Case Summary (G.R. No. 105992)
Trial Court’s Findings and Judgment (April 24, 2009)
The RTC recognized the two-lot inheritance and upheld the oral partition. It found Gaudencio could not read or write and simply “copied” his purported signature under spousal instruction, without proof the deed’s contents were explained. The court declared the 1973 Deed of Sale null and void, awarded half of Lot 5306 to each co-owner, and ordered judicial partition.
Court of Appeals’ Prescription Ruling (June 4, 2013)
The CA agreed that Gaudencio was illiterate and that fraud vitiated consent, making the deed voidable. However, it held petitioners learned of respondent’s fraud in May 1994, when they executed the Affidavit of Waiver and observed Adriano’s refusal to sign. Under Article 1391, the four-year period for annulment ran from that discovery. Because the complaint was filed in May 2002—eight years later—the action had prescribed. The complaint was dismissed.
Issues Presented
I. Did the CA err in dismissing the complaint based on prescription?
II. Did the CA err in treating the deed as voidable rather than void?
Supreme Court’s Legal Framework on Consent and Fraud
- A contract requires intelligent, free, and spontaneous consent (Arts. 1318, 1475).
- Illiteracy and use of a foreign language give rise to a presumption of fraud or mistake (Art. 1332).
- The proponent must prove that the contract’s terms were fully explained in the dialect understood (Art. 1332).
- Failure to disclose material facts when under a duty to do so constitutes fraud (Art. 1339).
- Voidable contracts (fraud, mistake) must be annulled within four years from discovery (Arts. 1390–1391).
Application of Law to Facts
The Court found no dispute over Gaudencio’s illiteracy or the English drafting of the deed. Adriano failed to present evidence that he explained the deed’s substance in Visayan. The presumption of fraud thus stood, vitiating Gaudencio’s consent and rendering the sale contract voidable. Petitioners Ciriaco and Cesario, having accepted and sold their own shares from the oral partition of Lot 11450, lacked title to Lot 5306 and could not allege a
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Facts of the Case
- The late spouses Francisco Oberes and Catalina Larino died in 1946 and 1948, respectively, leaving five children: petitioners Ciriaco, Cesario, Gaudencio, respondent Adriano, and Domingo.
- The estate included at least two parcels of land: Lot No. 5306 (3,461 sqm, TCT No. 3794) and Lot No. 11450 (later Lot No. 5301-B, 5,924 sqm).
- Petitioners and respondent orally partitioned the two lots in 1972: Lot No. 11450 to Domingo, Ciriaco, and Cesario; Lot No. 5306 to Gaudencio and Adriano.
- In 1973, Adriano executed a notarized Deed of Absolute Sale for Gaudencio’s undivided share of Lot No. 5306. Gaudencio later denied executing or understanding that document, claiming illiteracy.
- Adriano took possession of Lot No. 5306, declared it under his name (Tax Declaration No. 0128-23030), and paid real property taxes.
- In 1994, Ciriaco, Cesario, and Domingo executed an Affidavit of Waiver over Lot No. 5306 in favor of Gaudencio; Adriano refused to join, insisting he had already bought Gaudencio’s share.
Procedural History
- On August 13, 2003, petitioners filed a Complaint for Annulment of Deed of Sale, Recovery of Possession, Judicial Partition, and damages against Adriano before the RTC, alleging fraud and lack of consent.
- The RTC, in a Decision dated April 24, 2009, found Gaudencio unlettered and that his signature was a mere mechanical copy, voiding the 1973 Deed of Sale and partitioning Lot No. 5306 equally between Gaudencio and Adriano.
- Adriano appealed. On June 4, 2013, the Court of Appeals (CA), Cebu City, set aside the RTC Decision and dismissed the complaint on the ground of prescription, ruling the action for annulment was filed beyond the four-year period from discovery of fraud (May 17, 1994 to May 23, 2002).
- Petitioners’ motion for reconsideration was denied by the CA in its January 29, 2014 Resolution.
- Petitioners elevated the cas