Case Digest (G.R. No. L-14603)
Facts:
Ricardo Lacerna, et al. v. Agatona Paurillo Vda. de Corcino, G.R. No. L-14603, April 29, 1961, the Supreme Court (concurrence noted: Bengzon, C.J., Padilla, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Reyes, J.B.L., Barrera, Paredes, and Dizon, JJ.), Concepcion, J., writing for the Court.Plaintiffs-appellants — siblings and cousins surnamed Lacerna (Ricardo, Patrocinia, Patria, Ramona, Faustino, Leonor, Eamona, Asuncion, Emiliana, Arsenio and Felipe) — sued for recovery of three parcels of unregistered land in Maasin, Iloilo, alleging the lands belonged to the deceased Juan Marbebe and that they were his sole heirs. Defendant-appellee Agatona Paurillo Vda. de Corcino answered, asserting among other things that Juan might still be alive, that she held the lands under a power of attorney from Juan, and that if Juan had died she had an equal right to succeed him. With the court’s permission, Jacoba Marbebe intervened claiming to be Juan’s half sister and asserting her right of succession to the disputed properties.
The Court of First Instance of Iloilo, after trial, found that the properties originally belonged to Bonifacia Lacerna, who died in 1932, and passed to her only son Juan Marbebe. Juan later died at Culion intestate, single and without issue on February 21, 1943. The trial court held that Jacoba, as Juan’s half sister (on his father’s side), was the proper heir and declared the parcels to be her property. Plaintiffs appealed the trial court’s judgment to the Supreme Court.
Material familial facts found below: Bonifacia had two brothers (Catalino and Marcelo) and a sister (Agatona Paurillo). Catalino and Marcelo predeceased the litigation and were survived by the plaintiffs who are children of those brothers (hence first cousins of Juan on his mother’s side). Intervenor Jacoba is a daughter of Valentin Marbebe (father of Juan) by a prior marriage, making her a half sister of Juan on the paternal line. The principal legal dispute is whether the lands inherited by Juan from his mother are subject to the...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Does Article 891 (the "reserva troncal") apply so that the lands inherited by Juan from his mother must pass to heirs within the third degree belonging to the maternal line?
- If Article 891 does not apply, does Juan’s half sister, Jacoba Marbebe, as a sister even if only a half‑sister, exclude first cousins and therefore inherit the disputed lands under the intestate succession ...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)