Lopez vs.

Gonzaga
ROMULO LOPEZ, ET AL., plaintiffs-appellants,
vs.
LUIS GONZAGA, ET AL., defendants,
LUIS GONZAGA and ASUNCION GONZAGA, defendantsappellants.
FACTS:
Antecedent: Soledad Gonzaga Vda. de Ferrer died intestate on 11
April 1935 without any issue and leaving real and personal
properties worth P400,000.00; that she was survived by the
plaintiffs, who are her nearest of kin, being her brother sisters,
nephews, and nieces; that during the lifetime the deceased, she
expressed the wish that as long as her brother, Luis Gonzaga, the
principal defendant, was engaged in his coconut oil experimentation
he could use products and rentals of her properties in furtherance
his experiments; that the said scientific venture by said defendant
was discontinued when he became totally blind in October, 1955 in
view of which the plaintiffs now ask a partition of the estate and the
cancellation of titles of lands allegedly fraudulently transferred by,
and in the name of, the defendant.
Procedural: The defendant filed a motion to dismiss on the grounds
of res judicata and non-inclusion of indispensable parties. The
plainttiffs amended their petition to include the omitted parties.
After hearing on the motion to dismiss, the court denied the said
motion. Thereupon, the defendant filed their answer, pleading a
denial as to intestacy of deceased, and alleging, among others, that
a will of Soledad Gonzaga Vda. de Ferrer instituted Luis Gonzaga as
the sole heir estate, and that the will was duly allowed and
probated.
The trial court (CFI Negros Occidental) dismissed the
petition of plaintiffs (appellants) for partition and cancellation of
titles of registered lands and ordered them to pay defendants
(appellees) P1,000.00 by way of attorney's fees, but refused to
award moral damages in favor of the defendants.
Due to the destruction of the court and property record of Iloilo as a
result of the last war, as attested by the Clerk of Court, no will or
probate order was produce and neither were attested copies
registered with the Office of the Register of Deeds of Negros
Occidental leave little room for doubt that Doa Soledad Gonzaga
died leaving a will instituting her nephew the appellee Luis Gonzaga
y Jesena, as her sole testamentary heir.

A certain Atty. Hortillas testified twice that deceased Dona Soledad

made Luis the sole heir. The court took his testimony as conclusive
because he himself was married to Monserrat Gonzaga, a sister of
Soledad, who would have been one of the latter's heirs intestate had
it not been for the testament in favor of the appellee.
There was a joint appeal by both the plaintiffs and the defendants
straight to the SC because the properties involved was valued at
more than P200,000.
ISSUE:
Whether or not Luis Gonzaga may be declared as the sole
testamentary heir despite the absence of a will (all copies were
destroyed during the war)
HELD:
Yes. Luis Gonzaga was declared by testimony as the sole
testamentary heir. He paid the inheritance taxes. He administered
the properties as his own for more than 20 years in open and
adverse possession. All of these factors taken in consideration, Luis
Gonzaga was deemed the sole testamentary heir despite the lack of
a copy of the will as all are indicative of the fact of conveyance of
the inheritance to him and his exercise of ownership over the
properties.