CARÁCTER DEL SECTOR. ZONIFICACIÓN GENERAL

The general rule therefore is that form is not important for

the validity of a sale, except in the following instances: (a) The power to sell a piece of land or interest

therein must be in writing, otherwise, the sale thereof by the agent (even when the sale itself is in writing) would be void;194

192_{340 SCRA 720 (2000), citing People’s Industrial and Commercial Corporation v.}

Court of Appeals, 281 SCRA 207 (1997).

193_{516 SCRA 575 (2007).} 194_{Art. 1874, Civil Code.}

(b) Sale of large cattle must be in writing, otherwise the sale would be void; and no sale of large cattle shall be valid unless the sale is registered with the municipal treasurer who shall issue a certifi cate of transfer;195 _and

(c) Sale of land by “non-muslim hill tribe cultural minorities all throughout the Philippines” is void if not approved by the National Com-

mission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP),196

which took over the previous requisite of approval by the Provincial Governor under Section 145 of Administrative Code of Mindanao and Sulu.197

Cosmic Lumber Corp. v. Court of Appeals,198 _{held that the}

authority of an agent to execute a contract for the sale of real estate must be conferred in writing and must give him specifi c authority; and that the express mandate required by law to enable an appointee of an agency couched in general terms to sell must be one that expressly mentions a sale or that includes a sale as a necessary ingredient of the act mentioned; and that the power granted to an agent to institute a suit and to appear at

195_{Art. 1581, Civil Code; Sec. 529, Revised Adm. Code.}

196_{Rep. Act No. 8371. Briefl y, under Sec. 120 of Comm. Act 141 (The Public Land} Act), provided that conveyances and encumbrances made by non-Christians shall not be valid unless duly approved by the Commission on National Integration (CNI), which power to approve was transferred to the Commission of Mindanao and Sulu under Rep. Act No. 4252, and the provincial governor, under Rep. Act No. 3872. Pres. Decree 690 (amended by PD 719), replaced the CNI with the Southern Philippines Development Authority (SPDA) for Regions IX to XII and transferred CNI’s power to the SPDA with respect to Muslims, while the power over “non-muslim, hill tribe cultural minorities all throughout the Philippines,” was transferred to the Presidential Assistant on National Minorities (PANAMIN) under the Offi ce of the President. PANAMIN was succeeded by the Offi ce of Muslim Affairs and Cultural Communities under Executive Order No. 122 (1987), which in turn was succeeded by the Offi ce of the Northern Cultural Communities under Executive Order No. 122-B (1987), which in turn was succeeded in 1997 by the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP) under Rep. Act No. 8371.

197_{Tac-an v. Court of Appeals, 129 SCRA 319 (1984). Section 145 of the Revised} Administrative Code of Mindanao and Sulu, which provides that any transaction involving real property with non-Christian tribes shall bear the approval of the governor, has been repealed by Rep. Act No. 4252 (19 June 1965).

pre-trial and enter into any stipulation of facts and/or compromise agreement does not include the authority to sell the land by way of compromise, and any sale effected under such authority is void.

Raet v. Court of Appeals,199 _{held that Article 1874 of the Civil}

Code requires for the validity of a sale involving land that the agent should have an authorization in writing, without which the resulting sale entered into in behalf of the principle would be void.

Delos Reyes v. Court of Appeals,200 _{held that when a son}

enters into an oral sale covering a real property registered in the name of his father, such sale would be void under Article 1874 of the Civil Code, which requires that when the sale of a piece of land or any interest therein is through an agent, the authority of the latter shall be in writing; otherwise, the sale shall be void.

City-Lite Realty Corp. v. Court of Appeals201 _{held that when}

the sale by a corporation involves a piece of land, the authority of the individual acting as agent must be in writing, otherwise, the sale is void and cannot be saved under principles of estoppel and apparent authority.202 _{Even the receipt by the supposed}

agent of part of the purchase price does not validate the void sale.203

It should also be noted that just because the authority of the agent to sell a parcel of land is in writing, does not mean that the actual sale would therefore be exempt from the requirements of the Statute of Frauds. Thus, the Court held in Torcuator v.

Bernabe,204 _{that a special power of attorney authorizing the agent} to execute a sale in their favor is not the memorandum required under Article 1403 of the Civil Code to take the sale out of the provisions of the Statute of Frauds because it does not contain the essential elements of the purported contract, and more tell-

199_{295 SCRA 677 (1998).} 200_{313 SCRA 632 (1999).} 201_{325 SCRA 385 (2000).}

202_{Pineda v. Court of Appeals, 376 SCRA 222 (2002).}

203_{Dizon v. Court of Appeals, 396 SCRA 154 (2003); Firme v. Bukal Enterprises and}

Dev. Corp., 414 SCRA 190 (2003).

ingly, does not even refer to any agreement for the sale of the property.

In Oesmer v. Paraiso Dev. Corp.,205 _{it was held that when}

the Contract to Sell was signed by the co-owners themselves as witnesses, then the written authority mandated under Article 1874 was no longer required because their signature was equivalent to the co-owner-principals selling the property directly and in their own right.