Case Digest (G.R. No. 6076)
Facts:
Severina and Flora Choco, plaintiffs and appellants, sued Isidro Santamaria, defendant and appellant, over windows and openings in Santamaria's house on the corner of Calles Pescadores and P. Rada, Tondo, Manila, which allegedly overlooked the Chocos' contiguous lots; the trial court ordered most openings closed or made to conform to law but declined to finally close one large balcony window marked No. 1. The plaintiffs appealed the limited relief and the denial of a rehearing; the Supreme Court promulgated its decision December 29, 1911.
Issues:
- Must the large balcony window marked No. 1 be finally and permanently closed because it directly overlooks the plaintiffs' estate in violation of Article 582 of the Civil Code?
- Should the lower court have ordered absolute closure of the smaller openings (Nos. 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 8, and 9) rather than permitting them to remain open if modified to comply with Article 581 of the Civil Code?
Ruling:
The Court ordered the defendant to finally and forever close the window marked No. 1 and modified the lower court's judgment accordingly. The Court affirmed the remainder of the judgment, allowing the other openings to be closed or altered to conform with the statutory requirements, with no special finding as to costs.
Ratio:
The Court found from the photographs and testimony that window No. 1 directly overlooked the plaintiffs' lot and lacked the minimum separation required by Article 582, which mandates at least two meters for direct views and sixty centimeters for oblique views, hence mandating closure. As to the smaller openings, the Court construed Article 581 to permit regulation windows in non–party walls at the height of the ceiling joists or immediately under the ceiling, of thirty centimeters square, with an iron grate embedded and a wire screen, and rejected the appellants' contention that joists exist only in the top story; the provision aims to admit light to all stories and thus allows the windows to remain if brought into statutory compliance.
Doctrine:
- Under Article 582, windows or balconies that directly overlook a neighbor's estate must observe the minimum distances of two meters for direct views and sixty centimeters for oblique views, and violation requires closure.
- Under Article 581, an owner of a non–party wall may open windows at the height of the ceiling joists or immediately under the ceiling, subject to the dimensions and iron-grate and wire-screen requirements.
- The phrase "ceiling joists" in Article 581 refers to horizontal supporting beams present at the upper limit of each story, so regulation windows may be permitted in lower stories as well as the top story (the latter under "immediately under the ceiling").
- A court may order either the absolute closing of an illegal opening or permit its continuance conditioned upon alteration to conform to statutory requirements.