GR 1072; (March, 1904) (Digest)
G.R. No. 1072 : March 30, 1904
MANUEL ABELLO, plaintiff-appellant, vs. PAZ KOCK DE MONASTERIO, defendant-appellee.
FACTS:
Manuel Abello, as executor of the estate of Josefa Montilla y Janson, filed for the probate of Montilla’s will dated March 1, 1899. The will was executed before the municipal president of Pulupandan, who was authorized to act as a notary public under the laws then in force. Paz Kock de Monasterio opposed the probate, arguing the will was null because it was not protocolized (formally recorded in the notarial register) within the period required by the Notarial Law of 1889 and a subsequent General Order issued in Negros. The Court of First Instance denied probate, holding the will invalid due to the lack of protocolization.
ISSUE:
Whether the failure to protocolize the will within the period prescribed by the Notarial Law and related orders renders it invalid and bars its probate under the Code of Civil Procedure.
RULING:
No. The Supreme Court reversed the lower court’s decision and ordered the will admitted to probate. The Court held:
1. The will was executed under the Civil Code and Notarial Law regime, prior to the effectivity of the Code of Civil Procedure. It was a public instrument, duly executed before a competent officer (the municipal president) with the requisite witnesses.
2. Neither the Notarial Law nor the relevant General Order declared that the failure to protocolize a public instrument within a specified time would render it void or unenforceable. The protocolization requirement was directory, not mandatory to the validity of the act itself.
3. The Notarial Law, a special law, was not repealed by the Civil Code. Authorities like governadorcillos (later municipal presidents) retained notarial functions.
4. The will, being a public instrument executed with due formalities, could be probated under the Code of Civil Procedure. Its execution complied with, and even exceeded, the solemnities required under the new code. The lack of protocolization did not affect its intrinsic validity as a testamentary document expressing the clear and authentic wishes of the testatrix.