Dear PAO,

Our family has been occupying a piece of land since 1994. Our occupancy is based on the fact that we bought the land from an individual who claimed to have the mother title. We have a deed of sale. Recently, another individual appeared, demanding that we vacate the property, claiming that he is the owner, as evidenced by a transfer certificate of title under his name. A week after, while we were on a family trip, the said individual forcibly entered our property, changed the padlock of the gate, and barred us from entering the premises. He claimed that as the owner of the property, he had all the rights to do things to protect his interests. Despite repeated demands, he refused to allow us to enter the said property. Are his actions valid? What would be our recourse on the matter?

Elvira

Dear Elvira,

The use of force, violence, or intimidation is never a valid course of action, even for someone claiming to be the rightful owner of a property. What you can do is file an ejectment case before the municipal trial court having jurisdiction over the location of the property. For your case to prosper, you must allege and prove: (a) that you have prior physical possession of the property; (b) that you were deprived of possession either by force, intimidation, threat, strategy or stealth; and (c) that the action was filed within one year from the time you learned about the deprivation of the physical possession of the property. In the case of Ma. Luz Teves Esperal v. Ma. Luz Trompeta-Esperal and Lorenz Annel Biaoco (GR 229076, Sept. 16, 2020, Ponente: Associate Justice Henri Jean Paul Inting) the Supreme Court stated:

“Regardless of the actual condition of the title to the property, a person in possession cannot be ejected by force, violence or terror, not even by the owners. Assuming arguendo that herein respondents are the real owners of the subject property, they had no right to take the law into their own hands and summarily or forcibly eject petitioner’s tenants from the subject property. Their employment of illegal means to eject petitioner by force in entering the subject property by destroying the locks using bolt curt replacing the locks, and prohibiting the tenants to enter therein made them liable for forcible entry since prior possession was established by petitioner.”

In your case, you have had a prior physical possession of the property since 1994, and it was only recently that you were deprived of said possession when such an individual, by use of force, entered your property and changed the padlock of the gate, effectively barring your family from entering the premises. In this regard, all elements of forcible entry exist to warrant the filing of an ejectment case before the court. Even if the individual is indeed the real owner of the said property, the same does not justify the use of force in entering the property. As clearly pointed out by the Supreme Court, no one should take the law into their own hands and summarily or forcibly eject someone who has peaceful possession of a property, not even by an owner. What he or she could do is go to court and secure a favorable order to effect and enforce his or her rights over the said property. As a civilized country, there is no place for the use of force, violence, or intimidation as we have a working legal system where our rights may be protected and our grievances may be addressed accordingly.

We hope that we were able to answer your queries. Please be reminded that this advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our application of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.

Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to [email protected]