IGNACIO FRIAS CHUA, DOMINADOR CHUA and REMEDIOS CHUA, petitioners,

vs.
THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, BRANCH V and SUSANA DE LA
TORRE, in her capacity as Administratrix of the Intestate Estate of Consolacion de la Torre,
respondents.

G.R. No. L-29901 August 31, 1977

MARTIN, J.:

FACTS: Jose Frias Chua sired three children with his first wife Patricia Militar, namely: Ignacio, Lorenzo
and Manuel. When Patricia died, Jose contracted a second marriage with Consolacion de la Torre, with
whom he had a child by the name of Juanita Frias Chua. In 1929, Jose died. In the intestate proceeding,
the lower court issued an order adjudicating, the one-half (1/2,) portion of the subject property in this
case, Lot No. 399 and the sum of P8,000.00 in favor of Consolacion, the other half of the lot in favor of
Juanito.

On February 27, 1952, Juanito died intestate without any issue. After his death, his mother Consolacion
succeeded to his pro-indivisio share of Lot No. 399. Consolacion executed a declaration of heirship
adjudicating in her favor the pro-indiviso share of her son Juanito and transfer certificate of title covering
the whole property was issued under her name. In 1966, Consolacion died intestate leaving no direct heir
either in the descending or ascending line except her brother and sisters. In 1966, Petitioners,
Ignacio and Lorenzo, the two surviving children from the first marriage of Juanito, filed the complaint
praying that the one-half (1/2) portion of Lot No. 399 which formerly belonged to Juanito Frias but which
passed to Consolacion de la Torre upon the latter's death, be declared as a reservable property for the
reason that the lot in questionn was subject to reserval troncal pursuant to Article 981 of the New Civil
Code.

ISSUE: Whether or not the subject property complied with the requisites to be characterized as
reservable.

HELD: No. As explained by Manresa which this court quoted with approval in Cabardo v. Villanueva, 44
Phil 186, “The transmission is gratuitous title when the recipient does not give anything in return.” It
matters whether the property transmitted be or not be the subject to any prior changes; what is essential
is that the transmission be made gratuitously, or by an act of mere liberality of the person making, without
imposing any obligation on the part of the recipient; and that the person receiving the property gives or
does nothing in return; or, as ably put by an eminent Filipino commentator, “the essential thing is that the
person who transmits it does so gratuitously, from pure generosity, without requiring from the transferee
any prestation.”. It is evident from the record that the transmission of the property in question to Juanito
Frias Chua of the second marriage upon the death of his father Jose Frias Chua was means of hersditary
succession and therefore gratuitous.

The obligation of paying the Standard Oil Company of New York the amount of P8, 971.20 is imposed
upon Consolacion and Juanito Frias Chua not personally by the deceased Jose Frias Chua in his last will
and testament but by an order of the court in the testate proceeding No. 4816. As long as the
transmission of the property to the heirs is free from any condition imposed by the deceased himself and
the property is given out of pure generosity, it is gratuitous.

It is claimed that the complaint of petitioners to recover the one-half portion of Lot 399 which originally
belonged to Juanito has already prescribed when it was filed on May 11, 1966. We do not believe so. It
must be remembered that the petitioners herein are claiming as reservees did not arise until the time the
reservor, Consolacion, died in March 1966. When the petitioners therefore filed their complaint to recover
the one-half (1/2) portion of Lot 399, they were very much in time to do so.

IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, the decision appealed from is hereby set aside. The petitioners Ignacio
Frias Chua, Dominador Chua and Remedios Chua are declared owners of 1/2 undivided portion of Lot
399; and the Register of Deeds of Negros Occidental is hereby ordered to cancel. Transfer Certificate of
Title No. 31796 covering Lot No. 399 issued in the name of Consolacion de la Torre and to issue a new
Certificate of Title in the names of Consolacion de la Torre, 1/2 undivided portion; Ignacio Frias Chua, 1/4
undivided portion; and Dominador Chua and Remedios Chua, 1/4 undivided portion, of said lot. Without
pronouncement as to costs.