MINDANAO STATE UNIVERSITY

College of Law – Extension

Gen. Santos City

CIVIL LAW REVIEW II

Atty. Fritz Z. Tagaloguin

I. Mario made a written document denominated as “Kasulatan sang pag-tanggal sang mana”, thereby
disinheriting his prodigal son, Antonio. The document was entirely written in Ilonggo language, dated and
witnessed by his three drinking partners. Upon Mario’s death, his other children unaffected by the
disinheritance initiated a probate proceedings for the probate of such document, claiming it to be a valid
Holographic Will; meanwhile, Antonio made a timely Opposition, thereby moving for the dismissal of the
Petition, asserting that the “Kasulatan sang pag-tanggal sang mana” is not a Will, as it does not include
testamentary disposition of the estate, and it does not also conform to the requirements of the law to be
considered as a valid Will. If you are the Judge, how will you rule the case?

II. Percy brought her three shopping buddies to their lawyer-friend Atty. Meriam, purposely for Percy to
execute a Last Will and Testament. While the document is being prepared by Atty. Meriam’s secretary,
Percy and her friends namely: Aida, Lorna and Fe, together with Atty. Meriam had some tea in a coffee
shop across Atty. Meriam’s law office. After an hour, Percy, Atty. Meriam, Aida and Fe went back to the
law office, and thereafter signed the Will. Lorna wasn’t able to go with them, as she needed to wait for the
credit card terminal to work, as it was offline when she made the payment, but she immediately followed the
others after the payment transaction was confirmed. When Lorna arrived at the office, Percy already
finished signing the Will, nonetheless, Lorna asked to sign first, ahead of Aida and Fe, as she has a very
important appointment to attend to, and after signing she left. Meanwhile, while Lorna was still signing the
Will, Fe went out of the office to smoke cigarette but she could see Lorna signing the Will inside the office,
while Aida was also busy browsing Facebook on her iPad. On the other hand, Atty. Meriam, thinking that
Lorna’s absence during the time that Percy signed the document would invalidate the Will, she volunteered
to sign as one of the witnesses so that there were still at least three witnesses, but she as well notarized the
The Last Will and Testatment. May the Will of Percy be admitted to probate? Give your reasons briefly.

III. Explain the following terms:

a. Disposition Captatoria
b. Reserva Troncal
c. Curtain Bar Rule / Iron Curtain Rule
d. Per Stirpes and Per Capita
e. Preterition

IV. Because of confusion as to the boundaries of the adjoining lots bought by Boyet and Paulo from the same
subdivision developer, Boyet was able to construct his house in the adjoining lot owned by Paulo in an
honest belief that it is the land that he bought from the subdivision developer. Meanwhile, Paulo learned
about the construction of the house in his land only after it was already finished. What are the respective
rights of Boyet and Paulo with respect to the house built in the land of Paulo?

V. Bryan rented a building to be used as manufacturing plant for his calamansi juice business. He then installed
a number of big blending machines inside the building. Needing some capital for the business, Bryan
obtained a loan from a certain bank and thereby executed a Real Estate Mortgage over the machines
installed in the plant, believing that the machines permanently installed therein are considered as real
properties. Is Bryan’s impression that the machines permanently installed in his manufacturing plant are real
properties, correct?

VI. What are the different kinds of delivery? Explain each.

VII. Kevin sold his farm land to Ken, and thereby executed a document denominated as “Deed of Sale with
Pacto de Retro”. It is stipulated upon in the contract that Kevin shall have the right to repurchase the farm
land within a period of 3 years, and it is further stipulated that Kevin will retain possession of the land as a
lessee and shall pay the yearly real property taxes. The consideration of the sale was P500,000.00, although
its market value is actually 1.5 Million. It was Kevin who set the price, so that it will not be hard for him to
repurchase the property. However, due to unavoidable circumstances, Kevin failed to repurchase the farm
land after the expiration of 3 years, thus, Ken applied to the Court for the consolidation of his title, however,
Kevin opposed the application claiming that Ken cannot consolidate his title over the property, as their
contract is one of an Equitable Mortgage, therefore the consolidation of title is not proper as it will violate
the principle of Pactum Commissorium. Is Kevin correct? Explain.