MANILA – The Supreme Court (SC) has clarified the proper legal remedies for recovering land depending on whether the objective is possession and/or ownership, as well as the applicable prescriptive periods. These include ejectment, accion publiciana, and accion reivindicatoria.

In a Decision penned by Associate Justice Ricardo R. Rosario, the SC En Banc ruled that Lea Victa-Espinosa (Espinosa) correctly filed an accion publiciana to recover possession of her land from spouses Noel and Leny Agullo, who refused to vacate the property despite her demand.

The Regional Trial Court (RTC) earlier dismissed Espinosa’s complaint without trial, saying it was premature since she could still file an ejectment case within one year from discovering the occupation. The Court of Appeals reversed the ruling, classifying the complaint as an accion reivindicatoria, as it allegedly involved recovery of possession based on ownership.

The Agullo spouses elevated the case to the SC, insisting that the complaint was an accion publiciana filed too early. The SC, however, denied their Petition.

The Court clarified that:

• A summary ejectment case is filed to recover physical possession if dispossession was due to force, intimidation, threat, strategy, or stealth, and not more than a year has passed.
• An accion publiciana is filed to recover possession when over a year has passed, or even earlier if dispossession was not through such means.
• An accion reivindicatoria seeks recovery of both ownership and possession.

In Espinosa’s case, the SC held that she filed an accion publiciana because her complaint only sought possession, not ownership, and did not allege that her title was disputed.

The Court also stressed that the action was not premature since an accion publiciana may be filed within one year if no force or similar means was used.

The SC directed the RTC to proceed with trial and decide the case.