WONG V. CARPIO

203 SCRA 118

FACTS:

Giger sold a parcel of land through a pacto de recto sale to Mercado. Mercado only began to harvest the coconut fruits but he never placed anyone over the land to watch it. Neither did he reside in the land nor was there any hut constructed thereon to show possession. Thereafter, Wong inspected the land to see if whether there was anyone claiming the land.
After finding there was none, he bought the land from Giger. He placed workers on the land, constructed a farmhouse, and fenced the boundaries. He couldn't register the sale due to some technicalities.

HELD:

Possession is acquired through the material occupation of the thing or the exercise of a right, or by the fact that it is subject of our will, or by the proper acts and legal formalities acquiring such rights and that the execution of the public instrument is equivalent to the delivery of the thing unless there is stipulation to the contrary. If however, notwithstanding the execution of the instrument, the purchaser cannot have the enjoyment and tenancy of the thing and make use of it herself, because such enjoyment and tenancy are opposed by another, then delivery has not been effected. Possession was passed to Mercado by virtue of the first pacto de recto sale. There was an impediment in passing possession to Wong by virtue of the later sale and this was the possession exercised by Mercado. Further, the action for forcible entry was called for. The act of entering the property and excluding the lawful possessor therefrom necessarily implies the exertion of force over the property and this is all that is necessary. Furthermore, there should be payment of rentals from the time the
presumption of good faith ceased or the receipt of summons by Wong. Possession in good faith ceases from the moment defects in the title are made known to the possessors.