This case has been cited 1 times or more.
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2007-08-28 |
CORONA, J. |
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| Good faith is ordinarily used to describe that state of mind denoting "honesty of intention, and freedom from knowledge of circumstances which ought to put the holder upon inquiry; an honest intention to abstain from taking any unconscientious advantage of another, even through technicalities of law, together with absence of all information, notice, or benefit or belief of facts which render the transaction unconscientious."[41] Petitioner claims that he was not aware of the contents of the falsified documents and their legal consequences because of his low level of intelligence and educational attainment. But from his own narration, it is clear that he was aware of the fraudulent scheme conceived by respondent Artemio:[Respondent Artemio] approached [petitioner] and propose[d] a [scheme] of partition that [would] assure [petitioner] of getting his share including that which he and his predecessor-in-interest have purchased from the other heirs of the late LEOCADIO INGUSAN, but with the condition that in implementing the document known as PAGHAHATI-HATI NA MAY BILIHAN, the corresponding shares of ESTRELLA RAZON will go to him [respondent Artemio who] has agreed to have it sold in favor of one FLORENTINA FERNANDEZ for P120,000.00, partial payment of which has already been received by [respondent Artemio], which negotiation of SALE and the payment made by FLORENTINA FERNANDEZ was acknowledged to be true. Without much ado, a survey of Lot No. 120 was conducted by one Restituto Hechenova upon instruction of [respondent Artemio], partitioning the land into two (2), one share goes to [petitioner] with an area of 957 square meters and the other with an area of 297 square meters in the name of [respondent Artemio], the latter share was to be sold in favor of Florentina Fernandez. To have this IMPLEMENTED, incidental documentation must be made thus; A DEED OF DONATION OF REAL PROPERTY allegedly executed by Sps. Aureliano Reyes and JACOBA SOLOMON; SUBDIVISION AGREEMENT WITH SALE by and between [petitioner] and [respondent Artemio] as alleged DONEES and SALE in the same document in favor of Florentina Fernandez, making in the process [petitioner] presentor of all these questioned documents, adding among others an AFFIDAVIT OF LOSS of Original Certificate of Title No. P-6176 allegedly falsified by [petitioner] of the signature of [respondent] CORAZON REYES REGUYAL.[42] Petitioner does not deny that he signed the fictitious deed of donation of titled property and the agreement of subdivision with sale. Even if he reached only grade 3, he could not have feigned ignorance of the net effect of these documents, which was to exclude the other heirs of the spouses and the original owner Leocadio from inheriting the property and, in the process, acquiring a big chunk of the property at their expense. The cancellation of respondent Corazon's affidavit of loss of the owner's duplicate copy of OCT No. P-6176 also removed all obstacles to the registration of the title covering his portion of the lot. In short, by registering the spurious documents, he had everything to gain. | |||||