GR L 23245; (July, 1968) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-23245 July 31, 1968
JUANITA RIVERA, petitioner, vs. SILVINO CURAMEN, respondent.
FACTS
Silvino Curamen, married to Dominga Barcelona, was the grantee of a free patent (OCT No. P-594) and a homestead patent (OCT No. H-6289) covering three parcels of land. The spouses mortgaged these lands to the Rehabilitation Finance Corporation (RFC). Due to non-payment, the RFC foreclosed and acquired the properties at public auction. Prior to the foreclosure, on April 1, 1955, the Curamen spouses sold their right to repurchase the properties to the spouses Ernesto Rivera and Juanita Curitana (Rivera spouses) for P4,000.00, with the condition that the Riveras would continue paying the mortgage obligation to the RFC. Silvino Curamen later died and was substituted in the case by his daughters, Justina and Felicidad Curamen. Ernesto Rivera also died and was substituted by his minor children, with Juanita Curitana (petitioner) as their guardian ad litem. The Curamen heirs sought to repurchase the properties from the Riveras by offering the P4,000.00 plus any amounts paid to the RFC, but the Riveras refused. The Curamen heirs then filed an action for reconveyance. The Riveras relied partly on a quitclaim deed allegedly executed by Dominga Barcelona in their favor. The trial court and the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the Curamen heirs, ordering reconveyance. Petitioner Juanita Rivera appealed, arguing that the Court of Appeals erred in holding Dominga Barcelona was not a plaintiff and in disregarding her quitclaim.
ISSUE
Whether the legal heirs of Silvino Curamen retain the right to repurchase the homestead and free patent lands despite the quitclaim deed executed by the widow, Dominga Barcelona.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of Appeals, with modification. The law grants the right to repurchase lands acquired under free patent or homestead provisions to the applicant, his widow, or legal heirs within five years from the date of conveyance. This right is not extinguished by a quitclaim executed by the widow alone, as such deed binds only her and does not deprive the legal heirs of their independent statutory right to repurchase. The purpose of the law is to enable the family of the grantee to keep their homestead, and it must be liberally construed to carry out that purpose. Consequently, the heirs of Silvino Curamen retain the right to repurchase the entire property, not merely their father’s share. The Supreme Court modified the decision to clarify that if the Rivera spouses had not yet repurchased the lands from the RFC, they must reconvey the right to repurchase to the Curamen heirs.