Leocadio Navera owns a parcel of land in Albay which was inherited by his 5 children. His 3 children already have their share of the inheritance from the other properties of Leocadio. The subject land was now owned by his 2 daughters. An OCT was issued in the name of Elena Navera et.al (et.al refers to his sister Eduarda Navera)
When Elena died, his share of the land was inherited by her heirs Arsenio and Felix Narez. The other portion was owned by Eduarda.
Eduarda sold her portion to her nephew Arsenio and then one year after to Mariano Navera. Both sales were made in a public instrument but both sales were also not registered in the Registry of Property.
ISSUE:
WON the second sale of the property is valid.
HELD:
Since the records show that both sales were not recorded in the Registry of Property, the law clearly vests the ownership upon the person who in good faith was first in possession of the disputed lot.
The possession viewed in the law includes not only the material but also the symbolic possession, which is acquired by the execution of a public instrument. This means that after the sale of a realty by means of a public instrument, the vendor, who resells it to another, does not transmit anything to the second vendee, and if the latter, by virtue of this second sale, takes material possession of the thing, he does it as mere detainer, and it would be unjust to protect this detention against the rights of the thing lawfully acquired by the first vendee.
In the case at bar, the prior sale of the land to respondent Arsenio Nares by means of a public instrument is clearly tantamount to a delivery of the land resulting in the material and symbolic possession thereof by the latter.
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