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G.R. No. 148788, November 23, 2007
The subject property is an unregistered land with an area of 4,169 square meters situated
at Naval, Biliran. In a complaint on 1997, petitioner Soledad Caezo alleged that she bought
such parcel of land in 1939 from Crisogono Limpiado, although the sale was not reduced into
writing. Thereafter, she immediately took possession of the property. In 1948, she and her
husband left for Mindanao and entrusted the said land to her father, Crispulo Rojas, who took
possession of, and cultivated the property. In 1980, she found out that the respondent,
Concepcion Rojas, her stepmother, was in possession of the property and was cultivating the
same. She also discovered that the tax declaration over the property was already in the name of
his father.
Respondent asserted that it was her husband who bought the property from Limpiado,
which accounts for the tax declaration being in Crispulos name.
After the hearing, MTC rendered a decision in favor of the petitioner, making her the real
and lawful owner of the land. Respondent appealed to the RTC of Naval, Biliran, which reversed
the MTC decision on the ground that the action had already prescribed and acquisitive
prescription had set in. However, acting on petitioners motion for reconsideration, the RTC
amended its original decision and held that the action had not yet prescribed considering that the
petitioner merely entrusted the property to her father. The ten-year prescriptive period for the
recovery of a property held in trust would commence to run only from the time the trustee
repudiates the trust. The RTC found no evidence on record showing that Crispulo Rojas ever
ousted the petitioner from the property.
Petitioner filed a petition for review with the CA, which reversed the amended decision
of the RTC. The CA held that, assuming that there was a trust between the petitioner and her
father over the property, her right of action to recover the same would still be barred by
prescription since 49 years had already lapsed since Crispulo adversely possessed the contested
property in 1948.
Hence, this petition for review.
Whether or not there is an existence of trust over the property express or implied
between the petitioner and her father
NONE. A trust is the legal relationship between one person having an equitable
ownership of property and another person owning the legal title to such property, the equitable
ownership of the former entitling him to the performance of certain duties and the exercise of
certain powers by the latter. Trusts are either express or implied. Express trusts are those which
are created by the direct and positive acts of the parties, by some writing or deed, or will, or by
words evincing an intention to create a trust. Implied trusts are those which, without being
expressed, are deducible from the nature of the transaction as matters of intent or, independently,
of the particular intention of the parties, as being superinduced on the transaction by operation of
law basically by reason of equity.

existence, and such proof must be clear and satisfactorily show the existence of the trust and its
elements. The presence of the following elements must be proved: (1) a trustor or settlor who
executes the instrument creating the trust; (2) a trustee, who is the person expressly designated to
carry out the trust; (3) the trust res, consisting of duly identified and definite real properties; and
(4) the cestui que trust, or beneficiaries whose identity must be clear. Accordingly, it was
incumbent upon petitioner to prove the existence of the trust relationship. And petitioner sadly
failed to discharge that burden.
The existence of express trusts concerning real property may not be established by parol
evidence. It must be proven by some writing or deed. In this case, the only evidence to support
the claim that an express trust existed between the petitioner and her father was the self-serving
testimony of the petitioner.
Although no particular words are required for the creation of an express trust, a clear
intention to create a trust must be shown; and the proof of fiduciary relationship must be clear
and convincing. The creation of an express trust must be manifested with reasonable certainty
and cannot be inferred from loose and vague declarations or from ambiguous circumstances
susceptible of other interpretations.
In the case at bench, an intention to create a trust cannot be inferred from the petitioners
testimony and the attendant facts and circumstances. The petitioner testified only to the effect
that her agreement with her father was that she will be given a share in the produce of the
property. This allegation, standing alone as it does, is inadequate to establish the existence of a
trust because profit-sharing per se, does not necessarily translate to a trust relation.
In light of the disquisitions, we hold that there was no express trust or resulting trust
established between the petitioner and her father. Thus, in the absence of a trust relation, we can
only conclude that Crispulos uninterrupted possession of the subject property for 49 years,
coupled with the performance of acts of ownership, such as payment of real estate taxes, ripened
into ownership.
Petition denied. Decision of the CA affirmed.