GR 48384; (October, 1943) (Digest)
G.R. No. 48384 ; October 11, 1943
SEVERO AMOR, petitioner, vs. GABRIEL FLORENTINO, ET AL., respondents.
FACTS
Over 50 years prior, Maria Florentino owned a house and a warehouse (camarin) on adjacent lots in Vigan, Ilocos Sur. The house had four windows on its north side, receiving light and air from the direction of the warehouse lot. In her will dated September 6, 1885, Maria Florentino devised the house and its lot to Gabriel Florentino and Jose Florentino (respondents/predecessors), and the warehouse and its lot to Maria Encarnacion Florentino. Upon Maria Florentino’s death in 1892, the devisees took possession of their respective properties without any action or stipulation regarding the windows. On July 14, 1911, Maria Encarnacion Florentino sold her lot and warehouse to Severo Amor (petitioner). In January 1938, petitioner demolished the old warehouse and began constructing a two-story house. On March 1, 1938, respondents filed an action to prohibit petitioner from building higher than the original structure and from obstructing the light and air to their windows.
ISSUE
Whether an easement of light and view (and its necessary corollary, the negative easement altius non tollendi or not to build higher) was validly established in favor of the respondents’ property over the petitioner’s adjacent lot.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the lower courts, ruling that the easement was established under Article 541 of the Civil Code.
The Court found that Maria Florentino died in 1892, making the Civil Code applicable. When she, as the original owner of both estates, died and the ownership was divided by succession, the existence of the windows constituted an “apparent sign of easement” under Article 541. Since neither the respondents (owners of the dominant estate) renounced the use of the windows, nor did Maria Encarnacion Florentino (the original owner of the servient estate) object to them at the time of division, the easement was created by title at that moment. The easement, being inseparable from the estate, passed with the property when petitioner later purchased it. The Court rejected petitioner’s attempt to prove Maria Florentino died earlier (in 1885) to invoke the Law of the Partidas, upholding the Court of Appeals’ factual finding of death in 1892 and noting the issue was raised too late. Consequently, petitioner was ordered to remove obstructions to the windows, abstain from building within three meters from the boundary, and pay damages.