ARAYATA V. JOYA
G.R. No. L-28067, March 10, 1928
Cecilio Joya, during his lifetime, inherited from his deceased parents the right of lease to six lots of the friar lands. When the Insular Government acquired the said land, Cecilio Joya continued his lease in accordance with the provisions the law. While married to the herein plaintiff-appellant, Cecilio Joya purchase the lots he had been leasing, on installments, from the Government. As the number of lots which a purchaser could acquire under the law was limited, two were excluded and put up for sale. In order not to lose them, Cecilio Joya had Pedro Tiongco buy them, supplying him with the necessary funds. Subsequently, Pedro Tiongco transferred his right to said lots to Cecilio Joya by donation. These transfers were approved by the Director of Lands and noted in the proper registry book. Cecilio Joya conveyed his right to Florentino Joya for a cnsideration said conveyance having been approved by the Director of Lands and registered in the proper registry book. Cecilio Joya then conveyed his right Marcelina Joya and Francisco Joya for a consideration, conveyance having been approved by the Director of Lands and registered in the proper registry book. On April 27, 1919, Cecilio Joya executed a will devising lots to Florentino Joya, Pablo Joya, Delfin and Felicisima Blancaflor, to the brothers Agustin and Pedro Joya, Feliciano and Asuncion Bobadilla, and Marcelina and Francisca Joya. At the time of his death, Cecilio Joya had not yet completed the payment of the price of the lots mentioned above to the Insular Government. All the lots in question except 1 lot are in the possession of the defendants, who enjoy their products
On May 26, 1919, Cecilio Joya died, and on June 9, 1919, his executor, the herein defendant Florentino Joya, presented said will for probate to the Court of First Instance of Cavite, which was probated after the proper proceedings. In March, 1920, in the course of the testamentary proceedings, the executor Florentino Joya presented an alleged agreement of partition by the legatees, which agreement was disapproved by the court in view of the herein plaintiff’s opposition, who alleged that her signature had been obtained by fraud.
ISSUE: Whether the holder of a certificate of sale of friar lands, who has not fully paid the purchase price may transfer and convey his rights.
In order that a transfer of the rights of a holder of a certificate of sale of friar lands may be legally effective, it is necessary that a formal certificate of transfer be drawn up and submitted to the Chief of the Bureau of Public Lands for his approval and registration. The law authorizes no other way of transferring the rights of a holder of a certificate of sale of friar lands. It provides, however, that in case of the death of said holder, the surviving spouse shall be entitled to receive the title to the land, upon compliance with the requirements of the law. If, as it was held in the aforecited case of Jocson vs. Soriano, the right conferred by Act No. 1120 on the holder of a certificate of sale of friar lands in similar to that conferred on the holder of a “homestead,” and if the latter has no right to dispose of said certificate by will to the prejudice of his surviving spouse and for his children then by analogy, the holder of a certificate of sale of friar lands cannot dispose of his rights to said lands by will to the prejudice of his widow and children.
The provisions of the Civil Code referring to conjugal property cannot be applied in this case, as was done by the trial court, because the law regulating the acquisition, disposition, and transmission of rights to the friar lands acquired by the Insular Government, lays down rules in conflict with the aforesaid provisions of the Civil Code; and as the said Code is of a general character, while Act No. 1120 is a special law, the latter should prevail.
