GR 44774; (November, 1938) (Digest)
G.R. No. 44774 ; November 26, 1938
LA CORPORACION DE PADRES AGUSTINOS DEL SANTISIMO ROSARIO and EDWIN H. WARNER, applicants; FIDELITY AND SURETY CO. OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, petitioner-appellee, vs. ANGEL A. ANSALDO and MARGARITA QUINTOS DE ANSALDO, oppositors-appellants.
FACTS
In a prior civil case, a judgment was rendered against Angel A. Ansaldo. To satisfy this judgment, his real properties were levied upon and sold at public auction to the judgment creditor, Fidelity and Surety Company. After the redemption period expired, the sheriff executed a final deed of sale. Fidelity and Surety then filed a petition under Section 78 of the Land Registration Act ( Act No. 496 ) for the issuance of new certificates of title in its name. The lower court granted the petition. Angel A. Ansaldo and his wife, Margarita Quintos de Ansaldo, filed an opposition, claiming the levied properties were conjugal, having been acquired during their marriage with the fruits of the wife’s paraphernal properties. They argued that under Article 1386 of the Civil Code, such properties are not liable for the husband’s personal obligations unless those obligations redounded to the benefit of the family. The lower court rejected their evidence as immaterial and denied their opposition.
ISSUE
Whether the issue of the conjugal nature of the properties and their exemption from execution for the husband’s personal debt under Article 1386 of the Civil Code can be raised and determined in the summary proceeding under Section 78 of the Land Registration Act for the issuance of a new certificate of title.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court held that while the oppositor-appellant had the right to prove the origin of the properties and his legal claim under Article 1386 of the Civil Code, such a substantive issue could not be litigated in the summary proceeding under Section 78 of the Land Registration Act. The proper remedy is to institute a separate ordinary action in a court of competent jurisdiction. The Court modified the lower court’s order, suspending the issuance of new titles and giving the oppositors 30 days from the finality of the decision to institute the appropriate action to assert their claim.
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