VICTORIANO M.

ENCARNACION, petitioner,
vs.
NIEVES AMIGO, respondent.
G.R. No. 169793

September 15, 2006

YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:
Facts: On April 11, 1995, petitioner became the owner of a
parcel of land by virtue of a waiver of rights executed by his
mother-in-law, which he thereafter subdivided into two lots.
Sometime in 1985, respondent allegedly entered the
premise and took possession of a portion of the property
without the permission of the predecessor-in-interest of the
said property.
On March 2, 2001, petitioner filed a complaint for ejectment
(unlawful detainer) with the MTC after his February 1, 2001
letter to the respondent demanding that the latter vacate
the premises remained unheeded. The letter was received
by the respondent on February 12, 2001.
Respondent alleged that he has been in actual possession
and occupation of a portion of the subject land since 1968.
The MTC rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff, but the
RTC dismissed the case on appeal, on the ground that the
MTC has no jurisdiction over the case. Hence the latter
acquired no appellate jurisdiction over thereof.
Petitioner filed a petition for review before the Court of
Appeals, which remanded the case to the RTC for the proper
action.
Issue: WON the proper action in this case is unlawful
detainer.
Held: No.
The three kinds of actions for recovery of real property are:
1 Accion interdictal, or an ejectment proceeding which
may be either forcible or unlawful detainer, which is a
summary action for recovery of physical possession
where the dispossession has not lasted for more than
one year, and should be brought with the MTC.
2 Accion publiciana or the plenary action for the recovery
of the real right of possession, which should be brought
in the RTC when the dispossession has lasted for more
than one year.

3 Accion reinvindicatoria, which is an action for the

recovery of ownership which must be brought in the
RTC.
The remedies of forcible entry and unlawful detainer are
granted to a person deprived of the possession of any land
or building by force, intimidation, threat, strategy, or stealth,
or a lessor, vendor, vendee, or other person against whom
the possession of any land or building is unlawfully withheld
after the expiration or termination of the right to hold
possession by virtue of any contract, express or implied, or
the legal representatives or assigns of any such lessor,
vendor, vendee, or other person. If the dispossession has
not lasted for more than one year, an ejectment proceeding
is proper and the proper MTC acquires jurisdiction. On the
other hand, if the dispossession lasted for more than one
year, the proper action to be filed is an accion
publiciana which should be brought to the proper RTC.
Petitioner became the owner of the subject lot in 1995 and
has been since that time deprived possession of a portion
thereof. From the date of the petitioners dispossession in
1995 up to his filing of his complaint for ejectment in 2001,
almost 6 years have elapsed. The length of time that the
petitioner was dispossessed of his property made his cause
of action beyond the ambit of an accion interdictal and
effectively made it one for accion publiciana. After the lapse
of the one-year period, the suit must be commenced in the
RTC via an accion publiciana which is a suit for recovery of
the right to possess.