Case Digest (G.R. No. L-22601)
Facts:
Prima Carrillo (as administratrix of her deceased mother Agustina de Guzman Vda. de Carrillo) and Lorenzo Licup filed a suit to recover ownership and possession of 2/3 of 1/2 of Lot No. 221 (Tarlac) against Francisca Salak de Paz and Ernesto Bautista. The dispute arose from reserva troncal involving the property, which the Court of Appeals affirmed in Special Proceeding No. 23 (June 8, 1950), and from an order of delivery in favor of Bautista issued on November 14, 1950 upon the death of the reservista on April 24, 1950.
The trial court dismissed the action on res judicata and also noted the plaintiffs’ delay after notice of the execution order, and the plaintiffs appealed, challenging the dismissal. The Supreme Court resolved the appeal on the ground of prescription and affirmed the dismissal.
Issues:
- Whether the plaintiffs’ action to recover the reserved portion of Lot No. 221 was barred by prescription.
- Whether it was necessary to rule on res judicata once prescription barred the action.
Ruling:
The Supreme Court held that the plaintiffs’ cause of action accrued on April 24, 1950, when the reservista died, and that the action filed only on April 22, 1963 was beyond the ten-year period for actions to recover real property.
Consequently, the Court affirmed the dismissal on prescription and ruled it unnecessary to decide whether the case was also barred by res judicata.
Ratio:
The Court treated reserva troncal as extinguished upon the death of the reservista, at which point the reservatarios acquired a right to reclaim the reserved property. Since no reservation right was exercised within the prescriptive period, the reservatarios’ action to recover the property became subject to prescription.
Applying Section 40 of the Code of Civil Procedure (ten years for actions to recover real property, counted from accrual of the cause of action) and Article 1116 of the Civil Code (prescription already running before effectivity governed by prior law), the Court concluded that the plaintiffs’ suit was time-barred because it was filed more than ten years after April 24, 1950.
Doctrine:
- Upon the death of the reservista, reserva troncal is extinguished and reservatarios acquire the right to reclaim the reserved property.
- The reservatarios’ right to recover real property is subject to prescription, and Section 40 of the Code of Civil Procedure supplies a ten-year prescriptive period.
- Under Article 1116 of the Civil Code, prescription already running before August 30, 1950 is governed by the previously applicable law.
- Where prescription bars the action, the Court need not resolve other grounds such as res judicata.