GR 38069; (January, 1934) (Digest)
G.R. No. 38069 ; January 20, 1934
ESPERANZA DIMALIWAT, CANDIDA MORENO, and MANUEL MORENO, applicants-appellants, vs. DOMINGA ASUNCION, ET AL., opponents. VICENTA DIMALIWAT, appellant.
FACTS
Applicants-appellants Esperanza Dimaliwat, Candida Moreno, and Manuel Moreno filed a land registration case. The Court of First Instance of Nueva Ecija ordered the subdivision and registration of various lots, including Lot No. 3-C. The court decreed that one-half of Lot No. 3-C be registered in favor of Esperanza Dimaliwat and the other half in favor of the estate of Eustacio Dimaliwat (represented by administratrix Vicenta Dimaliwat), subject to a mortgage lien. Both parties appealed. Esperanza Dimaliwat claimed sole ownership of Lot No. 3-C, arguing that a prior Supreme Court decision ( G.R. No. 33590 ) settled the validity of an assignment of the lot to her, or alternatively, that she inherited it as the sole surviving child of Eustacio Dimaliwat’s first marriage under the reserva articles of the Civil Code. Vicenta Dimaliwat, administratrix of Eustacio’s estate, appealed the imposition of the mortgage lien on Lot No. 3-C and the adjudication of Lots Nos. 4, 5, and 6 to Esperanza and her children.
ISSUE
1. Whether Esperanza Dimaliwat is the lawful owner of the entire Lot No. 3-C.
2. Whether the mortgage lien should encumber the portion of Lot No. 3-C decreed to Eustacio Dimaliwat’s estate.
3. Whether Lots Nos. 4, 5, and 6 rightfully belong to Esperanza Dimaliwat and her children or to Eustacio Dimaliwat’s estate.
RULING
1. Yes. The Supreme Court ruled that Esperanza Dimaliwat is the sole owner of Lot No. 3-C. The lot was originally owned by Esperanza and her brother Teofilo (children of Eustacio’s first marriage) through adverse possession. Upon Teofilo’s death without descendants, his half passed to their father Eustacio. However, when Eustacio remarried, Article 968 of the Civil Code obligated him to reserve that property for the children of his first marriage. As the only surviving child of the first marriage, Esperanza Dimaliwat became the owner of the entire Lot No. 3-C by operation of this reserva.
2. The issue became moot. Since Lot No. 3-C was adjudicated solely to Esperanza Dimaliwat, the question of the mortgage lien on the estate’s portion no longer applied.
3. Yes, Lots Nos. 4, 5, and 6 belong to Esperanza Dimaliwat and her children. The Supreme Court affirmed the trial court’s findings of fact. The evidence, including Esperanza’s possession and enjoyment of the lots’ products since before 1896, supported her claim of ownership by purchase or adverse possession. The description in Vicenta Dimaliwat’s possessory information did not match these lots, and Eustacio Dimaliwat’s failure to claim them in a prior civil case undermined the estate’s claim.
DISPOSITIVE: The decision of the lower court was reversed with respect to Lot No. 3-C, ordering its registration solely in the name of Esperanza Dimaliwat. The decision was affirmed in all other respects. Costs were assessed against opponent-appellant Vicenta Dimaliwat.
AI Generated by Armztrong.