GR L 24419; (July, 1968) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-24419 July 15, 1968
LEONORA ESTOQUE, plaintiff-appellant, vs. ELENA M. PAJIMULA, assisted by her husband CIRIACO PAJIMULA, defendants-appellees.
FACTS
The plaintiff, Leonora Estoque, based her complaint for legal redemption on the claim that she is a co-owner of Lot No. 802. She purchased a 1/3 portion, described as the southeastern part containing 640 square meters, from co-owner Crispina Perez de Aquitania on October 28, 1951. The next day, October 29, 1951, the other co-owners assigned all their rights and interests in Lot No. 802 to Crispina Perez, making her the sole owner. On December 30, 1959, Crispina Perez and her children sold the remaining 2/3 western portion of Lot No. 802 to the defendant, Elena Pajimula. Estoque argues that her deed, despite describing a definite area, should be construed as having conveyed only an undivided 1/3 interest, making her a co-owner with Crispina after the latter acquired the other shares. Consequently, when Crispina sold the 2/3 portion to Pajimula, Estoque claims a co-owner’s right of legal redemption under Article 1620 of the Civil Code. The lower court dismissed the complaint, holding the deeds showed Estoque and Pajimula acquired different, specific portions and thus never became co-owners.
ISSUE
Whether or not the plaintiff-appellant, Leonora Estoque, acquired a right of legal redemption as a co-owner over the portion of Lot No. 802 sold to the defendants-appellees, the Pajimulas.
RULING
No. The Supreme Court affirmed the order of dismissal. The deed of sale to Estoque clearly specified the object as the definite southeastern third portion of Lot 802. The Court held that the invalidity of that sale on October 28, 1951, due to the vendor’s lack of power to sell a specific portion of the commonly owned lot, was cured and the transaction validated on October 29, 1951, when the vendor, Crispina Perez, acquired the interests of the other co-owners and became the sole owner of the entire lot. Pursuant to Article 1434 of the Civil Code, title to the specific southeastern portion passed by operation of law to Estoque at that moment. Consequently, Estoque became the owner of that specific segregated portion, not an undivided interest in the whole lot. Therefore, when Crispina later sold the distinct western two-thirds portion to the Pajimulas, Estoque was not a co-owner and had no right of legal redemption under Article 1620.