GR L 9871; (January, 1949) (Digest)
G.R. No. 9871 ; January 31, 1949
ANTONIO AUSTRIA, plaintiff-appellee, vs. JOSE E. LAUREL y ALFREDO LAUREL, defendants. JOSE E. LAUREL, appellant.
FACTS
The plaintiff, Antonio Austria, a grandson of Juana Laurel, filed an action for partition of a parcel of land originally owned by Teodoro Laurel. The land was assigned in common to Juana and Romualdo, both children of Teodoro. The defendant, Jose E. Laurel, is the son of Romualdo. After the 1911 Taal Volcano eruption, Juana (plaintiff’s grandmother) abandoned her portion. Upon Romualdo’s death, the entire property was occupied by Victoriano Pamplona (as judicial guardian of the minor Jose E. Laurel) and Barbara Laurel (aunt of Jose). In 1921, upon reaching majority, Jose E. Laurel received the property from his guardian by court order. He thereafter possessed it openly, planted fruit trees, built a house, and expressly claimed exclusive ownership, including telling a claimant that he was the sole owner. The plaintiff filed the partition suit only on October 12, 1939.
ISSUE
Whether the defendant has acquired ownership of the land by prescription against his co-owner.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court reversed the lower court and dismissed the complaint. While prescription generally does not run between co-heirs or co-owners because possession is presumed to be for the benefit of all, an exception applies when a co-owner repudiates the co-ownership and holds the property adversely, openly, and exclusively for the required period. Here, the defendant, through his guardian and later personally, possessed the property in an open, public, continuous, exclusive, and adverse manner against all, including the plaintiff, from at least 1921. His clear assertion of exclusive ownership constituted a repudiation of the co-ownership. From that repudiation in 1921 until the filing of the suit in 1939, more than 17 years had elapsed, satisfying the 10-year period for acquisitive prescription under the Code of Civil Procedure. Therefore, the defendant acquired a perfect title by prescription.
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