The Supreme Court (SC) on Monday said the key issue in forcible entry cases is the prior possession of the property and not its ownership.
In a decision written by Associate Justice Jose Midas Marquez, the SC’s First Division held the “only issue in forcible entry cases is whether the claimant has proved prior physical possession of the contested property.”
In forcible entry cases, persons are deprived of physical possession of land through force, intimidation, threat, strategy, or stealth, according to the High Court.
To prove forcible entry, a complainant must show they have prior physical possession of the property, they were deprived of possession either by force, intimidation, threat, strategy, or
stealth; and the action was filed within one year from the time they learned that they lost physical possession of the property.
The High Tribunal emphasized that issues of ownership and title are irrelevant in forcible entry cases.
The question of ownership, however, may be temporarily addressed if it is raised by the parties and is necessary to determine who has the better right of possession.
