278514 Sotero Diola, Felixberto Cubero, Judy U. Lim, Manuel R. Lahoz, and Nerissa C. Natividad Vs. Laguna West Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Inc. — Official PDF

Decision 2 G.R. No. 278514 The assailed rulings sustained the Decision 4 of Branch 6 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Tanauan City, Batangas, which granted respondent Laguna West Multi-Purpose Cooperative, Inc.'s (Laguna West) Amended Petition for Mandamus 5 against the Register of Deeds of Tanauan City, Batangas. Antecedents In 1996, Laguna West embarked on a series of Joint Venture Agreements (JVAs) with agrarian reform beneficiaries over several parcels of land in Tanauan City, Batangas. These agreements were aimed at transforming the landholdings into housing, commercial, and/or industrial developments. To safeguard its interests, Laguna West registered the JVAs and secured their annotations on the beneficiaries' respective transfer certificates of title (TCTs).6 Laguna West subsequently learned that the beneficiaries had sold the subject lands to Diola et al., leading to the cancellation of the beneficiaries' TCTs and the issuance of new titles in favor of the latter. Notably, the annotations of the JVAs were conspicuously omitted from the newly issued TCTs.7 On July 27, 2006, Laguna West sent a letter to the Register of Deeds of Tanauan City, Batangas, formally demanding the inscription of the JVAs on the TCTs issued in the name ofDiola et al. When the Register of Deeds failed to act on this demand, Laguna West filed several petitions before the RTC, praying for their annotations. 8 In a series of identical Orders,9 the RTC dismissed the individual petitions, holding that court intervention was unnecessary because Laguna West failed to demonstrate that the Register of Deeds had refused to discharge its duty under Section 59 of Presidential Decree No. 1529.10 Laguna West thereafter filed the subject petition for mandamus, beseeching that the Register of Deeds be compelled to carry over the omitted adverse claims to the pertinent TCTs. 1 1 After being impleaded as indispensable parties, Diola et al. filed their Comment 12 and moved to terminate the proceedings on several grounds. First, 4 Id at 300-308. The November 3, 2022 Decision in SP Civil Action No. 06-12-3288 was penned by Presiding Judge Jose Ricuerdo P. Flores. 5 /d.at98-110. 6 Id. at 35. 7 Id. 8 Id. at 36. 9 Id. at 218-226. The August 10, 24, and 26, 2004 Orders were penned by Judge Arcadio L. Manigbas. t1l Id. at 36. . . • • • •• 11 Id at I 09. 12 See id. at 37.