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ROSA DELOS REYES v. SPS. FRANCISCO ODONES

FACTS:

Petitioner Rosa delos Reyes filed a complaint for Unlawful Detainer with Preliminary Injunction against respondents spouses Arwenia and Francisco Odones, Noemi Otales, and Gregorio Ramirez. The complaint alleged that the petitioner is the owner of a parcel of land covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. 392430. The respondents were allegedly staying on the property with a house/improvements without any contract, only with the permission of the petitioner. The petitioner had previously demanded verbally and in writing for the respondents to vacate the property, but they refused. The respondents claimed that they were the owners of the lot, having purchased it through an Extrajudicial Succession of Estate and Sale. They also argued that the petitioner's TCT was based on a forgery and that there is a pending case for annulment of title. The Municipal Trial Court ruled in favor of the petitioner, but the Regional Trial Court set aside the decision on the grounds that the complaint failed to allege acts constitutive of unlawful detainer. The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision of the RTC, stating that the complaint did not satisfy the requirements for an action of unlawful detainer and that the remedy should be accion publiciana or accion reivindicatoria. The petitioner filed a petition for certiorari seeking the reversal of the CA's decision.

ISSUES:

  1. Whether or not the complaint for unlawful detainer was the proper remedy in this case.

  2. Whether or not the MTC had jurisdiction over the case.

  3. Whether or not the respondents are estopped from challenging the MTC's jurisdiction.

RULING:

  1. The Court of Appeals held that the complaint failed to allege acts constitutive of forcible entry or unlawful detainer. Therefore, the remedy in this case should either be accion publiciana or accion reivindicatoria in the proper Regional Trial Court (RTC). The CA affirmed the RTC's decision to set aside the MTC's judgment and dismiss the complaint.

PRINCIPLES:

  • The remedy of unlawful detainer is proper when the possession Deed of Absolute Sale dated April 18, 1972, was a forgery because the purported vendors therein, Donata Lardizabal and Francisco Razalan, had already died before the execution date of the said deed. Therefore, a pending case for annulment of title involving the TCT and Deed of Absolute Sale has been filed before the proper RTC.