G.R. No.

83484 February 12, 1990

CELEDONIA SOLIVIO, petitioner,
vs.
THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS and CONCORDIA JAVELLANA VILLANUEVA, respondents.

FACTS:

Esteban Javellana, Jr.’s mother Salustia died leaving all her property, including a house and lot in La Paz,
Iloilo City, to him. Esteban Jr,” died a bachelor, without descendants, ascendants, brothers, sisters,
nephews or nieces. His only surviving relatives are: (1) his maternal aunt, petitioner Celedonia Solivio,
the spinster half-sister of his mother, Salustia Solivio; and (2) the private
respondent, Concordia Javellana-Villanueva, sister of his deceased father, Esteban Javellana, Sr.

Pursuant to an agreement between Concordia and Celedonia, the latter would take care of the

proceedings leading to the formation of the foundation. Celedonia in good faith and upon the advice of
her counsel, filed for a Special Proceeding for her appointment as special administratrix of the estate of
Esteban Javellana, Jr., praying that letters of administration be issued to her; that she be declared sole
heir of the deceased; and that after payment of all claims and rendition of inventory and
accounting, the estate be adjudicated to her.

Concordia filed a civil case in the RTC of Iloilo for partition. Celedonia averred that the estate of Esteban
Jr. was subject to reserva troncal and thus it should redound to her as a relative within the  3rd degree
on his mother side.

ISSUE:

Is the estate of the deceased subject to reserva troncal?

RULING:

No. There is no merit in the petitioner’s argument that the estate of the deceased  was subject to reserva
troncal, and that it pertains to her as his only relative within the third degree on his mother’s side. The
reserva troncal provision of the Civil Code is found in Article 891 which reads as follows:

ART. 891. The ascendant who inherits from his descendant any property which the latter may
have acquired by gratuitous title from another ascendant, or a brother or sister, is obliged to
reserva such property as he may have acquired by operation of law for the benefit of relatives
who are within the third degree and who belong to the line from which said property came.

The persons involved in reserva troncal are:

The person obliged to reserve is the reservor (reservista)—the

ascendant who inherits by operation of law property from his descendants.
 The persons for whom the property is reserved are the reservees (reservatarios)—relatives
within the third degree counted from the descendant (propositus), and belonging to the line
from which the property came.

The propositus—the descendant who received by gratuitous title and died without issue,
making his other ascendant inherit by operation of law.

Clearly, the property of the deceased, Esteban Javellana, Jr., is not reservable property, for Esteban, Jr.
was not an ascendant, but the descendant of his mother, Salustia Solivio, from whom he inherited the
properties in question. Therefore, he did not hold his inheritance subject to a reservation in favor of his
aunt, Celedonia Solivio, who is his relative within the third degree on his mother’s side. The reserva
troncal applies to properties inherited by an ascendant from a descendant who inherited it from
another ascendant or a brother or sister. It does not apply to property inherited by a descendant  from
his ascendant, the reverse of the situation covered by Article 891.