GR L 16006; (February, 1920) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-16006; February 4, 1920
TORIBIA TINDOC, petitioner-appellant, vs. MONICO DONATO, SERGIA DONATO, MAXIMO LLANES, VICENTA DONATO, ANICETO DONATO, RUFINA DONATO, AND JUANITA MASIGANG, opponents-appellees.
FACTS:
The probate of the will of Pascual Donato was denied by the trial court in a decision dated November 1, 1918. The petitioner, Toribia Tindoc, was notified of this denial on November 9, 1918. On November 11, 1918, she filed an exception to the decision, a motion to vacate it, and a motion for a new trial. The trial court denied this motion by order dated January 20, 1919. The petitioner was notified of this denial on January 24, 1919. On January 27, 1919, she excepted to the order and subsequently filed her application for appeal on February 10, 1919, her appeal bond on February 17, 1919, and her record on appeal on February 18, 1919. The opponents-appellees moved to dismiss the appeal, arguing it was not perfected on time.
ISSUE:
Whether or not the appeal interposed by the petitioner was perfected within the period prescribed by law.
RULING:
The Supreme Court DENIED the motion to dismiss the appeal. The Court held that the appeal was timely filed. The governing provision for appeals in special proceedings, such as probate, is Section 781 of the Code of Civil Procedure ( Act No. 190 ), which provides a twenty-day period to appeal from a final order. The period is counted from notice of the order appealed from. The filing of a motion for a new trial suspends the running of this period. Since the petitioner filed her motion for a new trial on November 11, 1918, the time from that date until the denial of the motion on January 20, 1919, is excluded from the computation of the twenty-day period. Consequently, her application for appeal filed on February 10, 1919, was within the allowable period. The Court further clarified that the perfection of an appeal in special proceedings requires only the filing of the application for appeal within the statutory period; the appeal bond and the record on appeal may be filed thereafter within the time fixed by the court. Therefore, the petitioner’s appeal was validly interposed.