Homeowners of Quezon City’s Vista Real Classica subdivision are awaiting the Supreme Court’s final decision on the ownership of controversial lots sold by Sta. Lucia Land Inc. The lots are also being claimed by 8990 Housing Development Corp.
Home builder 8990 Housing on Feb. 27, 2024 filed a motion for partial reconsideration of the high court’s 2023 ruling that declared Sta. Lucia the rightful owner of Lot 116-D under TCT No. RT-39100 (144532). The lot is comprised of the 19 disputed parcels within Vista Real Classica.
Sta. Lucia, the developer of Vista Real Classica, received a favorable decision from the Supreme Court’s Second Division on April 17, 2023. The court declared Sta. Lucia the rightful owner of the contested lots.
The case stemmed from a lawsuit filed by Evangeline Puzon against Sta. Lucia over ownership of the lots. Puzon, now represented by 8990, won the case at the Quezon City Regional Trial Court and the Court of Appeals.
Quezon City Regional Trial Court Branch 104 records show Sta. Lucia Realty sold subdivided lots to 19 homeowners in Vista Real. In a 2022 decision, Judge Catherine Manodon said Sta. Lucia’s lot titles were questionable and could not transfer ownership rights.
The court said the lot being claimed by Sta. Lucia and its partner Garsons Co. belonged to Puzon. The lot was developed as part of Vista Real Classica Phase III-A and was subdivided and sold to homeowners by Sta. Lucia.
The Supreme Court, however, reversed the lower courts’ decisions. In its April 2023 ruling, the Second Division said the Court of Appeals erred in awarding possession to Puzon because evidence strongly favored Sta. Lucia’s ownership of Lot 116-D.
“The petition for review on certiorari filed by Sta. Lucia Realty and Development is granted. The decision dated April 30, 2019 and the resolution dated November 27, 2019 of the Court of Appeals in DA-GR CV No. 107601 are reversed and set aside.
A new judgement is hereby rendered declaring Sta. Lucia Realty and Development Inc. to have a better right of possession over Lot 116-D covered by TCT No. RT-39100 (144532) as against Evangeline Puzon, substituted by 8990 Housing Development.
Accordingly, the amended complaint for accion reivindicatoria filed by Evangeline Puzon is dismissed for lack of merit,” the SC Second Division said in its ruling.
Sta. Lucia argued in its petition that Puzon had not presented any evidence to prove she ever had possession of the property. Sta. Lucia said it had presented evidence of physical possession dating back to 1964.
Sta. Lucia also questioned the validity of Puzon’s title, which claimed the lot title predated the land survey by decades. Sta. Lucia also acknowledged it had sold the contested property to homeowners who bought in good faith.
The Supreme Court said while both parties had reconstituted titles, merely owning a title deed doesn’t automatically grant ownership of the property.
“A judicious and circumspect scrutiny of these pieces of evidence, however, showed that they were unreliable and could not be used as a basis to favor Puzon’s title. Unlike Puzon, Sta. Lucia was able to show that it has been in open, continuous and adverse possession of the subject property for more than 30 years and traced the history of its TCT No. RT 39100 (144532),” the SC said.
“From the foregoing, it is clear that Sta. Lucia was able to substantiate its claim of prior physical possession since 1964 through its predecessors in interest as well as account for all the transfers or conveyances involving TCT No. RT 31900 (144532) up to the present,” it said.
“Taken collectively, the foregoing undeniably supports the conclusion that Puzon has failed to discharge her burden of proving ownership over the subject property to be entitled to its possession,” the SC said.
Respondents (represented by 8990 Housing) filed a motion for partial reconsideration of the decision on Feb. 27, 2024.
The affected homeowners previously appealed to the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development to urge Sta. Lucia and 8990 to resolve the case without jeopardizing their rights.
Tensions rose in the subdivision in August 2022 when 8990 hired security personnel and built temporary shelters. The company also informed residents of the disputed lot that security guards would be deployed to enforce a local court’s writ of execution.
The Quezon City RTC Branch 104 later suspended the writ of execution “until the issue of ownership over the subject property has been finally resolved” and ordered 8990 to remove its security guards from the subdivision to allow free access by homeowners.
A lawyer for Sta. Lucia said the homeowners are considered buyers in good faith and cannot be evicted under the law.
