sic itur ad astra

   Succession   | Appeal Ponente: Ynares-Santiago, J. Recit Version: - Facts: Alejandro Dorotheo and Aniceta Reyes were married. In 1969 , Aniceta Reyes died without her estate being settled. Alejandro died afterward. In 1977 , Lourdes Legaspi Dorotheo  filed a special proceeding for the probate of Alejandro's will. Lourdes claimed to have taken care of Alejandro before he died. Trial Court:  Admitted Alejandro's will to probate. In 1983 , the legitimate children of Alejandro filed a motion to declare the will intrinsically void. Trial Court:   Declared petitioner Lourdes not the wife of Alejandro and the private respondents as the only heirs. The will was held intrinsically void in 1986 .  In 1990 , the trial court issued an order setting aside the final and executory 1986 order, citing that was merely "interlocutory", hence not final in character. CA: Nullified the 1990 order. Issue: WoN a last will and testament admitted to probate b...

  Succession   | Appeal Ponente: Aquino., J. Recit Version: In 1938, childless widower Florentino Hitosis executed a will in the Bicol dialect. When he died in 1939, a probate petition was filed in CFI-Sorsogon, where the will was admitted, appointing Pedro Gallanosa as executor. Despite legal heirs' opposition, the will was validated.The legal heirs failed to contest the probate and the distribution. In 1952, the legal heirs filed a case for recovery of the parcels of lands which was dismissed. In 1967, the same heirs attempted another legal action against Gallanosa, alleging fraud, bin the execution of the will. Our procedural law does not sanction an action for the "annulment" of a will. In order that a will may take effect, it has to be probated, legalized or allowed in the proper testamentary proceeding. The probate of the will is mandatory. After the finality of the allowance of a will, the issue as to the voluntariness of its execution cannot be raised anymore. Fac...

  Succession   | Jurisdiction Ponente: Callejo, J. Recit Version: The subject lot was inherited by the heirs from Isabel Cuntapay. The heirs of Rosendo Lasam claimed ownership based on a last will and testament allegedly bequeathing the property to Rosendo Lasam. However, the CA found that the will had not been probated and, therefore, could not be a basis for their claim. In contrast, Vicenta Umengan provided deeds of conveyance showing her legal possession of portions of the lot. The CA ruled in her favor, emphasizing that its decision pertained only to physical possession, not ownership, and did not preclude the parties from filing appropriate actions to contest ownership. The Supreme Court affirmed the CA's decision, stating that the last will and testament had no legal effect without being probated. As a result, the CA's provisional ruling on possession was justified, and Vicenta Umengan's deeds of conveyance substantiated her right to physical possession. The Court em...

Succession | Jurisdiction Ponente: Reyes, J.B.L., J. Recit Version: The Parish priest of the Catholic Church of Hagonoy, Bulacan, died in the City of Manila. Two proceedings were filed before different courts on the same day. A petition for intestate proceeding was filed before CFI-Rizal at 8:00 am while a petition for the probate was filed  before CFI-Bulacan at 11:00 am. The jurisdiction of the CFI-Bulacan became vested upon the delivery thereto of the will. Where the petition for probate is made after the deposit of the will, the petition is deemed to relate back to the time when the will was delivered. Since the testament of Fr. Rodriguez was submitted and delivered to the Court of Bulacan on March 4, while petitioners initiated intestate proceedings in the Court of First Instance of Rizal only on March 12, eight days later, the precedence and exclusive jurisdiction of the Bulacan court is incontestable. Facts: On  February 12, 1963 , Fr. Celestino Rodriguez, the Parish p...

  Book IV Health, Safety and Social Welfare Title II Employees’ Compensation and State Insurance Fund Chapter IX Records, Reports and Penal Provision Arts. 211 - 215  Q:  For purposes of implementing the employees' compensation la w, what records is an employer required to maintain? Q: Is notification to the employer a prerequisite to approval of  claims under the Fund? Art. 211 [205]. Record of death or disability. All employers shall keep a logbook to record chronologically the sickness, injury or death of their employees, setting forth therein their names, dates and places of the contingency, nature of the contingency and absences. Entries in the logbook shall be made within five days from notice or knowledge of the occurrence of the contingency. Within five days after entry in the logbook, the employer shall report to the System only those contingencies he deems to be work-connected. All entries in the employer’s logbook shall be made by the employer or any of hi...

      Labor Law  |  Policy and Definitions Nemesio Tanio worked for Central Azucarera Don Pedro (CENTRAL) as a laborer and later as an operator of a cane-unloading machine. He stopped working on February 9, 1960, due to illness, diagnosed as minimal pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB). Tanio opted to retire and received a gratuity payment of P400.00. Three years later, on October 8, 1963, Tanio filed for disability compensation and medical expenses with the Department of Labor. CENTRAL contested the claim, arguing it was barred due to Tanio's failure to file within the prescribed period and that minimal PTB wasn't compensable. WoN delay or failure to notify the employer within the prescribed period bar a compensation claim.  NO That contention is without merit, there being no dispute that as soon as he exhibited the first symptoms of his ailment, which the CENTRAL’s. physician diagnosed as minimal PTB, Tanio was confined and treated at the CENTRAL’s expense at the...

     Labor Law  |  Policy and Definitions Edmund Sanico , a former employee of John Gotamco and Sons, was diagnosed with pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) during his employment. Sanico was separated from employment on December 31, 1991 , due to his illness. He filed a claim for compensation benefits under Presidential Decree No. 626, as amended, with the Social Security System (SSS) on November 9, 1994 . SSS: Denied Sanico's claim, stating it was filed beyond the three-year prescriptive period from the time the PTB first became manifest on  September 21, 1991. WoN Sanico's claim for compensation benefits had prescribed when he filed it on November 9, 1994. YES This Court has consistently ruled that "disability should not be understood more on its medical significance but on the loss of earning capacity. Permanent total disability means disablement of an employee to earn wages in the same kind of work, or work of similar nature that [he] was trained for or accust...

Book IV Health, Safety and Social Welfare Title II Employees’ Compensation and State Insurance Fund Chapter VIII Provisions Common to Income Benefits Arts. 201 - 210  Q: May an employee recover from the fund even though the  employer has failed to remit the required contributions? If there are rival claimants to a benefit, how and by whom is the dispute resolved? Art. 201 [195]. Relationship and dependency.   All questions of relationship and dependency shall be determined as of the time of death. Notes: Article 173(i) enumerates the persons considered as "dependents."  “Dependent” means the  legitimate, legitimated or legally adopted or acknowledged natural child who is unmarried, not gainfully employed, and not over twenty-one (21) years of age or over twenty-one (21) years of age provided he is incapacitated and incapable of self-support due to a physical or mental defect which is congenital or acquired during minority;  the legitimate spouse living w...

        Book IV Health, Safety and Social Welfare Title II Employees’ Compensation and State Insurance Fund Chapter VII Death Benefits Art. 200 Q:  What are the death benefits under the Fund and to whom are   they payable?  Art. 200  [194]. Death. (a) Under such regulations as the Commission may approve, the System shall pay to the primary beneficiaries upon the death of the covered employee under this Title, an amount equivalent to his monthly income benefit, plus ten percent thereof for each dependent child, but not exceeding five, beginning with the youngest and without substitution, except as provided for in paragraph (j) of Article 167 hereof: Provided, however, That the monthly income benefit shall be guaranteed for five years: Provided, further, That if he has no primary beneficiary, the System shall pay to his secondary beneficiaries the monthly income benefit but not to exceed sixty months: Provided, finally, That the minimum de...