G.R. No. 121027 - Tison vs. Court of Appeals

Case Summary (G.R. No. 121027)

Factual Background

Petitioners asserted that they are the niece and nephew of the deceased Teodora Dezoller Guerrero, who died without ascendants or descendants and was survived by her spouse, Martin Guerrero, and by petitioners as the children of her brother, Hermogenes Dezoller. Petitioners alleged that upon Teodora's death Martin executed an affidavit of extrajudicial settlement on September 15, 1986 purporting to adjudicate the subject parcel in his sole favor, causing issuance of a new title in his name, that Martin subsequently sold the property to Teodora Domingo on January 2, 1988 and that petitioners as heirs by right of representation were entitled to reconveyance of part of the estate.

Procedural History

Petitioners filed Civil Case No. Q-88-1054 for reconveyance on November 2, 1988 in the Regional Trial Court, Quezon City, Branch 98. At pre-trial the parties framed issues including petitioners' filiation and legitimacy, whether defendant must reconvey under Section 4, Rule 74, entitlement to damages and attorneys' fees, and whether the property constituted conjugal property. Petitioners presented Corazon Dezoller Tison as their lone witness and offered documentary exhibits. Defendant filed a Demurrer to Plaintiffs Evidence. The trial court granted the demurrer on December 3, 1992 and dismissed the complaint. The Court of Appeals affirmed that dismissal on June 30, 1995. Petitioners brought the present petition for certiorari and review.

Petitioners' Evidence

Petitioners rested on the testimony of Corazon Dezoller Tison and on documentary exhibits consisting of baptismal and marriage certificates, certificates of destroyed records, death certificates, a family picture, joint affidavits by third persons attesting to the parentage and birth circumstances of petitioners, and the affidavit of extrajudicial settlement executed by Martin Guerrero. Petitioners relied on the decedent's alleged declaration that Corazon was her niece and on the documentary corpus to prove both filiation and entitlement by right of representation.

Respondent's Contentions

Teodora Domingo challenged petitioners' proof as insufficient under Article 172, Family Code, argued that the witness testimony was self-serving and uncorroborated, and maintained that the joint affidavits and certain civil records were hearsay and inadmissible because the affiants were not produced for cross-examination. Defendant thus moved for dismissal by demurrer to plaintiffs’ evidence.

Trial Court and Court of Appeals Rulings

The trial court granted the demurrer and dismissed the reconveyance action on December 3, 1992. The Court of Appeals affirmed on June 30, 1995, concluding that the baptismal certificates, family picture and joint affidavits were inadmissible and insufficient to establish filiation and legitimacy. Both lower courts treated the issues of legitimacy and filiation as requiring petitioners to establish legitimacy beyond the presumption of legitimacy.

Supreme Court Disposition

The Supreme Court reversed and set aside the Court of Appeals decision and ordered that petitioners and respondent be declared co-owners of the subject parcel, with petitioners owning an undivided one-fourth (1/4) share and respondent owning an undivided three-fourths (3/4) share. The Court also held that the demurrer to plaintiffs' evidence should have been denied and that defendant was precluded from presenting additional evidence by virtue of Section 1 of revised Rule 3, Rules of Court given the grant of the demurrer and the reversal on appeal.

Presumption of Legitimacy and Burden of Proof

The Court held that the lower courts erred in permitting a collateral attack on legitimacy and in placing upon petitioners the initial burden to prove legitimacy. The Court reaffirmed the firmly established legal presumption that children born in wedlock are legitimate and that legitimacy constitutes a civil status that may be impugned only by a direct action brought by proper parties within the period fixed by law. Where legitimacy is disputed collaterally, the presumption remains in favor of the party asserting legitimacy and the adversary who attacks it bears the burden to overthrow the presumption by substantial and credible evidence. The Court found that respondent chose not to present countervailing evidence but instead relied on a demurrer, which effectively left the presumption intact and should have constrained the trial court from granting dismissal.

Admissibility of Declarations as to Pedigree

Addressing the probative force of the decedent's alleged declaration that Corazon was her niece, the Court analyzed Section 39, Rule 130, Rules of Court, which admits declarations as to pedigree subject to specified conditions: that the declarant be dead or unable to testify, that the declarant be related to the person whose pedigree is in question, that relationship be shown by evidence other than the declaration, and that the declaration be ante litem motam. The Court recognized the American jurisprudential distinction and held that, as an exception, where the claimant seeks recovery directly from the estate of the declarant, the declarant's statement regarding relationship to the claimant may be admitted without extensive proof aliunde because necessity counsels against requiring proof of the very fact the declaration is offered to establish. The Court therefore deemed the decedent's declaration competent and sufficient to establish that petitioners were niece and nephew of Teodora.

Admissibility and Waiver as to Documentary Evidence

The Court further held that many of the documentary exhibits, though susceptible to hearsay objections or formal infirmities, were nonetheless admissible because respondent failed to object at the proper time when the documents were offered during the testimony of petitioners' witness and even cross-examined the witness about those documents. The Court

Case Syllabus (G.R. No. 121027)

Parties and Procedural Posture

Corazon Dezoller Tison and Rene R. Dezoller filed Civil Case No. Q-88-1054 in the Regional Trial Court, Quezon City, Branch 98, for reconveyance of a parcel of land formerly owned by Martin Guerrero and Teodora Dezoller Guerrero.
Teodora Domingo was the defendant and later the respondent in the appeal from the Court of Appeals decision affirming the trial court's dismissal.
The present appeal is by certiorari to the Supreme Court, Second Division, under G.R. No. 121027, with the decision rendered July 31, 1997 and the opinion penned by Regalado, J.
The trial court issued an order on December 3, 1992 granting the defendant's demurrer to plaintiffs' evidence and dismissing the complaint, and the Court of Appeals affirmed on June 30, 1995.

Key Factual Allegations

Teodora Dezoller Guerrero died on March 5, 1983 without ascendants or descendants and was survived by her husband, Martin Guerrero, and petitioners who are the niece and nephew of Teodora by right of representation.
On September 15, 1986, Martin Guerrero executed an Affidavit of Extrajudicial Settlement adjudicating the disputed land to himself as sole heir, producing TCT No. 358074, and on January 2, 1988 sold the lot to Teodora Domingo, which resulted in TCT No. 374012.
Martin Guerrero died on October 25, 1988, and petitioners filed the action for reconveyance on November 2, 1988 claiming one-half of the property by representation as heirs of Teodora Dezoller Guerrero.

Issues Presented

Whether petitioners are the nephew and niece of the late Teodora Dezoller.
Whether petitioners are entitled to inherit by right of representation from the estate of the late Teodora Dezoller.
Whether defendant must reconvey the reserved participation of petitioners under Section 4, Rule 74 of the Rules of Court as annotated on the title.
Whether petitioners are entitled to moral and exemplary damages plus attorneys' fees for willful and malicious refusal to reconvey.
Whether the subject property could be considered conjugal property of the spouses Martin Guerrero and Teodora Dezoller Guerrero.

Evidence and Trial Course

Petitioners presented the testimony of Corazon Dezoller Tison and documentary exhibits including baptismal certificates, destroyed-records certifications, death certificates, joint affidavits of third parties, a family picture, and the marriage certificate of Martin and Teodora Guerrero.
Defendant filed a Demurrer to Plaintiffs' Evidence on the ground that petitioners failed to prove filiation and legitimacy under Article 172 of the Family Code and that several documents were hearsay and inadmissible because affiants were not produced for cross-examination.
The trial court granted the demurrer and dismissed the complaint, and the Court of Appeals affirmed that the documentary evidence was inadmissible and insufficient to establish filiation.

Lower Courts' Decisions

The Regional Trial Court, Quezon City, Branch 98, issued an order on December 3, 1992 granting the demurrer to evidence and dismissing the complaint.
The Court of Appeals, in a decision penned by Associate Justice Gloria C. Paras and concurring justices,