wills week 6 cases

Wills and Succession: Week 6

PRINCIPLES AFFECTING LEGITIME

I. PRETERITION – articles 854 – 855, 906, 918

Art. 854. The preterition or omission of one, some, or all of the compulsory heirs in the direct line, whether living at the time of the execution of the will or born after the death of the testator, shall annul the institution of heir; but the devises and legacies shall be valid insofar as they are not inofficious [a will inconsistent with the moral duty and natural affection of the testator, especially one denying the legitimate heirs the portions of the estate to which they are legally entitled].

If the omitted compulsory heirs should die before the testator, the institution shall be effectual [efficacious], without prejudice to the right of representation. (814a)

Art. 855. The share of a child or descendant omitted in a will must first be taken from the part of the estate not disposed of by the will, if any; if that is not sufficient, so much as may be necessary must be taken proportionally from the shares of the other compulsory heirs. (1080a)

Art. 906. Any compulsory heir to whom the testator has left by any title less than the legitime belonging to him may demand that the same be fully satisfied. (815)

Art. 918. Disinheritance without a specification of the cause, or for a cause the truth of which, if contradicted, is not proved, or which is not one of those set forth in this Code, shall annul the institution of heirs insofar as it may prejudice the person disinherited; but the devises and legacies and other testamentary dispositions shall be valid to such extent as will not impair the legitime. (851a)

A. Reyes v. Barretto-Datu, January 25, 1967

EN BANC

[G.R. No. L-17818. January 20, 1967.]

TIRSO T. REYES, as guardian of the minors, Azucena, Flordelis and Tirso, Jr. all surnamed Reyes y Barretto, Plaintiff-Appellant, v. LUCILA MILAGROS BARRETTO DATU, Defendant-Appellant.

Recto Law Offices, for Plaintiff-Appellant.

Deogracias T. Reyes and Associates, for Defendant-Appellee.

SYLLABUS

1. CIVIL LAW; ARTICLE 1081 OF THE CIVIL CODE OF 1889 (then in force) CONSTRUED. — Article 1081 of the Civil Code of 1889 (then in force) provided that "a partition in which a person was believed to be an heir without being so, has been included, shall be null and void." Based on this Article, the lower court declared the project of partition submitted in the proceedings for the settlement of the estate of B.B. to be null and void ab initio because the distributee, S.B., was not a daughter of the decedent. HELD: Article 1081 of the old Civil Code has been misapplied to the present case by the lower court. S.B. had been instituted heir in the late decedent’s last will and testament together with M.B., decedent’s daughter; hence, the partition had between them could not be one such had with a party who was believed to be an heir without really being one, and was not null and void under said article. The legal precept (Article 1081) does not speak of children, or descendants, but of heirs (without distinction between forced, voluntary or intestate ones), and the fact that Salud happened not to be a daughter of the testator does not preclude her being one of the heirs expressly named in his testament, for B.B. was at a liberty to assign the free portion of his estate to whomsoever he chose.

2. ID.; LEGITIME; ALLOTMENT OF SMALLER SHARE THAN LEGITIME DOES NOT INVALIDATE INSTITUTION OF HEIR. — While the share (1/2) assigned to S.B. impinged on the legitime of M.B., S. B. did not for that reason cease to be a testamentary heir of B.B. Nor does the fact that M.B. was allotted in her father’s will a share smaller than her legitime invalidate the institution of S.B. as heir, since there was here no preterition, or total omission of a forced heir.

3. ID.; COMPROMISE ON CIVIL STATUS PRESUPPOSES SETTLEMENT OF CONTROVERSY THROUGH MUTUAL CONCESSION OF PARTIES. — Appellee contends that the partition in question was void as a compromise on the civil status of S.B. This view is erroneous, since a compromise presupposes the settlement of a controversy through mutual concessions of the parties, and the condition of S.B. as daughter of the testator, while untrue, was at no time disputed during the settlement of the estate of the testator. There can be no compromise over issues not in dispute. And while a compromise over civil status is prohibited, the law nowhere forbids a settlement by the parties over the share that should correspond to a claimant to the estate.

4. ID.; PARTITION; JUDICIAL DECREE OF DISTRIBUTION; ITS EFFECT. — Independently of a project of partition which is merely a proposal for distribution of the estate, that the court may accept or reject, it is the court alone that makes the distribution of the estate and determines the persons entitled thereto and the parts to which each is entitled ; and it is that judicial decree of distribution, once final, that vests title in the distributees. If the decree was erroneous or not in conformity with law or the testament, the same should have been corrected by opportune appeal; but once it had become final, its binding effect is like that of any other judgment in rem, unless properly set aside for lack of jurisdiction or fraud. Where a court has validly issued a decree of distribution of the estate, and the same has become final, the validity or invalidity of the project of partition becomes irrelevant.

5. ID.; ID. — Even without the (questioned) project of partition the distribution could stand since it was in conformity with the probated will of the deceased, against the provisions whereof no objection had been made.

6. ID.; JUDICIAL DECREE OF DISTRIBUTION; MINORITY OF HEIR DOES NOT IMPLY THAT COURT WAS WITHOUT JURISDICTION TO ENTER DECREE OF DISTRIBUTION. — That M. B. was a minor at the time the probate court distributed the estate of her father in 1939 does not imply that the said court was without jurisdiction to enter the decree of distribution.

7. ID.; ID.; PROBATE PROCEEDING; NATURE OF. — The proceeding for probate is one in rem and the court acquires jurisdiction over all persons interested, through the publication of the notice and any order that may be entered therein is binding against all of them. A final order of distribution of the estate of a deceased person vests the title to the land of the estate in the distributees.

8. ID.; ID.; ID.; GROUNDS FOR SETTING ASIDE. — The only instance in which a party interested in a probate proceeding may have a final liquidation set aside is a) when he is left out by reason of circumstances beyond his control or b) through mistake or c) inadvertence not imputable

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to negligence. Even then, the better practice to secure relief is reopening of the same case by proper motion within the reglementary period, instead of an independent action the effect of which, if successful, would be for another court or judge to throw out a decision or order already final and executed and reshuffle properties long ago distributed and disposed of.

9. ID.; STATUTE OF LIMITATIONS; SUIT BASED ON FRAUD SHOULD BE BROUGHT WITHIN 4 YEARS FROM ITS DISCOVERY. — Granting that there was fraud, relief therefrom can only be obtained within 4 years from its discovery, and the record shows that this period had elapsed long ago.

10. ID.; GUARDIAN; WAIVER OF RIGHTS BY GUARDIAN DOES NOT BIND HIS WARDS. — An abdicative waiver of rights by a guardian, being an act of disposition and not of administration, cannot bind his wards, being null and void as to them unless duly authorized by the proper court.

D E C I S I O N

REYES, J.B.L., J.:

Direct appeal from a judgment of the Court of First instance of Bulacan, in its Civil Case No. 1084, dismissing the complaint of appellant Tirso T. Reyes and ordering the same to deliver to the defendant-appellee, Lucia Milagros Barretto Datu, the properties received by his deceased wife under the terms of the will of the late Bibiano Barretto, consisting of lots in Manila, Rizal, Pampanga and Bulacan, valued at more than P200,000.

The decision appealed from sets the antecedents of the case to be as follows:

"‘This is an action to recover one-half share in the fishpond, located in the barrio of San Roque, Hagonoy, Bulacan, covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-13734 of the Land Records of this Province, being the share of plaintiff’s wards as minor heirs of the deceased Salud Barretto, widow of plaintiff Tirso Reyes, guardian of said minors.

It appears that Bibiano Barretto was married to Maria Gerardo. During their lifetime they acquired a vast estate, consisting of real properties in Manila, Pampanga, and Bulacan, covered by Transfer Certificates of Title Nos. 41423, 22443, 8858, 32989, 31046, 27285, 6277, 6500, 2057, 6501, 2991, 57403 and 12507/T-337.

When Bibiano Barretto died on February 18, 1936, in the City of Manila, he left his share of these properties in a will to Salud Barretto, mother of plaintiff’s wards, and Lucia Milagros Barretto and a small portion as legacies to his two sisters Rosa Barretto and Felisa Barretto and his nephew and nieces. The usufruct of the fishpond situated in barrio San Roque, Hagonoy, Bulacan, abovementioned, however, was reserved for his widow, Maria Gerardo. In the meantime, Maria Gerardo was appointed administratrix. By virtue thereof, she prepared a project of partition, which was signed by her in her own behalf and as guardian of the minor Milagros Barretto. Said project of Partition was approved by the Court of First Instance of Manila on November 22, 1939. The distribution of the estate and the delivery of the shares of the heirs followed forthwith. As a consequence, Salud Barretto took immediate possession of her share and secured the cancellation of the original certificates of title and the issuance of new titles in her own name.

Everything went well since then. Nobody was heard to complain of any irregularity in the distribution of the said estate until the widow, Maria Gerardo died on March 5, 1948 . Upon her death, it was discovered that she had executed two wills, in the first of which, she instituted Salud and Milagros, both surnamed Barretto, as her heirs, and, in the second, she revoked the same and left all her properties in favor of Milagros Barretto alone. Thus, the later will was allowed and the first rejected. In rejecting the first will presented by Tirso Reyes, as guardian of the children of Salud Barretto, the lower court held that Salud was not the daughter of the decedent Maria Gerardo by her husband Bibiano Barretto. This ruling was appealed to the Supreme Court, which affirmed the same. 1

Having thus lost this fight for a share in the estate of Maria Gerardo, as a legitimate heir of Maria Gerardo, plaintiff now falls back upon the remnant of the estate of the deceased Bibiano Barretto, which was given in usufruct to his widow Maria Gerardo. Hence, this action for the recovery of one-half portion thereof.

This action afforded the defendant an opportunity to set up her right of ownership, not only of the fishpond under litigation, but of all the other properties willed and delivered to Salud Barretto, for being a spurious heir, and not entitled to any share in the estate of Bibiano Barretto, thereby directly attacking the validity, not only of the project of partition but of the decision of the court based thereon as well.

The Lucia contends that the Project of Partition from which Salud acquired the fishpond in question is void ab initio and Salud Barretto did not acquire any valid title thereto, and that the court did not acquire any jurisdiction of the person of the defendant, who was then a minor.’"

Finding for the Lucia (now appellee), Milagros Barretto, the lower court declared the project of partition submitted in the proceedings for the settlement of the estate of Bibiano Barretto (Civil Case No. 49629 of the Court of First Instance of Manila) to be null and void ab initio (not merely voidable) because the distributee, Salud Barretto, predecessor of plaintiffs (now appellants), was not a daughter of the spouses Bibiano Barretto and Maria Gerardo. The nullity of the project of partition was decreed on the basis of Article 1081 of the Civil Code of 1889 (then in force) providing as follows:

"A partition in which a person was believed to be an heir, without being so, has been included, shall be null and void."

The Court a quo further rejected the contention advanced by plaintiffs that since Bibiano Barretto was free to dispose of one- third (1/3) of his estate under the old Civil Code, his will was valid in favor of Salud Barretto (nee Lim Boco) to the extent, at least, of such free part. And it concluded that, as defendant Lucia was the only true heir of Bibiano Barretto, she was entitled to recover from Salud, and from the latter’s children and successors, all the properties received by her from Bibiano’s estate, in view of the provisions of Article 1456 of the new Civil Code of the Philippines establishing that property acquired by fraud or mistake is held by its acquirer in implied trust for the real owner. Hence, as stated at the beginning of this opinion, the Court a quo not only dismissed the plaintiffs’ complaint but ordered them to return the properties received under the project of partition previously mentioned as prayed for in defendant Milagros Barretto’s counterclaim. However, it denied defendant’s prayer for damages. Hence, this appeal interposed by both plaintiffs and defendant.

Plaintiffs-appellants correctly point out that Article 1081 of the old Civil Code has been misapplied to the present case by the court below. The reason is obvious: Salud Barretto admittedly had been instituted heir in the late Bibiano Barretto’s last will and testament together with defendant Milagros; hence, the partition had between them could not be one such had with a party who was believed to be an heir without really being one, and was not null and void under said article. The legal precept (Article 1081) does not speak of children, or descendants, but of heirs (without distinction between forced, voluntary or intestate ones), and the fact that Salud happened not to be a daughter of the testator does not preclude her being one of the heirs expressly named in his testament; for Bibiano Barretto was at liberty to assign the free portion of his estate to whomsoever he chose. While the share (1/2) assigned to Salud impinged on the legitime of Milagros, Salud did not for that reason cease to be a testamentary heir of Bibiano Barretto.

Nor does the fact that Milagros was allotted in her father’s will a share smaller than her legitime invalidate the institution of Salud as heir, since there was here no preterition, or total omission, of a forced heir. For this reason, Neri v. Akutin, 72 Phil. 322, invoked by appellee, is not at all applicable, that case involving an instance of preterition or omission of children of the testator’s former marriage.

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Appellee contends that the partition in question was void as a compromise on the civil status of Salud in violation of Article 1814 of the old Civil Code. This view is erroneous, since a compromise presupposes the settlement of a controversy through mutual concessions of the parties (Civil Code of 1889, Article 1809; Civil Code of the Philippines, Art. 2028); and the condition of Salud as daughter of the testator Bibiano Barretto, while untrue, was at no time disputed during the settlement of the estate of the testator. There can be no compromise over issues not in dispute. And while a compromise over civil status is prohibited, the law nowhere forbids a settlement by the parties over the share that should correspond to a claimant to the estate.

At any rate, independently of a project of partition which, as its own name implies, is merely a proposal for distribution of the estate that the court may accept or reject, it is the court alone that makes the distribution of the estate and determines the persons entitled thereto and the parts to which each is entitled (Comia v. Reyes, 63 Phil. 629, 643; Act 190, Section 750; Rule 90, Rules of 1940; Rule 91, Revised Rules of Court), and it is that judicial decree of distribution, once final, that vests title in the distributees. If the decree was erroneous or not in conformity with law or the testament, the same should have been corrected by opportune appeal; but once it had become final, its binding effect is like that of any other judgment in rem, unless properly set aside for lack of jurisdiction or fraud .

It is thus apparent that where a court has validly issued a decree of distribution of the estate, and the same has become final, the validity or invalidity of the project of partition becomes irrelevant.

It is, however, argued for the appellee that since the court’s distribution of the estate of the late Bibiano Barretto was predicated on the project of partition executed by Salud Barretto and the widow, Maria Gerardo (who signed for herself and as guardian of the minor Milagros Barretto), and since no evidence was taken of the filiation of the heirs, nor were any findings of fact or law made, the decree of distribution can have no greater validity than that of the basic partition, and must stand or fall with it, being in the nature of a judgment by consent, based on a compromise. Saminiada v. Mata, 92 Phil. 426, is invoked in support of the proposition. That case is authority for the proposition that a judgment by compromise may be set aside on the ground of mistake or fraud, upon petition filed in due time, where petition for "relief was filed before the compromise agreement, a proceeding, was consummated" (cas. cit. at p. 436). In the case before us, however, the agreement of partition was not only ratified by the court’s decree of distribution, but actually consummated, so much so that the titles in the name of the deceased were cancelled, and new certificates issued in favor of the heirs, long before the decree was attacked. Hence, Saminiada v. Mata does not apply.

Moreover, the Lucia -appellee’s argument would be plausible [acceptable, believable, reasonable] if it were shown that the sole basis for the decree of distribution was the project of partition. But, in fact, even without it, the distribution could stand, since it was in conformity with the probated will of Bibiano Barretto, against the provisions whereof no objection had been made. In fact, it was the court’s duty to do so. Act 190, section 640, in force in 1939, provided:

Sec. 640. Estate, How Administered. — When a will is thus allowed, the court shall grant letters testamentary, or letters of administration with the will annexed, and such letters testamentary or of administration, shall extend to all the estate of the testator in the Philippine Islands. Such estate, after the payment of just debts and expenses of administration, shall be disposed of according to such will, so far as such will may operate upon it; and the residue, if any, shall be disposed of as is provided by law in cases of estates in these Islands belonging to persons who are inhabitants of another state or country." (Italics supplied)

That defendant Milagros Barretto was a minor at the time the probate court distributed the estate of her father in 1939 does not imply that the said court was without jurisdiction to enter the decree of distribution. Passing upon a like issue, this Court ruled in Ramos v. Ortuzar, 89 Phil. Reports, pp. 741 and 742:

"If we are to assume that Richard Hill and Marvin Hill did not formally intervene, still they would be concluded by the result of the proceedings, not only as to their civil status but as the distribution of the estate as well. As this court has held in Manolo v. Paredes, 47 Phil. 938, "The proceeding for probate is one in rem (40 Cyc., 1265) and the court acquires jurisdiction over all persons interested, through the publication of the notice prescribed by Section 630 C.P.C.; and any order that may be entered therein is binding against all of them.’ (See also in re Estate of Johnson, 39 Phil. 156.) ‘A final order of distribution of the estate of a deceased person vests the title to the land of the estate in the distributees.’ (Santos v. Roman Catholic Bishop of Nueva Caceres, 45 Phil. 895.) There is no reason why, by analogy, these salutary doctrines should not apply to intestate proceedings.

The only instance that we can think of in which a party interested in a probate proceedings may have a final liquidation set aside is a) when he is left out by reason of circumstances beyond his control or b) through mistake or c) inadvertence not imputable to negligence. Even then, the better practice to secure relief is reopening of the same case by proper motion within the reglementary period, instead of an independent action the effect of which, if successful, would be, as in the instant case, for another court or judge to throw out a decision or order already final and executed and reshuffle properties long ago distributed and disposed of."

It is well to observe, at this juncture, as this Court expressly declared in Reyes v. Barretto Datu, 94 Phil. 446 (Am’d. Rec. Appeal, pp. 156, 157), that:

". . . It is argued that Lucia Milagros Barretto was a minor when she signed the partition, and that Maria Gerardo was not her judicially appointed guardian. The claim is not true. Maria Gerardo signed as guardian of the minor. (Secs. 3 and 5, Rule 97, Rules of Court.) The mere statement in the project of partition that the guardianship proceedings of the minor Lucia Milagros Barretto are pending in the court, does not mean that the guardian had not yet been appointed; it meant that the guardianship proceedings, had not yet been terminated and as a guardianship proceedings begin with the appointment of a guardian, Maria Gerardo must have been already appointed when she signed the project of partition. There is, therefore, no irregularity or defect or error in the project of partition, apparent on the record of the testate proceedings, which shows that Maria Gerardo had no power or authority to sign the project of partition as guardian of the minor Lucia Milagros Barretto, and, consequently, no ground for the contention that the order approving the project of partition is absolutely null and void and may be attacked collaterally in these proceedings."

So that it is now incontestable that appellee Milagros Barretto was not only made a party by publication but actually appeared and participated in the proceedings through her guardian: she, therefore, can not escape the jurisdiction of the Manila Court of First Instance which settled her father’s estate.

Defendant-appellee further pleads that as her mother and guardian (Maria Gerardo) could not have ignored that the distributee Salud was not her child, the act of said widow in agreeing to the oft-cited partition and distribution was a fraud on appellee’s rights and entitles her to relief. In the first place, there is no evidence that when the estate of Bibiano Barretto was judicially settled and distributed appellants’ predecessor, Salud Lim Boco Barretto, knew that she was not Bibiano’s child; so that if fraud was committed, it was the widow, Maria Gerardo, who was solely responsible, and neither Salud nor her minor children, appellants herein, can be held liable therefor. In the second place, granting that there was such fraud, relief therefrom can only be obtained within 4 years from its discovery, and the record shows that this period had elapsed long ago.

Because at the time of the distribution Milagros Barretto was only 16 years old (Exhibit 24), she became of age five years later, in 1944. On that year, her cause of action accrued to contest on the ground of fraud the court decree distributing her father’s estate and the four-year period of limitation started to run, to expire in 1948 (Section 43, Act 190). In fact, conceding that Milagros only became aware of the true facts in 1946 (Appellee’s Brief, p. 27), her action still became extinct in 1950. Clearly, therefore, the action was already barred when in August 31, 1956 she filed her counterclaim in this case contesting the decree of distribution of Bibiano Barretto’s estate.

In order to evade the statute of limitations, Milagros Barretto introduced evidence that appellant Tirso Reyes had induced her to delay filing action by verbally promising to reconvey the properties received by his deceased wife, Salud. There is no reliable evidence of the alleged promise, which rests

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exclusively on the oral assertions of Milagros herself and her counsel. In fact, the trial court made no mention of such promise in the decision under appeal. Even more: granting arguendo that the promise was made, the same can not bind the wards, the minor children of Salud, who are the real parties in interest. An abdicative waiver of rights by a guardian, being an act of disposition, and not of administration, can not bind his wards, being null and void as to them unless duly authorized by the proper court (Ledesma Hermanos v. Castro, 55 Phil. 136, 142).

In resume, we hold

(1) that the partition had between Salud and Milagros Barretto in the proceedings for the settlement of the estate of Bibiano Barretto, duly approved by the Court of First Instance of Manila in 1939, in its Civil Case No. 49629, is not void for being contrary to either articles 1081 or 1814 of the Civil Code of 1889;

(2) that Milagros Barretto’s action to contest said partition and decree of distribution is barred by the statute of limitations; and

(3) that her claim that plaintiff-appellant guardian is a possessor in bad faith and should account for the fruits received from the properties inherited by Salud Barretto (nee Lim Boco) is legally untenable. It follows that the plaintiffs’ action for partition of the fishpond described in the complaint should have been given due course.

Wherefore, the decision of the Court of First Instance of Bulacan now under appeal is reversed and set aside in so far as it orders plaintiff-appellant to reconvey to appellee Milagros Barretto Datu the properties enumerated in said decision, and the same is affirmed in so far as it denies any right of said appellee to accounting. Let the records be returned to the court of origin, with instructions to proceed with the action for partition of the fishpond (Lot No. 4, Plan Psu-4709), covered by TCT No. T-13734 of the Office of the Register of Deeds of Bulacan, and for the accounting of the fruits thereof, as prayed for in the complaint. No costs.

Concepcion, C.J., Dizon, Regala, Makalintal, Bengzon, J. P., Zaldivar, Sanchez and Ruiz Castro, JJ., concur.

B. Nuguid v. Nuguid

EN BANC

[G.R. No. L-23445. June 23, 1966.]

REMEDIOS NUGUID, Petitioner-Appellant, v. FELIX NUGUID and PAZ SALONGA NUGUID,Oppositors-Appellees.

Custodio O. Partade for Petitioner-Appellant.

Beltran, Beltran & Beltran for oppositors-appellees.

SYLLABUS

1. PROBATE OF WILL; COURT’S AREA OF INQUIRY LIMITED TO EXTRINSIC VALIDITY OF WILL; WHEN COURT MAY RULE ON INTRINSIC VALIDITY; CASE AT BAR. — In a proceeding for the probate of a will, the court’s area of inquiry is limited to an examination of, and resolution on, the extrinsic validity of the will; the due execution thereof; the testatrix’s testamentary capacity; and the compliance with the requisites or solemnities prescribed the by law. In the case at bar, however, a peculiar situation exists. The parties shunted aside the question of whether or not the will should be allowed probate. They questioned the intrinsic validity of the will. Normally, this comes only after the court has declared that the will has been duly authenticated. But if the case were to be remanded for probate of the will, nothing will be gained. In the event of probate or if the court rejects the will, probability exists that the case will come up once again before this Court on the same issue of the intrinsic validity or nullity of the will. The result would be waste of time, effort, expense, plus added anxiety. These practical considerations induce this Court to meet head-on the issue of the nullity of the provisions of the will in question, there being a justiciable controversy awaiting solution.

2. SUCCESSION; PRETERITION; OMISSION OF NAMES OF FORCED HEIRS. — The deceased left no descendants, legitimate or illegitimate. But she left forced heirs in the direct ascending time — her parents. Her will does not explicitly disinherit them but simply omits their names altogether. Said will rather than he labelled ineffective disinheritance is clearly one in which the said forced heirs suffer from preterition.

3. ID.; ID.; PRETERITION DISTINGUISHED FROM DISINHERITANCE. — Preterition "consists in the omission in the testator’s will of the forced heirs or anyone of them, either because the are not mentioned therein, or, though mentioned, they are neither instituted as heirs nor are expressly disinherited." (Neri, Et. Al. v. Akutin, at al., 72 Phil., p. 325.) Disinheritance; in turn, "is a testamentary disposition depriving any compulsory heir of heir share in the legitime for a cause authorized by law." (Justice J.B.L. Reyes and R.C. Puno, "An Outline of Philippine Civil Law," 1956 ed., Vol. III, p. 8, citing cases.) Disinheritance is always "voluntary" ; preterition upon the other hand, is presumed to be "involuntary." (Sanchez Roman, Estudios de Derecho Civil, 2nd edition, Volume 20, p. 1131.)

4. ID.; ID.; ID.; EFFECTS FLOWING FROM PRETERITION AND DISINHERITANCE. — The effects flowing from preterition are totally different from those of disinheritance. Preterition under Article 854 of the Civil Code "shall annul the institution of heir. "This annulment is in toto, unless in the will there are, in addition, testamentary dispositions in the form of devises or legacies. In ineffective disinheritance under Article 918 of the same Code, such disinheritance shall also "annul the institution of heirs," but only "insofar as it may prejudice the person disinherited," which last phrase was omitted in the case of preterition. (III Tolentino, Civil Code of the Philippines, 1961. Edition, p. 172.) Better stated yet, in disinheritance the nullity is limited to that portion of the estate of which the disinherited heirs have been illegally deprived.

6. ID.; ID.; WHEN LEGACIES AND DEVISES MERIT CONSIDERATION. — Legacies and devises merit consideration only when they are so expressly given as such in a will. Nothing in Article 854 of the Civil Code suggests that the mere institution of a universal heir in a will — void because of preterition — would give the heir so instituted a share in the inheritance. As to him, the will is inexistent. There must he, in addition to such institution, a testamentary disposition granting him bequests or legacies apart and separate from the nullified institution of heir.

7. ID.; ID.; ID.; INSTITUTION OF HEIRS CANNOT BE CONSIDERED LEGACY. — Petitioner insists that the compulsory heirs ineffectively disinherited are entitled to receive their legitimes, but that the institution of heir "is not invalidated," although the inheritance of the heir so instituted is reduced to the extent of said legitimes. This theory, if adopted, will result in a complete abrogation of Articles 814 and 851 of the Civil Code. If every case of institution of heirs may be made to fall into the concept of legacies and betterments reducing the bequest accordingly, then the provisions of Articles 814 and 851 regarding total or partial nullity of the institution, would be absolutely meaningless and will never have any application at all. And the remaining provisions contained in said articles concerning the reduction of inofficious legacies or betterments would be a surplusage because they would be absorbed by Article 817 of the same code.

D E C I S I O N

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SANCHEZ, J.:

Rosario Nuguid, a resident of Quezon City, died on December 30, 1962, single, without descendants, legitimate or illegitimate. Surviving her were her legitimate parents, Felix Nuguid and Paz Salonga Nuguid, and 6 brothers and sisters namely: Alfredo, Federico, Remedios, Conrado, Lourdes and Alberto, all surnamed Nuguid.

On May 18, 1963, petitioner Remedios Nuguid filed in the Court of First Instance of Rizal a holographic will allegedly executed by Rosario Nuguid on November 17, 1951, some 11 years before her demise. Petitioner prayed that said will be admitted to probate and that letters of administration with the will annexed be issued to her.

On June 25, 1963, Felix Nuguid and Paz Salonga Nuguid, concededly the legitimate father and mother of the deceased Rosario Nuguid, entered their opposition to the probate of her will. Ground therefor, inter alia, is that by the institution of petitioner Remedios Nuguid as universal heir of the deceased, oppositors — who are compulsory heirs of the deceased in the direct ascending line — were illegally preterited and that in consequence the institution is void.

On August 29, 1963, before a hearing was had on the petition for probate and objection thereto, oppositors moved to dismiss on the ground of absolute preterition.

On September 6, 1963, petitioner registered her opposition to the motion to dismiss.

The court’s order of November 8, 1963, held that "the will in question is a complete nullity and will perforce create intestacy of the estate of the deceased Rosario Nuguid" and dismissed the petition without costs.

A motion to reconsider having been thwarted below, petitioner came to this Court on appeal.

1. Right at the outset, a procedural aspect has engaged our attention. The case is for the probate of a will. The court’s area of inquiry is limited — to an examination of, and resolution on, the extrinsic validity of the will. The due execution thereof, the testatrix’s testamentary capacity, and the compliance with the requisites or solemnities by law prescribed, are the questions solely to be represented, and to be acted upon, by the court. Said court — at this stage of the proceedings — is not called upon to rule on the intrinsic validity or efficacy of the provisions of the will, the legality of any devise or legacy therein. 1

A peculiar situation is here thrust upon us. The parties shunted aside the question of whether or not the will should he allowed probate. For them, the meat of the case is the intrinsic validity of the will. Normally, this comes only after the court has declared that the will been duly authenticated. 2 But petitioner and oppositors, in the court below and here on appeal, travelled on the issue of law, to wit: Is the will intrinsically a nullity?

We pause to reflect. If the case were to be remanded for probate of the will, nothing will be gained. On the contrary, this litigation will be protracted. And for aught that appears in the record, in the event of probate or if the court rejects the will, probability exists that the case will come once again before us on the same issue of the intrinsic validity or nullity of the will. Result: waste of time, effort, expense, plus added anxiety. These are the practical considerations that induce us to a belief that we might as well meet head-on the issue of the nullity of the provisions of the will in question. 3 After all, there exists a justiciable controversy crying for solution.

2. Petitioner’s sole assignment of error challenges the correctness of the conclusion below that the will is a complete nullity. This exacts from us a study of the disputed will and the applicable statute.

Reproduced hereunder is the will:

"Nov. 17, 1951.

I, ROSARIO NUGUID, being of sound and disposing mind and memory, having amassed a certain amount of property, do hereby give, devise, and bequeath all of the property which I may have when I die to my beloved sister Remedios Nuguid, age 34, residing with me at 38-B Iriga, Q.C. In witness whereof, I have signed my name this seventh day of November, nineteen hundred and fifty-one.

(Sgd.) Illegible

T/ ROSARIO NUGUID"

The statute we are called upon to apply is Article 854 of the Civil Code which, in part, provides:

"Art. 854. The preterition or omission of one, some, or all of the compulsory heirs in the direct line, whether living at the time of the execution of the will or born after the death of the testator. shall annul the institution of heir; the devises and legacies shall be valid insofar as they are not inofficious . . ."

Except for inconsequential variation in terms, the foregoing is a reproduction of Article 814 of the Civil Code of Spain of 1889, which is similarly herein copied, thus —

"Art. 814. The preterition of one or all of the forced heirs in the direct line, whether living at the time of the execution of the will or born after the death of the testator, shall void the institution of heir; but the legacies and betterments 4 shall be valid, in so far as they are not inofficious. . ."cralaw virtua1aw library

A comprehensive understanding of the term preterition employed in the law becomes a necessity. On this point Manresa comments:

"La pretericion consiste en omitir al heredero en el testamento. O no se le nombra siquiera, o aun nombrandole como padre, hijo, etc., no se leinstituye heredero ni se le deshereda expresamente, ni se le asigna parte alguna de los bienes, resultando privado de un modo tacito de su derecho a legitima.

Para que exista pretericion, con arreglo al articulo 814, basta que en el testamento omita el testador a uno cualquiera de aquelloa a quienes por su muerte corresponda la herencia forzosa.

Se necesita, pues, a) Que la omision se refiera a un heredero forzoso.) b) Que la omision sea completa; que el heredero forzoso nada reciba en el testamento. 5

It may now appear trite but nonetheless helpful in giving us a clear perspective of the problem before us, to have on hand a clear-cut definition of the word annul:

"To ‘annul’ means to abrogate, to make void;. . .In re Morrow’s Estate, 54 A. 342, 343, 204 Pa. 484." 6

"The word ‘annul’ as used in the statute requiring court to annul alimony provisions of divorce decree upon wife’s remarriage means to reduce to

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nothing; to annihilate; obliterate; blot out; to make void or of no effect; to nullify; to abolish. N.J.S.A. 2:50 — 38 (now N.J.S.2A:34-25). Madden v. Madden, 40 A.2d 611, 614, 136 N.J. Eq. 132." 7

"ANNUL. To reduce to nothing; annihilate; obliterate; to make void or of no effect; to nullify; to abolish; to do away with. Ex parte Mitchell, 123 W. Va. 283, S.E. 2d. 771, 774." 8

And now, back to the facts and the law. The deceased Rosario Nuguid left no descendants, legitimate or illegitimate. But she left forced heirs in the direct ascending line — her parents, now oppositors Felix Nuguid and Paz Salonga Nuguid. And, the will completely omits both of them: They thus received nothing by the testament; tacitly, they were deprived of their legitime; neither were they expressly disinherited. This is a clear case of preterition. Such preterition in the words of Manresa "anulara siempre la institución de heredero, dando caracter absoluto a este ordenamiento," referring to the mandate of Article 814, now 854 of the Civil Code. 9 The one- sentence will here institutes petitioner as the sole, universal heir — nothing more. No specific legacies or bequests are therein provided for. It is in this posture that we say that the nullity is complete. Perforce, Rosario Nuguid died intestate. Says Manresa:

"En cuanto a la institucion de heredero, se anula. Lo que se anula deja de existir, en todo o en parte? No se añade limitacion alguna, como en el articulo 851, en el que se expresa que se anulara la institucion de heredero en cuanto perjudique a la legitima del desheredado. Debe, pues, entenderse que la anulacion es completa o total, y que este articulo como especial en el caso que le motiva, rige con preferencia al 817." 10

The same view is expressed by Sanches Roman: —

"La consequencia de la anulacion o nulidad de la institucion de heredero por pretericion de uno, varios o todos los forzosos en linea recta, es la apertura de la sucesion intestada, total o parcial. Sera total, cuando el testador que comete la pretericion, hubiere dispuesto de todos los bienes por titulo universal de herencia en favor de los herederos instituidos, cuya institucion se anula, porque asi lo exige la generalidad del precepto legal del art. 814, al determinar, como efecto de la pretericion el de que ‘anulara la institucion de heredero’. . ." 11

Really, as we analyze the word annul employed in the statute, there is no escaping the conclusion that the universal institution of petitioner to the entire inheritance results in totally abrogating the will. Because, the nullification of such institution of universal heir — without any other testamentary disposition in the will — amounts to a declaration that nothing at all was written. Carefully worded and in clear terms, Article 854 offers no leeway for inferential interpretation. Giving it an expansive meaning will tear up by the roots the fabric of the statute. On this point, Sanchez Roman cites the "Memoria annual del Tribunal Supremo, correspondiente a 1908," which in our opinion expresses the rule of interpretation, viz:

". . . El art. 814, que preceptua en tales casos de pretericion la nulidad de la institucion de heredero no consiente interpretacion alguno favorable a lo persona instituida en el sentido antes expuesto, aun cuando parezca, y en algun caso pudiera ser, mas o menos equitativa, porque una nulidad no significa en Derecho sino la suposicion de que el hecho o el acto no se ha realizado debiendo; por lo tanto, procederse sobre tal base o supuesto, y consiguientemente, en un testamento donde falte la institucion, es obligado llamar a los herederos forzosos en todo caso, como habria que llamar a los de otra clase, cuando el testador no hubiese distribuido todos sus bienes en legados, siendo tanto mas obligada esta consecuencia legal cuanto que, en materia de testamentos, sabido es, segun tiene declarado la jurisprudencia, con repeticion, que no basta que seo conocida la voluntad de quien testa si esta voluntad no aparece en la forma y en las condiciones que la ley ha exigido para que sea valido y eficaz, por lo que constituiria una interpretacion arbitraria, dentro del derecho positivo, reputar como legatario a un heredero cuya institucion fuese anulada con pretexto de que esto se acomodaba mejor a la voluntad del testador, pues aun cuando asi fuese, sera esto razon para modificar la ley, pero que no outoriza a una interpretacion contraria a sus terminos y a los principios que informan la testamentifaccion, pues no porque parezca mejor una cosa en el terreno del Derecho constituyente, hay razon para convertir este juicio en regla de interpretación, desvirtuando y anulando por este procedimiento lo que el legislador quiere establecer." 12

3. We should not be led astray by the statement in Article 854 that, annulment notwithstanding, "the devises and legacies shall be valid insofar as they are not inofficious." Legacies and devises merit consideration only when they are so expressly given as such in a will. Nothing in Article 854 suggests that the mere institution of a universal heir in a will — void because of preterition — would give the heir so instituted a share in the inheritance. As to him, the will is inexistent. There must be, in addition to such institution, a testamentary disposition granting him bequests or legacies apart and separate from the nullified institution of heir. Sanchez Roman, speaking of the two component parts of Article 814, now 854, states that preterition annuls the institution of the heir "totalmente por la preterición" ; but added (in reference to legacies and bequests), "pero subsistiendo, . . . todas aquellas otras disposiciones que no se refieren a la institución de heredero . . ." 13 As Manresa puts it, annulment throws open to intestate succession the entire inheritance including la porción libre (que) no hubiese dispuesto en virtud de legado, mejora o donación." 14

As aforesaid, there is no other provision in the will before us except the institution of petitioner as universal heir. That institution, by itself, is null and void. And, intestate succession ensues.

4. Petitioner’s mainstay is that the present is "a case of ineffective disinheritance rather than one of preterition." 15 From this, petitioner draws the conclusion that Article 854 "does not apply to the case at bar." This argument fails to appreciate the distinction between preterition and disinheritance.

Preterition "consists in the omission in the testator’s will of the forced heirs or anyone of them, either because they are not mentioned therein, or, though mentioned, they are neither instituted as heirs nor are expressly disinherited." 16 Disinheritance, in turn, "is a testamentary disposition depriving any compulsory heir of his share in the legitime for a cause authorized by law." 17 In Manresa’s own words: "La privación expresa de la legitima constituye le desheredación. La privación tacita de la misma se denomina preterición. 18 Sanchez Roman emphasizes the distinction by stating that disinheritance "es siempre voluntaria" ; preterition, upon the other hand, is presumed to be "involuntaria." 19 Express as disinheritance should be, the same must be supported by a legal cause specified in the will itself. 20

The will here does not explicitly disinherit the testatrix’s parents, the forced heirs. It simply omits their names altogether. Said will rather than be labeled ineffective disinheritance is clearly one in which the said forced heirs suffer from preterition.

On top of this the fact that the effects flowing from preterition are totally different from those of disinheritance. Preterition under Article 854 of the Civil Code, we repeat, "shall annul the institution of heir." This annulment is in toto, unless in the will there are, in addition, testamentary dispositions in the form of devises or legacies. In ineffective disinheritance under Article 918 of the same Code, such disinheritance shall also "annul the institution of heirs," but only "insofar as it may prejudice the person disinherited," which last phrase was omitted in the case of preterition. 21 Better stated yet, in disinheritance the nullity is limited to that portion of the estate of which the disinherited heirs have been illegally deprived. Manresa’s expressive language, in commenting on the rights of the preterited heirs in the case of preterition on the one hand and legal disinheritance on the other, runs thus: "Preteridos, adquieren el derecho a todo; deshereda dos, solo les corresponde un tercio o dos tercios, 22 según el caso." 23

5. Petitioner insists that the compulsory heirs ineffectively disinherited are entitled to receive their legitimes, but that the institution of heir "is not invalidated," although the inheritance of the heir so instituted is reduced to the extent of said legitimes. 24

This is best answered by a reference to the opinion of Mr. Justice Moran in the Neri case heretofore cited, viz:

"But the theory is advanced that the bequest made by universal title in favor of the children by the second marriage should be treated as legado and mejora and, accordingly, it must not be entirely annulled but merely reduced. This theory, if adopted, will result in a complete abrogation of articles 814 and 851 of the Civil Code. If every case of institution of heirs may be made to fall into the concept of legacies and betterments reducing the bequest accordingly, then the provisions of articles 814 and 851 regarding total or partial nullity of the institution, would be absolutely meaningless and will]l never have application at all. And the remaining provisions contained in said articles concerning the reduction of inofficious legacies or betterments would be a

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surplusage because they would be absorbed by article 817. Thus, instead of construing, we would be destroying integral provisions of the Civil Code.

The destructive effect of the theory thus advanced is due mainly to a failure to distinguish institution of heirs from legacies and betterments, and a general from a special provision. With reference to Article 814, which is the only provision material to the disposition of this case, it must be observed that the institution of heirs is therein dealt with a thing separate and distinct from legacies or betterment. And they are separate and distinct not only because they are distinctly and separately treated in said article but because they are in themselves different. Institution of heirs is a bequest by universal title of property that is undetermined. Legacy refers to specific property bequeathed by a particular or special title. . . But again an institution of heirs cannot be taken as a legacy,"

The disputed order, we observe, declares the will in question "a complete nullity." Article 854 of the Civil Code in turn merely nullifies "the institution of heir." Considering, however, that the will before us solely provides for the institution of petitioner as universal heir, and nothing more, the result is the same. The entire will is null.

Upon the view we take of this case, the order of November 8, 1963 under review is hereby affirmed. No costs allowed. So ordered.

Concepcion, C.J., J.B.L. Reyes, Barrera, Dizon, Regala, Makalintal, J. P. Bengzon and Zaldivar, JJ., concur.

C. Acain v. Acain October 27, 1987

EN BANC

[G.R. No. 72706. October 27, 1987.]

CONSTANTINO C. ACAIN, Petitioner, v. HON. INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT (Third Special Cases Division), VIRGINIA A. FERNANDEZ and ROSA DIONGSON, Respondents.

D E C I S I O N

PARAS, J.:

This is a petition for review on certiorari of the decision * of respondent Court of Appeals in AC-G.R. SP No. 05744 promulgated on August 30, 1985 (Rollo, p. 108) ordering the dismissal of the petition in Special Proceedings No. 591-A-CEB and its Resolution issued on October 23, 1985 (Rollo, p. 72) denying respondents’ (petitioners herein) motion for reconsideration.

The dispositive portion of the questioned decision reads as follows:

"WHEREFORE, the petition is hereby granted and respondent Regional Trial Court of the Seventh Judicial Region, Branch XIII (Cebu City), is hereby ordered to dismiss the petition in Special Proceedings No. 591-A-CEB. No special pronouncement is made as to costs."

The antecedents of the case, based on the summary of the Intermediate Appellate Court, now Court of Appeals, (Rollo, pp. 108-109) are as follows:

On May 29, 1984 petitioner Constantino Acain filed in the Regional Trial Court of Cebu City Branch XIII, a petition for the probate of the will of the late Nemesio Acain and for the issuance to the same petitioner of letters testamentary, docketed as Special Proceedings No. 591-A-CEB (Rollo, p. 29), on the premise that Nemesio Acain died leaving a will in which petitioner and his brothers Antonio, Flores and Jose and his sisters Anita, Concepcion, Quirina and Laura were instituted as heirs. The will allegedly executed by Nemesio Acain on February 17, 1960 was written in Bisaya (Rollo, p. 27) with a translation in English (Rollo, p. 31) submitted by petitioner without objection raised by private respondents. The will contained provisions on burial rites, payment of debts, and the appointment of a certain Atty. Ignacio G. Villagonzalo as the executor of the testament. On the disposition of the testator’s property, the will provided:

"THIRD: All my shares that I may receive from our properties, house, lands and money which I earned jointly with my wife Rosa Diongson shall all be given by me to my brother SEGUNDO ACAIN, Filipino, widower, of legal age and presently residing at 357-C Sanciangko Street, Cebu City. In case my brother Segundo Acain predeceases me, all the money properties, lands, houses there in Bantayan and here in Cebu City which constitute my share shall be given by me to his children, namely: Anita, Constantino, Concepcion, Quirina, Laura, Flores, Antonio and Jose all surnamed Acain."

Obviously, Segundo pre-deceased Nemesio. Thus, it is the children of Segundo who are claiming to be heirs, with Constantino as the petitioner in Special Proceedings No. 591-A-CEB.

After the petition was set for hearing in the lower court on June 25, 1984 the oppositors (respondents herein Virginia A. Fernandez, a legally adopted daughter of the deceased and the latter’s widow Rosa Diongson Vda. de Acain) filed a motion to dismiss on the following grounds: (1) the petitioner has no legal capacity to institute these proceedings; (2) he is merely a universal heir and (3) the widow and the adopted daughter have been preterited. (Rollo, p. 158). Said motion was denied by the trial judge.

After the denial of their subsequent motion for reconsideration in the lower court, respondents filed with the Supreme Court a petition for certiorari and prohibition with preliminary injunction which was subsequently referred to the Intermediate Appellate Court by Resolution of the Court dated March 11, 1985 (Memorandum for Petitioner, p. 3; Rollo, p. 159).

Respondent Intermediate Appellate Court granted private respondents’ petition and ordered the trial court to dismiss the petition for the probate of the will of Nemesio Acain in Special Proceedings No. 591-A-CEB.

His motion for reconsideration having been denied, petitioner filed this present petition for the review of respondent Court’s decision on December 18, 1985 (Rollo, p. 6). Respondents’ Comment was filed on June 6, 1986 (Rollo, p. 146).

On August 11, 1986 the Court resolved to give due course to the petition (Rollo, p. 153). Respondents’ Memorandum was filed on September 22, 1986 (Rollo, p. 157); the Memorandum for petitioner was filed on September 29, 1986 (Rollo, p. 177).

Petitioner raises the following issues (Memorandum for Petitioner, p. 4):

(A) The petition filed in AC-G.R. No. 05744 for certiorari and prohibition with preliminary injunction is not the proper remedy under the premises;

(B) The authority of the probate courts is limited only to inquiring into the extrinsic validity of the will sought to be probated and it cannot pass upon the intrinsic validity thereof before it is admitted to probate;

(C) The will of Nemesio Acain is valid and must therefore, be admitted to probate. The preterition mentioned in Article 854 of the New Civil Code refers of 42


to preterition of "compulsory heirs in the direct line," and does not apply to private respondents who are not compulsory heirs in the direct line; their omission shall not annul the institution of heirs;

(D) DICAT TESTATOR ET ERIT LEX. What the testator says will be the law;

(E) There may be nothing in Article 854 of the New Civil Code that suggests that mere institution of a universal heir in the will would give the heir so instituted a share in the inheritance but there is a definite distinct intention of the testator in the case at bar, explicitly expressed in his will. This is what matters and should be inviolable.

(F) As an instituted heir, petitioner has the legal interest and standing to file the petition in Sp. Proc. No. 591-A-CEB for probate of the will of Nemesio Acain; and

(G) Article 854 of the New Civil Code is a bill of attainder. It is therefore unconstitutional and ineffectual.

The pivotal issue in this case is whether or not private respondents have been preterited.

Article 854 of the Civil Code provides:

"Art. 854. The preterition or omission of one, some, or all of the compulsory heirs in the direct line, whether living at the time of the execution of the will or born after the death of the testator, shall annul the institution of heir; but the devisees and legacies shall be valid insofar as they are not inofficious.

If the omitted compulsory heirs should die before the testator, the institution shall be effectual, without prejudice to the right of representation."

Preterition consists in the omission in the testator’s will of the forced heirs or anyone of them either because they are not mentioned therein, or, though mentioned, they are neither instituted as heirs nor are expressly disinherited (Nuguid v. Nuguid, 17 SCRA 450 [1966]; Maninang v. Court of Appeals, 114 SCRA 478 [1982]).

Insofar as the widow is concerned, Article 854 of the Civil Code may not apply as she does not ascend or descend from the testator, although she is a compulsory heir. Stated otherwise, even if the surviving spouse is a compulsory heir, there is no preterition even if she is omitted from the inheritance, for she is not in the direct line. (Art. 854, Civil Code) However, the same thing cannot be said of the other respondent Virginia A. Fernandez, whose legal adoption by the testator has not been questioned by petitioner (Memorandum for the Petitioner, pp. 8-9). Under Article 39 of P.D. No. 603, known as the Child and Youth Welfare Code, adoption gives to the adopted person the same rights and duties as if he were a legitimate child of the adopter and makes the adopted person a legal heir of the adopter. It cannot be denied that she was totally omitted and preterited in the will of the testator and that both adopted child and the widow were deprived of at least their legitime. Neither can it be denied that they were not expressly disinherited. Hence, this is a clear case of preterition of the legally adopted child.

Preterition annuls the institution of an heir and annulment throws open to intestate succession the entire inheritance including "la porcion libre (que) no hubiese dispuesto en virtual de legado, mejora o donacion" (Manresa, as cited in Nuguid v. Nuguid, supra, Maninang v. Court of Appeals, 114 SCRA [19821). The only provisions which do not result in intestacy are the legacies and devises made in the will for they should stand valid and respected, except insofar as the legitimes are concerned.

The universal institution of petitioner together with his brothers and sisters to the entire inheritance of the testator results in totally abrogating the will because the nullification of such institution of universal heirs - without any other testamentary disposition in the will - amounts to a declaration that nothing at all was written. Carefully worded and in clear terms, Article 854 of the Civil Code offers no leeway for inferential interpretation (Nuguid v. Nuguid), supra.

Neither legacies nor devises having been provided in the will the whole property of the deceased has been left by universal title to petitioner and his brothers and sisters. The effect of annulling the institution of heirs will be, necessarily, the opening of a total intestacy (Neri v. Akutin, 74 Phil. 185 [1943]) except that proper legacies and devises must, as already stated above, be respected.

We now deal with another matter. In order that a person may be allowed to intervene in a probate proceeding he must have an interest in the estate, or in the will, or in the property to be affected by it either as executor or as a claimant of the estate and an interested party is one who would be benefited by the estate such as an heir or one who has a claim against the estate like a creditor (Sumilang v. Ramagosa, 21 SCRA 1369/1967). Petitioner is not the appointed executor, neither a devisee or a legatee there being no mention in the testamentary disposition of any gift of an individual item of personal or real property he is called upon to receive (Article 782, Civil Code). At the outset, he appears to have an interest in the will as an heir, defined under Article 782 of the Civil Code as a person called to the succession either by the provision of a will or by operation of law. However, intestacy having resulted from the preterition of respondent adopted child and the universal institution of heirs, petitioner is in effect not an heir of the testator. He has no legal standing to petition for the probate of the will left by the deceased and Special Proceedings No. 591-A-CEB must be dismissed. As a general rule certiorari cannot be a substitute for appeal, except when the questioned order is an oppressive exercise of judicial authority (People v. Villanueva, 110 SCRA 465 [1981]; Vda. de Caldito v. Segundo, 117 SCRA 573 [1982]; Co Chuan Seng v. Court of Appeals, 128 SCRA 308 [1984]; and Bautista v. Sarmiento, 138 SCRA 587 [1985]). It is axiomatic that the remedies of certiorari and prohibition are not available where the petitioner has the remedy of appeal or some other plain, speedy and adequate remedy in the course of law (D.D. Comendador Construction Corporation v. Sayo (118 SCRA 590 [1982]). They are, however, proper remedies to correct a grave abuse of discretion of the trial court in not dismissing a case where the dismissal is founded on valid grounds (Vda. de Bacang v. Court of Appeals, 125 SCRA 137 [1983]).

Special Proceedings No. 591-CEB is for the probate of a will. As stated by respondent Court, the general rule is that the probate court’s authority is limited only to the extrinsic validity of the will, the due execution thereof, the testator’s testamentary capacity and the compliance with the requisites or solemnities prescribed by law. The intrinsic validity of the will normally comes only after the Court has declared that the will has been duly authenticated. Said court at this stage of the proceedings is not called upon to rule on the intrinsic validity or efficacy of the provisions of the will (Nuguid v. Nuguid, 17 SCRA 449 [1966]; Sumilang v. Ramagosa, supra; Maninang v. Court of Appeals, 114 SCRA 478 [1982]; Cayetano v. Leonidas, 129 SCRA 522 [1984]; and Nepomuceno v. Court of Appeals, 139 SCRA 206 [1985]).

The rule, however, is not inflexible and absolute. Under exceptional circumstances, the probate court is not powerless to do what the situation constrains it to do and pass upon certain provisions of the will (Nepomuceno v. Court of Appeals, supra). In Nuguid v. Nuguid the oppositors to the probate moved to dismiss on the ground of absolute preterition. The probate court acting on the motion held that the will in question was a complete nullity and dismissed the petition without costs. On appeal the Supreme Court upheld the decision of the probate court, induced by practical considerations. The Court said:

"We pause to reflect. If the case were to be remanded for probate of the will, nothing will be gained. On the contrary, this litigation will be protracted. And for aught that appears in the record, in the event of probate or if the court rejects the will, probability exists that the case will come up once again before us on the same issue of the intrinsic validity or nullity of the will. Result: waste of time, effort, expense, plus added anxiety. These are the practical considerations that induce us to a belief that we might as well meet head-on the issue of the validity of the provisions of the will in question. After all there exists a justiciable controversy crying for solution."

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In Saguimsim v. Lindayag (6 SCRA 874 [1962]) the motion to dismiss the petition by the surviving spouse was grounded on petitioner’s lack of legal capacity to institute the proceedings which was fully substantiated by the evidence during the hearing held in connection with said motion. The Court upheld the probate court’s order of dismissal.

In Cayetano v. Leonidas, supra one of the issues raised in the motion to dismiss the petition deals with the validity of the provisions of the will. Respondent Judge allowed the probate of the will. The Court held that as on its face the will appeared to have preterited the petitioner the respondent judge should have denied its probate outright. Where circumstances demand that intrinsic validity of testamentary provisions be passed upon even before the extrinsic validity of the will is resolved, the probate court should meet the issue. (Nepomuceno v. Court of Appeals, supra; Nuguid v. Nuguid, supra).

In the instant case private respondents filed a motion to dismiss the petition in Sp. Proceedings No. 591-CEB of the Regional Trial Court of Cebu on the following grounds: (1) petitioner has no legal capacity to institute the proceedings; (2) he is merely a universal heir; and (3) the widow and the adopted daughter have been preterited (Rollo, p. 158). It was denied by the trial court in an order dated January 21, 1985 for the reason that "the grounds for the motion to dismiss are matters properly to be resolved after a hearing on the issues in the course of the trial on the merits of the case (Rollo, p. 32). A subsequent motion for reconsideration was denied by the trial court on February 15, 1985 (Rollo, p. 109).

For private respondents to have tolerated the probate of the will and allowed the case to progress when on its face the will appears to be intrinsically void as petitioner and his brothers and sisters were instituted as universal heirs coupled with the obvious fact that one of the private respondents had been preterited would have been an exercise in futility. It would have meant a waste of time, effort, expense, plus added futility. The trial court could have denied its probate outright or could have passed upon the intrinsic validity of the testamentary provisions before the extrinsic validity of the will was resolved (Cayetano v. Leonidas, supra; Nuguid v. Nuguid, supra). The remedies ofcertiorari and prohibition were properly availed of by private respondents.

Thus, this Court ruled that where the grounds for dismissal are indubitable, the defendants had the right to resort to the more speedy, and adequate remedies of certiorari and prohibition to correct a grave abuse of discretion, amounting to lack of jurisdiction, committed by the trial court in not dismissing the case, (Vda. de Bacang v. Court of Appeals, supra) and even assuming the existence of the remedy of appeal, the Court harkens to the rule that in the broader interests of justice, a petition for certiorari may be entertained, particularly where appeal would not afford speedy and adequate relief. (Maninang v. Court of Appeals, supra).

PREMISES CONSIDERED, the petition is hereby DENIED for lack of merit and the questioned decision of respondent Court of Appeals promulgated on August 30, 1985 and its Resolution dated October 23, 1985 are hereby AFFIRMED.

SO ORDERED.

Teehankee (C.J.), Yap, Fernan, Narvasa, Gutierrez, Jr., Cruz, Feliciano, Gancayco, Padilla, Bidin, Sarmiento and Cortes, JJ., concur.

D. Dy Yieng Seangio v. Reyes November 27, 2006

SECOND DIVISION

[G.R. NOS. 140371-72 : November 27, 2006]

DY YIENG SEANGIO, BARBARA D. SEANGIO and VIRGINIA D. SEANGIO, Petitioners, v. HON. AMOR A. REYES, in her capacity as Presiding Judge, Regional Trial Court, National Capital Judicial Region, Branch 21, Manila, ALFREDO D. SEANGIO, ALBERTO D. SEANGIO, ELISA D.

SEANGIO-SANTOS, VICTOR D. SEANGIO, ALFONSO D. SEANGIO, SHIRLEY D. SEANGIO-LIM, BETTY D. SEANGIO-OBAS and JAMES D. SEANGIO, Respondents.

D E C I S I O N

AZCUNA, J.:

This is a Petition for Certiorari1 with application for the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction and/or temporary restraining order seeking the nullification of the orders, dated August 10, 1999 and October 14, 1999, of the Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 21 (the RTC), dismissing the petition for probate on the ground of preterition, in the consolidated cases, docketed as SP. Proc. No. 98-90870 and SP. Proc. No. 99-93396, and entitled, "In the Matter of the Intestate Estate of Segundo C. Seangio v. Alfredo D. Seangio, et al." and "In the Matter of the Probate of the Will of Segundo C. Seangio v. Dy Yieng Seangio, Barbara D. Seangio and Virginia Seangio."

The facts of the cases are as follows:

On September 21, 1988, private respondents filed a petition for the settlement of the intestate estate of the late Segundo Seangio, docketed as Sp. Proc. No. 98 90870 of the RTC, and praying for the appointment of private respondent Elisa D. Seangio'Santos as special administrator and guardian ad litem of petitioner Dy Yieng Seangio.

Petitioners Dy Yieng, Barbara and Virginia, all surnamed Seangio, opposed the petition. They contended that: 1) Dy Yieng is still very healthy and in full command of her faculties; 2) the deceased Segundo executed a general power of attorney in favor of Virginia giving her the power to manage and exercise control and supervision over his business in the Philippines; 3) Virginia is the most competent and qualified to serve as the administrator of the estate of Segundo because she is a certified public accountant; and, 4) Segundo left a holographic will, dated September 20, 1995, disinheriting one of the private respondents , Alfredo Seangio , for cause. In view of the purported holographic will, petitioners averred that in the event the decedent is found to have left a will, the intestate proceedings are to be automatically suspended and replaced by the proceedings for the probate of the will.

On April 7, 1999, a petition for the probate of the holographic will of Segundo, docketed as SP. Proc. No. 99 93396, was filed by petitioners before the RTC. They likewise reiterated that the probate proceedings should take precedence over SP. Proc. No. 98 90870 because testate proceedings take precedence and enjoy priority over intestate proceedings.2

The document that petitioners refer to as Segundo's holographic will is quoted, as follows:

Kasulatan sa pag-aalis ng mana

Tantunin ng sinuman

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http://www.chanrobles.com/cralaw/2006novemberdecisions.php?id=1515#fnt2



Ako si Segundo Seangio Filipino may asawa naninirahan sa 465-A Flores St., Ermita, Manila at nagtatalay ng maLiwanag na pag-iisip at disposisyon ay tahasan at hayagang inaalisan ko ng lahat at anumang mana ang panganay kong anak na si Alfredo Seangio dahil siya ay naging lapastangan sa akin at isan beses siya ng sasalita ng masama harapan ko at mga kapatid niya na si Virginia Seangio labis kong kinasama ng loob ko at sasabe rin ni Alfredo sa akin na ako nasa ibabaw gayon gunit daratin ang araw na ako nasa ilalim siya at siya nasa ibabaw.

Labis kong ikinasama ng loob ko ang gamit ni Alfredo ng akin pagalan para makapagutang na kuarta siya at kanya asawa na si Merna de los Reyes sa China Bangking Corporation na millon pesos at hindi ng babayad at hindi ng babayad ito ay nagdulot sa aking ng malaking kahihiya sa mga may-ari at stockholders ng China Banking.

At ikinagalit ko pa rin ang pagkuha ni Alfredo at ng kanyang asawa na mga custome[r] ng Travel Center of the Philippines na pinagasiwaan ko at ng anak ko si Virginia.

Dito ako nagalit din kaya gayon ayoko na bilanin si Alfredo ng anak ko at hayanan kong inaalisan ng lahat at anoman mana na si Alfredo at si Alfredo Seangio ay hindi ko siya anak at hindi siya makoha mana.

Nila[g]daan ko ngayon ika 20 ng Setyembre 1995 sa longsod ng Manila sa harap ng tatlong saksi.3

(signed)

Segundo Seangio

Nilagdaan sa harap namin

(signed)

Dy Yieng Seangio (signed)

Unang Saksi ikalawang saksi

(signed)

ikatlong saksi

On May 29, 1999, upon petitioners' motion, SP. Proc. No. 98 90870 and SP. Proc. No. 99 93396 were consolidated.4

On July 1, 1999, private respondents moved for the dismissal of the probate proceedings5 primarily on the ground that the document purporting to be the holographic will of Segundo does not contain any disposition of the estate of the deceased and thus does not meet the definition of a will under Article 783 of the Civil Code. According to private respondents, the will only shows an alleged act of disinheritance by the decedent of his eldest son, Alfredo, and nothing else; that all other compulsory heirs were not named nor instituted as heir, devisee or legatee, hence, there is preterition which would result to intestacy. Such being the case, private respondents maintained that while procedurally the court is called upon to rule only on the extrinsic validity of the will, it is not barred from delving into the intrinsic validity of the same, and ordering the dismissal of the petition for probate when on the face of the will it is clear that it contains no testamentary disposition of the property of the decedent.

Petitioners filed their opposition to the motion to dismiss contending that: 1) generally, the authority of the probate court is limited only to a determination of the extrinsic validity of the will; 2) private respondents question the intrinsic and not the extrinsic validity of the will; 3) disinheritance constitutes a disposition of the estate of a decedent; and, 4) the rule on preterition does not apply because Segundo's will does not constitute a universal heir or heirs to the exclusion of one or more compulsory heirs.6

On August 10, 1999, the RTC issued its assailed order, dismissing the petition for probate proceedings:

A perusal of the document termed as "will" by oppositors/petitioners Dy Yieng Seangio, et al., clearly shows that there is preterition, as the only heirs mentioned thereat are Alfredo and Virginia. [T]he other heirs being omitted, Article 854 of the New Civil Code thus applies. However, insofar as the widow Dy Yieng Seangio is concerned, Article 854 does not apply, she not being a compulsory heir in the direct line.

As such, this Court is bound to dismiss this petition, for to do otherwise would amount to an abuse of discretion. The Supreme Court in the case of Acain v. Intermediate Appellate Court [155 SCRA 100 (1987)] has made its position clear: "for - respondents to have tolerated the probate of the will and allowed the case to progress when, on its face, the will appears to be intrinsically void - would have been an exercise in futility. It would have meant a waste of time, effort, expense, plus added futility. The trial court could have denied its probate outright or could have passed upon the intrinsic validity of the testamentary provisions before the extrinsic validity of the will was resolved (underscoring supplied).

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Motion to Suspend Proceedings is hereby DENIED for lack of merit. Special Proceedings No. 99 93396 is hereby DISMISSED without pronouncement as to costs.

SO ORDERED.7

Petitioners' motion for reconsideration was denied by the RTC in its order dated October 14, 1999.

Petitioners contend that:

THE RESPONDENT JUDGE ACTED IN EXCESS OF HER JURISDICTION OR WITH GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION AMOUNTING TO LACK OR EXCESS OF JURISDICTION AND DECIDED A QUESTION OF LAW NOT IN ACCORD WITH LAW AND JURISPRUDENCE IN ISSUING THE QUESTIONED ORDERS, DATED 10 AUGUST 1999 AND 14 OCTOBER 1999 (ATTACHMENTS "A" AND "B" HEREOF) CONSIDERING THAT:

I

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THE RESPONDENT JUDGE, WITHOUT EVEN COMPLYING WITH SECTIONS 3 AND 4 OF RULE 76 OF THE RULES OF COURT ON THE PROPER PROCEDURE FOR SETTING THE CASE FOR INITIAL HEARING FOR THE ESTABLISHMENT OF THE JURISDICTIONAL FACTS, DISMISSED THE TESTATE CASE ON THE ALLEGED GROUND THAT THE TESTATOR'S WILL IS VOID ALLEGEDLY BECAUSE OF THE EXISTENCE OF PRETERITION, WHICH GOES INTO THE INTRINSIC VALIDITY OF THE WILL, DESPITE THE FACT THAT IT IS A SETTLED RULE THAT THE AUTHORITY OF PROBATE COURTS IS LIMITED ONLY TO A DETERMINATION OF THE EXTRINSIC VALIDITY OF THE WILL, I.E., THE DUE EXECUTION THEREOF, THE TESTATOR'S TESTAMENTARY CAPACITY AND THE COMPLIANCE WITH THE REQUISITES OR SOLEMNITIES PRESCRIBED BY LAW;

II

EVEN ASSUMING ARGUENDO THAT THE RESPONDENT JUDGE HAS THE AUTHORITY TO RULE UPON THE INTRINSIC VALIDITY OF THE WILL OF THE TESTATOR, IT IS INDUBITABLE FROM THE FACE OF THE TESTATOR'S WILL THAT NO PRETERITON EXISTS AND THAT THE WILL IS BOTH INTRINSICALLY AND EXTRINSICALLY VALID; AND,

III

RESPONDENT JUDGE WAS DUTY BOUND TO SUSPEND THE PROCEEDINGS IN THE INTESTATE CASE CONSIDERING THAT IT IS A SETTLED RULE THAT TESTATE PROCEEDINGS TAKE PRECEDENCE OVER INTESTATE PROCEEDINGS.

Petitioners argue, as follows:

First, respondent judge did not comply with Sections 3 and 4 of Rule 76 of the Rules of Court which respectively mandate the court to: a) fix the time and place for proving the will when all concerned may appear to contest the allowance thereof, and cause notice of such time and place to be published three weeks successively previous to the appointed time in a newspaper of general circulation; and, b) cause the mailing of said notice to the heirs, legatees and devisees of the testator Segundo;

Second, the holographic will does not contain any institution of an heir, but rather, as its title clearly states, Kasulatan ng Pag-Aalis ng Mana, simply contains a disinheritance of a compulsory heir. Thus, there is no preterition in the decedent's will and the holographic will on its face is not intrinsically void;

Third, the testator intended all his compulsory heirs, petitioners and private respondents alike, with the sole exception of Alfredo, to inherit his estate. None of the compulsory heirs in the direct line of Segundo were preterited in the holographic will since there was no institution of an heir;

Fourth, inasmuch as it clearly appears from the face of the holographic will that it is both intrinsically and extrinsically valid, respondent judge was mandated to proceed with the hearing of the testate case; and,

Lastly, the continuation of the proceedings in the intestate case will work injustice to petitioners, and will render nugatory the disinheritance of Alfredo.

The purported holographic will of Segundo that was presented by petitioners was dated, signed and written by him in his own handwriting. Except on the ground of preterition, private respondents did not raise any issue as regards the authenticity of the document.

The document, entitled Kasulatan ng Pag-Aalis ng Mana, unmistakably showed Segundo's intention of excluding his eldest son, Alfredo, as an heir to his estate for the reasons that he cited therein. In effect, Alfredo was disinherited by Segundo.

For disinheritance to be valid, Article 916 of the Civil Code requires that the same must be effected through a will wherein the legal cause therefor shall be specified. With regard to the reasons for the disinheritance that were stated by Segundo in his document, the Court believes that the incidents, taken as a whole, can be considered a form of maltreatment of Segundo by his son, Alfredo, and that the matter presents a sufficient cause for the disinheritance of a child or descendant under Article 919 of the Civil Code:

Article 919. The following shall be sufficient causes for the disinheritance of children and descendants, legitimate as well as illegitimate:

(1) When a child or descendant has been found guilty of an attempt against the life of the testator, his or her spouse, descendants, or

ascendants;

(2) When a child or descendant has accused the testator of a crime for which the law prescribes imprisonment for six years or more, if the

accusation has been found groundless;

(3) When a child or descendant has been convicted of adultery or concubinage with the spouse of the testator;

(4) When a child or descendant by fraud, violence, intimidation, or undue influence causes the testator to make a will or to change one

already made;

(5) A refusal without justifiable cause to support the parents or ascendant who disinherit such child or descendant;

(6) Maltreatment of the testator by word or deed , by the child or descendant;8

(7) When a child or descendant leads a dishonorable or disgraceful life;

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(8) Conviction of a crime which carries with it the penalty of civil interdiction .

Now, the critical issue to be determined is whether the document executed by Segundo can be considered as a holographic will.

A holographic will, as provided under Article 810 of the Civil Code, must be entirely written, dated, and signed by the hand of the testator himself. It is subject to no other form, and may be made in or out of the Philippines, and need not be witnessed.

Segundo's document, although it may initially come across as a mere disinheritance instrument, conforms to the formalities of a holographic will prescribed by law. It is written, dated and signed by the hand of Segundo himself. An intent to dispose mortis causa[9] can be clearly deduced from the terms of the instrument, and while it does not make an affirmative disposition of the latter's property, the disinheritance of Alfredo, nonetheless, is an act of disposition in itself. In other words, the disinheritance results in the disposition of the property of the testator Segundo in favor of those who would succeed in the absence of Alfredo.10

Moreover, it is a fundamental principle that the intent or the will of the testator, expressed in the form and within the limits prescribed by law, must be recognized as the supreme law in succession. All rules of construction are designed to ascertain and give effect to that intention. It is only when the intention of the testator is contrary to law, morals, or public policy that it cannot be given effect.11

Holographic wills, therefore, being usually prepared by one who is not learned in the law, as illustrated in the present case, should be construed more liberally than the ones drawn by an expert, taking into account the circumstances surrounding the execution of the instrument and the intention of the testator.12 In this regard, the Court is convinced that the document, even if captioned asKasulatan ng Pag-Aalis ng Mana, was intended by Segundo to be his last testamentary act and was executed by him in accordance with law in the form of a holographic will. Unless the will is probated,13 the disinheritance cannot be given effect.14

With regard to the issue on preterition,15 the Court believes that the compulsory heirs in the direct line were not preterited in the will. It was, in the Court's opinion, Segundo's last expression to bequeath his estate to all his compulsory heirs, with the sole exception of Alfredo. Also, Segundo did not institute an heir16 to the exclusion of his other compulsory heirs. The mere mention of the name of one of the petitioners, Virginia, in the document did not operate to institute her as the universal heir. Her name was included plainly as a witness to the altercation between Segundo and his son, Alfredo.

Considering that the questioned document is Segundo's holographic will, and that the law favors testacy over intestacy, the probate of the will cannot be dispensed with. Article 838 of the Civil Code provides that no will shall pass either real or personal property unless it is proved and allowed in accordance with the Rules of Court. Thus, unless the will is probated, the right of a person to dispose of his property may be rendered nugatory.17

In view of the foregoing, the trial court, therefore, should have allowed the holographic will to be probated. It is settled that testate proceedings for the settlement of the estate of the decedent take precedence over intestate proceedings for the same purpose.18

WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED. The Orders of the Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 21, dated August 10, 1999 and October 14, 1999, are set aside. Respondent judge is directed to reinstate and hear SP Proc. No. 99-93396 for the allowance of the holographic will of Segundo Seangio. The intestate case or SP. Proc. No. 98-90870 is hereby suspended until the termination of the aforesaid testate proceedings.

No costs.

SO ORDERED.

II. RESERVA TRUNCAL – article 891

Art. 891. The ascendant who inherits from his descendant any property which the latter may have acquired by gratuitous title from another ascendant, or a brother or sister, is obliged to reserve such property as he may have acquired by operation of law for the benefit of relatives who are within the third degree and who belong to the line from which said property came. (871)

A. Gonzales v. CFI May 19, 1981

SECOND DIVISION

[G.R. No. L-34395. May 19, 1981.]

BEATRIZ L. GONZALEZ, Petitioner, v. COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF MANILA (BRANCH V), BENITO F. LEGARDA, ROSARIO L. VALDES, ALEJANDRO LEGARDA, TERESA LEGARDA, JOSE LEGARDA, BENITO LEGARDA Y FERNANDEZ, CARMEN LEGARDA Y FERNANDEZ,

FILOMENA LEGARDA Y HERNANDEZ, CARMEN LEGARDA Y HERNANDEZ, ALEJANDRO LEGARDA Y HERNANDEZ, RAMON LEGARDA Y HERNANDEZ, FILOMENA LEGARDA Y LOBREGAT, JAIME LEGARDA Y LOBREGAT, CELSO LEGARDA Y LOBREGAT, ALEJANDRO

LEGARDA Y LOBREGAT, MA. TERESA LEGARDA Y LOBREGAT, MA. ANTONIA LEGARDA Y LOBREGAT, JOSE LEGARDA Y LOBREGAT, ROSARIO LEGARDA Y LOBREGAT, BENITO LEGARDA Y LOBREGAT, EDUARDO LEGARDA Y LOBREGAT, TRINIDAD F. LEGARDA, and the

ESTATE OF DOÑA FILOMENA ROCES DE LEGARDA, Respondents.

Eligio G. Lagman and Roberto A. Gianzon for Petitioner.

Teves, Campos, Mendoza and Hernandez Baizas, Alberto and Association, Macias and Achos for private-respondents.

SYNOPSIS

The real properties left by Benito Legarda y Tuason were partitioned in three equal portions by his two daughters and the heirs of his deceased son Benito Legarda y De La Paz who was survived by his widow, Filomena Roces y Legarda and their seven children: four daughters named, Beatriz, Rosario, Teresa and Filomena and their three sons, named Benito, Alejandro and Jose. Meanwhile, one of the daughters, Filomena, died intestate and without an issue and her mother Filomena Roces y Legarda who became her sole heir, partitioned their one-third share in the estate of Benito Legarda y Tuason with her six surviving children and then conveyed the properties she inherited from her deceased daughter by holographic will to her 16 grandchildren. In opposition thereto, one of the daughters Beatriz Legarda Gonzales filed a motion in the testate proceeding and an ordinary civil action in the lower court contending that the disputed properties are resersable properties. The lower court dismissed the complaint.

On appeal by certiorari, the Supreme Court held that the properties in question are subject to raserva troncal under Art. 891 of the Civil Code which of 42












the testatrix as reservor could not dispose by holographic will to the reservees within the third degree (her sixteen grandchildren) and deprive the reservees in the second degree (her six children) of their share therein.

Decision Reversed.

SYLLABUS

1. CIVIL LAW; SUCCESSION; LEGITIME; RESERVA TRONCAL; NATURE.— Resersa troncal is also called lineal, familiar, extreordinaria o semi-troncal. It is provided for in Article 811 of the Spanish Civil Code now article 891 of the Civil Code. In reserva ironcal, (1) a descendant inherited or acquired by gratuitous title property from an ascendant or from a brother or sister; (2) the same property is inherited by another ascendant or is acquired by him by operation of law from the said descendant, and (3) the said ascendant should reserve the said property for the benefit of relatives who are within the third degree from the deceased descendant (prepositus) who belong to the line from which the property came.

2. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; TRANSMISSION INVOLVED. — The three transmissions involved are: (1) a first transmission by lucrative title (inheritance or donation) from an ascendant or brother or sister to the deceased descendant; (2) a posterior transmission, by operation of law (intestate succession or legitime) from the deceased descendant (causante de la reserva) in favor of another ascendant, the reservor or reservista, which two transmissions precede the reservation, and (3) a third transmission of the same property (in consequence of the reservation) from the reservor to the reservees (reservatarios) or the relatives within the third degree from the deceased descendant belonging to the line of the first ascendant, brother or sister of the deceased descendant (6 Castan Toneñas, Derecho Civil, Part I, 1960, 6th Ed., pp. 198-9). If there are only two transmissions there is no reserva.

3. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; PERSONS INVOLVED. — The persons involved in reserva troncal are (1) the ascendant or brother or sister from whom the property was received by the descendant by lucrative or gratuitous title, (2) the descendant or prepositus (propositus) who received the property, (3) the reservor (reservista), the other ascendant who obtained the property from the prepositus by operation of law and (4) the reservee (reservatario) who is within the third degree from the prepositus and who belongs to the line ( ltnea o tronco) from which the property came and for whom the property should be reserved by the reservor.

4. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; RELATIVES CONSIDERED RESERVEES.— The reservees may be half-brothers and sisters (Rodrigues v. Rodriguez, 101 Phil. 1098; Chua v. Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental, L-2990l, August 31, 1977, 78 SCRA 412). Fourth degree relatives are not included (Jardin v. Villamayor, 72 Phil. 392). First cousins of the prepositus are in the fourth degree and are not reservees. They cannot even represent their parents because representation is confined to relatives within the third degree (Florentino v. Florentino, 40 Phil. 480).

5. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; RATIONALE. — The rationale of reserva troncal is to avoid or to prevent persons who are strangers to the family from acquiring, by some chance or accident, property which otherwise would have remained with the same family "el peligro de que bienes poseidos sedularmente por una familia pasen bruscamente a titulo gratuito a manos extrañas por el azar de los enlaces y muertes prematuras", or "impedir que, por un azar de la vida, personas extrañas a una familia puedan adquirir bienes que sin aquel hubieran quedado en ella" (6 Castan Tobeñas, Derecho Civil, Part 1, 6th Ed., 1960, p. 203; Padura v. Baldovino, 104 Phil. 1065).

6. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; PREPOSITUS DEFINED. — Prepositus or the person from whom the degree should be reckoned is the descendant, or the one at the end of the line from which the property came and upon whom the property last revolved by descent (Cabardo v. Villanueva, 44 Phil. 186, 190).

7. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; NEAREST RELATIVE EXCLUDE THE MORE REMOTE. — Within the third degree, the nearest relatives exclude the more remote subject to the rule of representation. But the representative should be within the third degree from the prepositus (Padura v. Baldovino, 104 Phil. 1065).

8. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; NATURE OF RELATIONSHIP CONTEMPLATED. — Reserva troncal contemplates legitimate relationship. Illegitimate relationship and relationship by affinity are excluded.

9. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; GRATUITOUS TITLE DEFINED. — Gratuitous title or titulo lucrativo refers to a transmission wherein the recipient gives nothing in return such as donation and succession (Cabardo v. Villanueva, 44 Phil. 186, 189-190, citing 6 Manresa, Codigo Civil, 7th. Ed., 1951, p. 360).

10. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; RESOLUTORY CONDITIONS CREATED BY RESERVA.— The reserva creates two resolutory conditions, namely: (I) the death of the ascendant reservor (reservista) obliged to reserve; and (2) the survival, at the time of his death, of relatives within the third degree belonging to the line from which the property came (Sienes v. Esparcia, 111 Phil. 349, 353).

11. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; NATURE OF RESERVOR’S TITLE.— The reservor has the legal title and dominion to the reservable property but subject to the resolutory condition that such title is extinguished if the reservor predeceased the reservee. The reservor is a usufructuary of the reservable property. He may alienate it subject to the reservation. The transferee gets the revocable and conditional ownership of the reservor. The transferee’s rights are revoked upon the survival of the reservees at the time of the time o the death of the reservor but become indefeasible when the reservees predecease the reservor (Sienes v. Esparcia, 111 Phil. 349, 353; Edroso v. Sablan, 25 Phil. 295; Lunsod v. Ortega, 46 Phil. 664; Florentino v. Florentino, 40 Phil. 480; Director of Lands v. Aguas, 63 Phil. 279). "The authorities are all agreed that there being reservatorios that survive the reservista, the latter must be deemed to have enjoyed no more than a life interest in the reservable property." (J.B.L. Rayes in Cano v. Director of Lands, 105 Phil. 1, 5).

12. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; RESERVOR’S TITLE COMPARED WITH THAT OF THE VENDEE A RETRO OR TO A FIDEICOMISO CONDICIONAL. — The reservor’s title has been compared with that of the vendee a retro in a pacto de retro sale or to a fideicomiso condicional. The reservor’s alienation of the reservable property is subject to a resolutory condition, meaning that if at the time of the reservor’s death, there are reservees , the transferee of the property should deliver it to the reservees. If there are no reservees at the time of the reservor’s death, the transferee’s title would become absolute (Lunsod v. Ortega, 46 Phil. 664: Gueco v. Lacson, 118 Phil. 944; Nono v. Nequia, 93 Phil. 120).

13. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; NATURE OF RESERVEE’S TITLE. — The reservee has only an inchoate , expectant or contingent right . His expectant right would disappear if he predeceased the reservor. It would become absolute [inchoate, expectant or contingent right] should the reservor predecese the reservee. There is a holding that renunciation of the reservee’s right to the reservable property is illegal for being a contract regarding future inheritance (Velayo Bernardo v. Siojo, 58 Phil. 89, 96). And there is a dictum that the reservee’s right is a real right which he may alienate and dispose of conditionally. The condition is that the alienation shall transfer ownership to the vendee only if and when the reservee survives the reservor (Sienes v. Esparcia, ill Phil. 349, 353). "The reservatorio receives the property as a conditional heir of the descendant (prepositus), said property merely reverting to the line of origin from which it had temporarily and accidentally strayed during the reservista’s lifetime" (J.B.L. Reyes in Cano v. Director of Lands, Supra).

14. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; RESERVEE’S (RESERVATORIO’S) RIGHT OVER THE PROPERTY DURING RESERVOR’S (RESERVISTA’S) LIFETIME . — The reservee cannot impugn any conveyance made by the reservor but he can require that the reservable character of the property be

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recognized by the purchaser (Riosa v. Rocha, 48 Phil. 737; Edroso v. Sablan 25 Phil. 295, 312-3; Gueco v. Lacson, 118 Phil. 944). "Even during the reservista’s lifetime, the reservatarios, who are the ultimate acquirers of the property, can already assert the right to prevent the reservista from doing anything that might frustrate their revisionary right. And, for this purpose, they can compel the annotation of their right in the registry of property even while the reservista is alive." (Ley Hipotecaria de Ultramar, Arts. 168, 199; Edroso v. Sablan, 25 Phil. 295)

15. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; RESERVABLE PROPERTY, NOT A PART OF THE ESTATE OF RESERVOR (RESERVISTA); CASE AT BAR.— The right to reserva troncal is incompatible with the mere expectancy that corresponds to the natural heirs of the reservista (reservor). It is likewise clear that the reservable property is no part of the estate of the reservista (reservor) who may not dispose of them (it) by will, so long as there are reservatarios (reservees) existing (Arroyo v. Gerona, 58 Phil. 226, 237). "The latter, therefore, do not inherit from the reservista but from the descendant prepositus, of whom the reservatarios are the heirs mortis causa. subject to the condition that they must survive the reservista." (Sanchez Roman, Vol. VI, Tomo 2, p. 286; Manresa, Commentaries, Vol. 6, 6th Ed., pp. 274, 310, cited by J. J.B.L. Reyes in Padura v. Baldovino, L-l1960, December 27, 1958, 104 Phil. 1065). Hence, upon the reservista’s death, the reservatario nearest to the prepositus becomes, " automatically and by operation of law , the owner of the reservable property." (Cano v. Director of Lands, Supra)

Mrs. Filomena Legarda, as reservor in the case at bar could not convey in her holographic will to her sixteen grandchildren (the reservees within the third degree) the reservable properties which she had inherited from her daughter Filomena because the reservable properties did not form part of her estate (Cobardo v. Villanueva, 44 Phil. 186, 191). The reservor cannot make a disposition mortis causa of the reservable properties as long as the reservees survived the reservor.

16. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; RESERVABLE PROPERTIES INHERITED FROM THE PREPOSITUS; CASE AT BAR.— As repeatedly held in the Cano and Padura cases, the reservees inherit the reservable properties from the prepositus, not from the reservor. Art. 891 clearly indicates that the reservable properties should be inherited by all the nearest relatives within the third degree from the prepositus who in this case are the six children of Mrs. Legarda . She could not select the reservees to whom the reservable property should be given and deprive the other reservees of their share therein.

17. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; WHEN RESERVATION IS EXTINGUISHED; CASE AT BAR. — Under the rule of stare decisis at non quieta movere. the Court is bound to follow in this case the doctrine of the Florentino case which means that as long as during the reservor’s lifetime and upon his death there are relatives within the third degree of the prepositus, regardless of whether those reservees are common descendants of the reservor and the ascendant from whom the property came, the property retains its reservable character. The property should go to the nearest reservees. Hence, in the case at bar, the reservation could have been extinguished only by the absence of reservees at the time of Mrs. Legarda’s death. Since at the time of her death, there were (and still are) reservees belonging to the second and third degrees, the disputed properties did not lose their reservable character. The disposition of the said properties should be made in accordance with article 891 or the rule on reserva troncal and not in accordance with the reservor’s holographic will. The said properties did not form part of Mrs. Legarda’s estate (Cano v. Director of Lands, 105 Phil. 4).

D E C I S I O N

AQUINO, J.:

Beatriz Legarda Gonzalez appealed from the decision of the Court of First Instance of Manila, dismissing her complaint for partition, accounting, reconveyance and damages and holding, as not subject to reserva troncal, the properties which her mother Filomena Roces inherited in 1943 from Filomena Legarda (Civil Case No. 73335). The facts are as follows: Benito Legarda y De la Paz, the son of Benito Legarda y Tuason, died in Manila on June 17, 1933. He was survived by his widow, Filomena Roces, and their seven children: four daughters named Beatriz, Rosario, Teresa and Filomena and three sons named Benito, Alejandro and Jose.

On July 12, 1939, the real properties left by Benito Legarda y Tuason were partitioned in three equal portions by his daughters, Consuelo and Rita, and the heirs of his deceased son Benito Legarda y De la Paz who were represented by Benito F. Legarda.

Filomena Legarda y Roces died intestate and without issue on March 19, 1943. Her sole heiress was her mother, Filomena Roces Vda. de Legarda.

Mrs. Legarda executed on May 12, 1947 an affidavit adjudicating extrajudicially to herself the properties which she inherited from her deceased daughter, Filomena Legarda. The said properties consist of the following: (a) Savings deposit in the National City Bank of New York with a credit balance of P3,699.63.

(b) 1,429 shares of the Benguet Consolidated Mining Company and a 1/7 interest in certain shares of the San Miguel Brewery, Tuason & Legarda, Ltd., Philippine Guaranty Company, Insular Life Assurance Company and the Manila Times.

(c) 1/7 of the properties described in TCT Nos. 80226, 80237 to 80243 (7 titles), 80260, 80261 and 57512 of the Manila registry of deeds.

1/21st of the properties covered by TCT Nos. 48164, 84714, 48201, 48202, 48205, 48203, 48206, 48160 and 48192 of the Manila registry of deeds;

1/21st of the property described in TCT No. 4475 of the registry of deeds of Rizal, now Quezon City; 1/14th of the property described in TCT No. 966 of the registry of deeds of Baguio;

1/7th of the lot and improvements at 127 Aviles described in TCT No. 41862 of the Manila registry of deeds;

1/7th of the lots and improvements at 181 San Rafael described in TCT Nos. 50495 and 48161 of the Manila registry of deeds;

1/7th of the property described in TCT No. 48163 of the Manila registry of deeds (Streets);

1/21st of the properties described in TCT Nos. 48199 and 57551 of the Manila registry of deeds (Streets and Estero);

2/21st of the property described in TCT No. 13458 of the registry of deeds of Tayabas.

These are the properties in litigation in this case. As a result of the affidavit of adjudication, Filomena Roces succeeded her deceased daughter Filomena Legarda as co-owner of the properties held proindiviso by her other six children.

Mrs. Legarda on March 6, 1953 executed two hand-written identical documents wherein she disposed of the properties, which she inherited from her daughter, in favor of the children of her sons, Benito, Alejandro and Jose (sixteen grandchildren in all). The document reads:

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During the period from July, 1958 to February, 1959 Mrs. Legarda and her six surviving children partitioned the properties consisting of the one-third share in the estate of Benito Legarda y Tuason which the children inherited in representation of their father, Benito Legarda y De la Paz.

Mrs. Legarda died on September 22, 1967. Her will was admitted to probate as a holographic will in the order dated July 16, 1968 of the Court of First Instance of Manila in Special Proceeding No. 70878, Testate Estate of Filomena Roces Vda. de Legarda. The decree of probate was affirmed by the Court of Appeals in Legarda v. Gonzalez, CA-G.R. No. 43480-R, July 30, 1976.

In the testate proceeding, Beatriz Legarda Gonzalez, a daughter of the testatrix, filed on May 20, 1968 a motion to exclude from the inventory of her mother’s estate the properties which she inherited from her deceased daughter, Filomena, on the ground that said properties are reservable properties which should be inherited by Filomena Legarda’s three sisters and three brothers and not by the children of Benito, Alejandro and Jose, all surnamed Legarda. That motion was opposed by the administrator, Benito F. Legarda.

Without awaiting the resolution on that motion, Mrs. Gonzalez filed on June 20, 1968 an ordinary civil action against her brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces and her mother’s estate for the purpose of securing a declaration that the said properties are reservable properties which Mrs. Legarda could not bequeath in her holographic will to her grandchildren to the exclusion of her three daughters and her three sons (See Paz v. Madrigal, 100 Phil. 1085).

As already stated, the lower court dismissed the action of Mrs. Gonzalez. In this appeal under Republic Act No. 5440 she contends in her six assignments of error that the lower court erred in not regarding the properties in question as reservable properties under article 891 of the Civil Code.

On the other hand, defendants-appellees in their six counter-assignments of error contend that the lower court erred in not holding that Mrs. Legarda acquired the estate of her daughter Filomena Legarda in exchange for her conjugal and hereditary shares in the estate of her husband Benito Legarda y De la Paz and in not holding that Mrs. Gonzalez waived her right to the reservable properties and that her claim is barred by estoppel, laches and prescription.

The preliminary issue raised by the private respondents as to the timeliness of Mrs. Gonzalez’ petition for review is a closed matter. This Court in its resolution of December 16, 1971 denied respondents’ motion to dismiss and gave due course to the petition for review.

In an appeal under Republic Act No. 5440 only legal issues can be raised under undisputed facts. Since on the basis of the stipulated facts the lower court resolved only the issue of whether the properties in question are subject to reserva troncal, that is the only legal issue to be resolved in this appeal.

The other issues raised by the defendants-appellees, particularly those involving factual matters, cannot be resolved in this appeal. As the trial court did not pass upon those issues, there is no ruling which can be reviewed by this Court.

The question is whether the disputed properties are reservable properties under article 891 of the Civil Code, formerly article 811, and whether Filomena Roces Vda. de Legarda could dispose of them in her will in favor of her grandchildren to the exclusion of her six children.

Did Mrs. Legarda have the right to convey mortis causa what she inherited from her daughter Filomena to the reservees within the third degree and to bypass the reservees in the second degree or should that inheritance automatically go to the reservees in the second degree, the six children of Mrs. Legarda?

As will hereinafter be shown that is not a novel issue or a question of first impression. It was resolved in Florentino v. Florentino, 40 Phil. 480. Before discussing the applicability to this case of the doctrine in the Florentino case and other pertinent rulings, it may be useful to make a brief discourse on the nature of reserva troncal, also called lineal, familiar, extraordinaria o semi-troncal.

Much time, effort and energy were spent by the parties in their five briefs in descanting on the nature of reserva troncal, which together with the reserva viudal and reversion legal, was abolished by the Code Commission to prevent the decedent’s estate from being entailed [involved], to eliminate the uncertainty in ownership caused by the reservation (which uncertainty impedes the improvement of the reservable property) and to discourage the confinement of property within a certain family for generations which situation allegedly leads to economic oligarchy and is incompatible with the socialization of ownership.

The Code Commission regarded the reservas as remnants of feudalism which fomented agrarian unrest. Moreover, the reservas, insofar as they penalize legitimate relationship, is considered unjust and inequitable.

However, the lawmaking body, not agreeing entirely with the Code Commission, restored the reserva troncal, a legal institution which, according to Manresa and Castan Tobeñas, has provoked questions and doubts that are difficult to resolve.

Reserva troncal is provided for in article 811 of the Spanish Civil Code, now article 891, which reads:

"ART. 891. The ascendant who inherits from his descendant any property which the latter may have acquired by gratuitous title from another ascendant, or a brother or sister, is obliged to reserve such property as he may have acquired by operation of law for the benefit of relatives who are within the third degree and who belong to the line from which said property came."

In reserva troncal, (1) a descendant inherited or acquired by gratuitous title property from an ascendant or from a brother or sister; (2) the same property is inherited by another ascendant or is acquired by him by operation of law from the said descendant, and (3) the said ascendant should reserve the said property for the benefit of relatives who are within the third degree from the deceased descendant (prepositus) and who belong to the line from which the said property came.

So, three transmissions are involved: (1) a first transmission by lucrative title (inheritance or donation) from an ascendant or brother or sister to the deceased descendant; (2) a posterior transmission, by operation of law (intestate succession or legitime) from the deceased descendant (causante de la reserva) in favor of another ascendant, the reservor or reservista, which two transmissions precede the reservation, and (3) a third transmission of the same property (in consequence of the reservation) from the reservor to the reservees (reservatarios) or the relatives within the third degree from the deceased descendant belonging to the line of the first ascendant, brother or sister of the deceased descendant (6 Castan Tobeñas, Derecho Civil, Part I, 1960, 6th Ed., pp. 198-9).

If there are only two transmissions there is no reserva. Thus, where one Bonifacia Lacerna died and her properties were inherited by her son, Juan Marbebe, upon the death of Juan, those lands should be inherited by his half-sister, to the exclusion of his maternal first cousins. The said lands are not reservable property within the meaning of article 811 (Lacerna v. Vda. de Corcino, 111 Phil. 872).

The persons involved in reserva troncal are (1) the ascendant or brother or sister from whom the property was received by the descendant by lucrative or gratuitous title, (2) the descendant or prepositus (propositus) who received the property, (3) the reservor (reservista), the other ascendant who obtained the property from the prepositus by operation of law and (4) the reservee (reservatario) who is within the third degree from the prepositus and who belongs to the line (linea o tronco) from which the property came and for whom the property should be reserved by the reservor.

The reservees may be half-brothers and sisters (Rodriguez v. Rodriguez, 101 Phil. 1098; Chua v. Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental, L-29901, August 31, 1977, 78 SCRA 412). Fourth degree relatives are not included (Jardin v. Villamayor, 72 Phil. 392).

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The rationale of reserva troncal is to avoid "el peligro de que bienes poseidos secularmente por una familia pasen bruscamente a titulo gratuito a manos extrañas por el azar de los enlaces y muertes prematuras", or "impedir que, por un azar de la vida, personas extrañas a una familia puedan adquirir bienes que sin aquel hubieran quedado en ella" (6 Castan Tobeñas, Derecho Civil, Part 1, 6th Ed., 1960, p. 203; Padura v. Baldovino, 104 Phil. 1065).

An illustration of reserva troncal is found in Edroso v. Sablan, 25 Phil. 295. In that case, Pedro Sablan inherited two parcels of land from his father Victoriano. Pedro died in 1902, single and without issue. His mother, Marcelina Edroso, inherited from him the two parcels of land.

It was held that the land was reservable property in the hands of Marcelina. The reservees were Pablo Sablan and Basilio Sablan, the paternal uncles of Pedro Sablan, the prepositus. Marcelina could register the land under the Torrens system in her name but the fact that the land was reservable property in favor of her two brothers-in-law, should they survive her, should be noted in the title.

In another case, it appears that Maria Aglibot died intestate in 1906. Her one-half share of a parcel of conjugal land was inherited by her daughter, Juliana Mañalac. When Juliana died intestate in 1920, said one-half share was inherited by her father, Anacleto Mañalac who owned the other one-half portion.

Anacleto died intestate in 1942, survived by his second wife and their six children. It was held that the said one-half portion was reservable property in the hands of Anacleto Mañalac and, upon his death, should be inherited by Leona Aglibot and Evarista Aglibot, sisters of Maria and maternal aunts of Juliana Mañalac, who belonged to the line from which said one-half portion came (Aglibot v. Mañalac, 114 Phil. 964).

Other illustrations of reserva troncal are found in Florentino v. Florentino, 40 Phil. 480; Nieva and Alcala v. Alcala and Deocampo, 41 Phil. 915; Maghirang and Gutierrez v. Balcita, 46 Phil. 551; Lunsod v. Ortega, 46 Phil. 664; Dizon v. Galang, 48 Phil. 601; Riosa v. Rocha, 48 Phil. 737; Centeno v. Centeno, 52 Phil. 322; Velayo Bernardo v. Siojo, 58 Phil. 89; Director of Lands v. Aguas, 63 Phil. 279; Fallorfina v. Abille, CA 39 O.G. 1784.

The person from whom the degree should be reckoned is the descendant , or the one at the end of the line from which the property came and upon whom the property last revolved by descent. He is called the prepositus (Cabardo v. Villanueva, 44 Phil. 186, 190).

In the Cabardo case, one Cornelia Abordo inherited property from her mother, Basilia Cabardo. When Cornelia died, her estate passed to her father, Lorenzo Abordo. In his hands, the property was reservable property. Upon the death of Lorenzo, the person entitled to the property was Rosa Cabardo, a maternal aunt of Cornelia, who was her nearest relative within the third degree.

First cousins of the prepositus are in the fourth degree and are not reservees . They cannot even represent their parents because representation is confined to relatives within the third degree (Florentino v. Florentino, 40 Phil. 480).

Within the third degree, the nearest relatives exclude the more remote subject to the rule of representation. But the representative should be within the third degree from the prepositus (Padura v. Baldovino, 104 Phil. 1065).

Reserva troncal contemplates legitimate relationship. Illegitimate relationship and relationship by affinity are excluded.

Gratuitous title or titulo lucrativo refers to a transmission wherein the recipient gives nothing in return such as donation and succession (Cabardo v. Villanueva, 44 Phil. 186-189-190, citing 6 Manresa, Codigo Civil, 7th Ed., 1951, p. 360).

The reserva creates two resolutory conditions, namely, (1) the death of the ascendant obliged to reserve and (2) the survival, at the time of his death, of relatives within the third degree belonging to the line from which the property came (Sienes v. Esparcia, 111 Phil. 349, 353).

The reservor has the legal title and dominion to the reservable property but subject to the resolutory condition that such title is extinguished if the reservor predeceased the reservee. The reservor is a usufructuary of the reservable property. He may alienate it subject to the reservation. The transferee gets the revocable and conditional ownership of the reservor. The transferee’s rights are revoked upon the survival of the reservees at the time of the death of the reservor but become indefeasible when the reservees predecease the reservor. (Sienes v. Esparcia, 111 Phil. 349, 353; Edroso v. Sablan, 25 Phil. 295; Lunsod v. Ortega, 46 Phil. 664; Florentino v. Florentino, 40 Phil. 480; Director of Lands v. Aguas, 63 Phil. 279.)

The reservor’s title has been compared with that of the vendee a retro in a pacto de retro sale or to a fideicomiso condicional.

The reservor’s alienation of the reservable property is subject to a resolutory condition, meaning that if at the time of the reservor’s death, there are reservees, the transferee of the property should deliver it to the reservees. If there are no reservees at the time of the reservor’s death, the transferee’s title would become absolute (Lunsod v. Ortega, 46 Phil. 664; Gueco v. Lacson, 118 Phil. 944; Nono v. Nequia, 93 Phil. 120).

On the other hand, the reservee has only an inchoate, expectant or contingent right. His expectant right would disappear if he predeceased the reservor. It would become absolute should the reservor predecease the reservee.

The reservee cannot impugn any conveyance made by the reservor but he can require that the reservable character of the property be recognized by the purchaser (Riosa v. Rocha, 48 Phil. 737; Edroso v. Sablan, 25 Phil. 295, 312-3; Gueco v. Lacson, 118 Phil. 944).

There is a holding that the renunciation of the reservee’s right to the reservable property is illegal for being a contract regarding future inheritance (Velayo Bernardo v. Siojo, 58 Phil. 89, 96).

And there is a dictum that the reservee’s right is a real right which he may alienate and dispose of conditionally. The condition is that the alienation shall transfer ownership to the vendee only if and when the reservee survives the reservor (Sienes v. Esparcia, 111 Phil. 349, 353).

"The reservatario receives the property as a conditional heir of the descendant (prepositus), said property merely reverting to the line of origin from which it had temporarily and accidentally strayed during the reservista’s lifetime. The authorities are all agreed that there being reservatarios that survive the reservista, the latter must be deemed to have enjoyed no more than a life interest in the reservable property." (J. J.B.L. Reyes in Cano v. Director of Lands, 105 Phil. 1, 5.)

"Even during the reservista’s lifetime, the reservatarios, who are the ultimate acquirers of the property, can already assert the right to prevent the reservista from doing anything that might frustrate their reversionary right, and, for this purpose, they can compel the annotation of their right in the registry of property even while the reservista is alive" (Ley Hipotecaria de Ultramar, Arts. 168, 199; Edroso v. Sablan, 25 Phil. 295).

This right is incompatible with the mere expectancy that corresponds to the natural heirs of the reservista. It is likewise clear that the reservable property is no part of the estate of the reservista who may not dispose of them (it) by will, so long as there are reservatarios existing (Arroyo v. Gerona, 58 Phil. 226, 237).

"The latter, therefore, do not inherit from the reservista but from the descendant prepositus, of whom the reservatarios are the heirs mortis causa, subject to the condition that they must survive the reservista." (Sanchez Roman, Vol. VI, Tomo 2, p. 286; Manresa, Commentaries, Vol. 6, 6th Ed., pp. 274, 310, cited by J. J.B.L. Reyes in Padura v. Baldovino, L-11960, December 27, 1958, 104 Phil. 1065).

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Hence, upon the reservista’s death, the reservatario nearest to the prepositus becomes, "automatically and by operation of law, the owner of the reservable property." (Cano v. Director of Lands, 105 Phil. 1, 5.)

In the instant case, the properties in question were indubitably reservable properties in the hands of Mrs. Legarda. Undoubtedly, she was a reservor. The reservation became a certainty when at the time of her death the reservees or relatives within the third degree of the prepositus Filomena Legarda were living or they survived Mrs. Legarda.

So, the ultimate issue in this case is whether Mrs. Legarda, as reservor, could convey the reservable properties by will or mortis causa to the reservees within the third degree (her sixteen grandchildren) to the exclusion of the reservees in the second degree, her three daughters and three sons.

As indicated at the outset, that issue is already res judicata or cosa juzgada.

We hold that Mrs. Legarda could not convey in her holographic will to her sixteen grandchildren the reservable properties which she had inherited from her daughter Filomena because the reservable properties did not form part of her estate (Cabardo v. Villanueva, 44 Phil. 186, 191). The reservor cannot make a disposition mortis causa of the reservable properties as long as the reservees survived the reservor.

As repeatedly held in the Cano and Padura cases, the reservees inherit the reservable properties from the prepositus, not from the reservor.

Article 891 clearly indicates that the reservable properties should be inherited by all the nearest relatives within the third degree from the prepositus who in this case are the six children of Mrs. Legarda. She could not select the reservees to whom the reservable property should be given and deprive the other reservees of their share therein.

To allow the reservor in this case to make a testamentary disposition of the reservable properties in favor of the reservees in the third degree and, consequently, to ignore the reservees in the second degree would be a glaring violation of article 891. That testamentary disposition cannot be allowed.

We have stated earlier that this case is governed by the doctrine of Florentino v. Florentino, 40 Phil. 480, a similar case, where it was ruled:

"Reservable property left, through a will or otherwise, by the death of ascendant (reservista) together with his own property in favor of another of his descendants as forced heir, forms no part of the latter’s lawful inheritance nor of the legitime, for the reason that, as said property continued to be reservable, the heir receiving the same as an inheritance from his ascendant has the strict obligation of its delivery to the relatives, within the third degree, of the predecessor in interest (prepositus), without prejudicing the right of the heir to an aliquot part of the property, if he has at the same time the right of a reservatario" (reservee).

In the Florentino case, it appears that Apolonio Florentino II and his second wife Severina Faz de Leon begot two children, Mercedes and Apolonio III. These two inherited properties from their father. Upon Apolonio III’s death in 1891, his properties were inherited by his mother, Severina, who died in 1908. In her will she instituted her daughter Mercedes as heiress to all her properties, including those coming from her deceased husband through their son, Apolonio III.

The surviving children, begotten by Apolonio II with his first wife Antonia Faz de Leon and the descendants of the deceased children of his first marriage, sued Mercedes Florentino for the recovery of their share in the reservable properties, which Severina de Leon had inherited from Apolonio III, which the latter had inherited from his father Apolonio II and which Severina willed to her daughter Mercedes.

Plaintiff’s theory was that the said properties, as reservable properties, could not be disposed of in Severina’s will in favor of Mercedes only. That theory was sustained by this Court.

It was held that the said properties, being reservable properties, did not form part of Severina’s estate and could not be inherited from her by her daughter Mercedes alone.

As there were seven reservees, Mercedes was entitled, as a reservee, to one-seventh of the properties. The other six-sevenths portions were adjudicated to the other six reservees.

Under the rule of stare decisis et non quieta movere, we are bound to follow in this case the doctrine of the Florentino case. That doctrine means that as long as during the reservor’s lifetime and upon his death there are relatives within the third degree of the prepositus, regardless of whether those reservees are common descendants of the reservor and the ascendant from whom the property came, the property retains its reservable character. The property should go to the nearest reservees. The reservor cannot, by means of his will, choose the reservee to whom the reservable property should be awarded.

The alleged opinion of Sanchez Roman that there is no reserva troncal when the only relatives within the third degree are the common descendants of the predeceased ascendant and the ascendant who would be obliged to reserve is irrelevant and sans binding force in the light of the ruling in the Florentino case.

It is contended by the appellees herein that the properties in question are not reservable properties because only relatives within the third degree from the paternal line have survived and that when Mrs. Legarda willed the said properties to her sixteen grandchildren, who are third-degree relatives of Filomena Legarda who belong to the paternal line, the reason for the reserva troncal has been satisfied: "to prevent persons outside a family from securing, by some special accident of life, property that would otherwise have remained therein."

That same contention was advanced in the Florentino case where the reservor willed the reservable properties to her daughter, a full-blood sister of the prepositus and ignored the other six reservors, the relatives of the half-blood of the prepositus.

In rejecting that contention, this Court held that the reservable property bequeathed by the reservor to her daughter does not form part of the reservor’s estate nor of the daughter’s estate but should be given to all the seven reservees or nearest relatives of the prepositus within the third degree.

This Court noted that, while it is true that by giving the reservable property to only one reservee it did not pass into the hands of strangers, nevertheless, it is likewise true that the heiress of the reservor was only one of the reservees and there is no reason founded upon law and justice why the other reservees should be deprived of their shares in the reservable property (pp. 894-5).

Applying that doctrine to this case, it results that Mrs. Legarda could not dispose of in her will the properties in question even if the disposition is in favor of the relatives within the third degree from Filomena Legarda. The said properties, by operation of article 891, should go to Mrs. Legarda’s six children as reservees within the second degree from Filomena Legarda .

It should be repeated that the reservees do not inherit from the reservor but from the prepositus, of whom the reservees are the heirs mortis causa subject to the condition that they must survive the reservor (Padura v. Baldovino, L-11960, December 27, 1958, 104 Phil. 1065).

The trial court said that the disputed properties lost their reservable character due to the non-existence of third degree relatives of Filomena Legarda at of 42


the time of the death of the reservor, Mrs. Legarda, belonging to the Legarda family, "except third-degree relatives who pertain to both" the Legarda and Roces lines.

That holding is erroneous. The reservation could have been extinguished only by the absence of reservees at the time of Mrs. Legarda’s death. Since at the time of her death, there were (and still are) reservees belonging to the second and third degrees, the disputed properties did not lose their reservable character. The disposition of the said properties should be made in accordance with article 891 or the rule on reserva troncal and not in accordance with the reservor’s holographic will. The said properties did not form part of Mrs. Legarda’s estate (Cano v. Director of Lands, 105 Phil. 1, 4).

WHEREFORE, the lower court’s decision is reversed and set aside. It is hereby adjudged that the properties inherited by Filomena Roces Vda. de Legarda from her daughter Filomena Legarda, with all the fruits and accessions thereof, are reservable properties which belong to Beatriz, Rosario, Teresa, Benito, Alejandro and Jose, all surnamed Legarda y Roces, as reservees. The shares of Rosario L. Valdes and Benito F. Legarda, who died in 1969 and 1973, respectively, should pertain to their respective heirs. Costs against the private respondents.

SO ORDERED.

B. Chua v. CFI august 31, 1977

FIRST DIVISION

[G.R. No. L-29901. August 31, 1977.]

IGNACIO FRIAS CHUA, DOMINADOR CHUA and REMEDIOS CHUA, Petitioners, v. THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, BRANCH V and SUSANA DE LA TORRE, in her capacity as Administratrix of the Intestate Estate of Consolacion de la

Torre, Respondents.

Dominador G. Abaria and Primitivo Blanca for Private Respondent.

Rodrigo O. Delfinado for petitioners.

D E C I S I O N

MARTIN, J.:

Petition for review of the decision of the respondent Court which dismissed the complaint of petitioners in Civil Case No. 7839-A, entitled "Ignacio Frias Chua, Et. Al. v. Susana de la Torre, Administratrix of the Intestate Estate of Consolacion de la Torre."

It appears that in the first marriage of Jose Frias Chua with Patricia S. Militar alias Sy Quio, he sired three children, namely: Ignacio, Lorenzo and Manuel, all surnamed Frias Chua. When Patricia S. Militar died, Jose Frias Chua contracted a second marriage with Consolacion de la Torre with whom he had a child by the name of Juanito Frias Chua. Manuel Frias Chua died without leaving any issue. Then in 1929, Jose Frias Chua died intestate leaving his widow Consolacion de la Torre and his son Juanito Frias Chua of the second marriage and sons Ignacio Frias Chua and Lorenzo Frias Chua of his first marriage. In Intestate Proceeding No. 4816, the lower court issued an order dated January 15, 1931 1 adjudicating, among others, the one-half (1/2) portion of Lot No. 399 and the sum of P8,000.00 in favor of Jose Frias Chua’s widow, Consolacion de la Torre, the other half of Lot No. 399 in favor of Juanito Frias Chua, his son in the second marriage; marriage; P3,000.00 in favor of Lorenzo Frias Chua; and P1,550.00 in favor of Ignacio Frias, Chua , his sons in the second marriage; By the virtue of said adjudication, Transfer Certificate of Title No. TR-980 (14483) 2 dated April 28, 1932 was issued by the Register of Deeds in the names of Consolacion de la Torre and Juanito Frias Chua as owners-pro-indiviso of Lot No. 339.

On February 27, 1952, Juanito Frias Chua of the second marriage died intestate without any issue. After his death, is mother Consolacion de la Torre succeeded to his pro-indiviso share of her son Juanito as a result of which Transfer Certificate of Title No. 31796 covering the whole Lot No. 399 was issued in her name. Then on March 5, 1966, Consolacion de la Torre died intestate leaving no direct heir either in the descending or ascending line except her brother and sisters.

In the "Intestate Estate of Consolacion de la Torre", docketed as Sp. Proc. No. 7839-A, the petitioners herein, Ignacio Frias Chua, of the first marriage and Dominador and Remedios Chua, the supposed legitimate children of the deceased Lorenzo Frias Chua, also of the first marriage filed the complaint a quo 3 (subsequently segregated as distinct suit and docketed as Civil Case No. 7839-A) on May 11, 1966 before the respondent Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental, Branch V, praying that the one-half (1/2) portion of Lot No. 399 which formerly belonged to Juanito Frias Chua but which passed to Consolacion de la Torre upon the latter’s death, be declared as reservable property for the reason that the lot in question was subject to reserva troncal pursuant to Article 981 of the New Civil code. Private respondent SUSANA DE LA TORRE as administratrix of the estate of the Consolacion de la Torre and the heirs of the latter traversed individually the complaint of petitioners. 4 On July 29, 1968, the respondent Court rendered a decision dismissing the complaint of petitioners. Hence this instant petition.

The pertinent provision on reserva troncal under the New Civil Code provides: "ART. 891. The ascendant who inherits from his descendant any property which the latter may have required by gratuitous title from another ascendant, or a brother or sister, is obliged to reserve such property as he may have acquired by operation of law for the benefit of relatives who are within the third degree and belong to the line from which said property came."

Pursuant to the foregoing provision, in order that a property may be impressed with a reservable character the following requisites must exist, to wit: (1) that the property was acquired by a descendant from an ascendant or from a brother or sister by gratuitous title; (2) that said descendant died without an issue: (3) that the property is inherited by another ascendant by operation of law; and (4) that there are relatives within the third degree belonging to the line from which said property came. 5 In the case before Us, all of the foregoing requisites are present. Thus, as borne out by the records, Juanito Frias Chua of the second marriage died intestate in 1952; he died without leaving any issue; his pro-indiviso of 1/2 share of Lot No. 399 was acquired by his mother, Consolacion de la Torre by operation of law. When Consolacion de la Torre died, Juanito Frias Chua who died intestate had relatives within the third degree. These relatives are Ignacio Frias Chua and Dominador Chua and Remedios Chua, the supposed legitimate children of the deceased Lorenzo Frias Chua, who are the petitioners herein.

The crux of the problem in instant petition is focused on the first requisite of reserva troncal — whether the property in question as acquired by Juanito Frias Chua from his father, Jose Frias Chua, gratuitously or not. In resolving this point, the respondent Court said:

"It appears from Exh. "3", which is part of Exh. "D", that the property in question was not acquired by Consolacion de la Torre and Juanito Frias Chua gratuitously but for a consideration , namely, that the legatees were to pay the interest and cost and other fees resulting from Civil Case No. 5300

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of this Court As such it is undeniable that the lot in question is not subject to a reserva troncal, under Art. 891 of the New Civil Code, and as such the plaintiff’s complaint must fail." We are not prepared to sustain the respondent Court’s conclusion that the lot in question is not subject to a reserva troncal under Art. 891 of the New Civil Code. It is, As explained by Manresa which this Court quoted with approval in Cabardo v. Villanueva, 44 Phil. 186, "The transmission is gratuitous or by gratuitous title when the recipient does not give anything in return." It matters not whether the property transmitted be or be not subject to any prior charges; what is essential is that the transmission be made gratuitously, or by an act of mere liberality of the person making it, without imposing any obligation on the part of the recipient; and that the person receiving the property gives or does nothing in return; or, as ably put by an eminent Filipino commentator, 6 "the essential thing is that the person who transmits it does so gratuitously, from pure generosity, without requiring from the transferee any prestation." It is evident from the record that the transmission of the property in question to Juanito Frias Chua of the second marriage upon the death of his father Jose Frias Chua was by means of a hereditary succession and therefore gratuitous. It is true that there is the order (Exh. "D") of the probate Court in Intestate Proceeding No. 4816 which states in express terms: But the obligation of paying the Standard Oil Co. of New York the amount of P3,971.20 is imposed upon Consolacion de la Torre and Juanito Frias Chua not personally by the deceased Jose Frias Chua in his last will and testament but by an order of the court in the Testate Proceeding No. 4816 dated January 15, 1931. As long as the transmission of the property to the heirs is free from any condition imposed by the deceased himself and the property is given out of pure generosity, it is gratuitous. It does not matter if later the court orders one of the heirs, in this case Juanito Frias Chua, to pay the Standard Oil Co. of New York the amount of P3,971.20 This does not change the gratuitous nature of the transmission of the property to him. As far as the deceased Jose Frias Chua is concerned the transmission of the property to his heirs is gratuitous. This being the case the lot in question is subject to reserva troncal under Art. 891 of the New Civil Code.

It is contended that the distribution of the shares of the estate of Jose Frias Chua to the respondent heirs or legatees was agreed upon by the heirs in their project of partition based on the last will and testament of Jose Frias Chua. But petitioners claim that the supposed Last Will and Testament of Jose Frias Chua was never probated. The fact that the will was not probated was admitted in paragraph 6 of the respondents’ answer. 7 There is nothing mentioned in the decision of the trial court in Civil Case No. 7839 A which is the subject of the present appeal nor in the order of January 15, 1931 of the trial court in the Testate Estate Proceeding No. 4816 nor in the private respondents’ brief, that the Last Will and Testament of Jose Frias Chua has ever been probated. With the foregoing, it is easy to deduce that if the Last Will and Testament has in fact been probated there would have been no need for the testamentary heirs to prepare a project of partition among themselves. The very will itself could be made the basis for the adjudication of the estate as in fact they did in their project of partition with Juanito Frias Chua getting one-half of Lot 399 by inheritance as a son of the deceased Jose Frias Chua by the latter’s second marriage.

According to the records, Juanito Frias Chua died on February 27, 1952 without any issue. After his death his mother Consolacion de la Torre succeeded to his one-half pro-indiviso share of Lot 399. This was, however, subject to the condition that the property was reservable in character under Art. 891 of the Civil Code in favor of relatives within the third degree of Jose Frias Chua from whom the property came. These relatives are the petitioners herein. It is claimed that the complaint of petitioners to recover the one-half portion of Lot 399 which originally belonged to Juanito Frias Chua has already prescribed when it was filed on May 11, 1966. We do not believe so. It must be remembered that the petitioners herein are claiming as reservees of the property in question and their cause of action as reservees did not arise until the time the reservor, Consolacion de la Torre, died in March 1966. When the petitioners therefore filed their complaint to recover the one-half (1/2) portion of Lot 399, they were very much in time to do so.

IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, the decision appealed from is hereby set aside. The petitioners Ignacio Frias Chua, Dominador Chua and Remedios Chua are declared owners of 1/2 undivided portion of Lot 399; and the Register of Deeds of Negros Occidental is hereby ordered to cancel. Transfer Certificate of Title No. 31796 covering Lot No. 399 issued in the name of Consolacion de la Torre and to issue a new Certificate of Title in the names of Consolacion de la Torre, 1/2 undivided portion; Ignacio Frias Chua, 1/4 undivided portion; and Dominador Chua and Remedios Chua, 1/4 undivided portion, of said lot. Without pronouncement as to costs.

SO ORDERED.Teehankee (Chairman), Makasiar, Muñoz Palma, Fernandez and Guerrero, JJ., concur.

C. Edroso v. Sablan

EN BANC

G.R. No. 6878 September 13, 1913

MARCELINA EDROSO, Petitioner-Appellant, vs. PABLO and BASILIO SABLAN, opponents-appellees.

Francisco Dominguez for appellant.Crispin Oben for appellees.

ARELLANO, C.J.: chanrobles virtual law library

The subject matter of this appeal is the registration of certain property classified as required by law to be reserved. Marcelina Edroso applied for registration and issuance of title to two parcels of land situated in the municipality of Pagsanjan, Province of Laguna, one of 1 hectare 77 ares and 63 centares, and the other 1 hectare 6 ares and 26 centares. Two applications were filed, one for each parcel, but both were heard and decided in a single judgment.

Marcelina Edroso was married to Victoriano Sablan until his death on September 22, 1882. In this marriage they had a son named Pedro, who was born on August 1, 1881, and who at his father's death inherited the two said parcels. Pedro also died on July 15, 1902, unmarried and without issue and by this decease the two parcels of land passed through inheritance to his mother, Marcelina Edroso. Hence the hereditary title whereupon is based the application for registration of her ownership.

Two legitimate brothers of Victoriano Sablan - that is, two uncles german of Pedro Sablan - appeared in the case to oppose the registration, claiming one of two things: Either that the registration be denied, "or that if granted to her the right reserved by law to the opponents be recorded in the registration of each parcel." (B. of E., 11, 12.)

The Court of Land Registration denied the registration and the application appealed through a bill of exceptions.

Registration was denied because the trial court held that the parcels of land in question partake of the nature of property required by law to be reserved and that in such a case application could only be presented jointly in the names of the mother and the said two uncles of Pedro Sablan.

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The appellant impugns as erroneous the first idea advanced (second assignment of error), and denies that the land which are the subject matter of the application are required by law to be reserved - a contention we regard as indefensible.

Facts: (1) The applicant acquired said lands from her descendant Pedro Sablan by inheritance; (2) Pedro Sablan had acquired them from his ascendant Victoriano Sablan, likewise by inheritance; (3) Victoriano Sablan had likewise acquired them by inheritance from his ascendants, Mariano Sablan and Maria Rita Fernandez, they having been adjudicated to him in the partition of hereditary property had between him and his brothers. These are admitted facts.

A very definite conclusions of law is that the hereditary title is one without a valuable consideration [gratuitous title], and it is so characterized in article 968 of the Civil Code, for he who acquires by inheritance gives nothing in return for what he receives; and a very definite conclusion of law also is that the uncles german are within the third degree of blood relationship.

The ascendant who inherits from his descendant property which the latter acquired without a valuable consideration from another ascendant, or from a brother or sister, is under obligation to reserve what he has acquired by operation of law for the relatives who are within the third degree and belong to the line whence the property proceeded. (Civil Code, art. 811.)

Marcelina Edroso, ascendant of Pedro Sablan, inherited from him these two parcels of land which he had acquired without a valuable consideration - that is, by inheritance from another ascendant, his father Victoriano. Having acquired them by operation of law, she is obligated to relatives within the third degree and belong to the line of Mariano Sablan and Maria Rita Fernandez, whence the lands proceeded. The trial court's ruling that they partake of the nature property required by law to be reserved is therefore in accordance with the law.

But the appellant contends that it is not proven that the two parcels of land in question have been acquired by operation of law, and that only property acquired without a valuable consideration, which is by operation of law, is required by law to reserved.

The appellees justly argue that this defense was not alleged or discussed in first instance, but only herein. Certainly, the allegation in first instance was merely that "Pedro Sablan acquired the property in question in 1882, before the enforcement of the Civil Code, which establishes the alleged right required by law to be reserved, of which the opponents speak; hence, prescription of the right of action; and finally, opponents' renunciation of their right, admitting that it existed and that they had it" (p. 49).

However that be, it is not superflous to say, although it may be unnecessary, that the applicant inherited the two parcels of land from her son Pedro, who died "unmarried and without issue." The trial court so held as a conclusion of fact, without any objection on the appellant's part. (B. of E., 17, 20.) When Pedro Sablan died without issue, his mother became his heir by virtue of her right to her son's legal portion under article 935 of the Civil Code:

In the absence of legitimate children and descendants of the deceased, his ascendants shall from him, to the exclusion of collaterals.

The contrary could only have occurred if the heiress had demonstrated that any of these lands had passed into her possession by free disposal in her son's will; but the case presents no testamentary provision that demonstrate any transfer of property from the son to the mother, not by operation of law, but by her son's wish. The legal presumption is that the transfer of the two parcels of land was abintestate or by operation of law, and not by will or the wish of the predecessor in interest. (Act No. 190, sec. 334, No. 26.) All the provision of article 811 of the Civil Code have therefore been fully complied with.

If Pedro Sablan had instituted his mother in a will as the universal heiress of his property, all he left at death would not be required by law to be reserved, but only what he would have perforce left her as the legal portion of a legitimate ascendant.

The legal portion of the parents or ascendants is constituted by one-half of the hereditary estate of the children and descendants. The latter may unrestrictedly dispose of the other half, with the exception of what is established in article 836. (Civil Code, art. 809.)

In such case only the half constituting the legal portion would be required by law to be reserved, because it is what by operation of law could full to the mother from her son's inheritance; the other half at free disposal would not have to be reserved. This is all that article 811 of the Civil Code says.

No error has been incurred in holding that the two parcels of land which are the subject matter of the application are required by law to be reserved, because the interested party has not proved that either of them became her inheritance through the free disposal of her son.

Proof testate succession devolves upon the heir or heiress who alleges it. It must be admitted that a half of Pedro Sablan's inheritance was acquired by his mother by operation of law. The law provides that the other half is also presumed to be acquired by operation of law - that is, by intestate succession. Otherwise, proof to offset this presumption must be presented by the interested party, that is, that the other half was acquired by the man's wish and not by operation of law.

Nor is the third assignments of error admissible - that the trial court failed to sustain the renunciation of the right required by law to be reserved, which the applicant attributes to the opponents. Such renunciation does not appear in the case. The appellant deduces it from the fact that the appellees did not contradict the following statement of hers at the trial:

The day after my brother-in-law Pablo Sablan dies and was buried, his brother came to my house and said that those rice lands were mine, because we had already talked about making delivery of them. (p. 91).

The other brother alluded to is Basilio Sablan, as stated on page 92. From the fact that Basilio Sablan said that the lands belong to the appellant and must be delivered to her it cannot be deduced that he renounced the right required by law to be reserved in such lands by virtue of the provisions of article 811 of the Civil Code, for they really belong to her and must be delivered to her.

The fourth assignments of error set up the defense of prescription of the right of action. The appellant alleges prescription of the opponent's right of action for requiring fulfillment of the obligation they attribute to her recording in the property registry the right required by law to be reserved, in accordance with the provisions of the Mortgage Law; and as such obligation is created by law, it prescribed in the time fixed in No. 2 of section 43 of Act No. 190. She adds: "Prescription of the right alleged to the reserved by force of law has not been invoked." (Eight allegation.)

The appellant does not state in her brief what those provisions of the Mortgage Law are. Nor did she do so in first instance, where she says only the following, which is quoted from the record: "I do not refer to the prescription of the right required by law to be reserved in the property; I refer to the prescription of the right of action of those who are entitled to the guaranty of that right for seeking that guaranty, for those who are entitled to that

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right the Mortgage Law grants a period of time for recording it in the property registry, if I remember correctly, ninety days, for seeking entry in the registry; but as they have not exercised that right of action, such right of action for seeking here that it be recorded has prescribed. The right of action for requiring that the property be reserved has not prescribed, but the right of action for guaranteeing in the property registry that this property is required by law to be reserved" (p. 69 of the record).

The appellees reply: It is true that their right of action has prescribed for requiring the applicant to constitute the mortgage imposed by the Mortgage Law for guaranteeing the effectiveness of the required by law to be reserved; but because that right of action has prescribed, that property has not been divested of its character of property required by law to be reserved; that it has such character by virtue of article 811 of the Civil Code, which went into effect in the Philippine in December, 1889, and not by virtue of the Mortgage Law, which only went into effect in the country by law of July 14, 1893; that from December, 1889, to July, 1893, property which under article 811 of the Civil Code acquired the character of property reserved by operation of law was such independently of the Mortgage Law, which did not yet form part of the positive legislation of the country; that although the Mortgage Law has been in effect in the country since July, 1893, still it has in no way altered the force of article 811 of the Civil Code, but has operated to reinforce the same merely by granting the right of action to the persons in whose favor the right is reserved by operation of law to require of the person holding the property a guaranty in the form of a mortgage to answer for the enforcement, in due time, of the right; that to lose the right of action to the guaranty is not to lose the right itself; that the right reserved is the principal obligation and the mortgage the accessory obligation, and loss of the accessory does not mean loss of the principal. (Fifth and sixth allegations.)

The existence of the right required by law to be reserved in the two parcels of land in question being indisputable, even though it be admitted that the right of action which the Mortgage Law grants as a guaranty of final enforcement of such right has prescribed, the only thing to be determined by this appeal is the question raised in the first assignment of error, that is, how said two parcels of land can and ought to be registered, not in the property registry newly established by the Mortgage Law, but in the registry newly organized by Act No. 496. But as the have slipped into the allegations quoted some rather inexact ideas that further obscure such an intricate subject as this of the rights required to be reserved in Spanish-Philippine law, a brief disgression on the most essential points may not be out of place here.

The Mortgage Law of July 14, 1893, to which the appellees allude, is the amended one of the colonies, not the first enforced in the colonies and consequently in the Philippines. The preamble of said amended Mortgage Law states:

The Mortgage Law in force in Spain for thirty years went into effect, with the modifications necessary for its adaptation, in the Antilles on May 1, 1880, and in the Philippines on December 1, 1889, thus commencing in those regions the renovation of the law on real property, and consequently of agrarian credit.

The Civil Code went into effect in the Philippines in the same year, 1889, but on the eight day.

Two kinds of property required by law to be reserved are distinguished in the Civil Code, as set forth in article 968 thereof, where it says:

Besides the reservation imposed by article 811, the widow or widower contracting a seconds marriage shall be obliged to set apart for the children and descendants of the first marriage the ownership of all the property he or she may have required from the deceased spouse by will, by intestate succession, by gift, or other transfer without a valuable consideration."

The Mortgage Law of Spain and the first law that went into effect in the Philippines on December 1, 1889, do not contain any provision that can be applied to the right reserved by article 811 of the Civil Code, for such right is a creation of the Civil Code. In those laws appear merely the provisions intended to guarantee the effectiveness of the right in favor of the children of the first marriage when their father or mother contracts a second marriage. Nevertheless, the holding of the supreme court of Spain, for the first time set forth in the decision on appeal of November 8, 1894, has been reiterated:

That while the provisions of articles 977 and 978 of the Civil Code that tend to secure the right required to be reserved in the property refer especially to the spouses who contract second or later marriages, they do not thereby cease to be applicable to the right establishes in article 811, because, aside from the legal reason, which is the same in both cases, such must be the construction from the important and conclusive circumstance that said provisions are set forth in the chapter that deals with inheritances in common, either testate or intestate, and because article 968, which heads the section that deals in general with property required by law to be reserved, makes reference to the provisions in article 811; and it would consequently be contradictory to the principle of the law and of the common nature of said provisions not to hold them applicable to that right.

Thus it was again stated in a decision on appeal, December 30, 1897, that: "As the supreme court has already declared, the guaranties that the Code fixes in article 977 and 978 for the rights required by law to the reserved to which said articles refer, are applicable to the special right dealt with in article 811, because the same principle exists and because of the general nature of the provisions of the chapter in which they are found."

From this principle of jurisprudence it is inferred that if from December, 1889, to July, 1893, a case had occurred of a right required to be reserved by article 811, the persons entitled to such right would have been able to institute, against the ascendant who must make the reservation, proceedings for the assurance and guaranty that article 977 and 978 grant to the children of a first marriage against their father or mother who has married again. The proceedings for assurance, under article 977; are: Inventory of the property subject to the right reserved, annotation in the property registry of such right reserved in the real property and appraisal of the personal property; and the guaranty, under article 978, is the assurance by mortgage, in the case of realty, of the value of what is validly alienated.

But since the amended Mortgage Law went into effect by law of July 14, 1893, in the Philippines this is not only a principle of jurisprudence which may be invoked for the applicability to the right reserved in article 811 of the remedies of assurance and guaranty provided for the right reserved in article 968, but there is a positive provision of said law, which is an advantage over the law of Spain, to wit, article 199, which read thus:

The special mortgage for guaranteeing the right reserved by article 811 of the Civil Code can only be required by the relatives in whose favor the property is to be reserved, if they are of age; if minors, it will be require by the person who should legally represent them. In either case the right of the persons in whose favor the property must be reserved will be secured by the same requisites as set forth in the preceding article (relative to the right reserved by article 968 of the Civil Code), applying to the person obligated to reserve the right the provisions with respect to the father.

In article 168 of the same law the new subsection 2 is added in connection with article 199 quoted, so that said article 168 reads as thus:

Legal mortgage is established:

1. . . .

2. In favor of the relatives to whom article 811 of the Civil Code refers, for the property required to be reserved, upon the property of the person obliged to reserve it.

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This being admitted, and admitted also that both the litigating parties agree that the period of ninety days fixed for the right of action to the guaranty, that is, to require the mortgage that guarantees the effectiveness of the right required by law to be reserved, has prescribed, it is necessary to lay down a principle in this matter. Now it should by noted that such action has not prescribed, because the period of ninety days fixed by the Mortgage Law is not for the exercise of the right of action of the persons entitled to the right reserved, but for the fulfillment of the obligation of the person who must make the reservation.

Article 191 of the reads thus: "If ninety days pass without the father's instituting in court the proceeding to which the foregoing article refers, the relatives themselves may demand fulfillment, etc., . . . applying, according to said article 199, to the person obligated to reserve the right the provisions with respect to the father."

Article 203 of the regulation for the application of the Mortgage Law says: "In the case of article 199 of the law the proceedings to which article 190 thereof refers will be instituted within the ninety days succeeding the date of the date of the acceptation of the inheritance by the person obligated to reserve the property; after this period has elapsed, the interested parties may require the institution of such proceedings, if they are of age; and in any other case, their legal representatives."

Thus it clearly appears that the lapse of the ninety days is not the expiration by prescription of the period for the right must be reserved, but really the commencement thereof, enables them to exercise it at any time, since no limits is set in the law. So, if the annotation of the right required by law to be reserved in the two parcels of land in question must be made in the property registry of the Mortgage Law, the persons entitled to it may now institute proceedings to that end, and an allegation of prescription against the exercise of such right of action cannot be sustained.

Since the applicant confesses that she does not allege prescription of the right of action forrequiring that the property be reserved, for she explicitly so stated at the trial, and as the case presents no necessity for the proceedings that should be instituted in accordance with the provisions of the Mortgage Law, this prescription of the right of action cannot take place, because such right of action does not exist with reference to instituting proceedings for annotation in the registry of Act No. 496 of the right to the property required by law to be reserved. It is sufficient, as was done in the present case, to intervene in the registration proceedings with the claim set up by the two opponents for recording therein the right reserved in either parcel of land.

Now comes the main point in the appeal. The trial court denied the registration because of this finding set forth in its decision:

Absolute title to the two parcels of land undoubtedly belongs to the applicant and the two uncles of the deceased Pedro Sablan, and the application cannot be made except in the name of all of them in common. (B. of E., p. 20.)

It must be remembered that absolute title consists of the rights to use, enjoy, dispose of, and recover. The person who has in himself all these rights has the absolute or complete ownership of the thing; otherwise, the person who has the right to use and enjoy will have the usufruct, and the person who has the rights of disposal and recovery the direct title. The person who by law, act, or contract is granted the right of usufruct has the first two rights or using an enjoying, and then he is said not to have the fee simple - that is, the rights of disposal and recovery, which pertain to another who, after the usufruct expires, will come into full ownership.

The question set up in the first assignment of error of the appellant's brief is this:

What are the rights in the property of the person who holds it subject to the reservation of article 811 of the Civil Code?

There are not lacking writers who say, only those of a usufructuary, the ultimate title belonging to the person in whose favor the reservation is made. If that were so, the person holding the property could not apply for registration of title, but the person in whose favor it must be reserved, with the former's consent. This opinion does not seem to be admissible, although it appears to be supported by decisions of the supreme court of Spain of May 21, 1861, and June 18, 1880, prior to the Civil Code, and of June 22, 1895, somewhat subsequent to the enforcement thereof.

Another writer says: "This opinion only looks at two salient points - the usufruct and the fee simple; the remaining features of the arrangement are not perceived, but become obscure in the presence of that deceptive emphasis which only brings out two things: that the person holding the property will enjoy it and that he must keep what he enjoys for other persons." (Manresa, VII, 189.)

In another place he says: "We do not believe that the third opinion can now be maintained - that is, that the surviving spouse (the person obliged by article 968 to make the reservation) can be regarded as a mere usufructuary and the descendants immediately as the owner; such theory has no serious foundation in the Code." ( Ibid., 238.)

The ascendants who inherits from a descendants, whether by the latter's wish or by operation of law, requires the inheritance by virtue of a title perfectly transferring absolute ownership. All the attributes of the right of ownership belong to him exclusively - use, enjoyment, disposal and recovery. This absolute ownership, which is inherent in the hereditary title, is not altered in the least, if there be no relatives within the third degree in the line whence the property proceeds or they die before the ascendant heir who is the possessor and absolute owner of the property. If there should be relatives within the third degree who belong to the line whence the property proceeded, then a limitation to that absolute ownership would arise. The nature and scope of this limitation must be determined with exactness in order not to vitiate rights that the law wishes to be effective. The opinion which makes this limitation consist in reducing the ascendant heir to the condition in of a mere usufructuary, depriving him of the right of disposal and recovery, does not seem to have any support in the law, as it does not have, according to the opinion that he has been expressed in speaking of the rights of the father or mother who has married again. There is a marked difference between the case where a man's wish institutes two persons as his heirs, one as usufructuary and the other as owner of his property, and the case of the ascendant in article 811 or of the father or mother in article 968. In the first case, there is not the slightest doubt that the title to the hereditary property resides in the hereditary owner and he can dispose of and recover it, while the usufructuary can in no way perform any act of disposal of the hereditary property (except that he may dispose of the right of usufruct in accordance with the provisions of article 480 of the Civil Code), or any act of recovery thereof except the limited one in the form prescribed in article 486 of the Code itself, because he totally lacks the fee simple. But the ascendants who holds the property required by article 811 to be reserved, and the father of mother required by article 986 to reserve the right, can dispose of the property they might itself, the former from his descendant and the latter from his of her child in first marriage, and recover it from anyone who may unjustly detain it, while the persons in whose favor the right is required to be reserved in either case cannot perform any act whatsoever of disposal or of recovery.

Article 975 states explicitly that the father or mother required by article 968 to reserve the right may dispose of the property itself:

Alienation of the property required by law to be reserved which may be made by the surviving spouse after contracting a second marriage shall be valid only if at his or her death no legitimate children or descendants of the first marriage survive, without prejudice to the provisions of the Mortgage of Law.

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It thus appears that the alienation is valid, although not altogether effective, but under a condition subsequent, to wit: "If at his or her death no legitimate children or descendants of the first marriage survive."

If the title did not reside in the person holding the property to be reserved, his alienation thereof would necessarily be null and void, as executed without a right to do so and without a right which he could transmit to the acquirer. The law says that the alienation subsists (to subject is to continue to exist) "without prejudice to the provisions of the Mortgage Law." Article 109 of this Law says:

The possessor of property subject to conditions subsequent that are still pending may mortgage or alienate it, provided always that he preserve the right of the parties interested in said conditions by expressly reserving that right in the registration.

In such case, the child or legitimate descendants of the first marriage in whose favor the right is reserved cannot impugn the validity of the alienation so long as the condition subsequent is pending, that is, so long as the remarried spouse who must reserve the right is alive, because it might easily happen that the person who must reserve the right should outlive all the person in whose favor the right is reserved and then there would be no reason for the condition subsequent that they survive him, and, the object of the law having disappeared, the right required to be reserved would disappear, and the alienation would not only be valid but also in very way absolutely effective.

Consequently, the alienation is valid when the right required by law to be reserved to the children is respected; while the effects of the alienation depend upon a condition, because it will or will not become definite, it will continue to exist or cease to exist, according to circumstances.

This is what the law establishes with reference to the reservation of article 968, wherein the legislator expressly directs that the surviving spouse who contracts a second marriage shall reserve to the children or descendants of the first marriageownership. Article 811 says nothing more than that the ascendants must make the reservation.

Manresa, with his recognized ability, summarizes the subject under the heading, " Rights and obligations during the existence of the right required by law to be reserved," in these words:

During the whole period between the constitution in legal form of the right required by law to be reserved and the extinction thereof, the relatives within the third degree, after the right that in their turn may pertain to them has been assured , have only an expectation , and therefore they do not even have the capacity to transmit that expectation to their heirs.

The ascendant is in the first place a usufructuary who should use and enjoy the things according to their nature, in the manner and form already set forth in commenting upon the article of the Code referring to use and usufruct.

But since in addition to being the usufructuary he is, even though conditionally, the owner in fee simple of the property, he can dispose of it in the manner provided in article 974 and 976 of the same Code. Doubt arose also on this point, but the Direccion General of the registries, in an opinion of June 25, 1892, declared that articles 974 and 975, which are applicable by analogy, for they refer to property reserved by law, reveal in the clearest manner the attitude of the legislator on this subject, and the relatives with the third degree ought not to be more privileged in the right reserved in article 811 than the children in the right reserved by article 975, chiefly for the reason that the right required to be reserved carries with it a condition subsequent, and the property subject to those conditions can validly be alienated in accordance with article 109 of the Mortgage Law, such alienation to continue, pending fulfillment of the condition."

Another commentator corroborates the foregoing in every way. He says:

The ascendants acquires that property with a condition subsequent, to wit, whether or not there exists at the time of his death relatives within the third degree of the descendants from whom they inherit in the line whence the property proceeds. If such relatives exist, they acquire ownership of the property at the death of the ascendants. If they do not exist, the ascendants can freely dispose thereof. If this is true, since the possessor of property subject to conditions subsequent can alienate and encumber it, the ascendants may alienate the property required by law to be reserved, but he will alienate what he has and nothing more because no one can give what does not belong to him, and the acquirer will therefore receive a limited and revocable title.

The relatives within the third degree will in their turn have an expectation to the property while the ascendant lives, an expectation that cannot be transmitted to their heirs, unless these are also within the third degree. After the person who is required by law to reserve the right has died, the relatives may rescind the alienation of the realty required by law to be reserved and they will complete ownership, in fee simple, because the condition and the usufruct have been terminated by the death of the usufructuary. ( Morell, Estudios sobre bienes reservable, 304, 305.)

The conclusion is that the person required by article 811 to reserve the right has, beyond any doubt at all, the rights of use and usufruct. He has, moreover, for the reasons set forth, the legal title and dominion, although under a condition subsequent. Clearly he has, under an express provision of the law, the right to dispose of the property reserved, and to dispose of is to alienate, although under a condition. He has the right to recover it, because he is the one who possesses or should possess it and have title to it, although a limited and revocable one. In a word, the legal title and dominion, even though under a condition, reside in him while he lives. After the right required by law to be reserved has been assured, he can do anything that a genuine owner can do.

On the other hand, the relatives within the third degree in whose favor of the right is reserved cannot dispose of the property, first because it is no way, either actually, constructively or formally, in their possession; and, moreover, because they have no title of ownership or of the fee simple which they can transmit to another, on the hypothesis that only when the person who must reserve the right should die before them will they acquire it, thus creating a fee simple, and only then will they take their place in the succession of the descendants of whom they are relatives within the third degree, that it to say, a second contingent place in said legitimate succession in the fashion of aspirants to a possible future legacy. If any of the persons in whose favor the right is reserved should, after their rights has been assured in the registry, dare to dispose of even nothing more than the fee simple of the property to be reserved his act would be null and void, for, as was definitely decided in the decision on appeal of December 30, 1897, it is impossible to determine the part "that might pertain therein to the relative at the time he exercised the right, because in view of the nature and scope of the right required by law to be reserved the extent of his right cannot be foreseen, for it may disappear by his dying before the person required to reserve it, just as may even become absolute should that person die."

Careful consideration of the matter forces the conclusion that no act of disposal inter vivos of the person required by law to reserve the right can be impugned by him in whose favor it is reserved, because such person has all, absolutely all, the rights inherent in ownership, except that the legal title is burdened with a condition that the third party acquirer may ascertain from the registry in order to know that he is acquiring a title subject to a condition subsequent. In conclusion, it seems to us that only an act of disposal mortis causa in favor of persons other than relatives within the third degree of the descendants from whom he got the property to be reserved must be prohibited to him, because this alone has been the object of the law:

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"To prevent persons outside a family from securing, by some special accident of life, property that would otherwise have remained therein." (Decision of December 30, 1897.)

Practically, even in the opinion of those who reduce the person reserving the right to the condition of a mere usufructuary, the person in whose favor it must be reserved cannot attack the alienation that may be absolutely made of the property the law requires to be reserved, in the present case, that which the appellant has made of the two parcels of land in question to a third party, because the conditional alienation that is permitted her is equivalent to an alienation of the usufruct, which is authorized by article 480 of the Civil Code, and, practically, use and enjoyment of the property required by law to be reserved are all that the person who must reserve it has during his lifetime, and in alienating the usufruct all the usefulness of the thing would be transmitted in an incontrovertible manner. The question as to whether or not she transmits the fee simple is purely academic, sine re, for it is not real, actual positive, as is the case of the institution of two heirs, one a usufructuary and the other the owner, by the express wish of the predecessor in interest.

If the person whom article 811 requires to reserve the right has all the rights inherent in ownership, he can use, enjoy, dispose of and recover it; and if, in addition to usufructuary, he is in fact and in law the real owner and can alienate it, although under a condition, the whole question is reduced to the following terms:

Cannot the heir of the property required by law to reserved, merely because a condition subsequent is annexed to his right of disposal, himself alone register the ownership of the property he has inherited, when the persons in whose favor the reservation must be made degree thereto, provided that the right reserved to them in the two parcels of land be recorded, as the law provides?

It is well known that the vendee under pacto de retracto acquires all the rights of the vendor:

The vendee substitutes the vendor in all his rights and actions. (Civil Code, art. 1511.)

If the vendor can register his title, the vendee can also register this same title after he has once acquired it. This title, however, in its attribute of being disposable, has a condition subsequent annexed - that the alienation the purchaser may make will be terminated, if the vendor should exercise the right granted him by article 1507, which says:

Conventional redemption shall take place when the vendor reserves to himself the right to recover the thing sold, with the obligation to comply with article 1518, and whatever more may have been agreed upon," that is, if he recovers the thing sold by repaying the vendee the price of the sale and other expenses. Notwithstanding this condition subsequent, it is a point not at all doubtful now that the vendee may register his title in the same way as the owner of a thing mortgaged - that is to say, the latter with the consent of his creditor and the former with the consent of the vendor. He may alienate the thing bought when the acquirer knows by well from the title entered in the registry that he acquires a title revocable after a fixed period, a thing much more certain and to be expected than the purely contingent expectation of the person in whose favor is reserved a right to inherit some day what another has inherited. The purpose of the law would be defeated in not applying to the person who must make the reservation the provision therein relative to the vendee under pacto de retracto, since the argument in his favor is the more power and conclusive; ubi eadem ratio, eadem legis dispositivo.

Therefore, we reverse the judgment appealed from, and in lieu thereof decide and declare that the applicant is entitled to register in her own name the two parcels of land which are the subject matter of the applicants, recording in the registration the right required by article 811 to be reserved to either or both of the opponents, Pablo Sablan and Basilio Sablan, should they survive her; without special findings as to costs.

Torres, Mapa, Johnson, Carson and Trent, JJ., concur.

D. Sienes v. Esparcia

EN BANC

G.R. No. L-12957 March 24, 1961

CONSTANCIO SIENES, ET AL., Plaintiffs-Appellants, vs. FIDEL ESPARCIA, ET AL.,Defendants-Appellees.

Proceso R. Remollo for plaintiffs-appellants.Leonardo D. Mancao for defendants-appellees.

DIZON, J.:

Appellants commenced this action below to secure judgment (1) declaring null and void the sale executed by Paulina and Cipriana Yaeso in favor of appellees, the spouses Fidel Esparcia and Paulina Sienes; (2) ordering the Esparcia spouses to reconvey to appellants Lot 3368 of the Cadastral Survey of Ayuquitan (now Amlan), Oriental Negros; and (3) ordering all the appellees to pay, jointly and severally, to appellants the sum of P500.00 as damages, plus the costs of suit. In their answer appellees disclaimed any knowledge or information regarding the sale allegedly made on April 20, 1951 by Andrea Gutang in favor of appellants and alleged that, if such sale was made, the same was void on the ground that Andrea Gutang had no right to dispose of the property subject matter thereof. They further alleged that said property had never been in possession of appellants, the truth being that appellees, as owners, had been in continuous possession thereof since the death of Francisco Yaeso. By way of affirmative defense and counterclaim, they further alleged that on July 30, 1951, Paulina and Cipriana Yaeso, as the only surviving heirs of Francisco Yaeso, executed a public instrument of sale in favor of the spouses Fidel Esparcia and Paulina Sienes, the said sale having been registered together with an affidavit of adjudication executed by Paulina and Cipriana on July 18, 1951, as sole surviving heirs of the aforesaid deceased; that since then the Esparcias had been in possession of the property as owners. After trial upon the issues thus joined, the lower court rendered judgment as follows:

IN VIEW OF ALL THE FOREGOING, judgment is hereby rendered declaring (1) that the sale of Lot No. 3368 made by Andrea Gutang to the plaintiff spouses Constancio Sienes and Genoveva Silay is void, and the reconveyance prayed for by them is denied; (2) that the sale made by Paulina and Cipriana Yaeso in favor of defendants Fidel Esparcia and Paulina Sienes involving the same lot is also void, and they have no valid title thereto; and (3) that the reservable property in question is part of and must be reverted to the estate of Cipriana Yaeso, the lone surviving relative and heir of Francisco Yaeso at the death of Andrea Gutang as of December 13, 1951. No pronouncement as to the costs.

From the above decision the Sienes spouse [Constancio Sienes and Genoveva Silay] interposed the present appeal, their principal contentions being, firstly, that the lower court erred in holding that Lot 3368 of the Cadastral Survey of Ayuquitan was a reservable property; secondly, in annulling the sale of said lot executed by Andrea Gutang in their favor; and lastly, in holding that Cipriana Yaeso, as reservee, was entitled to inherit said land.

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There is no dispute as to the following facts:

Lot 3368 originally belonged to Saturnino Yaeso. With his first wife, Teresa Ruales, he had four children named Agaton, Fernando, Paulina and Cipriana, while with his second wife, Andrea Gutang, he had an only son named Francisco. According to the cadastral records of Ayuquitan, the properties left by Saturnino upon his death - the date of which does not clearly appear of record - were left to his children as follows: Lot 3366 to Cipriana, Lot 3367 to Fernando, Lot 3375 to Agaton, Lot 3377 (southern portion) to Paulina, and Lot 3368 (western portion) to Francisco. As a result of the cadastral proceedings, Original Certificate of Title No. 10275 covering Lot 3368 was issued in the name of Francisco. Because Francisco was a minor at the time, his mother administered the property for him, declared it in her name for taxation purposes (Exhs A & A-1), and paid the taxes due thereon (Exhs. B, C, C-1 & C-2). When Francisco died on May 29, 1932 at the age of 20, single and without any descendant, his mother Andrea Gutang, as his sole heir, executed the public instrument Exhibit F entitled EXTRAJUDICIAL SETTLEMENT AND SALE whereby, among other things, for and in consideration of the sum of P800.00 she sold the property in question to appellants. When thereafter said vendees demanded from Paulina Yaeso and her husband Jose Esparcia, the surrender of Original Certificate of Title No. 10275 - which was in their possession - the latter refused, thus giving rise to the filing of the corresponding motion in the cadastral record No. 507. The same, however, was denied (Exhs. 8 & 9).

Thereafter, or more specifically, on July 30, 1951, Cipriana and Paulina Yaeso, the surviving half-sisters of Francisco, and who as such had declared the property in their name, on January 1, 1951 executed a deed of sale in favor of the spouses Fidel Esparcia and Paulina Sienes (Exh. 2) who, in turn, declared it in their name for tax purposes and thereafter secured the issuance in their name of Transfer Certificate of Title No. T-2141 (Exhs. 5 & 5-A).

As held by the trial court, it is clear upon the facts already stated, that the land in question was reservable property. Francisco Yaeso inherited it by operation of law from his father Saturnino, and upon Francisco's death, unmarried and without descendants, it was inherited, in turn, by his mother, Andrea Gutang. The latter was, therefore, under obligation to reserve it for the benefit of relatives within the third degree belonging to the line from which said property came, if any survived her. The record discloses in this connection that Andrea Gutang died on December 13, 1951, the lone reservee surviving her being Cipriana Yaeso who died only on January 13, 1952 (Exh. 10).

In connection with reservable property, the weight of opinion is that the reserve creates two resolutory conditions, namely, (1) the death of the ascendant obliged to reserve and (2) the survival, at the time of his death, of relatives within the third degree belonging to the line from which the property came (6 Manresa 268-269; 6 Sanchez Roman 1934).

This Court has held in connection with this matter that the reservista Andrea Gutang has the legal title and dominion to the reservable property but subject to a resolutory condition; that he is like a life usufructuary of the reservable property; that he may alienate the same but subject to reservation, said alienation transmitting only the revocable and conditional ownership of the reservists, the rights acquired by the transferee being revoked or resolved by the survival of reservatarios at the time of the death of the reservista (Edroso vs. Sablan, 25 Phil. 295; Lunsod vs. Ortega, 46 Phil. 664; Florentino vs. Florentino, 40 Phil. 480; and Director of Lands vs. Aguas, 65 Phil. 279).

The sale made by Andrea Gutang in favor of appellees was, therefore, subject to the condition that the vendees would definitely acquire ownership, by virtue of the alienation, only if the vendor died without being survived by any person entitled to the reservable property. Inasmuch much as when Andrea Gutang died, Cipriana Yaeso was still alive, the conclusion becomes inescapable that the previous sale made by the former in favor of appellants became of no legal effect and the reservable property subject matter thereof passed in exclusive ownership to Cipriana.

On the other hand, it is also clear that the sale executed by the sisters Paulina and Cipriana Yaeso in favor of the spouses Fidel Esparcia and Paulina Sienes was subject to a similar resolutory condition. The reserve instituted by law in favor of the heirs within the third degree belonging to the line from which the reservable property came, constitutes a real right which the reservee may alienate and dispose of, albeit conditionally, the condition being that the alienation shall transfer ownership to the vendee only if and when the reservee survives the person obliged to reserve. In the present case, Cipriana Yaeso, one of the reservees, was still alive when Andrea Gutang, the person obliged to reserve, died. Thus the former became the absolute owner of the reservable property upon Andrea's death. While it may be true that the sale [ to Esparcia spouses ] made by her and her sister prior to this event, became effective because of the occurrence of the resolutory condition, we are not now in a position to reverse the appealed decision, in so far as it orders the reversion of the property in question to the Estate of Cipriana Yaeso, because the vendees - the Esparcia spouses did - not appeal therefrom.

WHEREFORE, the appealed decision - as above modified - is affirmed, with costs, and without prejudice to whatever action in equity the Esparcia spouses may have against the Estate of Cipriana Yaeso for the reconveyance of the property in question.

Bengzon, Actg. C.J., Padilla, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepcion, Reyes, J.B.L., Barrera and Paredes, JJ., concur.

E. Florentino v. Florentino

EN BANC

G.R. No. L-14856 November 15, 1919

ENCARNACION FLORENTINO, ET AL., Plaintiffs-Appellants, vs. MERCEDES FLORENTINO, ET AL., Defendants-Appellees.

Ramon Querubin, Simeon Ramos and Orense and Vera for appellants.Vicente Foz, Jose Singsong Tongson and Angel Encarnacion for appellees.

TORRES, J.:

On January 17, 1918, counsel for Encarnacion (together with her husband Simeon Serrano), Gabriel, Magdalena, Ramon, Miguel, Victorino, and Antonino of the surname Florentino; for Miguel Florentino, guardian ad litem of the minor Rosario Florentino; for Eugenio Singson, the father and guardian ad litem of Emilia, Jesus, Lourdes, Caridad, and Dolores of the surname Singson y Florentino; and for Eugenio Singson, guardian of the minors Jose and Asuncion Florentino, filed a complaint in the Court of First Instance of Ilocos Sur, against Mercedes Florentino and her husband, alleging as follows:chanrobles virtual law library

That Apolonio Isabelo Florentino II married the first time Antonia Faz de Leon; that during the marriage he begot nine children called, Jose, Juan, Maria, Encarnacion, Isabel, Espirita, Gabriel, Pedro, and Magdalena of the surname Florentino y de Leon; that on becoming a widower he married the second time Severina Faz de Leon with whom he had two children, Mercedes and Apolonio III of the surname Florentino y de Leon; that Apolonio Isabelo Florentino II died on February 13, 1890; that he was survived by his second wife Severina Faz de Leon and the ten children first above mentioned; that his eleventh son, Apolonio III, was born on the following 4th of March 1890.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

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That of the deceased Apolonio Isabelo's aforementioned eleven children, Juan, Maria andIsabel died single, without leaving any ascendants or descendants; that Ramon, Miguel, Victorino, Antonio, and Rosario are the legitimate children of the deceased Jose Florentino who was one of the children of the deceased Apolonio Isabelo; that Emilia, Jesus, Lourdes, Caridad, and Dolores are the legitimate children of Espirita Florentino, now deceased, and her husband Eugenio Singson; that Jose and Asuncion are the children of Pedro Florentino, another son of the deceased Apolonio Isabelo Florentino.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

That on January 17 and February 13, 1890, Apolonio Isabelo Florentino executed a will before the notary public of Ilocos Sur, instituting as his universal heirs his aforementioned ten children, the posthumos Apolonio III and his widow Severina Faz de Leon; that he declared, in one of the paragraphs of said will, all his property should be divided among all of his children of both marriages.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

That, in the partition of the said testator's estate, there was given to Apolonio Florentino III, his posthumos son, the property marked with the letters A, B, C, D, E, and F in the complaint, a gold rosary, pieces of gold, of silver and of table service, livestock, palay, some personal property and other objects mentioned in the complaint.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

That Apolonio Florentino III, the posthumos son of the second marriage, died in 1891; that his mother, Severina Faz de Leon, succeeded to all his property described in the complaint; that the widow, Severina Faz de Leon died on November 18, 1908, leaving a will instituting as her universal heiress her only living daughter, Mercedes Florentino; that, as such heir, said daughter took possession of all the property left at the death of her mother, Severina Faz de Leon; that among same is included the property, described in the complaint, which the said Severina Faz de Leon inherited from her deceased son, the posthumos Apolonio, as reservable property; that, as a reservist, the heir of the said Mercedes Florentino deceased had been gathering for herself alone the fruits of lands described in the complaint; that each and every one of the parties mentioned in said complaint is entitled to one-seventh of the fruits of the reservable property described therein, either by direct participation or by representation, in the manner mentioned in paragraph 9 of the complaint.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

That several times the plaintiffs have, in an amicable manner, asked the defendants to deliver their corresponding part of the reservable property; that without any justifiable motive the defendants have refused and do refuse to deliver said property or to pay for its value; that for nine years Mercedes Florentino has been receiving, as rent for the lands mentioned, 360 bundles of palay at fifty pesos per bundle and 90 bundles of corn at four pesos per bundle; that thereby the plaintiffs have suffered damages in the sum of fifteen thousand four hundred and twenty-eight pesos and fifty-eight centavos, in addition to three hundred and eight pesos and fifty-eight centavos for the value of the fruits not gathered, of one thousand pesos (P1,000) for the unjustifiable retention of the aforementioned reservable property and for the expenses of this suit. Wherefore they pray it be declared that all the foregoing property is reservable property; that the plaintiffs had and do have a right to the same, in the quantity and proportion mentioned in the aforementioned paragraph 9 of the complaint; that the defendants Mercedes Florentino and her husband be ordered to deliver to the plaintiffs their share of the property in question, of the palay and of the corn above mentioned, or their value; and that they be condemned to pay the plaintiffs the sum of one thousand pesos (P1,000) together with the costs of this instance.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

To the preceding complaint counsel for the defendants demurred, alleging that the cause of action is based on the obligation of the widow Severina Faz de Leon to reserve the property she inherited from her deceased son Apolonio Florentino y de Leon who, in turn, inherited same from his father Apolonio Isabelo Florentino; that, there being no allegation to the contrary, it is to be presumed that the widow Severina Faz de Leon did not remarry after the death of this husband nor have any natural child; that the right claimed by the plaintiffs is not that mentioned in article 968 and the following articles, but that established in article 811 of the Civil Code; that the object of the provisions of the aforementioned articles is to avoid the transfer of said reservable property to those extraneous to the family of the owner thereof; that if the property inherited by the widow Severina Faz de Leon from her deceased son Apolonio Florentino y Faz de Leon (property which originated from his father and her husband) has all passed into the hands of the defendant, Mercedes Florentino y Encarnacion, a daughter of the common ancestor's second marriage (said Apolonio Isabelo Florentino with the deceased Severina Faz de Leon) it is evident that the property left at the death of the posthumos son Apolonio Florentino y Faz de Leon did not pass after the death of his mother Severina, his legitimate heirs as an ascendant, into the hands of strangers; that said property having been inherited by Mercedes Florentino y Encarnacion from her mother (Severina), article 811 of the Civil Code is absolutely inapplicable to the present case because, when the defendant Mercedes, by operation law, entered into and succeeded to, the possession, of the property lawfully inherited from her mother Severina Faz de Leon, said property had, while in the possession of her mother, lost the character of reservable property - there being a legitimate daughter of Severina Faz de Leon with the right to succeed her in all her rights, property and actions; that the restraints of the law whereby said property may not passed into the possession of strangers are void, inasmuch as the said widow had no obligation to reserve same, as Mercedes Florentino is a forced heiress of her mother Severina Faz de Leon; that, in the present case, there is no property reserved for the plaintiffs since there is a forced heiress, entitled to the property left by the death of the widow Severina Faz de Leon who never remarried; that the obligation to reserve is secondary to the duty of respecting the legitime; that in the instant case, the widow Severina Faz de Leon was in duty bound to respect the legitime of her daughter Mercedes the defendant; that her obligation to reserve the property could not be fulfilled to the prejudice of the legitime which belongs to her forced heiress, citing in support of these statements the decision of the supreme court of Spain of January 4, 1911; that, finally, the application of article 811 of the Civil Code in favor of the plaintiffs would presuppose the exclusion of the defendant from here right to succeed exclusively to all the property, rights and actions left by her legitimate mother, although the said defendant has a better right than the plaintiffs; and that there would be injustice if the property claimed be adjudicated to the plaintiffs, as well as violation of section 5 of the Jones Law which invalidates any law depriving any person of an equal protection. Wherefore they prayed that the demurrer be sustained, with costs against the plaintiffs.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

After the hearing of the demurrer, on August 22, 1918, the judge absolved the defendants from the complaint and condemned the plaintiffs to pay the costs.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

Counsel for the plaintiffs excepted to this order, moved to vacate it and to grant them a new trial; said motion was overruled; the plaintiffs expected thereto and filed the corresponding bill of exceptions which was allowed, certified and forwarded to the clerk of this court.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

On appeal the trial judge sustained the demurrer of the defendants to the complaint of the plaintiffs, but, instead of ordering the latter to amend their complaint within the period prescribed by the rules - undoubtedly believing that the plaintiffs could not alter nor change the facts constituting the cause of action, and that, as both parties were agreed as to the facts alleged in the complaint as well as in the demurrer, every question reduced itself to one of the law, already submitted to the decision of the court - the said judge, disregarding the ordinary procedure established by law, decided the case by absolving the defendants from the complaint and by condemning the plaintiffs to pay the costs of the instance.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

There certainly was no real trial, inasmuch as the defendants, instead of answering the complaint of the plaintiffs, confined themselves to filing a demurrer based on the ground that the facts alleged in the complaint do not constitute a cause of action. However, the judge preferred to absolve the defendants, thereby making an end to the cause, instead of dismissing the same, because undoubtedly he believed, in view of the controversy between the parties, that the arguments adduced to support the demurrer would be the same which the defendants would allege in their answer - those dealing with a mere question of law which the courts would have to decide - and that, the demurrer having been sustained, if the plaintiffs should insist - they could do no less - upon alleging the same facts as those set out in their complaint and if another demurrer were afterwards set up, he would be obliged to dismiss said complaint with costs against the plaintiffs - in spite of being undoubtedly convinced in the instant case that the plaintiffs absolutely lack the right to bring the action stated in their complaint.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

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Being of the opinion that the emendation of the indicated defects is not necessary - as in this case what has been done does not prejudice the parties - the appellate court will now proceed to decide the suit according to its merits, as found in the record and to the legal provisions applicable to the question of law in controversy so that unnecessary delay and greater expense may be avoided, inasmuch as, even if all the ordinary proceedings be followed, the suit would be subsequently decided in the manner and terms that it is now decided in the opinion thoughtfully and conscientiously formed for its determination.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

In order to decide whether the plaintiffs are or are not entitled to invoke, in their favor, the provisions of article 811 of the Civil Code, and whether the same article is applicable to the question of law presented in this suit, it is necessary to determine whether the property enumerated in paragraph 5 of the complaint is of the nature of reservable property; and if so, whether in accordance with the provision of the Civil Code in article 811, Severina Faz de Leon (the widow of the deceased Apolonio Isabelo Florentino) who inherited said property from her son Apolonio Florentino III (born after the death of his father Apolonio Isabelo) had the obligation to preserve and reserve same for the relatives, within the third degree, of her aforementioned deceased son Apolonio III.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The above mentioned article reads:

Any ascendant who inherits from his descendant any property acquired by the latter gratuitously from some other ascendant, or from a brother or sister, is obliged to reserve such of the property as he may have acquired by operation of law for the benefit of relatives within the third degree belonging to the line from which such property came.

During the marriage of Apolonio Isabelo Florentino II and Severina Faz de Leon two children were born, namely the defendant Mercedes Florentino and Apolonio Florentino III (born after the death of his father). At the death of Apolonio Isabelo Florentino under a will, his eleven children succeeded to the inheritance he left, one of whom, the posthumos son Apolonio III, was given, as his share, the aforementioned property enumerated in the complaint. In 1891 the said posthumos son Apolonio Florentino III died and was succeeded by his legitimate mother Severina Faz de Leon, who inherited the property he left and who on dying, November 18, 1908, instituted by will as her sole heiress her surviving daughter, Mercedes Florentino, the defendant herein, who took possession of all property left by her father, same constituting the inheritance. Included in said inheritance is the property, specified in by the posthumos son Apolonio Florentino III from his father Apolonio Isabelo Florentino, and which, at the death of the said posthumos son, had in turn been inherited by his mother, Severina Faz de Leon. Even if Severina left in her will said property, together with her own, to her only daughter and forced heiress, Mercedes Florentino, nevertheless this property had not lost its reservable nature inasmuch as it originated from the common ancestor of the litigants, Apolonio Isabelo; was inherited by his son Apolonio III; was transmitted by same (by operation of law) to his legitimate mother and ascendant, Severina Faz de Leon.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The posthumos son, Apolonio Florentino III, acquired the property, now claimed by his brothers, by a lucrative title or by inheritance from his aforementioned legitimate father, Apolonio Isabelo Florentino II. Although said property was inherited by his mother, Severina Faz de Leon, nevertheless, she was in duty bound, according to article 811 of the Civil Code, to reserve the property thus acquired for the benefit of the relatives, within the third degree, of the line from which such property came.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

According to the provisions of law, ascendants do not inherit the reservable property, but its enjoyment, use or trust, merely for the reason that said law imposes the obligation to reserve and preserve same for certain designated persons who, on the death of the said ascendants reservists, (taking into consideration the nature of the line from which such property came) acquire the ownership of said property in fact and by operation of law in the same manner as forced heirs ( because they are also such) - said property reverts to said line as long as the aforementioned persons who, from the death of the ascendant-reservists, acquire in fact the right of reservatarios (person for whom property is reserved), and are relatives, within the third degree, of the descendant from whom the reservable property came.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

Any ascendant who inherits from his descendant any property, while there are living, within the third degree, relatives of the latter, is nothing but a life usufructuary or a fiduciary of the reservable property received. He is, however, the legitimate owner of his own property which is not reservable property and which constitutes his legitime, according to article 809 of the Civil Code. But if, afterwards, all of the relatives, within the third degree, of the descendant (from whom came the reservable property) die or disappear, the said property becomes free property, by operation of law, and is thereby converted into the legitime of the ascendant heir who can transmit it at his death to his legitimate successors or testamentary heirs. This property has now lost its nature of reservable property, pertaining thereto at the death of the relatives, called reservatarios, who belonged within the third degree to the line from which such property came.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

Following the order prescribed by law in legitimate succession, when there are relatives of the descendant within the third degree, the right of the nearest relative, calledreservatario, over the property which the reservista (person holding it subject to reservation) should return to him, excludes that of the one more remote. The right of representation cannot be alleged when the one claiming same as a reservatario of the reservable property is not among the relatives within the third degree belonging to the line from which such property came, inasmuch as the right granted by the Civil Code in article 811 is in the highest degree personal and for the exclusive benefit of designated persons who are the relatives, within the third degree, of the person from whom the reservable property came. Therefore, relatives of the fourth and the succeeding degrees can never be considered as reservatarios, since the law does not recognize them as such.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

In spite of what has been said relative to the right of representation on the part of one alleging his right as reservatario who is not within the third degree of relationship, nevertheless there is right of representation on the part of reservatarios who are within the third degree mentioned by law, as in the case of nephews of the deceased person from whom the reservable property came. These reservatarios have the right to represent their ascendants (fathers and mothers) who are the brothers of the said deceased person and relatives within the third degree in accordance with article 811 of the Civil Code.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

In this case it is conceded without denial by defendants, that the plaintiffs Encarnacion, Gabriel and Magdalena are the legitimate children of the first marriage of the deceased Apolonio Isabelo Florentino II; that Ramon, Miguel, Ceferino, Antonio, and Rosario are both grandchildren of Apolonio Isabelo Florentino II, and children of his deceased son, Jose Florentino; that the same have the right to represent their aforementioned father, Jose Florentino; that Emilia, Jesus, Lourdes, Caridad, and Dolores are the legitimate children of the deceased Espirita Florentino, one of the daughters of the deceased Apolonio Isabelo Florentino II, and represent the right of their aforementioned mother; and that the other plaintiffs, Jose and Asuncion, have also the right to represent their legitimate father Pedro Florentino one of the sons of the aforementioned Apolonio Isabelo Florentino II. It is a fact, admitted by both parties, that the other children of the first marriage of the deceased Apolonio Isabelo Florentino II died without issue so that this decision does not deal with them.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

There are then seven "reservatarios" who are entitled to the reservable property left at the death of Apolonio III; the posthumos son of the aforementioned Apolonio Isabelo II, to wit, his three children of his first marriage - Encarnacion, Gabriel, Magdalena; his three children, Jose, Espirita and Pedro who are represented by their own twelve children respectively; and Mercedes Florentino, his daughter by a second marriage. All of the plaintiffs are the relatives of the deceased posthumos son, Apolonio Florentino III, within the third degree (four of whom being his half-brothers and the remaining twelve being his nephews as they are the children of his three half-brothers). As the first four are his relatives within the third degree in their own right and the other twelve are such by representation, all of them are indisputably entitled as reservatarios to the property which came from the common ancestor, Apolonio Isabelo, to Apolonio Florentino III by inheritance during his life-time, and in turn by inheritance to his legitimate mother, Severina Faz de Leon, widow of the aforementioned Apolonio Isabelo Florentino II.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

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In spite of the provisions of article 811 of the Civil Code already cited, the trial judge refused to accept the theory of the plaintiffs and, accepting that of the defendants, absolved the latter from the complaint on the ground that said article is absolutely inapplicable to the instant case, inasmuch as the defendant Mercedes Florentino survived her brother, Apolonio III, from whom the reservable property came and her mother, Severina Faz de Leon, the widow of her father, Apolonio Isabelo Florentino II; that the defendant Mercedes, being the only daughter of Severina Faz de Leon, is likewise her forced heiress; that when she inherited the property left at the death of her mother, together with that which came from her deceased brother Apolonio III, the fundamental object of article 811 of the Code was thereby complied with, inasmuch as the danger that the property coming from the same line might fall into the hands of strangers had been avoided; and that the hope or expectation on the part of the plaintiffs of the right to acquire the property of the deceased Apolonio III never did come into existence because there is a forced heiress who is entitled to such property.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The judgment appealed from is also founded on the theory that article 811 of the Civil Code does not destroy the system of legitimate succession and that the pretension of the plaintiffs to apply said article in the instant case would be permitting the reservable right to reduce and impair the forced legitimate which exclusively belongs to the defendant Mercedes Florentino, in violation of the precept of article 813 of the same Code which provides that the testator cannot deprive his heirs of their legitime, except in the cases expressly determined by law. Neither can he impose upon it any burden, condition, or substitution of any kind whatsoever, saving the provisions concerning the usufruct of the surviving spouse, citing the decision of the Supreme Court of Spain of January 4, 1911.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

The principal question submitted to the court for decision consists mainly in determining whether they property left at the death of Apolonio III, the posthumos son of Apolonio Isabelo II, was or was not invested with the character of reservable property when it was received by his mother, Severina Faz de Leon.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The property enumerated by the plaintiffs in paragraph 5 of their complaint came, without any doubt whatsoever, from the common ancestor Apolonio Isabelo II, and when, on the death of Apolonio III without issue the same passed by operation of law into the hands of his legitimate mother, Severina Faz de Leon, it became reservable property, in accordance with the provision of article 811 of the Code, with the object that the same should not fall into the possession of persons other than those comprehended within the order of person other than those comprehended within the order of succession traced by the law from Apolonio Isabelo II, the source of said property. If this property was in fact clothed with the character and condition of reservable property when Severina Faz de Leon inherited same from her son Apolonio III, she did not thereby acquire the dominion or right of ownership but only the right of usufruct or of fiduciary with the necessary obligation to preserve and to deliver or return it as such reservable property to her deceased son's relatives within the third degree, among whom is her daughter, Mercedes Florentino.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

Reservable property neither comes, nor falls under, the absolute dominion of the ascendant who inherits and receives same from his descendant, therefore it does not form part of his own property nor become the legitimate of his forced heirs. It becomes his own property only in case that all the relatives of his descendant shall have died (reservista) in which case said reservable property losses such character.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

With full right Severina Faz de Leon could have disposed in her will of all her own property in favor of her only living daughter, Mercedes Florentino, as forced heiress. But whatever provision there is in her will concerning the reservable property received from her son Apolonio III, or rather, whatever provision will reduce the rights of the other reservatarios, the half brothers and nephews of her daughter Mercedes, is unlawful, null and void, inasmuch as said property is not her own and she has only the right of usufruct or of fiduciary, with the obligation to preserve and to deliver same to the reservatarios, one of whom is her own daughter, Mercedes Florentino.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

It cannot reasonably be affirmed, founded upon an express provision of law, that by operation of law all of the reservable property, received during lifetime by Severina Faz de Leon from her son, Apolonio III, constitutes or forms parts of the legitime pertaining to Mercedes Florentino. If said property did not come to be the legitimate and exclusive property of Severina Faz de Leon, her only legitimate and forced heiress, the defendant Mercedes, could not inherit all by operation of law and in accordance with the order of legitimate succession, because the other relatives of the deceased Apolonio III, within the third degree, as well as herself are entitled to such reservable property.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

For this reason, in no manner can it be claimed that the legitime of Mercedes Florentino, coming from the inheritance of her mother Severina Faz de Leon, has been reduced and impaired; and the application of article 811 of the Code to the instant case in no way prejudices the rights of the defendant Mercedes Florentino, inasmuch as she is entitled to a part only of the reservable property, there being no lawful or just reason which serves as real foundation to disregard the right to Apolonio III's other relatives, within the third degree, to participate in the reservable property in question. As these relatives are at present living, claiming for it with an indisputable right, we cannot find any reasonable and lawful motive why their rights should not be upheld and why they should not be granted equal participation with the defendant in the litigated property.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The claim that because of Severina Faz de Leon's forced heiress, her daughter Mercedes, the property received from the deceased son Apolonio III lost the character, previously held, of reservable property; and that the mother, the said Severina, therefore, had no further obligation to reserve same for the relatives within the third degree of the deceased Apolonio III, is evidently erroneous for the reason that, as has been already stated, the reservable property, left in a will by the aforementioned Severina to her only daughter Mercedes, does not form part of the inheritance left by her death nor of the legitimate of the heiress Mercedes. Just because she has a forced heiress, with a right to her inheritance, does not relieve Severina of her obligation to reserve the property which she received from her deceased son, nor did same lose the character of reservable property, held before the reservatarios received same.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

It is true that when Mercedes Florentino, the heiress of the reservista Severina, took possession of the property in question, same did not pass into the hands of strangers. But it is likewise true that the said Mercedes is not the only reservataria. And there is no reason founded upon law and upon the principle of justice why the other reservatarios, the other brothers and nephews, relatives within the third degree in accordance with the precept of article 811 of the Civil Code, should be deprived of portions of the property which, as reservable property, pertain to them.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

From the foregoing it has been shown that the doctrine announced by the Supreme Court of Spain on January 4, 1911, for the violation of articles 811, 968 and consequently of the Civil Code is not applicable in the instant case.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

Following the provisions of article 813, the Supreme Court of Spain held that the legitime of the forced heirs cannot be reduced or impaired and said article is expressly respected in this decision.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

However, in spite of the efforts of the appellee to defend their supposed rights, it has not been shown, upon any legal foundation, that the reservable property belonged to, and was under the absolute dominion of, the reservista, there being relatives within the third degree of the person from whom same came; that said property, upon passing into the hands of the forced heiress of the deceased reservista, formed part of the legitime of the former; and that the said forced heiress, in addition to being a reservataria, had an exclusive right to receive all of said property and to deprive the other reservatarios, her relatives within the third degree of certain portions thereof.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

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Concerning the prayer in the complaint relative to the indemnity for damages and the delivery of the fruits collected, it is not proper to grant the first for there is no evidence of any damage which can give rise to the obligation of refunding same. As to the second, the delivery of the fruits produced by the land forming the principal part of the reservable property, the defendants are undoubtedly in duty bound to deliver to the plaintiffs six-sevenths of the fruits or rents of the portions of land claimed in the complaint, in the quantity expressed in paragraph 11 of the same, from January 17, 1918, the date the complaint was filed; and the remaining seventh part should go to the defendant Mercedes.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

For the foregoing reasons it follows that with the reversal of the order of decision appealed from we should declare, as we hereby do, that the aforementioned property, inherited by the deceased Severina Faz de Leon from her son Apolonio Florentino III, is reservable property; that the plaintiffs, being relatives of the deceased Apolonio III within the third degree, are entitled to six-sevenths of said reservable property; that the defendant Mercedes is entitled to the remaining seventh part thereof; that the latter, together with her husband Angel Encarnacion, shall deliver to the plaintiffs, jointly, six-sevenths of the fruits or rents, claimed from said portion of the land and of the quantity claimed, from January 17, 1918, until fully delivered; and that the indemnity for one thousand pesos (P1,000) prayed for in the complaint is denied, without special findings as to the costs of both instances. So ordered.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

Arellano, C.J., Johnson, Araullo, Street, Malcolm and Avanceña, JJ., concur.

F. Cano v. Director of Lands January 16, 1959

EN BANC

[G.R. No. L-10701. January 16, 1959.]

MARIA CANO, applicant-appellee, v. DIRECTOR OF LANDS, EUSTAQUIA GUERRERO, ET AL.,Oppositors-Appellants. JOSE FERNANDEZ, ET AL., Oppositors-Appellants.

Ramon C. Fernandez for Appellants.

Jose B. Dealca for Appellee.

SYLLABUS

1. SUCCESSION; RESERVA TRONCAL; RECORD RESERVA; DEATH OF RESERVISTA; ISSUANCE OF CERTIFICATE OF TITLE OF RESERVEE. — Once an original certificate of title by virtue of the final decree of the land court was duly issued in the name of the reservista, subject to reserva troncal, and subsequently the latter died, the registration court, in view of the said recorded reserva has authority under Sec. 112 of Act 496 to order the reservatario; for the reason that the death of the reservista vested the ownership of the property in the sole reservatario troncal.

2. ID.; ID.; ID.; ID.; EXCEPTION. — Where, however, the registration decree merely specifies the reservable character of the property, without determining the identity of the reservatario (as in the case of Director of Lands v. Aguas, 63 Phil., 279) or where several reservatories dispute the property among themselves, further proceedings would be unavoidable.

3. ID.; ID.; ID.; REQUISITES TO VEST TITLE IN RESERVE. — The only requisites for the passing of the title from the reservista to the reservee are (1) the death of the reservista; and (2) the fact the reservitario has survived the reservista.

4. ID.; ID.; RESERVATION NOT RESERVISTA’S SUCCESSOR MORTIS CAUSA. — The reservatario is not the reservista’s successor mortis causa nor is the reservable property part of the reservista’s estate; the reservatario receives the property as a conditional heir of the descendant (prepositus), the property merely reverting to the line of origin from which it had temporarily and accidentally strayed during the reservista’s lifetime. The authorities are all agreed that there being reservatarios that survive the reservista, the latter must be deemed to have enjoyed no more a life interest in the reservable property.

5. ID.; ID.; DEATH OF RESERVISTA; RESERVATARIO AUTOMATICALLY BECOMES OWNER OF RESERVABLE PROPERTY. — Upon the death of the reservatario nearest to the prepositus becomes, automatically and by operation of law, the owner of the reservable property.

6. ID.; ID.; RESERVABLE PROPERTY CANNOT BE TRANSMITTED MORTIS CAUSA BY RESERVISTA. — The reservable property cannot be transmitted by a reservista to her or his own successors mortis causa so long as a reservatario, within the third degree from the prepositus and belonging to the line whence the property came, is in existence when the reservista dies.

D E C I S I O N

REYES, J.B.L., J.:

In an amended decision dated October 9, 1951, issued in Land Registration Case No. 12, G. L. O. Rec. No. 2835, the Court of First Instance of Sorsogon decreed the registration of Lots. Nos. 1798 and 1799 of the Juban (Sorsogon) Cadastre, under the following terms and conditions:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph

"In view of the foregoing, and it appearing that the notices have been duly published and posted as required by law, and that the title of the applicant to the above-mentioned two parcels of land is registrable in law, it is hereby adjudged and decreed, and with reaffirmation of the order of general default, that the two parcels of land described in plan SWO-24152, known as Lots Nos. 1798 and 1799 of the Cadastral Survey of Juban, with their improvements, be registered in the name of Maria Cano, Filipina 71 years of age, widow and resident of Juban, province of Sorsogon, with the understanding that Lot No. 1799 shall be subject to the right of reservation in favor of Eustaquia Guerrero pursuant to Article 891 of Civil Code. After this decision shall have become final for lack of appeal therefrom within the 30-day period from its promulgation, let the corresponding decree issue.

So ordered." (Rec. App. pp. 18-19)

The decision having become final, the decree and the Certificate of Title (No. 0-20) were issued in the name of Maria Cano, subject to reserva troncal in favor of Eustaquia Guerrero. In October 1955, counsel for the reservee (reservatario) Guerrero filed a motion with the Cadastral Court, alleging the

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death of the original registered owner and reservista, Maria Cano, on September 8, 1955, and praying that the original Certificate of Title be ordered cancelled and a new one issued in favor of movant Eustaquia Guerrero; and that the Sheriff be ordered to place her in possession of the property. The motion was opposed by Jose and Teotimo Fernandez, sons of the reservista Maria Cano, who contended that the application and operation of the reserva troncal should be ventilated in an ordinary contentious proceeding, and that the Registration Court did not have jurisdiction to grant the motion.

In view of the recorded reserva in favor of the appellee, as expressly noted in the final decree of registration, the lower court granted the petition for the issuance of a new certificate, for the reason that the death of reservista vested the ownership of the property in the petitioner as the sole reservatario troncal.

The oppositors, heirs of the reservista Maria Cano, duly appealed from the order, insisting that the ownership of the reservatario can not be decreed in a mere proceeding under sec. 112 of Act 496, but requires a judicial administration proceedings, wherein the rights of appellee, as the reservatario entitled to the reservable property, are to be declared. In this connection, appellants argue that the reversion in favor of the reservatario requires the declaration of the existence of the following facts:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph

"(1) The property was received by a ascendant by gratuitous titled from an ascendant or from a brother or sister;

(2) Said descendant dies without issue;

(3) The property ascendant by operation of law; and

(4) The existence of relatives within the third degree belonging to the line from which said property came." (Appellants’ Brief, p. 8)

We find the appeal untenable. The requisites enumerated by appellants have already been declared to exist by the decree of registration wherein the rights of the appellee as reservatario troncal were expressly recognized:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph

"From the above-quoted agreed stipulation of facts, it is evident that Lot No. 1799 was acquired by the applicant Maria Cano by inheritance from her deceased daughter, Lourdes Guerrero who, in turn, inherited the same from her father Evaristo Guerrero and, hence falls squarely under the provisions of Article 891 of the Civil Code; and that each and everyone of the private oppositors are within the third degree of consanguinity of the decedent Evaristo Guerrero, and who belonging to the same line from which the property came.

It appears, however, from the agreed stipulation of facts that with exception of Eustaquia Guerrero, who is the only living daughter of the decedent Evaristo Guerrero, by his former marriage, all the other oppositors are grandchildren of the said Evaristo Guerrero by his former marriages. Eustaquia Guerrero, being the nearest of kin, excludes all the other private oppositors, whose degree of relationship to the decedent is remoter (Article 962, Civil Code; Director of Lands v. Aguas, 62 Phil., 279)." (Rec. App. pp. 16-17)

This decree having become final, all persons (appellees included) are barred thereby from contesting the existence of the constituent elements of the reserva. The only requisites for the passing of the titled from the reservista to the appellee are: (1) the death of the reservista; and (2) the fact that the reservatario has survived the reservista. Both facts are admitted, and their existence in nowhere questioned.

The contention that an intestacy proceeding is still necessary rests upon the assumption that the reservatario will succeed in, or inherit, the reservable property from the reservista. This is not true. The reservatario is not the reservista’s successor mortis causa nor is the reservable property part of the reservista’s estate; the reservatario receives the property as a conditional heir of the descendant (prepositus), said property merely reverting to the line of origin from which it had temporarily and accidentally strayed during the reservatarios that survive the reservista, the latter must be deemed to have enjoyed no more than a life interest in the reservable property.

It is a consequence of these principles that upon the death of the reservista, the reservatario nearest to the prepositus (the appellee in this case) becomes, automatically and by operation of law, the owner of the reservable property. As already stated, that property is no part of the estate of the reservista, and does not even answer for the debts of the latter. Hence, its acquisition by the reservatario may be entered in the property records without necessity of estate proceedings, since the basic requisites therefor appear of record. It is equally well settled that the reservable property can not be transmitted by a reservista to her or his own successors mortis causa, (like appellants herein) so long as a reservatario within the third degree from the prepositus and belonging to the line whence the property came, is in existence when the reservista dies.

Of course, where the registration decree merely specifies the reservable character of the property, without determining the identity of the reservatario (as in the case of Director of Lands v. Aguas, 63 Phil., 279) or where several reservatarios dispute the property among themselves, further proceedings would be unavoidable. But this is not the case. The rights of the reservataria Eustaquia Guerrero have been expressly recognized, and it is nowhere claimed that there are other reservatarios of equal or nearer degree. It is thus apparent that the heirs of the reservista are merely endeavoring to prolong their enjoyment of the reservable property to the detriment of the party lawfully entitled thereto.

We find no error in the order appealed from therefore, the same is affirmed with costs against appellants in both instances. So ordered.

Paras, C.J., Bengzon, Padilla, Montemayor, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepcion and Endencia, JJ., concur.

G. Mendoza v. Delos Santos March 20, 2013

FIRST DIVISION

G.R. NO. 176422 : March 20, 2013

MARIA MENDOZA, in her own capacity and as Attorney-in-fact of DEOGRACIAS, MARCELA, DIONISIA, ADORA CION, all surnamed MENDOZA, REMEDIOS MONTILLA, FELY BAUTISTA, JULIANA GUILALAS and ELVIRA MENDOZA, Petitioners, v. JULIA POLl CARPIO DELOS SANTOS, substituted by her heirs, CARMEN P. DELOS SANTOS, ROSA BUENA VENTURA, ZENAIDA P. DELOS SANTOS VDA. DE MATEO,

LEONILA P. DELOS SANTOS, ELVIRA P. DELOS SANTOS VDA. DE JOSE, TERESITA P. DELOS SANTOS-CABUHAT, MERCEDITA P. DELOS SANTOS, LYDIA P. DELOS SANTOS VDA. DE HILARIO, PERFECTO P. DELOS SANTOS, JR., and CECILIA M. MENDOZA, Respondents.

D E C I S I O N

REYES, J.:

Reserva troncal is a special rule designed primarily to assure the return of a reservable property to the third degree relatives belonging to the line from which the property originally came, and avoid its being dissipated into and by the relatives of the inheriting ascendant.1chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

The Facts

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http://www.chanrobles.com/cralaw/2013marchdecisions.php?id=245#fnt1


The properties subject in the instant case are three parcels of land located in Sta. Maria, Bulacan: (1) Lot 1681-B, with an area of 7,749 square meters;2 (2) Lot 1684, with an area of 5,667 sq m;3 and (3) Lot No. 1646-B, with an area of 880 sq m.4 Lot Nos. 1681-B and 1684 are presently in the name of respondent Julia Delos Santos5 (respondent). Lot No. 1646-B, on the other hand, is also in the name of respondent but co-owned by Victoria Pantaleon, who bought one-half of the property from petitioner Maria Mendoza and her siblings.

Petitioners are grandchildren of Placido Mendoza (Placido) and Dominga Mendoza (Dominga). Placido and Dominga had four children: Antonio, Exequiel, married to Leonor, Apolonio and Valentin. Petitioners Maria, Deogracias, Dionisia, Adoracion, Marcela and Ricardo are the children of Antonio. Petitioners Juliana, Fely, Mercedes, Elvira and Fortunato, on the other hand, are Valentin's children. Petitioners alleged that the properties were part of Placido and Dominga's properties that were subject of an oral partition and subsequently adjudicated to Exequiel. After Exequiel's death, it passed on to his spouse Leonor and only daughter, Gregoria. After Leonor's death, her share went to Gregoria. In 1992, Gregoria died intestate and without issue. They claimed that after Gregoria's death, respondent, who is Leonor's sister, adjudicated unto herself all these properties as the sole surviving heir of Leonor and Gregoria. Hence, petitioners claim that the properties should have been reserved by respondent in their behalf and must now revert back to them, applying Article 891 of the Civil Code on reserva troncal.

Respondent, however, denies any obligation to reserve the properties as these did not originate from petitioners' familial line and were not originally owned by Placido and Dominga. According to respondent, the properties were bought by Exequiel and Antonio from a certain Alfonso Ramos in 1931. It appears, however, that it was only Exequiel who was in possession of the properties.6chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

The Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Malolos, Bulacan, Branch 6, found merit in petitioners' claim and granted their action for Recovery of Possession by Reserva Troncal, Cancellation of TCT and Reconveyance. In its Decision dated November 4, 2002, the RTC disposed as follows:chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

WHEREFORE, premised from the foregoing judgment is hereby rendered:chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

1. Ordering respondents (heirs of Julia Policarpio) to reconvey the three (3) parcels of land subject of this action in the name of the plaintiffs enumerated in the complaint including intervenor Maria Cecilia M. Mendoza except one-half of the property described in the old title, TCT No. T-124852(M) which belongs to Victorina Pantaleon;cralawlibrary

2. Ordering the Register of Deeds of Bulacan to cancel the titles in the name of Julia Policarpio, TCT No. T-149033(M), T-183631(M) and T-149035(M) and reconvey the same to the enumerated plaintiffs; and

3. No pronouncement as to claims for attorney's fees and damages and costs.

SO ORDERED.7chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

On appeal, the Court of Appeals (CA) reversed and set aside the RTC decision and dismissed the complaint filed by petitioners. The dispositive portion of the CA Decision dated November 16, 2006 provides:chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the November 4, 2002 Decision of the Regional Trial Court, Br. 6, Third Judicial Region, Malolos, Bulacan, is REVERSED and SET ASIDE. The Third Amended Complaint in Civil Case No. 609-M-92 is hereby DISMISSED. Costs against the Plaintiffs-Appellants.

SO ORDERED.8chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

Petitioners filed a motion for reconsideration but the CA denied the same per Resolution9 dated January 17, 2007.

In dismissing the complaint, the CA ruled that petitioners failed to establish that Placido and Dominga owned the properties in dispute.10 The CA also ruled that even assuming that Placido and Dominga previously owned the properties, it still cannot be subject to reserva troncal as neither Exequiel predeceased Placido and Dominga nor did Gregoria predecease Exequiel.11chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

Now before the Court, petitioners argue that:chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

A.

THE HONORABLE [CA] GRIEVOUSLY ERRED IN HOLDING THAT THE SUBJECT PROPERTIES ARE NOT RESERVABLE PROPERTIES, COMING AS THEY DO FROM THE FAMILY LINE OF THE PETITIONERS MENDOZAS.

B.

THE HONORABLE [CA] GRIEVOUSLY ERRED IN HOLDING THAT THE PETITIONERS MENDOZAS DO NOT HAVE A RIGHT TO THE SUBJECT PROPERTIES BY VIRTUE OF THE LAW ON RESERVA TRONCAL.12chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

Petitioners take exception to the ruling of the CA, contending that it is sufficient that the properties came from the paternal line of Gregoria for it to be subject to reserva troncal. They also claim the properties in representation of their own predecessors, Antonio and Valentin, who were the brothers of Exequiel.13chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

Ruling of the Court

This petition is one for review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court. The general rule in this regard is that it should raise only questions of law. There are, however, admitted exceptions to this rule, one of which is when the CA's findings are contrary to those of the trial court.14 This being the case in the petition at hand, the Court must now look into the differing findings and conclusion of the RTC and the CA on the two issues that arise one, whether the properties in dispute are reservable properties and two, whether petitioners are entitled to a reservation of these properties.

Article 891 of the Civil Code on reserva troncal

The principle of reserva troncal is provided in Article 891 of the Civil Code:chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

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Art. 891. The ascendant who inherits from his descendant any property which the latter may have acquired by gratuitous title from another ascendant, or a brother or sister, is obliged to reserve such property as he may have acquired by operation of law for the benefit of relatives who are within the third degree and belong to the line from which said property came. (Emphasis ours)

There are three (3) lines of transmission in reserva troncal. The first transmission is by gratuitous title, whether by inheritance or donation, from an ascendant/brother/sister to a descendant called the prepositus. The second transmission is by operation of law from the prepositus to the other ascendant or reservor, also called the reservista. The third and last transmission is from the reservista to the reservees or reservatarios who must be relatives within the third degree from which the property came.15chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

The lineal character of thereservable property is reckonedfrom the ascendant from whom theprepositus received the property bygratuitous title

Based on the circumstances of the present case, Article 891 on reserva troncal is not applicable.

-----

The fallacy in the CA's resolution is that it proceeded from the erroneous premise that Placido is the ascendant contemplated in Article 891 of the Civil Code. From thence, it sought to trace the origin of the subject properties back to Placido and Dominga, determine whether Exequiel predeceased Placido and whether Gregoria predeceased Exequiel.

The persons involved in reserva troncal are:chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

(1) The ascendant or brother or sister from whom the property was received by the descendant by lucrative or gratuitous title;cralawlibrary

(2) The descendant or prepositus (propositus) who received the property;cralawlibrary

(3) The reservor (reservista), the other ascendant who obtained the property from the prepositus by operation of law; and

(4) The reservee (reservatario) who is within the third degree from the prepositus and who belongs to the (linea o tronco) from which the property came and for whom the property should be reserved by the reservor.16chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

It should be pointed out that the ownership of the properties should be reckoned only from Exequiel's as he is the ascendant from where the first transmission occurred, or from whom Gregoria inherited the properties in dispute. The law does not go farther than such ascendant/brother/sister in determining the lineal character of the property.17 It was also immaterial for the CA to determine whether Exequiel predeceased Placido and Dominga or whether Gregoria predeceased Exequiel. What is pertinent is that Exequiel owned the properties and he is the ascendant from whom the properties in dispute originally came. Gregoria, on the other hand, is the descendant who received the properties from Exequiel by gratuitous title.

Moreover, Article 891 simply requires that the property should have been acquired by the descendant or prepositus from an ascendant by gratuitous or lucrative title. A transmission is gratuitous or by gratuitous title when the recipient does not give anything in return.18 At risk of being repetitious, what was clearly established in this case is that the properties in dispute were owned by Exequiel (ascendant). After his death, Gregoria (descendant/prepositus) acquired the properties as inheritance.

Ascendants, descendants andcollateral relatives under Article964 of the Civil Code

Article 891 provides that the person obliged to reserve the property should be an ascendant (also known as the reservor/reservista) of the descendant/prepositus. Julia, however, is not Gregoria's ascendant; rather, she is Gregoria's collateral relative.

Article 964 of the Civil Code provides for the series of degrees among ascendants and descendants, and those who are not ascendants and descendants but come from a common ancestor, viz:chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

Art. 964. A series of degrees forms a line, which may be either direct or collateral. A direct line is that constituted by the series of degrees among ascendants and descendants.

A collateral line is that constituted by the series of degrees among persons who are not ascendants and descendants, but who come from a common ancestor. (Emphasis and italics ours)

Gregoria's ascendants are her parents, Exequiel and Leonor, her grandparents, great-grandparents and so on. On the other hand, Gregoria's descendants, if she had one, would be her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren. Not being Gregoria's ascendants, both petitioners and Julia, therefore, are her collateral relatives. In determining the collateral line of relationship, ascent is made to the common ancestor and then descent to the relative from whom the computation is made. In the case of Julia's collateral relationship with Gregoria, ascent is to be made from Gregoria to her mother Leonor (one line/degree), then to the common ancestor, that is, Julia and Leonor's parents (second line/degree), and then descent to Julia, her aunt (third line/degree). Thus, Julia is Gregoria's collateral relative within the third degree and not her ascendant.

First cousins of thedescendant/prepositus are fourthdegree relatives and cannot beconsidered reservees/reservatarios

Moreover, petitioners cannot be considered reservees/reservatarios as they are not relatives within the third degree of Gregoria from whom the properties came. The person from whom the degree should be reckoned is the descendant/prepositus?the one at the end of the line from which the property came and upon whom the property last revolved by descent.19 It is Gregoria in this case. Petitioners are Gregoria's fourth degree relatives, being her first cousins. First cousins of the prepositus are fourth degree relatives and are not reservees or reservatarios.20chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

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They cannot even claim representation of their predecessors Antonio and Valentin as Article 891 grants a personal right of reservation only to the relatives up to the third degree from whom the reservable properties came. The only recognized exemption is in the case of nephews and nieces of the prepositus, who have the right to represent their ascendants (fathers and mothers) who are the brothers/sisters of the prepositus and relatives within the third degree.21 In Florentino v. Florentino,22 the Court stated:chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

Following the order prescribed by law in legitimate succession, when there are relatives of the descendant within the third degree, the right of the nearest relative, called reservatario, over the property which the reservista (person holding it subject to reservation) should return to him, excludes that of the one more remote. The right of representation cannot be alleged when the one claiming same as a reservatario of the reservable property is not among the relatives within the third degree belong to the line from which such property came, inasmuch as the right granted by the Civil Code in Article 811 now Article 891 is in the highest degree personal and for the exclusive benefit of the designated persons who are the relatives, within the third degree, of the person from whom the reservable property came. Therefore, relatives of the fourth and the succeeding degrees can never be considered as reservatarios, since the law does not recognize them as such.

x x x Nevertheless there is right of representation on the part of reservatarios who are within the third degree mentioned by law, as in the case of nephews of the deceased person from whom the reservable property came. x x x.23 (Emphasis and underscoring ours)

The conclusion, therefore, is that while it may appear that the properties are reservable in character, petitioners cannot benefit from reserva troncal. First, because Julia, who now holds the properties in dispute, is not the other ascendant within the purview of Article 891 of the Civil Code and second, because petitioners are not Gregoria's relatives within the third degree. Hence, the CA's disposition that the complaint filed with the RTC should be dismissed, only on this point, is correct. If at all, what should apply in the distribution of Gregoria's estate are Articles 1003 and 1009 of the Civil Code, which provide:chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

Art. 1003. If there are no descendants, ascendants, illegitimate children, or a surviving spouse, the collateral relatives shall succeed to the entire estate of the deceased in accordance with the following articles.

Art. 1009. Should there be neither brothers nor sisters, nor children of brothers or sisters, the other collateral relatives shall succeed to the estate.

The latter shall succeed without distinction of lines or preference among them by reason of relationship by the whole blood.

Nevertheless, the Court is not in the proper position to determine the proper distribution of Gregoria's estate at this point as the cause of action relied upon by petitioners in their complaint filed with the RTC is based solely on reserva troncal. Further, any determination would necessarily entail reception of evidence on Gregoria's entire estate and the heirs entitled thereto, which is best accomplished in an action filed specifically for that purpose.

A reservista acquires ownership ofthe reservable property until thereservation takes place or isextinguished

Before concluding, the Court takes note of a palpable error in the RTC's disposition of the case. In upholding the right of petitioners over the properties, the RTC ordered the reconveyance of the properties to petitioners and the transfer of the titles in their names. What the RTC should have done, assuming for argument's sake that reserva troncal is applicable, is have the reservable nature of the property registered on respondent's titles. In fact, respondent, as reservista, has the duty to reserve and to annotate the reservable character of the property on the title.24 In reserva troncal, the reservista who inherits from a prepositus, whether by the latter's wish or by operation of law, acquires the inheritance by virtue of a title perfectly transferring absolute ownership. All the attributes of ownership belong to him exclusively.25chanroblesvirtualawlibrary

The reservor has the legal title and dominion to the reservable property but subject to the resolutory condition that such title is extinguished if the reservor predeceased the reservee. The reservor is a usufructuary of the reservable property. He may alienate it subject to the reservation. The transferee gets the revocable and conditional ownership of the reservor. The transferee's rights are revoked upon the survival of the reservees at the time of the death of the reservor but become indefeasible when the reservees predecease the reservor.26 (Citations omitted)

It is when the reservation takes place or is extinguished,27 that a reservatario becomes, by operation of law, the owner of the reservable property.28 In any event, the foregoing discussion does not detract from the fact that petitioners are not entitled to a reservation of the properties in dispute.

WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED. The Decision dated November 16, 2006 and Resolution dated January 17, 2007 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 77694 insofar as it dismissed the Third Amended Complaint in Civil Case No. 609-M-92 are AFFIRMED. This Decision is without prejudice to any civil action that the heirs of Gregoria

Mendoza may file for the settlement of her estate or for the determination of ownership of the properties in question.

SO ORDERED.

III. RESERVA/ RESERSION ADOPTIVA – article 39, PD 603

Art. 39. Effects of Adoption. - The adoption shall:

(1) Give to the adopted person the same rights and duties as if he were a legitimate child of the adopter: Provided, That an adopted child cannot acquire

Philippine citizenship by virtue of such adoption:

(2) Dissolve the authority vested in the natural parent or parents, except where the adopter is the spouse of the surviving natural parent;

(3) Entitle the adopted person to use the adopter's surname; and

(4) Make the adopted person a legal heir of the adopter: Provided, That if the adopter is survived by legitimate parents or ascendants and by an adopted

person, the latter shall not have more successional rights than an acknowledged natural child: Provided, further, That any property received gratuitously

by the adopted from the adopter shall revert to the adopter should the former predecease the latter without legitimate issue unless the adopted has,

during his lifetime, alienated such property: Provided, finally, That in the last case, should the adopted leave no property other than that received from

the adopter, and he is survived by illegitimate issue or a spouse, such illegitimate issue collectively or the spouse shall receive one-fourth of such

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property; if the adopted is survived by illegitimate issue and a spouse, then the former collectively shall receive one-fourth and the latter also one-fourth,

the rest in any case reverting to the adopter, observing in the case of the illegitimate issue the proportion provided for in Article 895 of the Civil

Code.chanrobles virtual law library

The adopter shall not be a legal heir of the adopted person, whose parents by nature shall inherit from him, except that if the latter are both dead, the

adopting parent or parents take the place of the natural parents in the line of succession, whether testate or interstate.

A. Banawa v. Mirano

FIRST DIVISION

G.R. No. L-24750 May 16, 1980

DOROTEO BANAWA, JULIANA MENDOZA, CASIANO AMPONIN and GLICERIA ABRENICA, Petitioners, vs. PRIMITIVA MIRANO, GREGORIA MIRANO, JUANA MIRANO and MARCIANO MIRANO, Respondents.

Jose W. Diokno for petitioners.chanrobles virtual law library

Recto Law Office for respondents.

FERNANDEZ, J.:

This is a petition for review by certiorari of the decision of the Court of Appeals promulgated on April 12, 1965 1 in CA G.R. No. 23597-R, entitled "Primitive Mirano, et al., Plaintiffs-Appellees, versus, Doroteo Banawa, et al., Defendants-Appellants", the dispositive part of which is: chanrobles virtual law library

In view of the foregoing, the appealed judgment is hereby affirmed, with costs against defendants-appellants.

The judgment of the lower court which was affirmed reads as follows: chanrobles virtual law library

WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered:chanrobles virtual law library

(a) Declaring the plaintiffs to be the owners of the two parcels of land described in paragraph 3 of the complaint; chanrobles virtual law library

(b) Ordering the defendants to deliver the possession of the said parcels of land to the plaintiffs; chanrobles virtual law library

(c) Declaring the deed of sale executed by Roman Biscocho, Paula Biscocho and Maria Carmen Mendoza in favor of Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza, dated April 4, 1940, as evidenced by Exhibit 'E' and its registration in the registry of deeds of Batangas, to be null and void; chanrobles virtual law library

(d) Declaring null and void the deed of donation, dated August 7, 1956, evidenced by Exhibit 'D' executed by the spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza in favor of the spouses Casiano Amponin and Gliceria Abrenica as well as Tax Declarations No. 26818 in the names of the spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza, and No. 26845 in the names of the spouses Casiano Amponin and Gliceria Abrenica, and the registration of the said deed of donation in the registry of deeds of Batangas; and chanrobles virtual law library

(e) Ordering the defendants to pay to the plaintiffs actual damages in the amount of P 4,500 and attorney's fees in the amount of P500.00, and the costs of this action.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

SO ORDERED. 2

The spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza both died during the pendency of this case in the Court of Appeals. They have been substituted by the petitioners Casiano Amponin and his wife Gliceria Abrenica, legally adopted daughter of one of the deceased petitioners and donee of the Carsuche property. 3 chanrobles virtual law library

The petitioners filed on May 20, 1965, a motion for reconsideration of the decision of the Court of Appeals. Said motion was denied on June 28, 1965. 4 chanrobles virtual law library

As found by the Court of Appeals, the facts are: chanrobles virtual law library

It appears that sometime in 1911, Maria Mirano a niece of appellant Juliana Mendoza, and who was then about nine years old, was taken in by the appellants-spouses, Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza, in the latter's house in Mahabang Lodlod, Taal, Batangas. Appellants spouses being childless, treated and reared her up like their own child. They hired a private tutor to teach her the rudiments of reading, writing and arithmetic. They supported her, gave her money, clothes and even jewelry. Maria reciprocated their care and affection by helping with the household chores.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

A few years later, the spouses opened up a store for general merchandise in barrio Lutucan, Sariaya, Quezon, from which they derived considerable income and which enabled them to acquire several parcels of land.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

On July 31, 1949, after a lingering illness, Maria Mirano died in Taal, Batangas while still living with the spouses. At the time of her death she left as her only nearest relatives the herein plaintiffs, namely Primitiva Mirano, who is a surviving sister, and Gregoria, Juana and Marciano, all surnamed Mirano, who are the children of a deceased brother, Martin Mirano.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The parties do not dispute the Identity of the two parcels of land in controversy, which are described in paragraph 3 of the complaint as follows: of 42


1. A parcel of sugar land situated in the Barrio of Iba, Taal, Batangas, with an area of 44,200 square meters, more or less. Bounded on the North, by Ravine; on the East, by the property of Leodovico Garcia; on the South by the property of Gregorio Amponin; and on the West, by the property of Gregorio Maria Aniversario (now Doroteo Banawa). Under Tax Declaration No. 25994 in the name of Maria Mirano and assessed at P2,210.00.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

2. A parcel of sugar land situated in the barrio of Carsuche, Taal, Batangas, with an area of 54,093 square meters, more or less. Bounded on the North, by the property of Agapito Aro and Alley; on the East, by an Alley; on the South, by the properties of Filomeno Diomampo, Gregorio de la Rosa and Andres Moratilla; and on the West, by the property of Agapito Aro. Under Tax Declaration No. 19786 in the name of Maria Mirano and assessed at P2,760.00.

For purposes of clearness and convenience, and since the respective assertions and evidences adduced by the parties regarding the two parcels of land are in sharp divergence, we shall refer to the first parcel as the Iba Property and to the second parcel as the Carsuche property and, moreover, we shall treat and discuss the two separately.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Parcel 1, or the Iba Property.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The parties agree that the Iba Property was originally owned by Placido Punzalan from whom it was acquired on May 5, 1921. Plaintiffs' evidence upon this point tends to show that the acquisition of the said parcel of land was pursuant to a deed of sale contained in a public instrument acknowledged before Notary Public Ramon A. Cabrera on the date aforesaid, a photostatic copy of which was introduced in evidence as Exhibit 'A', the same having been secured from an original copy on file with the Division of Archives, Bureau of Libraries. The deed of sale in question states that the Iba property consisted formerly of two parcels of land and that they were sold for the amount of P2,000.00 in favor of Maria Mirano. Defendant Doroteo Banawa impliedly admitted the execution of this notarial document when he declared that in the execution of the document concerning the purchase of the Iba property from Punzalan the notary public charged him P20.00 and another P5.00 for stamps in the name of Maria Mirano since 1923 (Exhs. 'A-1' to 'A-7').chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

By contrast, defendants' claim of ownership over the Iba property is predicated upon their assertion that the money used in buying said land pertained to the spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza. Defendants contend that since 1919 Placido Punzalan borrowed money from defendant spouses on three different occasions for the sums of P1,200.00, P1,800.00 and P1,080.00, respectively, each of which was evidenced by Exhs. '1', '2', and '3', respectively. Upon the failure of Placido Punzalan to discharge said obligations in 1921, he agreed to sell the land aforementioned to the spouses for P 3,700.00, but as the total value of the three loans was P4,080.00, Punzalan had to reimburse to said spouses the difference of P380.00. The document of sale stated the price to be only P2,000.00 in view of the fact that Doroteo Banawa had only P25.00 with him when the deed was prepared by the notary public, and the latter was charging P10.00 for every one thousand pesos mentioned as the consideration of the contract, Defendants likewise maintain that the sale was made to appear in favor of Maria Mirano because said spouses being already old, they want to leave something to Maria Mirano for her to lean upon when they would have been gone. They, however, made Maria understand that although the property was placed under her name, they would continue to be the owners thereof, to administer and enjoy the fruits of the same as long as they live, and that she would become the owner of the land only after their death. Maria supposedly expressed her conformity to and appreciation for the said arrangement. Maria Mirano was 19 years old when the deed of sale was executed.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

Parcel 2, or the Carsuche Property.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

There is no dispute between the parties that the Carsuche property was acquired by way of purchase from its original owners, to wit: Roman Biscocho, his sister Paula Biscocho, and sister-in-law Carmen Mendoza. The sale took place sometime in December, 1935. There is, however, a sharp conflict of evidence between the parties concerning the form of the document evidencing the same and in whose favor the sale was made at that time. The plaintiffs claim that the sale was evidenced by a public instrument executed before and ratified by Notary Public Vicente Ilagan of Taal, Batangas, and that the vendee mentioned in the said document was Maria Mirano. The defendants, on the other hand, assert that the sale was evidenced by a private writing prepared in the handwriting of Roman Biscocho and that it was in favor of the spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza. Neither the public instrument allegedly ratified by Atty. Ilagan nor the private writing supposedly prepared by Roman Biscocho was presented before the lower court.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

After laying the proper predicate for the presentation of secondary evidence, the plaintiffs presented Atty. Vicente Ilagan and Roman Biscocho to testify upon the execution of the aforesaid public instrument in December, 1935. These two declared that sometime in December, 1935, the spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza, Maria Mirano, Roman Biscocho, Paula Biscocho and Carmen Mendoza, accompanied by Atty. Regino Aro, went to the office of Atty. Ilagan in Taal, Batangas; that Atty. Aro, who was a classmate of Atty. Ilagan in the law school, asked the latter's permission to use his typewriter on which he prepared a document in English and which he asked Atty. Ilagan to ratify; that Atty. Ilagan translated into Tagalog the contents of the said document to the parties and. the witnesses, after which they all signed the same; that the document involved the sale of the Carsuche property in favor of Maria Mirano: that after paying him P20.00 for his services which Atty. Ilagan would not accept at first, Doroteo Banawa asked Atty. Ilagan in Tagalog whether the document that he ratified was 'strong enough' (Matibay) to safeguard the rights of Maria Mirano, to which Atty. Ilagan answered in the affirmative.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

Doroteo Banawa, on the other hand, stated that on being offered the Carsuche property by the owners thereof, they agreed on the purchase price of P3,700.00 of which a down payment of P1,200.00 was made and, later, an additional sum of P100.00 was given to Roman Biscocho, both payments being evidenced by a receipt dated December 15, 1936 (Exh. '9'). A few days later, Roman Biscocho prepared in his own handwriting a private document selling the Carsuche property in favor of the spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza for the sum of P4,000.00, the vendors having asked for a P300.00 increase in price. Doroteo Banawa, thereafter brought said private document to the municipal treasurer of Taal, Batangas, to whom he expressed the desire to have the land declared in the name of Maria Mirano so that the latter might attend to the payment of taxes over the land whenever he was away. This wish of Doroteo Banawa was done by his thumb-marking an affidavit, thus accounting for the fact that said land appears in the name of Maria Mirano in the tax declarations covering the same from 1934 to 1956. 5

The petitioners assign the following errors: chanrobles virtual law library

I chanrobles virtual law library

THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN LAW IN RULING THAT THE PLACING OF IBA PROPERTY IN THE NAME OF THE LATE MARIA MIRANO WAS IN THE NATURE OF A DONATION INTER-VIVOS.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

IIchanrobles virtual law library

THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN LAW IN RULING THAT PETITIONERS' INTERPRETATION OF ARTICLE 632 OF THE OLD CIVIL CODE IS TOO LITERAL AND IGNORES THE RATIONALE OF THE LEGAL PROVISION.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

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IIIchanrobles virtual law library

THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN LAW IN RULING THAT THE 'EXCEPTIVE' CLAUSE' OF ARTICLE 1448 OF THE CIVIL CODE IS APPLICABLE IN THE PRESENT CASE.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

IV chanrobles virtual law library

THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN LAW IN RULING THAT SECTION 5, RULE 100 OF THE OLD RULES OF COURT DOES NOT APPLY IN THE INSTANT CASE BECAUSE MARIA MIRANO WAS NOT LEGALLY ADOPTED.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

Vchanrobles virtual law library

THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS GRAVELY ERRED IN LAW IN RULING WITH RESPECT TO THE CARSUCHE PROPERTY (LOT NO. 2) THAT THE DEED OF SALE EXECUTED IN 1940 IN FAVOR OF THE PETITIONERS DOROTEO BANAWA AND HIS WIFE JULIANA MENDOZA AND WHICH WAS DULY REGISTERED DID NOT IMPAIR THE PRETENDED SALE TO MARIA MIRANO. 6

The first, second, third and fourth errors assigned refer to the Iba property, parcel 1, while the fifth error assigned refers to the Carsuche property, Lot 2. 7 chanrobles virtual law library

As may be discerned from the assignment of errors, the basic issue is the ownership of the two parcels of land in question. The plaintiffs appellees, respondents herein, assert title to the lands as heirs of Maria Mirano. Defendants-appellants, petitioners herein, claim ownership over them by virtue of purchase from the original owners.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Considering that in the case at bar the findings of fact of the Court of Appeals are not contrary to those of the trial court, a minute scrutiny by this Court of said findings is not necessary. In Tolentino vs. de Jesus, et al., 8 this Court held: chanrobles virtual law library

The findings of facts of the respondent Court of Appeals are conclusive on the parties and on this Court (Tamayo vs. Callejo, L- 25563, July 28, 1972, 46 SCRA 27; Nery, et al. vs. Lorenzo, et al., L-23096 & L-23376, April 27, 1972, 44 SCRA 43 1; Villacrucis vs. CA, L-29831, March 29, 1972, 44 SCRA 176; Dela Cruz, et al. vs. CA, L-24000, Nov. 29, 1971, 42 SCRA 68; Naga Dev. Corp. vs. CA, L-28175, Sept. 30, 1971, 41 SCRA 105, 115; Lacson & Basilio vs. Pineda, et al., L-28523, July 16, 1971, 40 SCRA 35; Qui;ano, et al. vs. CA, et al., L-23024, May 31, 1971, 39 SCRA 227; Reyes, et al. vs. CA, et al., L-28466, March 27, 1971, 38 SCRA 138, 142; Gotamco Hermanas vs. Shotwell, et al., L-22519, March 27, 1971, 38 SCRA 112-117; Limjoco vs. CA, L-20656, Feb. 27, 1971, 37 SCRA 663-669; De Garcia, et al. vs. CA, L-20264, Jan. 30, 1971, 37 SCRA 130, 136-137; Simeon vs. Pe;a, L-29049, Dec. 29, 1970, 36 SCRA 611), unless (1) the conclusion is a finding grounded entirely on speculation, surmise and conjectures; (2) the inference made is manifestly mistaken; (3) there is grave abuse of discretion; (4) the judgment is based on misapprehension of facts; (5) the Court of Appeals went beyond the issues of the case and its findings are contrary to the admission of both appellant and appellees [Roque vs. Buan, L-22459, Oct. 31, 1967, 21 SCRA 648]; (6) the findings of facts of the Court of Appeals are contrary to those of the trial court; (7) said findings of facts are conclusions without citation of specific evidence on which they are based; (8) the facts set forth in the petition as well as in the petitioner's main and reply briefs are not disputed by the respondents [Garcia vs. CA, L-26490, June 30, 1970, 33 SCRA 622] ; and (9) when the finding of fact of the Court of Appeals is premised on the absence of evidence and is contradicted by evidence on record [Salazar vs. Gutierrez, L-21727, May 29, 1970, 33 SCRA 243].

The instant case does not fall under any of the exceptions.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

However, all the issues raised by the petitioners shall be passed upon individually.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The first error assigned reads: chanrobles virtual law library

The Honorable Court of Appeals gravely erred in law in ruling that the placing of the Iba Properly in the name of the late Maria Mirano was in the nature of a donation inter-vivos.

The respondents 9 correctly pointed out that neither the Court of Appeals nor the Court of First Instance of Batangas categorically stated that the placing of the properties in the name of Maria Mirano was in the nature of a donation inter-vivos. In rejecting the petitioners' contention that a donation mortis causa was executed, the Court of Appeals said that, under the facts and circumstances narrated by the petitioners, the placing of the Iba property in the name of Maria Mirano-if it was to be called a donation at all - was not in the nature of a donation mortis causa, but rather it would be in the nature of a donationinter-vivos, giving its reasons and citing the applicable law and decisions of this Court on the matter. The Court of First Instance made the same hypothetical conclusion. 10 chanrobles virtual law library

The finding of the Court of First Instance of Batangas which was sustained by the Court of Appeals is that what was donated by the spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza to Maria Mirano was the money used in the purchase of the lands in question. This conclusion of the Court of First Instance of Batangas was supported by the testimony of Macario B. Aro, a nephew of the deceased Doroteo Banawa, that the money used by Maria Mirano in the purchase of the Iba and Carsuche properties was given to her by, Doroteo Banawa. 11chanrobles virtual law library

If the money used by Maria Mirano in purchasing the properties was given to her by the spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza, or by either of them, then the money had belonged to her. Maria Mirano purchased and paid for the said properties with her money. As a matter or fact, the deed of sale, Exhibit "A", 12 recites as follows: chanrobles virtual law library

Que en consideracion a la suma de Dos Mil Pesos moneda filipina (P2,000.00) que me ha pagado Maria Mirano ... .

It is also contended by the petitioners that the deeds of sale executed by the owners of the land in favor of Maria Mirano were simulated contracts intended to shortcut two different transactions: (1) a sale in favor of the spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza; and (2) a donation of lands by the spouses in favor of Maria Mirano. 13 chanrobles virtual law library

There are two kinds of simulated contracts, namely: the absolutely simulated contract and the relatively simulated one. In both instances, however, their nullity is based on the want of true consent of the parties. There is no intent to be bound or the true intent is hidden or concealed. Such contracts are even generally regarded as fraudulent with intent of injuring third persons. The purpose, therefore, of a simulated contract which may be annulled is to conceal the parties' true intent, or to deceive or defraud third persons.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

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From the record, there is no showing of deception or fraud, nor of concealment of intent of the parties as to the sale of the Iba property by the vendors in favor of Maria Mirano. The transactions which transpired were purely: (1) donations of money or things representing or equivalent to money by the spouses in favor of Maria Mirano which could be made and accepted verbally; and (2) purchase of lands by Maria Mirano with the use of that money or credits (pre-existing indebtedness in favor of the spouses) as consideration thereof.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

The petitioners' contention that "the contract of sale had been intended to be a contract of sale between the vendors and the spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza" has no merit. The petitioners were present when the sales were made to Maria Mirano. They were the ones who caused the titles to the properties to be placed in the name of Maria Mirano because they wished "that after our death Maria Mirano could have something for her maintenance. 14 Moreover, the testimony of Vicente Ilagan, the notary public before whom the deed of sale was executed, to the effect that he was asked by Doroteo Banawa in Tagalog "Kung matibay ang documenting ito para kay Maria" 15 and to which query he answered, "Yes, Sir", 16 supports this conclusion. The conduct of the spouses at the time of the execution of the contracts are inconsistent with those which the petitioners, the late spouses and their successors-in interest, now assert. Their intention to make Maria Mirano the owner of the said parcels of land was clearly shown by their conduct at the time of the execution of the deeds of sale which influenced the vendors to believe that Maria Mirano was indeed the vendee in their agreement. The petitioners had full knowledge of the facts surrounding the execution of the document of sale. They are equitably estopped 17 to deny that the transfer of the lands in question in favor of Maria Mirano was the actual and true intent of the parties as embodied in the documents of sale of the Iba and Carsuche properties. The documents are what they purport to be - contracts of sale from the vendors to the vendee, Maria Mirano.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The petitioners submit that since there was transfer of title to the land in litigation to Maria Mirano when the purchase price was in fact actually paid by the petitioners-spouses, an implied trust was created. The present law on implied trust is Article 1448 of the New Civil Code which provides: chanrobles virtual law library

Art. 1448. There is an implied trust when property is sold, and the legal estate is granted to one party but the price is paid by another for the purpose of having beneficial interest of the property. The former is the trustee, while the latter is the beneficiary. However if the person to whom the title is conveyed is a child, legitimate or illegitimate, of the one paying the price of the sale, no trust is implied by law, it being disputably presumed that there is a gift in favor of the child.

The transactions in question took place before the Civil Code of the Philippines became effective on August 30, 1950. Hence Article 1448 of said Code is not applicable. 18 chanrobles virtual law library

Moreover, there is no showing that Maria Mirano bought the lands in question in trust for the petitioners.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

The petitioners also claim that they have become owners of the properties by acquisitive prescription under Article 1957 of the Old Civil Code which provides: chanrobles virtual law library

Ownership and other real rights in immovable property shall prescribe by possession in good faith and under a just title for ten years as between persons present and for twenty years as between absentees.

The above-cited provision speaks of two essential requirements: (1) possession for ten (10) years as between persons present and twenty (20) years, for absentees; and (2) a just title.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

As regards the Iba property (Lot No. 1), petitioners have not presented any title, just or otherwise, to support their claim. And Article 1954 of the Old Civil Code provides, further, that a "just title must be proven; it never can be presumed."chanrobles virtual law library

Not having a just title, as required by Article 1957 of the Old Civil Code, the petitioners cannot invoke prescription with respect to the Iba property.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

The petitioners also assert ownership by acquisitive prescription over the Iba property under Section 41 of the Code of Civil Procedure. The pertinent portion of Section 41 of the Code of Civil Procedure reads chanrobles virtual law library

Ten years actual adverse possession by any person claiming to be the owner for that time of any land or interest in land, uninterruptedly continued for ten years by occupancy, descent, grants, or otherwise in whatever way such occupancy may have commenced or continued, shall vest in every actual occupant or possessor of such land a full and complete title, saving to the persons under disabilities the rights secured by the next section. In order to constitute such title by prescription or adverse possession, the possession by the claimant or by the person under or through whom he claims must have been actual open, public, continuous, under a claim of title exclusive of any other right and adverse to all other claimants ...

It is a fact that while Maria Mirano was alive she possessed the property in question as the owner thereof Hence, it is error for the petitioners to claim ownership over the Iba property by acquisitive prescription under Article 41 of the Code of Civil Procedure for their possession of the said property became adverse and exclusive only in July 1949 after Maria Mirano's death. From 1949 to the date of the filing in 1957 of the present action by the respondents only eight years had elapsed.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The second error assigned is: chanrobles virtual law library

The Honorable Court of Appeals gravely erred in law in ruling that petitioners' interpretation of Article 632 of the Old Civil Code is too literal and ignores the rationale of the legal provision.

Article 632 of the Old Civil Code provides: "Donations of personal property may be made verbally or in writing. Verbal donation requires the simultaneous delivery of the gift. In the absence of this requisite the donation shall produce no effect, unless made in writing and accepted in the same form."chanrobles virtual law library

It is contended by the petitioners that oral donation of personal property requires simultaneous delivery of the gift. As regards the Iba property, the consideration given by Maria Mirano for the purchase of the said property from Placido Punzalan was the pre- existing debts of the latter to the spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The contention of the petitioners that there was no simultaneous delivery of the credits to Maria Mirano is not meritorious. Delivery may be actual or constructive.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

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Actual delivery consists in the giving of actual possession to the vendee or his agent, as for example, in manually transferring the possession of a thing from the vendor to the vendee.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

Constructive delivery is a general term comprehending all those acts which, although not conferring physical possession of the thing, have been held by construction of law equivalent to acts of real delivery, as for example, the giving of the key to the house, as constructive delivery of the house from the vendor to the vendee.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

In the instant case, the oral donation of the gift consisting of pre-existing obligations of the vendor, Placido Punzalan, was simultaneous or concurrent with the constructive delivery thereof to Maria Mirano when the spouses consented to the execution of the deed of sale of the Iba property in favor of Maria Mirano. The execution of the said deed of sale constituted payment by the vendor, Placido Punzalan, of his outstanding obligations due to the spouses, Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza. Consequently, there was constructive transfer of possession of the incorporeal rights of the spouses over the property in question to Maria Mirano.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

It is no longer necessary to discuss the third error assigned because of the holding that Article 1448 of the New Civil Code has no retroactive application to the instant case.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

Anent the fourth error assigned, the petitioners urge that the donor spouses are entitled to the land in question by virtue of Section 5, Rule 100 of the Old Rules of Court, the pertinent portion of which reads: chanrobles virtual law library

... In case of the death of the child, his parents and relatives by nature, and not by adoption, shall be his legal heirs, except as to property received or inherited by the adopted child from either of his parents by adoption, which shall become the property of the latter or their legitimate relatives who shall participate in the order established by the Civil Code for intestate estates.

The submission of the petitioners is that extrajudicial adoption is within the contemplation and spirit of this rule of reversion adoptive. However, the rule involved specifically provides for the case of the judicially adopted child. It is an elementary rule of construction that when the language of the law is clear and unequivocal, the law must be taken to mean exactly what it says.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The fifth error assigned is: chanrobles virtual law library

The Honorable Court of Appeals gravely erred in law in ruling with respect to the Carsuche property (Lot No. 2) that the deed of sale executed in 1940 in favor of the petitioner Doroteo Banawa and his wife Juliana Mendoza did not impair the pretended sale to Maria Mirano.

The Court of Appeals found that there was a sale of the Carsuche property in 1935 in favor of Maria Mirano and that such sale was embodied in a public instrument. However, in 1940 the same land was sold to the petitioners. The sale was duly registered. The petitioners immediately entered into the possession of the land as owners.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The claim of the petitioners that they have acquired by acquisitive prescription the Carsuche property (Lot No. 2) is meritorious.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

Section 40 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides: "Period of prescription as to real estate - An action for recovery of title to, or possession of, real property, or an interest therein, can only be brought within ten years after the cause of action accrues." chanrobles virtual law library

That the aforesaid Section 40 governs the instant case is clear from Article 1116 of the New Civil Code which provides that "prescriptions already running before the effectivity of the New Civil Code, shall be governed by the laws previously in force." The prescriptive period commenced to run since 1940, the date the sale in favor of the Banawas was registered with the Register of Deeds of Batangas. Hence the Code of Civil Procedure governs.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The instant case, not having been filed within ten (10) years from the time the cause of action accrued in 1940, prescribed under Section 40 of the Code of Civil Procedure in 1950 because the same was filed only in 1957, seventeen (17) years later.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The possession of the Banawas over the Carsuche property ripened into full ownership in 1950, ten (10) years after 1940, when the possession of the petitioner-spouses which was actual, open, public and continuous, under a claims of title exclusive of any other right and adverse to all other claim commenced. (Sec. 41, Code of Civil Procedure). The sale in favor of the Banawas was registered in 1940 with the Register of Deeds of Batangas. The actual and adverse possession of the petitioner-spouses was continued by their present successors.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The alleged bad faith of the petitioners in that they knew that the land was previously sold to Maria Mirano is of no consequence because Section 41 of the Code of Civil Procedure provides that there is prescription "in whatever way such occupancy may have commenced." As held in one case "... guilty knowledge is of no moment for under the law title by prescription may be acquired in whatever way possession may have been commenced or continued and so long as the possessor had possessed the land openly, publicly, continuously and under a claim of title for a period of over ten years." 19chanrobles virtual law library

The trial court found that the two parcels of land in question with a combined area of a little less than ten (10) hectares had an average annual net yield of P 500.00. A total amount of P 4,500.00 as actual damages was awarded in as much as Maria Mirano had been dead for nine (9) years when the decision of the trial court was rendered. An adjustment should be made in view of the finding of this Court that the Carsuche property, Lot 2, belongs to the petitioners.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The Iba property, Lot 1, is about 45% of the combined area of the two lands in question. Forty-five percent (45 %) of the annual net income of P500.00 is equivalent to P225.00. Maria Mirano has been dead for about thirty-one (31) years now. During all this period, the petitioners have been in possession of the Iba property and receiving the products thereof. They should pay as actual damages the total amount of P6,975.00 representing the net income for the period of thirty-one (31) years on the basis of P225.00 a year.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

The respondents are also entitled to attorney's fees in the amount of P1,000.00.chanroblesvirtualawlibrary chanrobles virtual law library

WHEREFORE, the decision of the Court of Appeals is hereby affirmed as to the Iba property (Lot No. 1) but reversed as to the Carsuche property (Lot No. 2) which was acquired by the spouses Doroteo Banawa and Juliana Mendoza who could validly donate the said property to Casiano Amponin and Gliceria Abrenica The petitioners are ordered to pay the private respondents the total amount of Six Thousand Nine Hundred Seventy-Five Pesos

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(P6,975.00) as actual damages and the amount of One Thousand Pesos (P1,000.00) as attorney's fees, without pronouncement as to costs.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

SO ORDERED.

Guerrero, De Castro and Melencio-Herrera, JJ., concur.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Teehankee (Chairman), concurs in the result.

B. Teotico v. Del Val

EN BANC

G.R. No. L-18753 March 26, 1965

VICENTE B. TEOTICO, Petitioner-Appellant, vs. ANA DEL VAL, ETC., oppositor-appellant.

Antonio Gonzales for petitioner-appellant.J.C. Zulueta, G. D. David and N. J. Quisumbing for oppositor-appellant.

BAUTISTA ANGELO, J.:chanrobles virtual law library

Maria Mortera y Balsalobre Vda. de Aguirre died on July 14, 1955 in the City of Manila leaving properties worth P600,000.00. She left a will written in Spanish which she executed at her residence at No. 2 Legarda St., Quiapo, Manila. She affixed her signature at the bottom of the will and on the left margin of each and every page thereof in the presence of Pilar Borja, Pilar C. Sanchez, and Modesto Formilleza, who in turn affixed their signatures below the attestation clause and on the left margin of each and every page of the will in the presence of the testatrix and of each other. Said will was acknowledged before Notary Public Niceforo S. Agaton by the testatrix and her witnesses.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

In said will the testatrix made the following preliminary statement: that she was possessed of the full use of her mental faculties; that she was free from illegal pressure or influence of any kind from the beneficiaries of the will and from any influence of fear or threat; that she freely and spontaneously executed said will and that she had neither ascendants nor descendants of any kind such that she could freely dispose of all her estate.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Among the many legacies and devises made in the will was one of P20,000.00 to Rene A. Teotico, married to the testatrix's niece named Josefina Mortera. To said spouses the testatrix left the usufruct of her interest in the Calvo building, while the naked ownership thereof she left in equal parts to her grandchildren who are the legitimate children of said spouses. The testatrix also instituted Josefina Mortera as her sole and universal heir to all the remainder of her properties not otherwise disposed of in the will.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

On July 17, 1955, Vicente B. Teotico filed a petition for the probate of the will before the Court of First Instance of Manila which was set for hearing on September 3, 1955 after the requisite publication and service to all parties concerned.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Ana del Val Chan, claiming to be an adopted child of Francisca Mortera, a deceased sister of the testatrix, as well as an acknowledged natural child of Jose Mortera, a deceased brother of the same testatrix, filed on September 2, 1955 an opposition to the probate of the will alleging the following grounds: (1) said will was not executed as required by law; (2) the testatrix was physically and mentally incapable to execute the will at the time of its execution; and (3) the will was executed under duress, threat or influence of fear.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Vicente B. Teotico, filed a motion to dismiss the opposition alleging that the oppositor had no legal personality to intervene. The probate court, after due hearing, allowed the oppositor to intervene as an adopted child of Francisca Mortera, and on June 17, 1959, the oppositor amended her opposition by alleging, the additional ground that the will is inoperative as to the share of Dr. Rene Teotico because the latter was the physician who took care of the testatrix during her last illness.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

After the parties had presented their evidence, the probate court rendered its decision on November 10, 1960, admitting the will to probate but declaring the disposition made in favor of Dr. Rene Teotico void with the statement that the portion to be vacated by the annulment should pass to the testatrix's heirs by way of intestate succession.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Petitioner Teotico, together with the universal heir Josefina Mortera, filed a motion for reconsideration of that part of the decision which declares the portion of the estate to be vacated by the nullity of the legacy made to Dr. Rene Teotico as passing to the legal heirs, while the oppositor filed also a motion for reconsideration of the portion of the judgment which decrees the probate of the will. On his part, Dr. Rene Teotico requested leave to intervene and to file a motion for reconsideration with regard to that portion of the decision which nullified the legacy made in his favor.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

The motions for reconsideration above adverted to having been denied, both petitioner and oppositor appealed from the decision, the former from that portion which nullifies the legacy in favor of Dr. Rene Teotico and declares the vacated portion as subject of succession in favor of the legal heirs, and the latter from that portion which admits the will to probate. And in this instance both petitioner and oppositor assign several errors which, stripped of non-essentials, may be boiled down to the following: (1) Has oppositor Ana del Val Chan the right to intervene in this proceeding?; (2) Has the will in question been duly admitted to probate?; (3) Did the probate court commit an error in passing on the intrinsic validity of the provisions of the will and in determining who should inherit the portion to be vacated by the nullification of the legacy made in favor of Dr. Rene Teotico?chanrobles virtual law library

These issues will be discussed separately.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

1. It is a well-settled rule that in order that a person may be allowed to intervene in a probate proceeding he must have an interest in the estate, or in the will, or in the property to be affected by it either as executor or as a claimant of the estate (Ngo The Hua v. Chung Kiat Hua, et al., L-17091, September 30, 1963); and an interested party has been defined as one who would be benefited by the estate such as an heir or one who has a claim against the estate like a creditor (Idem). On the other hand, in Saguinsin v. Lindayag, et al., L-17750, December 17, 1962, this Court said:

According to Section 2, Rule 80 of the Rules of Court, a petition for letters of administration must be filed by an "interested person." An interested party has been defined in this connection as one who would be benefited by the estate, such as an heir, or one who has a claim against the estate, such as a

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creditor (Intestate Estate of Julio Magbanwa 40 O.G. 1171). And it is well settled in this jurisdiction that in civil actions as well as special proceedings, the interest required in order that a person may be a party thereto must be material and direct, and not merely indirect or contingent (Trillana vs. Crisostomo, G.R. No. L-3370, August 22, 1951; Rapinosa vs. Barrion, 70 Phil. 311).

The question now may be asked: Has oppositor any interest in any of the provisions of the will, and, in the negative, would she acquire any right to the estate in the event that the will is denied probate?chanrobles virtual law library

Under the terms of the will, oppositor has no right to intervene because she has no interest in the estate either as heir, executor, or administrator, nor does she have any claim to any property affected by the will, because it nowhere appears therein any provision designating her as heir, legatee or devisee of any portion of the estate. She has also no interest in the will either as administratrix or executrix. Neither has she any claim against any portion of the estate because she is not a co-owner thereof, and while she previously had an interest in the Calvo building located in Escolta, she had already disposed of it long before the execution of the will.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

In the supposition that, the will is denied probate, would the oppositor acquire any interest in any portion of the estate left by the testatrix? She would acquire such right only if she were a legal heir of the deceased, but she is not under our Civil Code. It is true that oppositor claims to be an acknowledged natural child of Jose Mortera, a deceased brother of the deceased, and also an adopted daughter of Francisca Mortera, a deceased sister of the testatrix, but such claim cannot give her any comfort for, even if it be true, the law does not give her any right to succeed to the estate of the deceased sister of both Jose Mortera and Francisca Mortera. And this is so because being an illegitimate child she is prohibited by law from succeeding to the legitimate relatives of her natural father. Thus, Article 992 of our Civil Code provides: "An illegitimate child has no right to inherit ab intestato from the legitimate children and relatives of his father or mother; ... ." And the philosophy behind this provision is well expressed in Grey v. Fabie, 68 Phil. 128, as follows:

Between the natural child and the legitimate relatives of the father or mother who acknowledged it, the Code denies any right of succession. They cannot be called relatives and they have no right to inherit. Of course, there is a blood tie, but the law does not recognize it. On this, article 943 is based upon the reality of the facts and upon the presumption will of the interested parties; the natural child is disgracefully looked down upon by the legitimate family; the legitimate family is, in turn, hated by the natural child; the latter considers the privileged condition of the former and the resources of which it is thereby deprived; the former, in turn, sees in the natural child nothing but the product of sin, a palpable evidence of a blemish upon the family. Every relation is ordinarily broken in life; the law does no more than recognize this truth, by avoiding further grounds of resentment. (7 Manresa, 3d., p. 110.)

The oppositor cannot also derive comfort from the fact that she is an adopted child of Francisca Mortera because under our law the relationship established by adoption is limited solely to the adopter and the adopted and does not extend to the relatives of the adopting parents or of the adopted child except only as expressly provided for by law. Hence, no relationship is created between the adopted and the collaterals of the adopting parents. As a consequence, the adopted is an heir of the adopter but not of the relatives of the adopter.

The relationship established by the adoption, however, is limited to the adopting parent, and does not extend to his other relatives, except as expressly provided by law. Thus, the adopted child cannot be considered as a relative of the ascendants and collaterals of the adopting parents, nor of the legitimate children which they may have after the adoption, except that the law imposes certain impediments to marriage by reason of adoption. Neither are the children of the adopted considered as descendants of the adopter. The relationship created is exclusively between the adopter and the adopted, and does not extend to the relatives of either. (Tolentino, Civil Code of the Philippines, Vol. 1, p. 652).chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Relationship by adoption is limited to adopter and adopted, and does not extend to other members of the family of either; but the adopted is prohibited to marry the children of the adopter to avoid scandal. (An Outline of Philippine Civil Law by Justice Jose B. L. Reyes and Ricardo C. Puno, Vol. 1, p. 313; See also Caguioa, Comments and Cases on Civil Law 1955, Vol 1, pp. 312-313; Paras, Civil Code of the Philippines, 1959 ed., Vol. 1, p. 515)

It thus appears that the oppositor has no right to intervene either as testamentary or as legal heir in this probate proceeding contrary to the ruling of the court a quo.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

2. The next question to be determined is whether the will Exhibit A was duly admitted to probate. Oppositor claims that the same should not have been admitted not only because it was not properly attested to but also because it was procured thru pressure and influence and the testatrix affixed her signature by mistake believing that it contained her true intent.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

The claim that the will was not properly attested to is contradicted by the evidence of record. In this respect it is fit that we state briefly the declarations of the instrumental witnesses.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Pilar Borja testified that the testatrix was in perfect state of health at the time she executed the will for she carried her conversation with her intelligently; that the testatrix signed immediately above the attestation clause and on each and every page thereof at the left-hand margin in the presence of the three instrumental witnesses and the notary public; that it was the testatrix herself who asked her and the other witnesses to act as such; and that the testatrix was the first one to sign and later she gave the will to the witnesses who read and signed it.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Pilar G. Sanchez also testified that she knew the testatrix since 1945; that it was the testatrix herself who asked her to be a witness to the will; that the testatrix was the first one to sign and she gave the will later to the witnesses to sign and afterwards she gave it to the notary public; that on the day of the execution of the will the testatrix was in the best of health.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

Modesto Formilleza also testified that he was asked by the testatrix to be one of the witnesses to the will; that he read and understood the attestation clause before he signed the document, and all the witnesses spoke either in Spanish or in Tagalog. He finally said that the instrumental witnesses and the testatrix signed the will at the same time and place and identified their signatures.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

This evidence which has not been successfully refuted proves conclusively that the will was duly executed because it was signed by the testatrix and her instrumental witnesses and the notary public in the manner provided for by law.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

The claim that the will was procured by improper pressure and influence is also belied by the evidence. On this point the court a quo made the following observation:

The circumstance that the testatrix was then living under the same roof with Dr. Rene Teotico is no proof adequate in law to sustain the conclusion that there was improper pressure and undue influence. Nor is the alleged fact of isolation of the testatrix from the oppositor and her witnesses, for their supposed failure to see personally the testatrix, attributable to the vehemence of Dr. Rene Teotico, to exclude visitors, took place years after the execution of the will on May 17, 1951. Although those fact may have some weight to support the theory of the oppositor, yet they must perforce yield to

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the weightier fact that nothing could have prevented the testatrix, had she really wanted to from subsequently revoking her 1951 will if it did not in fact reflect and express her own testamentary dispositions. For, as testified to by the oppositor and her witnesses, the testatrix was often seen at the Escolta, in Quiapo and Sta. Cruz, Manila, walking and accompanied by no one. In fact, on different occasions, each of them was able to talk with her.

We have examined the evidence on the matter and we are fully in accord with the foregoing observation. Moreover, the mere claim that Josefina Mortera and her husband Rene Teotico had the opportunity to exert pressure on the testatrix simply because she lived in their house several years prior to the execution of the will and that she was old and suffering from hypertension in that she was virtually isolated from her friends for several years prior to her death is insufficient to disprove what the instrumental witnesses had testified that the testatrix freely and voluntarily and with full consciousness of the solemnity of the occasion executed the will under consideration. The exercise of improper pressure and undue influence must be supported by substantial evidence and must be of a kind that would overpower and subjugate the mind of the testatrix as to destroy her free agency and make her express the will of another rather than her own (Coso v. Deza, 42 0. G. 596). The burden is on the person challenging the will that such influence was exerted at the time of its execution, a matter which here was not done, for the evidence presented not only is insufficient but was disproved by the testimony of the instrumental witnesses.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

3. The question of whether the probate court could determine the intrinsic validity of the provisions of a will has been decided by this Court in a long line of decisions among which the following may be cited:

Opposition to the intrinsic validity or legality of the provisions of the will cannot be entertained in Probate proceeding because its only purpose is merely to determine if the will has been executed in accordance with the requirements of the law." (Palacios v. Palacios, 58 0. G. 220)chanrobles virtual law library

... The authentication of a will decides no other questions than such as touch upon the capacity of the testator and the compliance with those requisites or solemnities which the law prescribes for the validity of wills. It does not determine nor even by implication prejudge the validity or efficiency of the provisions, these may be impugned as being vicious or null, notwithstanding its authentication. The questions relating to these points remain entirely unaffected, and may be raised even after the will has been authenticated. ...chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

From the fact that the legalization of a will does not validate the provisions therein contained, it does not follow that such provision lack the efficiency, or fail to produce the effects which the law recognizes when they are not impugned by anyone. In the matter of wills it is a fundamental doctrine that the will of the testator is the law governing the interested parties, and must be punctually complied with in so far as it is not contrary to the law or to public morals. (Monta�ano v. Suesa, 14 Phil. 676, 679-680)chanrobles virtual law library

To establish conclusively as against everyone, and once for all, the facts that a will was executed with the formalities required by law and that the testator was in a condition to make a will, is the only purpose of the proceedings under the new code for the probate of a will. (Sec. 625.) The judgment in such proceedings determines and can determine nothing more. In them the court has no power to pass upon the validity of any provisions made in the will. It can not decide, for example, that a certain legacy is void and another one is valid. (Casta�eda v. Alemany, 3 Phil. 426, 428)

Pursuant to the foregoing precedents the pronouncement made by the court a quodeclaring invalid the legacy made to Dr. Rene Teotico in the will Exhibit A must be set aside as having been made in excess of its jurisdiction. Another reason why said pronouncement should be set aside is that the legatee was not given an opportunity to defend the validity of the legacy for he was not allowed to intervene in this proceeding. As a corollary, the other pronouncements touching on the disposition of the estate in favor of some relatives of the deceased should also be set aside for the same reason.chanroblesvirtualawlibrarychanrobles virtual law library

WHEREFORE, with the exception of that portion of the decision which declares that the will in question has been duly executed and admitted the same to probate, the rest of the decision is hereby set aside. This case is ordered remanded to the court a quo for further proceedings. No pronouncement as to costs.

Bengzon, C.J., Concepcion, Reyes, J.B.L., Barrera, Paredes, Regala, Makalintal, Bengzon, J.P., and Zaldivar, JJ., concur.Dizon, J., took no part.

IV. DISINHERITANCE – Article 915 – 923

SECTION 6. – Disinheritance

Art. 915. A compulsory heir may, in consequence of disinheritance, be deprived of his legitime, for causes expressly stated by law. (848a)

Art. 916. Disinheritance can be effected only through a will wherein the legal cause therefor shall be specified. (849)

Art. 917. The burden of proving the truth of the cause for disinheritance shall rest upon the other heirs of the testator, if the disinherited heir should deny it. (850)

Art. 918. Disinheritance without a specification of the cause, or for a cause the truth of which, if contradicted, is not proved, or which is not one of those set forth in this Code, shall annul the institution of heirs insofar as it may prejudice the person disinherited; but the devises and legacies and other testamentary dispositions shall be valid to such extent as will not impair the legitime. (851a)

Art. 919. The following shall be sufficient causes for the disinheritance of children and descendants, legitimate as well as illegitimate:

(1) When a child or descendant has been found guilty of an attempt against the life of the testator, his or her spouse, descendants, or ascendants;

(2) When a child or descendant has accused the testator of a crime for which the law prescribes imprisonment for six years or more, if the accusation has been found groundless;

(3) When a child or descendant has been convicted of adultery or concubinage with the spouse of the testator;

(4) When a child or descendant by fraud, violence, intimidation, or undue influence causes the testator to make a will or to change one already made;

(5) A refusal without justifiable cause to support the parent or ascendant who disinherits such child or descendant;

(6) Maltreatment of the testator by word or deed, by the child or descendant;

(7) When a child or descendant leads a dishonorable or disgraceful life;

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(8) Conviction of a crime which carries with it the penalty of civil interdiction. (756, 853, 674a)

Art. 920. The following shall be sufficient causes for the disinheritance of parents or ascendants, whether legitimate or illegitimate:

(1) When the parents have abandoned their children or induced their daughters to live a corrupt or immoral life, or attempted against their virtue;

(2) When the parent or ascendant has been convicted of an attempt against the life of the testator, his or her spouse, descendants, or ascendants;

(3) When the parent or ascendant has accused the testator of a crime for which the law prescribes imprisonment for six years or more, if the accusation has been found to be false;

(4) When the parent or ascendant has been convicted of adultery or concubinage with the spouse of the testator;

(5) When the parent or ascendant by fraud, violence, intimidation, or undue influence causes the testator to make a will or to change one already made;

(6) The loss of parental authority for causes specified in this Code;

(7) The refusal to support the children or descendants without justifiable cause;

(8) An attempt by one of the parents against the life of the other, unless there has been a reconciliation between them. (756, 854, 674a)

Art. 921. The following shall be sufficient causes for disinheriting a spouse:

(1) When the spouse has been convicted of an attempt against the life of the testator, his or her descendants, or ascendants;

(2) When the spouse has accused the testator of a crime for which the law prescribes imprisonment of six years or more, and the accusation has been found to be false;

(3) When the spouse by fraud, violence, intimidation, or undue influence cause the testator to make a will or to change one already made; (4) When the spouse has given cause for legal separation;

(5) When the spouse has given grounds for the loss of parental authority;

(6) Unjustifiable refusal to support the children or the other spouse. (756, 855, 674a)

Art. 922. A subsequent reconciliation between the offender and the offended person deprives the latter of the right to disinherit, and renders ineffectual any disinheritance that may have been made. (856)

Art. 923. The children and descendants of the person disinherited shall take his or her place and shall preserve the rights of compulsory heirs with respect to the legitime; but the disinherited parent shall not have the usufruct or administration of the property which constitutes the legitime. (857)

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wills week 6 cases

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