Case Digest: Dimayuga vs. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. L-48433, April 30, 1984

Succession | Prescription

Ponente:

Aquino, J.:

Facts:

In 1915,  Genaro Dimayuga and Segunda Gayapanao were married. They had a son, Manuel Dimayuga.

In 1928, the spouses acquired a Torrens title for a thirteen-hectare homestead located at Pola, Oriental Mindoro.

In 1940, Segunda died intestate, survived by her husband and son.

During their marriage, Genaro had a mistress named Emerenciana Panganiban

They had five children: Filomeno, Pacita, Adelaide, Remedios and Socorro. 

In 1944, a sixth child, Nelia Dimayuga, was born.

Emerenciana cultivated a homestead adjoining the thirteen-hectare homestead.

It was not surprising that she became the paramour of Genaro.

In 1947, Genaro who was already 56 years old, married Emerenciana who was 37.

That marriage legitimated Nelia, who had been a duly acknowledged natural child, but not the other five who were adulterous or spurious children.

In 1948, about a month before Genaro's death, a "partition of real property" was executed in English. It was signed and duly notarized. 

It was signed by Genaro, Manuel Filomeno and Pacita and thumbmarked by Emerenciana, in representation of her minor children Adelaide, Remedios, Socorro and Nelia. Emerenciana had not been appointed judicial guardian of their property.

The document states the ages of the children as:

1. Pacita, 22, 
2. Filomeno, 19, 
3. Adelaide, 17, 
4. Remedios, 15,
5. Socorro, 13, 
6. Nelia, 4. 

However, their birth certificates show that they were all minors. 

1. Filomeno and Pacita were twins born on December 25, 1929; 
2. Remedios and Adelaida were also twins born on January 2, 1932; 
3. Socorro was born in 1938 
4. Nelia was bond in 1944

In that partition, which the petitioners also regard as a donation, Genaro treated the homestead as his sole property and not conjugal which it actually was.

1. Manuel was given as share 5 1/2 hectares of the homestead
• southern portion adjoining Emerenciana's separate homestead
2. The six illegitimate children were given 7 7/10 hectares
• northern portion adjoining Emerenciana's separate homestead

The partition was not registered.

In 1948, Genaro died intestate.

In 1951, The partition was amended by means of an affidavit in Tagalog signed by the same parties except Genaro.  An additional one hectare was given to Manuel, since "ang ginawang paghahati ni Genaro Dimayuga ay hindi tumpak sapagkat naapi si Manuel Dimayuga."

In 1970, Manuel was advised that the entire homestead was inherited by him from his parents and freed from his father's moral ascendancy.

He executed an affidavit of adjudication which he registered and obtained a Torrens title for the thirteen-hectare homestead.

The six illegitimate children filed a complaint for the annulment of the title and for the equal division of the homestead.

Trial Court: Annulled Manuel's title and decreed that about one-half of the homestead should be divided equally among the six illegitimate children.

CA: Adjudicated to Manuel three-fourth of the homestead and the other one-fourth to Nelia. 

The six illegitimate children appealed to the Supreme Court.

Issue:

WoN the possession the illegitimate children of about one-half of the homestead since the 1948 partition made them owners by prescription and that Manuel is estopped to deny that fact because he adjudicated the homestead to himself only twenty-two years later.  NO

Held:

That contention is devoid of merit. It may be morally plausible but it is legally indefensible. No portion of the homestead, a registered land, may be acquired by prescription. "No title to registered land in derogation to that of the registered owner shall be acquired by prescription or adverse possession."

The petitioners cite Parcotilo vs. Parcotilo, 120 Phil. 123. That case involves unregistered land which was held by the claimant and his predecessors for over thirty years, an extraordinary prescription. It was immaterial that the testament in that case was void.

Article 1056 of the old Civil Code provides that "if the testator should make a partition of his property by an act inter vivos, or by will, such partition shall stand insofar, as it does not prejudice the legitime of the forced heirs." Article 1056 was construed to mean that a person who makes an inter vivos partition must first execute a will. If the will is void, the partition is void. With more reason would the partition be void if there was no will.

The 1948 partition was not in conformity with law. It assumed that Genaro was the owner of the entire homestead. That is wrong. One-half of the homestead, subject to the husband's usufructuary legitime, was inherited in 1940 by Manuel upon the death of his mother who was married to Genaro for twenty-five years. Genaro could dispose by an act inter vivos only one-half of the homestead in that one-half portion, Manuel and Nelia, as Genaro's legal and forced heirs, had a two-third legitime.

In "donating" the said one-half portion to his six illegitimate children, Genaro deprived Manuel of his legitime in his estate or, in effect, made him renounce his future inheritance. 

The 1951 affidavit cannot be construed as a repudiation of his inheritance in his father's estate because the document does not have that tenor. For this reason, Manuel is not estopped to ignore that partition. The rule in Alforque vs. Veloso, 65 Phil. 272, cited by the petitioners, does not apply to Manuel. The facts in the Alforque case are radically different from the facts of the instant homestead case.

The five illegitimate children (the sixth child Nelia was legitimated) have no rights whatsoever to the said homestead. As already said, they were adulterous or spurious children.

As such, they are not entitled to successional rights but only to support.

Manuel and Nelia, as Genaro's legal and forced heirs, are entitled to inherit Genaro's one-half portion. It cannot be said that the five adulterous children have no resources whatsoever. Their mother, Emerenciana, has a homestead adjoining Genaro's homestead in question.

WHEREFORE, the trial court's judgment is reversed and set aside. Three-fourth of the said homestead is hereby adjudicated to Manuel Dimayuga and one-fourth to Nelia Dimayuga. The register of deeds should cancel Manuel's title and issue the corresponding titles in accordance with this decision. No costs.