G.R. No. 18415 ; October 7, 1922
GLORIA SUAREZ, plaintiff-appellant, vs. FELIX SUAREZ and his wife FELICIDAD LACSON, MARCOS SUAREZ and his wife ENGRACIA GAMBOA, ELVIRA SUAREZ and her husband ENRIQUE AZCONA, and EMILIA SUAREZ, defendants-appellees.

FACTS

Gloria Suarez filed an action against the legitimate children of the deceased Manuel Suarez, seeking a judicial declaration of her status as a recognized natural child of Manuel and a partition of his estate. She claimed to be a natural child in the continuous possession of that status, justified by the conduct of Manuel or his family, under Article 135 of the Civil Code. Manuel Suarez died in 1897, and his estate was extrajudicially partitioned among his four legitimate children in December 1898. Gloria was born in July 1896 and reached the age of majority not later than July 25, 1917. She filed the complaint on July 28, 1920. The trial court absolved the defendants.

ISSUE

Whether Gloria Suarez’s action is barred by prescription.

RULING

Yes, the action is barred by prescription on two grounds. First, her action to compel acknowledgment under Article 137 of the Civil Code, governed by Sections 44 and 45 of the Code of Civil Procedure, prescribed. She had only two years from attaining majority to institute such an action. Since she filed the complaint on July 28, 1920, more than two years after July 25, 1917, the action had prescribed. Second, even assuming her right to acknowledgment was not prescribed, the defendants had acquired an indefeasible title to the estate by acquisitive prescription. They had been in continuous, adverse, and public possession as owners since the 1898 partition. While Section 42 of the Code of Civil Procedure suspends prescription in favor of a minor, this suspension ceased three years after she reached majority. Therefore, the defendants’ prescriptive right was complete before the complaint was filed. The decision of the trial court is affirmed.