Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Kheng Hong Cheng
Kheng Hong Cheng
Issue: Whether or not the action to rescind the donation had already prescribed.
Held: According to the trial court, the period began from December 29, 1993 when
the civil case was resolved. Thus, The CA maintained that, that the four year period
began only on January 1997, the time when it first learned that the judgment award
could not be satisfied because the Ke Hong Cheng had no more properties in his
name. Article 1389 of the Civil Code simply provide that "The action to claim
rescission must be commenced within four years." When the law is silent as to when
the prescriptive shall commence, general rule must apply that it will commence
when the moment the action accrues. An action for rescission must be the last resort
of the creditors and can only be availed after the creditor had exhausted all the
properties. The herein respondent came to know only in January 1997 about the
unlawful conveyances of the petitioner when together with the sheriff and counsel
were to attach the property of the petitioner and it was then only when they found
out it is no longer in the name of the petitioner. Since the respondent filed accion
pauliana on February 1997, a month after the discovery that petitioner had no
property in his name to satisfy the judgment, action for rescission of subject deeds
had not yet prescribed.