Case Digest: Lacerna vs. Vda. de Corsino, G.R. No. L-14603, April 29, 1961

Succession | Art. 891, Reserva Troncal

Article 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.

Ponente:
Concepcion, J.:

Facts:

Ricardo, Patrocinia, Patria, Faustino, Leonor, Ramona, Asuncion, Emiliana, Arsenio, and Felipe, all surnamed Lacerna, initiated an action for the recovery of three unregistered parcels of land in Maasin, Iloilo.

Plaintiffs claim the land belonged to their deceased cousin Juan Marbebe, and they are his only heirs.

Defendant Agatona Vda. de Corcino argues that Juan Marbebe might still be alive and she holds the lands under his power of attorney; and if deceased, she has the same right to succeed him as the plaintiffs.

Jacoba Marbebe intervenes, claiming to be the half-sister of Juan Marbebe and entitled to the disputed properties through succession.

CFI-Iloilo: Ruled in favor of Jacoba Marbebe.

• The land initially belonged to Bonifacia Lacerna, passed to her son Juan Marbebe upon her death. In 1943, Juan died intestate without descendants or ascendants.
• Plaintiffs are the children of Juan's cousins Catalino and Marcelo Lacerna, 
• Jacoba is the daughter of Valentin Marbebe, Juan's half-brother from his father's side.

Issue:

WoN Jacoba Marbebe, as half sister of Juan Marbebe, on his father's side, is his sole heir, as held by His Honor, the Trial Judge. YES

WoN plaintiffs herein, as first cousins of Juan Marbebe, on his mother side, have a better right to succeed him, to the exclusion of Jacoba Marbebe. NO

Held:

The latter's pretense is based upon the theory that, pursuant to Article 891 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, establishing what is known as "reserva troncal", the properties in dispute should pass to the heirs of the deceased within the third degree, who belong to the line from which said properties came, and that since the same were inherited by Juan Marbebe from his mother, they should go to his nearest relative within the third degree on the material line, to which plaintiffs belong, not to intervenor, Jacoba Marbebe, despite the greater proximity of her relationship to the deceased, for she belongs to the paternal line.

Jacoba Marbebe contends, however, and the lower court held, that brothers and sisters exclude all other collateral relatives in the order of intestate succession, and that, as Juan Marbebe's half-sister, she has, accordingly, a better right than plaintiffs herein to inherit his properties.

The main flaw in appellants' theory is that it assumes that said properties are subject to the "reserva troncal", which is not a fact, for Article 891 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, provides:

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.

This article applies only to properties inherited, under the conditions therein set forth, by an ascendant from a descendant, and this is not the case before us, for the lands in dispute were inherited by a descendant, Juan Marbebe, from an ascendant, his mother, Bonifacia Lacerna. Said legal provision is, therefore, not in point, and the transmission of the aforementioned lands, by inheritance, was properly determined by His Honor, the Trial Judge, in accordance with the order prescribed for intestate succession, particularly Articles 1003 to 1009 of the Civil Code of the Philippines, pursuant to which a sister, even if only a half-sister, in the absence of other sisters or brothers, or of children of brothers or sisters, excludes all other collateral relatives, regardless of whether or not the latter belong to the line from which the property of the deceased came.

WHEREFORE, the decision appealed from is hereby affirmed, with costs against plaintiffs-appellants. It is so ordered.