A co-owner can file action for ejectment

A co-owner can file action for ejectment "My brother and I inherited a certain land from our parents (both deceased). Julian entered the said property and constructed his house there. I filed a complaint before the barangay (village) government exercising jurisdiction over the land. During the confrontation, Julian claimed that he owns the land, but he could not present any proof while I presented the Certificate of Title of my parents. Since the matter was not amicably settled, I told Julian that I would be initiating a civil action for ejectment against him. Julian stated that the case would be dismissed because of the lack of participation of my brother if I will pursue the case. Is he correct? TrishaDear Trisha, The provision of law governing the matter is exactly found under Article 487 of the New Civil Code of the Philippines, which states that:“Any one of the co-owners may bring an action in ejectment.” The afore-mentioned provision of law was further discussed in the case of Clemente vs Republic of the Philippines (GR 220008, Feb. 20, 2019), where the Supreme Court, through Associate Justice Antonio Carpio, stated that:“A co-owner may bring such an action, without the necessity of joining all the other co-owners as co-plaintiffs, because the suit is deemed to be instituted for the benefit of all. If the action is for the benefit of the plaintiff alone, such that he claims possession for himself and not for the co-ownership, the action will not prosper. “In the more recent case of Carandang v[s] Heirs of de Guzman, this Court declared that a co-owner is not even a necessary party to an action for ejectment, for complete relief can be afforded even in his absence, thus: In sum, in suits to recover properties, all co-owners are real parties in interest. However, pursuant to Article 487 of the Civil Code and the relevant jurisprudence, any one of them may bring an action, any kind of action for the recovery of co-owned properties. Therefore, only one of the co-owners, namely the co-owner who filed the suit for the recovery of the co-owned property, is an indispensable party thereto. The other co-owners are not indispensable parties. They are not even necessary parties, for a complete relief can be afforded in the suit even without their participation, since the suit is presumed to have been filed for the benefit of all co-owners.”Applying the above-stated decision in your situation, a co-owner like you may bring an action for ejectment against Julian even without the participation of your brother since the suit is to be instituted for the benefit of all co-owners. Thus, Julian was wrong in saying that the ejectment case that you will file has no legal basis.We hope that we were able to answer your queries. This advice is based solely on the facts you have narrated and our appreciation of the same. Our opinion may vary when other facts are changed or elaborated.Editor’s note: Dear PAO is a daily column of the Public Attorney’s Office. Questions for Chief Acosta may be sent to dearpao@manilatimes.net" - https://www.affordablecebu.com/