PRIMA G. CARRILLO and LORENZO LICUP, plaintiffs-appellants, vs. FRANCISCA SALAK DE PAZ and ERNESTO BAUTISTA, defendants-appellees
October 28, 1966
Facts:
Lot No. 221 was originally owned by the spouses Severino Salak and Petra Garcia, their title being evidence by original Certificate of Title No. 41453 of the register’s office of Tarlac; on December 20, 1939, said spouses mortgaged said lot for the sum of P1,200 to spouses Pedro Magat and Filomena Silva, the mortgage having been registered in accordance with law; on May 22, 1943, Pedro Magat and Filomena Silva assigned their mortgaged rights to Honaria Salak for the sum of P1,632 with the consent of the surviving debtor Severino Salak, his wife having already died; on August 16, 1943, Severino Salak transferred his ½ interest in the property to Honaria Salak for the sum of P612, representing ½ of the consideration paid by her to the mortgagees Pedro Magat and Filomena Silva; this transaction, as well as the assignment of the mortgage credit, were never registered in the office of the Registered of Deeds, nor annotated on the certificate of title No. 41453; Severino Salak died on December 5, 1944, while Honaria Salak died on January 13, 1945; intestate proceedings were instituted for the settlement and distribution of the estate of the deceased Severino Salak and Petra Garcia, including lot No. 221, and after proper proceedings, said lot was adjudicated to Ernesto Bautista, Aurea Sahagun, Rita Sahagun and Francisca Salak in the proportion of ¼ interested each; Francisca Salak acquired later the shares of the other heirs in said lot by virtue of which transfer certificate of title No. 970 was issued in her name; Honoria Salak died single living as sole heir Agustina de Guzman, plaintiff herein.
Issue:
Whether or not the issue of survivorship can be applied in this case.
Ruling:
Reserva troncal in this jurisdiction is treated in Article 891 of the new Civil Code and Article 811 of the old Civil Code, which state:
“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 acquitted 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.”
The reserva troncal arose — as had been finally decided by the Court of Appeals in Special Proceeding No. 23 — when Agustina acquired by operation of law all the properties of her descendant Adolfo (grandson), who acquired them by gratuitous title from another ascendant, Isabel (Adolfo’s mother). According to Manresa, the reserva is extinguished upon the death of the reservista, as it then becomes a right of full ownership on the part of the reservatarios, who can bring a revindicatory suit therefor. Nonetheless, this right, if not exercised within the time for recovering real properties, can be lost by prescription.
Plaintiffs-appellants herein, as reservatarios, had the right to claim the property — 2/3 of 1/2 of Lot No. 221 – from Francisca Salak de Paz, who has been possessing it in the concept of an owner, from April 24, 1950 when Agustina died. And the Court of Appeals’ decision affirming the existence of reserva troncal, promulgated on June 8, 1950, rendered it all the more doubtless that such right had accrued in their favor from the time Agustina died. It is clear, therefore, that the right or cause of action accrued in favor of the plaintiffs-reservatarios herein on April 24, 1950.
