G.R. No. 21177 - Dionisio vs. Dionisio

The case involves an appeal from an order of the Court of First Instance of Bulacan, which admitted to probate a document claimed to be the last will and testament of the deceased, Josefa Dionisio.
The petition was initiated by Teofila Dionisio (petitioner and appellee), while Angela Dionisio (opponent and appellant), a niece of the deceased, opposed the probate on several grounds.

The appellant argued that the document did not satisfy the statutory formalities required for a valid will.

Specifically, it was contended that the attestation clause was defective for not stating the number of sheets or pages used, nor affirming that the testatrix signed every page.
This deficiency was asserted to violate section 618 of the Code of Civil Procedure as amended by Act No. 2645.

The appellant further argued that at the time of execution, the deceased was mentally incapacitated, questioning her competency to execute a will.
Additionally, the appellant maintained that the signatures of the deceased on the document were forgeries.

The document under scrutiny is executed in the Tagalog language, and its attestation clause was subject to dispute.

The clause in Tagalog indicated that the witnesses attested to the testatrix being of sound mind and that she declared the document to be her last will and testament, signing in the presence of the three witnesses.

An official interpreter of the Court of First Instance of Manila provided a Spanish translation which:

Indicated that the clause clearly stated the number of pages used in the document.
Affirmed that the testatrix had signed all pages of the will.

The appellant proposed an alternative Spanish version which would have rendered the clause’s meaning obscure and arguably insufficient to meet the legal requirements.
Several members of the court with knowledge of Tagalog reviewed both translations and favored the official interpreter’s rendering as idiomatically correct and fully in conformity with the language’s usage.

There was minimal evidence to support the claim that Josefa Dionisio was of unsound mind when executing the will.
Regarding the allegation of forgery:

The majority of the evidence addressed this third ground, with numerous assignments of error by the appellant focusing on the authenticity of the signatures.
The court, however, found that the evidence substantiated that the signatures in question were genuine.
The purported discrepancies in the signatures were attributed to the testatrix’s physical condition at the time, as she was extremely feeble and practically paralyzed.

The trial court’s findings were upheld, including the authenticity of the signatures and the sufficiency of the attestation clause, notwithstanding the objections raised regarding formalities and mental capacity.

Whether the attestation clause of the alleged will, as executed in Tagalog and translated into Spanish, complies with the statutory requirements set forth by section 618 of the Code of Civil Procedure (as amended).
Whether there was sufficient evidence to question the mental capacity of Josefa Dionisio at the time of executing the will.
Whether the signatures on the document were genuine or forged, especially in light of the appellant’s assertions and the differences noted due to the testatrix’s physical condition.