G.R. No. L-13431; November 12, 1919
In re will of Ana Abangan. Gertrudis Abangan, executrix-appellee, vs. Anastacia Abangan, et al., opponents-appellants.

FACTS:
On September 19, 1917, the Court of First Instance of Cebu admitted to probate the will of Ana Abangan, executed in July 1916. The opponents appealed. The will consists of two sheets. The first sheet contains all the testamentary dispositions and is signed at the bottom by Martin Montalban (in the name and under the direction of the testatrix) and by three instrumental witnesses. The second sheet contains only the attestation clause and is signed at the bottom by the same three witnesses. Neither sheet is signed on the left margin by the testatrix and the three witnesses, nor are the pages numbered with letters. The appellants contend that these omissions are fatal defects that should have prevented the probate of the will.

ISSUE:
Whether the will is invalid for lack of the testatrix’s and witnesses’ signatures on the left margin of each sheet and for lack of page numbering, as allegedly required by Act No. 2645.

RULING:
The Supreme Court affirmed the probate of the will. The Court held that the formalities of signing on the left margin and page numbering are not required under the circumstances of this case.

1. Regarding the signature on the left margin: The requirement for the testator and witnesses to sign on the left margin of each sheet aims to prevent the substitution of sheets in a will comprising several pages. However, when all testamentary dispositions are contained on a single sheet already signed at the bottom by the testator and witnesses, requiring an additional signature on the margin of that same sheet is purposeless and not required by law. The statute contemplated wills written on several sheets, referring to sheets not signed at the bottom. Requiring a double signature on a single dispositive sheet would be an unnecessary formality not intended by the statute.

2. Regarding page numbering: The requirement for correlative page numbering in letters aims to detect if any sheet has been removed. When the dispositive parts are entirely on one sheet, the removal of that single sheet cannot be hidden even if it is unnumbered; thus, the object of the statute is satisfied without such numbering.

3. Application to the attestation clause: The same reasoning applies to the second sheet containing only the attestation clause. The signatures on the margin and page numbering are formalities not required by the statute for that sheet. Furthermore, the testatrix’s signature is not necessary on the attestation clause, as it pertains only to the witnesses who attest to the execution, not to the testator who executes the will.

The Court emphasized that the object of the solemnities surrounding wills is to prevent fraud and ensure authenticity, not to restrain the right to make a will. Once the law’s primary objectives are assured, additional requisites that are unnecessary and frustrative of the testator’s will must be disregarded.

The Court also rejected the appellants’ additional ground that the record did not show the testatrix knew the dialect (Cebuano) in which the will was written. The Court held that, as the will was executed in Cebu City where the testatrix resided, it is presumed she knew the local dialect in the absence of proof to the contrary.

The appealed judgment was affirmed.