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Query: Almost fifty years ago, my wife and I bought a
500-square-meter lot with a two-story house and a servant’s
quarters on it. A couple of years later our car often had mechanical
trouble, we had to hire a mechanic to solve the problem. To ensure
the service of the mechanic any time, we enticed him to stay at the
servant’s quarters with a reasonable rental. He, his wife and a
child stayed there without any disturbance as they had their own
gate. As a matter of fact, without our knowledge, he changed some
parts of the edifice, promising later to hike the rental. At the
same time, the mechanic told us that he would be leaving within a
couple of years. For the efficient service he rendered, we never
required them to pay the rental. However, he died around three years
thereafter.
The mechanic’s family (wife, two children and
his mother) continued staying at the servants’ quarters for the
past 30 years. Due to my wife’s generosity, no rental was being
paid. Unfortunately, my wife recently died, leaving me alone in our
half-a-century house. Obviously realizing my misery, one of my
children told me of his plan to have his family move to the small
house formerly occupied by the mechanic and family. My problem now
is how to drive away the occupants who have been staying at that
place for the past 30 years. May I ask: Can I drive away the
mechanic’s family without facing legal problems? - Vito B.
Response
You have no problem—your generosity of
allowing your mechanic’s family to stay within your premises for
almost thirty years did not divest you of your right to own the
quarters they have occupied. Under the Civil Code of the
Philippines, “the owner has the right to enjoy and dispose of a
thing, without other limitations than those established by law”
and also has “a right of action against the holder and possessor
of the thing in order to recover it.” (Article 428). Thus, he
(owner) “has the right to exclude any person from the enjoyment
and disposal thereof.” For this purpose, he may use such force as
may be reasonably necessary to repel or prevent an actual or lawful
physical invasion or usurpation of his/her property. (Article 429)
Besides the foregoing, the owner of a parcel of
land is the owner of its surface and of everything under it, and
he/she can construct thereon any works or make any plantations and
excavations, which he may deem proper. (Article 437)
Furthermore, hidden treasure belongs to the
owner of the land. (Article 438)
With respect to the non-payment of rentals by
your mechanic’s family, we advert to a recent ruling of the
Supreme Court in Suhash C. Pasricha and Josephine A. Pasricha vs.
Don Luis Dison Realty, Inc. (G.R. No. 136409; prom.: March 14, 2008)
that a lessor has the right to judicially eject a lessee(s) in case
of nonpayment of monthly rentals. Honoring its decision on Article
1673 of the Civil Code, the High Tribunal ruled that “a contract
of lease is a consensual, bilateral, onerous and commutative
contract by which the owner temporarily grants the use of his
property to another, who undertakes to pay the rent therefore.”
For failure to pay the rent for one year, it was ruled that the
lessees therein have no right to remain in the leased premises.
With respect to the edifice occupied by your
mechanic’s family, you stated that rentals thereof have not been
paid for the past decades. For this reason, the occupants can be
ejected if they refuse to voluntarily leave the premises. Otherwise,
there will be undue enrichment on their part.
Parenthetically, I wish to inform you that,
about a contract of lease, the law provides that “one of the
parties binds himself to give to another the enjoyment or use of a
thing for a price certain, and for a period which may be definite or
indefinite. However, no lease for more than 99 years shall be valid.
(Article 1643 of the Civil Code)
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Above all things, let us reflect on the
following statement of our Lord and Master Jesus Christ: “My
children, how hard it is to enter the Kingdom of God! It is much
harder for a rich person to enter the Kingdom of God than for a
camel to go through the eye of a needle.” (Mark 10:24-25).
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