FACTS:

The registered owners of a lot, Norma Domingo and her husband Valentino Domingo, decided to dispose of the property. Norma entrusted her friend, Flor Bacani, to act as her agent in selling the lot and delivered the owner's copy of the transfer certificate of title to him. The title was later said to have been lost and Norma filed a petition for its reconstitution. She also gave Bacani her receipts of payment for real estate taxes and signed a document which she recalled was a record of exhibits. However, Bacani never showed up again. Norma visited the lot one day and was surprised to see the respondents starting to build a house on the property. She discovered that a deed of absolute sale had been registered, with Norma and Valentino as sellers and the respondents as buyers. Norma claimed that she did not meet or sign any sale over the property and assumed that the deed of sale was a forgery. She filed a case for the nullity of the deed of sale and its reconveyance. The trial court dismissed the complaint, ruling that the respondents were purchasers in good faith. The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the trial court, and the Supreme Court denied the petition for review.

ISSUES:

1. Whether or not the respondents are purchasers in good faith

RULING:

1. The Court ruled that the respondents are purchasers in good faith. The trial court's finding that the signatures in the Deed of Absolute Sale and the verification of the complaint were written by the same person was not rebutted by the petitioner. Moreover, the petitioner failed to present clear and convincing evidence that her husband was not present during the sale. In the absence of fraud and with the finding of authenticity and due execution of the Deed of Absolute Sale, the issue of whether respondents were purchasers in good faith is unnecessary. A presumption of good faith in favor of respondents stands.

PRINCIPLES:

• Forgery must be proven by the party alleging it; it cannot be presumed.

• A notarized instrument enjoys a prima facie presumption of authenticity and due execution. Clear and convincing evidence must be presented to overcome such legal presumption.

• The Torrens Act requires, as a prerequisite to registration, the production of the owner's certificate of title and the instrument of conveyance. The registered owner who places in the hands of another an executed document of transfer of registered land effectively represents to a third party that the holder of such document is authorized to deal with the property.