Matilde MENCIANO v. Paz Neri SAN JOSE and Rodolfo Pelaez 2.
2. The testimonies of witnesses for respondents that the deceased was so weak & sick
Reproduction; Sexual Dysfunctions; Erectile Dysfunction | May 28, 1951 | Jugo
Nature: Special Proceeding for Settlement of Estate of Faustino Neri San Jose
Digest maker: Pablo
SUMMARY: Menciano, widow of Faustino Neri San Jose, filed (on her behalf and on behalf
of minors Carlo Neri and Faustino Neri Jr.) a motion for declaration of heirs. Paz Neri San
Jose (executrix) and Pelaez (designated universal heir in the will) filed an answer denying
the allegations in the petition, contending that Matilde forced Faustino to marry her, that
Faustino was sterile, unable to procreate, impotent, and congenitally sterile (the same as his
brothers Anastasio, Filomeno, Pedro and his sister Conchita, who had no children) and thus
could not have fathered Matilde’s two children. SC ruled that Faustino was able to produce
a semen sample and was therefore NOT impotent. The lack of spermatozoa was not given
weight since it was only one sample and it was possible that he produced viable sperm
before and after the sample was examined. Rule 123, Sec. 68(c) [now found in Rule 131,
Sec. 3(dd) and Sec. 4] gave the 2 requirements for the conclusive presumption that one is
the legitimate child of a legitimate marriage: “The ff. are conclusive presumptions: (c) The
issue of a wife cohabiting with her husband, who is not impotent, is indisputably presumed
to be legitimate, if not born within 180 days immediately succeeding the marriage or after
the expiration of 300 days following its dissolution.” Impotency, being an abnormal condition,
should not be presumed. SC held that Faustino Neri Jr. was conclusively presumed to be
the legitimate child of Matilde and the decedent.
DOCTRINE: Impotency is not presumed; the presumption is in favor of potency. Impotency
is not synonymous with sterility. Impotency is the physical inability to have sexual
intercourse. Sterility refers to the lack of fertility in the reproductive elements of either sex.
● During the settlement of the estate of deceased Faustino Neri San Jose, Matilde
Menciano, in her behalf and in behalf of the minors Carlo Magno Neri and Faustino
Neri, Jr., filed a motion for declaration of heirs, alleging that she is the widow of the Was the deceased Faustino impotent during his cohabitation with Menciano?
deceased Faustino Neri San Jose and that Carlo was legitimized by their marriage
and Faustino Jr. is a legitimate child born in wedlock.
● examination as to its contents of spermatozoa, Faustino, following the doctor's
Paz Neri San Jose, then executrix, and Rodolfo Pelaez, designated universal heir in
the will, filed an amended answer in which they denied the allegations and further
alleged that the deceased was suffering from senile dementia caused by anemia
which became worse from September 9, 1944, when Misamis Oriental where he lived
was bombarded by American planes; that the marriage, if it was solemnized, was in
violation of the legal provisions and requisites, for he was deprived of his free will due
to his age, sickness, and bombardment, and Menciano, taking advantage, by intrigue
and threat of abandoning him, forced him by means of deceit (dolo) and threat to
marry her; and that he was sterile, unable to procreate, and was impotent and
congenitally sterile, the same as his brothers Anastasio, Filomeno, Pedro, and his
sister Conchita, who had no children.
o cohabited with Menciano until his death on October 11, 1944.
They also filed a counterclaim for the sum of P286,000 in cash, and for
jewels and certain properties, which, as alleged, were retained and illegally
disposed of by Menciano.
WON the marriage between Faustino and Menciano was valid - YES
1. The marriage is evidenced by: application for a marriage license signed by Faustino
and Menciano to marry each other; certificate for immediate issuance of the marriage
license applied for signed by the Acting Local Civil Registrar, Faustino, and
Menciano; marriage contract signed by Faustino and Menciano as contracting
parties, Fr. Edralin as solemnizing officer, and witnesses Castaños and Pañgan.
a. As all are official and public documents, their validity can be successfully
assailed only by strong, clear, and convincing oral testimony.
that he could not even talk coherently & intelligibly is too sweeping because they refer
to a general period of time.
a. Fr. Edralin, who did not solemnize the marriage on a certain date, waited for
2 days to perform the ceremony when the deceased, although weak, had a
clear mind. His testimony is strongly corroborated by the form of the
signatures of the deceased on the documents. A mere glance at those
signatures (complicated, containing many flourishes) will convince anyone
that they could not have been written by a man who is almost unconscious
and physically and intellectually incapacitated. Comparing the signatures to
each other shows they are practically uniform and show no sign of trembling
of the hands or fingers.
[RELEVANT] WON Carlo and Faustino Jr. are legitimate children of the deceased Faustino
and Menciano - YES, as to Faustino Jr. CANNOT REVIEW as to Carlo because no appeal.
3. They were married on Sept. 28, 1944.
4. Faustino Jr. was born April 24, 1945, which is 280 days (more than 180 days) after
the marriage but less than 300 days after the death of Faustino on Oct. 11, 1944.
5. There is no question that before and after the marriage, Faustino and Menciano
cohabited.
6. Rule 123, Sec. 68(c) [now found in Rule 131, Sec. 3(dd) and Sec. 4] reads: “The
following are conclusive presumptions: (c) The issue of a wife cohabiting with her
husband, who is not impotent, is indisputably presumed to be legitimate, if not born
within 180 days immediately succeeding the marriage or after the expiration of 300
days following its dissolution.”
a. The requirements for the conclusive presumption that Faustino Jr. is the
legitimate son of the legitimate marriage of the deceased Faustino and
Menciano exist as above stated, with the possible exception of the requisite
as to potency.
7. [SEE DOCTRINE] The best evidence that the deceased was potent is the statement
of Dr. Garcia that in order to get a specimen of the semen of the deceased for
advice, used a condom, and a woman. The fact that the deceased was able to
produce the specimen by said means shows conclusively that he was potent.
8. Consequently, the requisite of potency also existed. The necessary conclusion is that
Faustino Jr. is conclusively presumed to be the legitimate son of the deceased with
Menciano in lawful wedlock.
9. Even considering the evidence as to sterility, the examinations of the semen by Drs.
Garcia and Marfori in 1940, to determine the existence of spermatozoa, do not
establish that the deceased was sterile. According to medical jurisprudence, a man
may not have spermatozoa at a certain time, but may have had it previously or may
have it subsequently to the examination. From examinations in 1940, Faustino
10. Dr. Marfori testified that from 1940 until Faustino’s death, the former only examined
the latter’s seminal fluid once and confirmed the possibility that spermatozoa may
appear later on even if absent in one instance.
a. Note that Dr. Marfori is a nephew-in-law of the deceased.
11. With regard to the supposed examination made by Dr. Garcia in Cebu on December
9, 1940, Cristobal Lopez, nephew of Faustino, testified that during said period, the
deceased Neri never went out of Misamis. We cannot accord much weight to the
testimony of Dr. Garcia that he made the examination.
a. But even supposing that said doctors made such examinations, the result is
inconclusive, for the reasons above set forth, and cannot in any way
overthrow the conclusive presumption established by Rule 123, Sec. 68(c).
12. Carlo was born on March 9, 1940, before the marriage. Both the deceased and
Menciano were free to marry without any legal impediment. However, the court below
 declared that Carlo has not been acknowledged as a natural child and, consequently,
cannot be legitimized by the subsequent marriage of his parents.
a. We cannot review this finding because plaintiffs did not appeal.
(1) Impotence, in Medical Jurisprudence. — Inability on the part
WON Menciano had in her possession and illegally disposed of the cash, jewels, and certain of the male organ of copulation to perform its proper function.
properties - NO
13. Principal witness for this claim was Rodolfo Pelaez, who testified that the deceased in
Impotence applies only to disorders affecting the functions of
1939 delivered to him P250,000 in small denominations to be exchanged in a bank in the organ of copulation, while sterility applies only to lack of
Manila for bills of larger denominations. After having exchanged it with the help of fertility in the reproductive elements of either sex. (Dennis,
Representative Ozamis (dead on the date of the trial), he returned to the province
and delivered the sum to the deceased. System of Surgery; Bouvier's Law Dictionary, Rawle's Third
a. On cross-examination he was not able to say whether the bills he took to Revision, Vol. 11, p. 1514)
Manila were treasury certificates or bank bills;
14. That in July, 1944, he visited Cagayan and he saw his uncle Faustino living with
Menciano and Carlo in a house on Calle Del Mar; that he saw P250,000 in a wooden (2) Impotencia (L.) Impotence.
aparador.
a. But when he was asked whether he actually saw the money in the
aparador, he said he was so informed by his uncle. His testimony is Impotencia Coeundi, inability of the male to perform the sexual
hearsay. act.
15. Furthermore, there is no reason why his uncle should have accounted to him for the
money. His testimony is contradicted by that of Paz Neri San Jose, his mother, who
stated that the deceased went to the house on Calle Del Mar only to fetch certain Impotentia Erigendi, inability to have an erection of the penis.
document; that deceased was not living in said house; that he went there to play
monte; that they were living in the house of one Tamparong; that the deceased used (The American Illustrated Medical Dictionary, by Dorland 20th
to carry with him his money, jewels, and documents, in a sack, wherever he went to Edition, p. 721)
play; that at the time of the air raid, the deceased went to the house on Calle Del Mar
carrying the said sack, but he returned to the house of Tamparong, leaving the sack
in the house on Calle Del Mar, but after the air raid he returned on the latter house to i. Coeundi. Inability of the male to perform the sexual act. i.
fetch the sack. This testimony of Paz Neri, who was a witness for the defendants and erigendi, impotence due to the absence of the power of
a co-defendant herself, contradicts that of Rodolfo Pelaez.
16. The testimony of Paz Neri would show the deceased was distrustful of relatives and erection. (Stedman's Practical Medical Dictionary, p. 551)
friends when his funds were concerned. In 1939 nobody believed for certain that
there would be war. Why then should the deceased have wanted to change the
money for bigger denominations when he could have deposited it in a nearby branch (4) Impotence.
of the PNB where the deceased could have gone, for, as alleged by the defendants,
he even went to Cebu in 1940 for examination of his seminal fluid?
17. It was testified to by Clotilde Galarrita de Labitad that Menciano showed to her "3. Law & Med. Incapacity for sexual intercourse." (Webster's
P284,000 and counted the money in her presence. This is unbelievable. Could she New International Dictionary, Second Edition, Unabridged, p.
not have counted it without the presence of anybody, avoiding theft or robbery?
18. With regard to the jewels, no satisfactory evidence was presented to prove that
1251)
Menciano misappropriated them. She received and had in her possession a few
jewels given to her by the deceased for the benefit of the children. (5) Impotency or Impotence. — Want of power for copulation,
19. As to the revocation of the appointment of Paz Neri San Jose as executrix, TC made not mere sterility. The absence of complete power of
a reasonable exercise of its discretion in setting it aside and appointing Menciano copulation is an essential element to constitute impotency. (31
administratrix, in view of the hostility would cause delay.
20. The appellees contended that the court erred in not completely annulling the C. J., P. 259)
institution of universal heir, without considering Rodolfo Pelaez as a legatee.
Inasmuch as the plaintiffs did not appeal, they are bound by the decision.
(6) Impotence. — Inability to perform the sexual act may be due
RULING: Judgment appealed from is AFFIRMED in all its parts, with costs against appellants. to defective organs from abnormal or incomplete development,
or to deficient internal secretions, or to disorders of the
nervous system diminishing the libido. Impotence may or may
not be accompanied by sterility. (The Columbia Encyclopedia,
877)