FACTS:

Angelina Marquez died on October 12, 1902. Her will was presented for probate but was declared void on March 31, 1903, meaning she died intestate.

Angelina Marquez had two children:
1. Mariano Ramos (petitioner-appellant)
2. Maria Ramos

Maria Ramos had a daughter named Florentina Austria.
Florentina Austria had a son named Delfin Marquez, with Eugenio Marquez (respondent-appellee).

On January 26, 1903, Eugenio Marquez filed an application for the administration and partition of Angelina Marquez’s estate on behalf of his minor son, Delfin Marquez.
Delfin Marquez, still a minor, died on February 13, 1903.

Mariano Ramos objected to the partition of Angelina’s estate, arguing that Eugenio Marquez was not an heir of Angelina.

The lower court ruled on April 4, 1906, that Angelina Marquez’s estate should be divided equally: one half to Mariano Ramos (as Angelina’s son) and the other half to Eugenio Marquez (as the sole heir of his deceased son, Delfin Marquez, who inherited from his mother Florentina, who inherited from Maria Ramos, who inherited from Angelina Marquez). Mariano Ramos appealed this decision.

ISSUE:

Whether Eugenio Marquez, as the legitimate father and sole heir of his deceased minor son, Delfin Marquez, is entitled to inherit, alongside Mariano Ramos (Delfin’s granduncle and Angelina’s son), from Angelina Marquez (Delfin’s great-grandmother), who died intestate.

RULING:

Yes, Eugenio Marquez is entitled to inherit from Angelina Marquez through his deceased son, Delfin.

The Supreme Court affirmed the lower court’s decision, reasoning that:
1. Intestate Succession: Angelina Marquez’s will was declared void, rendering her succession intestate. (Article 912, Civil Code)
2. Descending Line: Succession pertains, in the first place, to the descending direct line, and legitimate children and their descendants succeed their parents and other ascendants. (Articles 930, 931, Civil Code)
3. Delfin’s Rights: Delfin Marquez, as Angelina Marquez’s legitimate great-grandson (through Maria Ramos and Florentina Austria), was a legitimate descendant and would have unquestionably inherited a share of Angelina’s estate if he had lived.
4. Transmission of Rights: Upon Delfin Marquez’s death as a minor, without having accepted or repudiated the inheritance from Angelina, his rights to that inheritance were transmitted by operation of law to his legitimate father, Eugenio Marquez. (Articles 661, 989, 1006, Civil Code)
5. Heir of Heir: Eugenio Marquez inherits not as a direct relative of Angelina Marquez, but as the lawful successor and heir of his son, Delfin Marquez, who was a legitimate descendant in the direct line of Angelina Marquez. The effects of this transmission retroact to the moment of Angelina Marquez’s death.

Therefore, the Court held that Angelina Marquez’s estate should be divided into two equal parts, one for her son Mariano Ramos, and the other for Eugenio Marquez as the heir of his deceased son, Delfin Marquez.