G.R. No.

L-22036 April 30, 1979

TESTATE ESTATE OF THE LATE REVEREND FATHER PASCUAL RIGOR. THE PARISH
PRIEST OF THE ROMAN CATHOLIC CHURCH OF VICTORIA, TARLAC, petitioner-appellant,
vs.
BELINA RIGOR, NESTORA RIGOR, FRANCISCA ESCOBAR DE RIGOR and JOVITA ESCOBAR
DE FAUSTO, respondents-appellees.

Facts:

The late priest in the name of Father Pascual Rigor died in 1935 leaving a will. The deceased had
44 hectares of land in Guimba, Nueva Ecija. In his will he named his three sisters, Florencia Escobar,
Belina Manaloto and Nestora Quiambao, and his cousin Fortunato Gamalinda, as devisees. The
provisions of the will likewise, made mention that the testator bequeathed the ricelands to anyone of
his nearest male relatives who pursue their studies and become a priest. At the inception of his/their
study/ies in theology, the devisee/s can enjoy and administer the ricelands until he/they graduate/s and
become a priest but it would be ceased at the time of his/their death or when he/they discontinued
his/their study or after becoming a priest, he/they be excommunicated. In the interim, the said parcel of
lands shall be under the administration of the Catholic Church of Victoria Tarlac or his successors. It
appears that after 5 years, without any claim of the nephew or grandnephew of the testator as a
devisee, the administratrix of the said land proceeded for its partition. The judge approved for its
partition after payment of the obligations of the estate and deliver to the devisees their respective
shares. Thirteen years thereafter, the parish priest of the Catholic Church of Victoria after filing for the
appointment of a new administrator of the estate, filed a petition for the delivery of the said land to the
church as trustee. The heirs of the decedent refused and countered that since there is no male relative
of the testator who studied for priesthood the said bequeath becomes inoperative which the lower
court agreed in a decision. However, lower court reconsider in a motion for reconsideration on the
ground that a grand nephew in the name of Edgardo G. Cunanan was pursuing his study in the San Jose
Seminary, thus ruling for the delivery of the ricelands to the Church. The case was appealed before the
CA until before this Court.

Issue:

WON the said bequeath is still operative considering the duration from the time of death and
the degree of consanguinity from the testator.

Ruling:

No. The court hold that the said bequest refers to the testator's nearest male relative living at
the time of his death and not to any indefinite time thereafter. "In order to be capacitated to inherit,
the heir, devisee or legatee must be living at the moment the succession opens, except in case of
representation, when it is proper" (Art. 1025, Civil Code).

The said testamentary provisions should be sensibly or reasonably construed. To construe

them as referring to the testator's nearest male relative at anytime after his death would render the
provisions difficult to apply and create uncertainty as to the disposition of his estate. That could not
have been his intention.
 The reasonable view is that he was referring to a situation whereby his nephew living at the
time of his death, who would like to become a priest, was still in grade school or in high school or
was not yet in the seminary. In that case, the parish priest of Victoria would administer the ricelands
before the nephew entered the seminary. But the moment the testator's nephew entered the
seminary, then he would be entitled to enjoy and administer the ricelands and receive the fruits
thereof. In that event, the trusteeship would be terminated.

Inasmuch as the testator was not survived by any nephew who became a priest, the
unavoidable conclusion is that the bequest in question was ineffectual or inoperative. Therefore, the
administration of the ricelands by the parish priest of Victoria, as envisaged in the wilt was likewise
inoperative.