Professional Documents
Culture Documents
CA
GR No. 83598, March 7, 1997
FACTS:
Basilio Balogbog and Genoveva Arnibal died intestate in 1951 and 1961
respectively. They have three children, Leoncia, Gaudioso and Gavino,
their older brother who died in 1935. Ramoncito and Generoso was
claiming that they were the legitimate children of Gavino by Catalina
Ubas and that, as such they were entitled to the one-third share in the
estate of their grandparents. However, Leoncia and Gaudioso claimed
they are not aware that their brother has 2 sons and that he was married.
They started to question the validity of the marriage between their
brother Gavino and Catalina despite how Gaudioso himself admitted
during a police investigation proceeding that indeed Ramonito is his
nephew as the latter is the son of his elder brother Gavino.
On the other hand,Leoncia claimed that her brother Gavino died single at
the family residence in Asturias. She obtained a certificate from the local
Civil Registrar of Asturias to the effect that the office did not have a
record of the names of Gavino and Catalina which was prepared by
Assistant Municipal Treasurer Juan Maranga who testified in the hearing as
well.
HELD:
Supreme Court affirmed the decisions of the trial court and Court of
Appeals in rendering Gavino and Catalinas marriage as valid and thus
entitle Ramonito and Generoso one third of their grandparents estate.
The court further states that Arts. 42 to 107 of the Civil Code of 889 of
Spain did not take effect, having been suspended by the Governor
General of the Philippines shortly after the extension of that code of this
country. Therefore, Arts. 53 and 54 never came into force. Since this case
was brought in the lower court in 1968, the existence of the marriage
must be determined in accordance with the present Civil Code, which
repealed the provisions of the former Civil Code, except as they related to
vested rights, and the rules of evidence. Under the Rules of Court, the
presumption is that a man and a woman conducting themselves as
husband and wife are legally married.