his name not only of lots Nos.
3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 but also of lots Nos. 1, 2 and 7. The private oppositors have not presented any documentary evidence that can be relied upon to establish their respective
pretensions, and W(e are satisfied that lots 1 to 8 applied
for registration herein, of a total area of 103,325 square
meters, are the same or included in the land that Francisco
Bassig bought from Policarpio Eclipse, of an area of
117,160 square meters.
Anent the opposition of the Government, We have noticed with disgust that in many registration cases coming
from the provinces, the opposition to applications for alleged lands of public domain is usually based on the ground
that neither the applicants nor their predecessors in interest have composition title or possessory information title
under the Royal Decree of February 13, 1894, and that
ordinarily the Government does not present any evidence
on this particular point, leaving the applicants to prove this
affirmative allegation of the Government. Without touching
on the question of whether lands of public domain may be
acquired by continued possession or prescription, We wish,
however, to express our opinion that when the record shows
that a certain property, the registration of which is applied
for, has been possessed and cultivated by the applicant and
his predecessors in interest for a long number of years
without the Government taking any action to dislodge the
occupants from their holdings and when these lands have

passed from one hand to another by inheritance or by purchase, the Government is in duty bound to prove that the
lands which it avers to be of public domain are really of
said nature. We hold this opinion because after the lapse
of over 60 years since the promulgation of the Royal Decree
of February 13, 1894, and after the burning or destruction
of public records on account of the revolution against the
Spanish regime, and of several wars that have ravaged
this country, it would be unjust and unfair to hold applicants duty-bound to prove that they and their predecessors
in interest have been in possession of the land before 1894.

in the name of Francisco Bassig, whose personal circumstances have already been given, and modifies the part of
the decision in so far as lots Nos. 1, 2 and 7, which are
hereby also ordered and decreed to be registered in the
name of Francisco Bassig in accordance with the provisions of said Land Registration Act. Without pronouncement as to costs.

In view of the foregoing, We render judgment affirming

the decision appealed from in so far as it orders and decrees
the registration of lots 3, 4, 5, 6 and 8 in accordance with
the provisions of the Land Registration Act (Act No. 496)

Judgment modified.

It is so ordered.
Pena and Rodas, JJ concur.