14. Punzalan Jr. v. Vda. De Lacsamana
G. R. No. L-557299 March 28, 1983
FACTS
Antonio Punsalan, Jr. was the former registered owner of a 340-square meters parcel of land in Tarlac. In 1963, he
mortgaged the land to PNB in the amount of P10,000 but he was not able to pay the said amount; therefore, the land
was foreclosed by PNB on December 16, 1970. The title was secured by the bank only on December 14, 1977. In
1974, Punsalan constructed a warehouse on the land and had it leased to Hermogenes Sibal for a period of 10 years
starting January 1975. On July 26, 1978, after the foreclosure of the land by PNB, PNB sold the property to
Lacsamana. The building or the warehouse was included in the Deed of Sale. On November 22, 1979, Punsalan filed
a suit to annul the Deed of Sale and to ask for damages claiming that the building is not owned by the bank.
ISSUE
Is the claim of the petitioner that the warehouse does not belong to the bank but to the petitoners valid?
DECISION
The claim is not valid. While it is true that petitioner does not directly seek the recovery of title or possession of the
property in question, his action for annulment of sale and his claim for damages are closely intertwined with the issue
of ownership of the building which, under the law, is considered immovable property, the recovery of which is
petitioner’s primary objective. The prevalent doctrine is that an action for the annulment or rescission of a sale of real
property does not operate to efface the fundamental and prime objective and nature of the case, which is to recover
said real property. It is a real action. The warehouse claimed to be owned by the petitioner is an immovable or real
property as provided in Article 415 (I) of the Civil Code. Buildings are always immovable under the Code. A building
treated separately from the land on which it stood is immovable property and the mere fact that the parties to a contract
seem to have dealt with it separate and apart from the land on which it stood in no wise changed its character as
immovable property.