SC clarifies land recovery rules

The Supreme Court has clarified the proper legal remedies for recovering land, affirming that property owner Lea Victa-Espinosa correctly filed a case to regain possession of her lot in Cavite.

In a ruling penned by Associate Justice Ricardo R. Rosario dated 22 April, 2025, the Court En Banc said Espinosa properly filed an accion publiciana against spouses Noel and Leny Agullo, who refused to vacate a portion of the land she purchased.

The case stemmed from Espinosa’s discovery that the Agullos were occupying part of her property. After her demand for them to leave was ignored, she sought relief before the Regional Trial Court (RTC).

The RTC dismissed the complaint, ruling it premature since it was filed less than a year after the alleged dispossession. The trial court held that an ejectment case should have been filed instead.

The Court of Appeals later reversed the RTC decision, treating Espinosa’s case as an accion reivindicatoria, a legal remedy based on ownership.

The Agullos then elevated the matter to the high court, insisting that the case was a premature accion publiciana.

The Supreme Court, however, denied their petition. It explained that while ejectment suits are available within one year if force, intimidation, threat, strategy, or stealth is involved, an accion publiciana may be filed even earlier if such circumstances are absent. Since Espinosa did not allege that the Agullos used any of these means, the Court said her case was properly filed.

The Court also reiterated the distinctions: ejectment covers unlawful possession within a year; accion publiciana involves possession disputes beyond a year or when no forceful entry is alleged; and accion reivindicatoria seeks both ownership and possession.

The Supreme Court ordered the RTC to proceed with trial and resolve the case.