Baltazar v. Serfino
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: Olympia Baltazar, on behalf of her minor son Armenio Serfino, filed a case against Sergio Serfino for support. Armenio was born on December 19, 1943, to Olympia Baltazar and Sergio Serfino, who was married to another woman. Procedural History: The Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental ordered Sergio Serfino to pay P15.00 monthly as support from July 1960. The plaintiffs appealed, seeking an increase in the monthly support to P50.00, a retroactive payment from Armenio's birth (with exceptions), and attorney's fees. The Petition: Appellants alleged that the awarded amount of support was insufficient, should be made payable from the time of Armenio's birth, and that attorney's fees should be awarded.
Issue(s)
Whether the monthly support awarded was sufficient. Whether the support should be made payable from the time of the child's birth. Whether attorney's fees should be awarded.
Ruling
The judgment appealed from is modified. Defendant-appellee is ordered to pay Armenio Serfino the sum of P25.00 monthly from June 1959, and P300.00 for attorney's fees, with costs.
Ratio Decidendi
On the sufficiency of support: The Court reiterated that the amount of support is determined by the resources of the giver and the needs of the recipient, as provided in Article 296 of the Civil Code. While the lower court considered the appellee's income from his rice mill and land, it failed to fully account for his other income from a tailoring shop and his ownership of a house and lot, which obviated rental expenses. Considering these additional factors and the appellee's obligation to support his wife and three legitimate children, the Court found the P15.00 monthly award insufficient and increased it to P25.00. On the commencement of payment: Article 298 of the Civil Code states that the obligation to give support is demandable from the time the recipient needs it, but payment is only due from the date of extrajudicial demand. In this case, the extrajudicial demand was made in June 1959, thus, payment should commence from that date, not from the child's birth or the date of the lower court's decision. On attorney's fees: The Court held that attorney's fees are recoverable when the duty to support is admitted but not complied with, forcing the recipient to resort to court action. Furthermore, paragraph 6 of Article 2208 of the Civil Code allows for attorney's fees in actions for legal support, even without an agreement. Given that the appellee's compliance was only achieved through judicial intervention after an extrajudicial demand, the Court deemed P300.00 a reasonable amount for attorney's fees.
Main Doctrine
The amount of support shall be in proportion to the resources of the giver and the needs of the recipient, and payment is demandable from the time the recipient needs it, but payable only from the date of extrajudicial demand. Attorney's fees are recoverable when support is judicially enforced due to non-compliance.