Title
Frianela vs. Banayad, Jr.
Case
G.R. No. 169700
Decision Date
Jul 30, 2009
Petitioner sought probate of a holographic will; respondent contested with later wills. SC dismissed case due to RTC's lack of jurisdiction, as estate's value was unalleged, voiding all proceedings.
probate
holographic will
jurisdictional issue

Case Summary (G.R. No. 182924)

Factual Background and Antecedent Proceedings

After the death of Moises F. Banayad, petitioner, alleging that Moises died without issue, filed on June 3, 1991 before the RTC of Pasay City a petition for the allowance of Moises’s November 18, 1985 holographic will. Petitioner averred that she, as devisee, was entitled to (a) a parcel of land in Pasay City described under TCT No. 9741, (b) religious images of Oracion del Huerto and Pieta, including the crown, and (c) all personal belongings. Respondent opposed and counter-petitioned, seeking allowance of two other holographic wills of the decedent, dated September 27, 1989 and September 28, 1989.

After trial, the RTC, on September 29, 1995, rendered a decision declaring the September 27, 1989 holographic will to have revoked the November 18, 1985 will, thereby allowing the former and appointing respondent as administrator of the decedent’s estate.

CA Appellate Ruling

On appeal, the CA, in its June 17, 2005 Decision, modified the RTC ruling. It held that the September 27, 1989 holographic will had revoked the November 18, 1985 will only insofar as the testamentary disposition of Moises’s real property was concerned. The CA allowed both wills consistent with that modification and affirmed the remaining rulings of the RTC. Petitioner’s motion for reconsideration was denied by the CA in its August 17, 2005 Resolution, prompting petitioner to elevate the matter to the Supreme Court.

The Supreme Court’s Threshold Focus: Jurisdiction

The Supreme Court noted that both the RTC and the CA proceeded to resolve the merits without first determining whether the RTC could validly exercise jurisdiction over Sp. Proc. No. 3664-P. The Court treated jurisdiction as a matter that must be examined at the outset because it is conferred by law at the time of institution of the action unless a statute provides for retroactive application. It further emphasized that jurisdiction is determined by the allegations in the initiatory pleading.

Jurisdictional Framework Under B.P. Blg. 129 at the Time of Filing

At the time petitioner instituted the probate petition in 1991, the Court applied then Sections 19 and 33 of B.P. Blg. 129. Under Section 19, Regional Trial Courts had exclusive original jurisdiction in probate matters where the gross value of the estate exceeded P20,000.00. Under Section 33, Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts had exclusive original jurisdiction over probate proceedings, including provisional remedies, when the demand did not exceed P20,000.00 exclusive of interest and costs but inclusive of damages, so long as the relevant amount was specifically alleged.

The Court stressed that the applicable law conferred jurisdiction on either the RTC or the MTCs depending on the gross value of the estate, and that such value must be alleged in the petition.

Defect in the Probate Petition: Absence of Allegation of Gross Value

The Supreme Court reviewed the original petition filed in the RTC and found that it contained only averments identifying petitioner as devisee, attaching xerox copies of the death certificate and the will, describing the real property and religious images, and stating that the testator was of sound and disposing mind. Notably, the petition did not state the gross value of Moises’s estate. Because the petition omitted this essential jurisdictional fact, the Court held that it could not be determined from the pleading which court had original and exclusive jurisdiction over the probate proceedings.

Accordingly, the Court found that the RTC committed gross error when it perfunctorily assumed jurisdiction despite the initiatory pleading failing to invoke the RTC’s jurisdictional requirements. It held that the RTC should have dismissed the case for lack of jurisdiction at the outset, and that such dismissal may be ordered motu proprio. It further held that on appeal, the CA should likewise have dismissed the case on the same ground, because the issue of jurisdiction may be raised at any stage, even on appeal, and is not waived.

Treatment of the Exceptions Based on Tijam v. Sibonghanoy and Figueroa v. People

The Supreme Court then considered whether the case’s long pendency could justify the application of the exception described in Tijam v. Sibonghanoy and clarified in Figueroa v. People. The Court declined to apply the exception for two reasons. First, it noted that, as a general rule, estoppel by laches cannot lie against the government, and thus there was no basis for the equitable limitation that might otherwise validate proceedings tainted by delayed jurisdictional objections. Second, and more importantly, it distinguished the factual setting of Tijam, explaining that in Tijam the delayed invocation of lack of jurisdiction occurred during the execution stage of a final and executory ruling. The Court contrasted this with the present case, where the unauthorized exercise of jurisdiction over the probate proceedings was discovered during the appeal stage of the main case, not during the execution of a final judgment. Therefore, the Court ruled that the Tijam exception could not gov

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