Donado v. Donado
REITERATIONFacts
The Antecedents: Heradio F. Donado filed two complaints seeking to be declared entitled to participate in the estate of his deceased mother, Gertrudis Donado, and in property inherited by Gertrudis and her sister, Matilde Menendez Donado, from their mother, Marcela Donado. Heradio claimed to be a natural son voluntarily acknowledged by Gertrudis Donado. The defendants denied the acknowledgment and alleged Heradio was the illegitimate son of a priest, lacking legal capacity to marry at the time of conception and birth. Procedural History: The lower court ordered paragraph IV of the cross-complaint, which sought to investigate Heradio's paternity, to be stricken out. The court reasoned that such an investigation was prohibited by the Civil Code and thus irrelevant. The Petition: The defendants appealed the judgment of the Court of First Instance of Iloilo, which held Heradio F. Donado to be an acknowledged natural child of Gertrudis Donado and entitled to participate in her estate and certain properties. The defendants assigned numerous errors, primarily concerning the lower court's rulings on the admissibility of evidence related to paternity investigation and the application of laws regarding acknowledgment and inheritance.
Issue(s)
Whether the court erred in striking out paragraph IV of the cross-complaint, which sought to investigate the plaintiff's paternity. Whether the plaintiff's action for partition and recovery of property has prescribed. Whether the documents presented constitute a valid acknowledgment of a natural child under the Civil Code. Whether the plaintiff, as an acknowledged natural child born under prior law, is entitled to inherit from his mother alongside a legitimate child, considering the acknowledgment was made under the Civil Code. Whether the partition of property could be ordered without evidence of the source of said property.
Ruling
The judgment of the lower court is affirmed in so far as it adjudges the plaintiff Heradio F. Donado the right to participate in the inheritance of his mother, Gertrudis Donado. However, it is reversed in so far as it orders the partition of said property. The case is remanded to the court of origin for further proceedings.
Ratio Decidendi
On the issue of striking out paragraph IV of the cross-complaint: The Court held that the right to impugn the acknowledgment of a natural child accrues at the moment of acknowledgment. Since the alleged voluntary acknowledgment of Heradio F. Donado by Gertrudis Donado was made under the Civil Code and in accordance with its provisions, the defendants' right to impugn it also accrued under the Civil Code. The Civil Code prohibits the investigation of paternity except in specific authorized cases. As the present case did not fall under these exceptions, the allegations in paragraph IV of the cross-complaint, which sought to investigate paternity, were irrelevant and unnecessary. Therefore, the court of origin did not err in ordering the paragraph stricken. On the prescription of the plaintiff's action: The Court clarified that the action was not for a judicial declaration of acknowledgment but for partition of inheritance based on a voluntary acknowledgment made in a public document. Thus, Article 137 of the Civil Code regarding actions to compel acknowledgment was inapplicable. As an action for partition and recovery of property, it had not prescribed. Gertrudis Donado died on April 25, 1919, and the complaints were filed on October 19, 1928, well within the ten-year period prescribed by Section 40 of Act No. 190 for actions concerning real property. On the sufficiency of the documents as instruments of acknowledgment: The Court found that Exhibits A, B, C, and D, being parts of judicial records and subscribed to by a notary public, were public documents as required by Article 131 of the Civil Code. Citing Cosio vs. Pili and Manresa, the Court held that the acknowledgment need not be direct but could be incidental, as long as the intention to acknowledge sufficiently appears. The statements by Gertrudis Donado in these documents, coupled with the testimony of witnesses who were present at Heradio's birth and saw him nursed and reared by Gertrudis, conclusively established Heradio's identity as her son and the acknowledgment. On the consent of the acknowledged child: The Court ruled that Article 133 of the Civil Code, requiring the consent of a child of legal age for acknowledgment, does not prescribe the manner of consent, which can be express or tacit. Heradio F. Donado gave his implied consent by claiming inheritance based on the acknowledgment and by empowering his mother to sell his cattle, as evidenced by Exhibit E. On the right to inherit: The Court distinguished this case from Rocha vs. Tuason and Rocha de Despujols. While both Heradio and Mercedes were born under prior law, Heradio's acknowledgment occurred under the Civil Code. His right to inherit stemmed from this Civil Code acknowledgment, entitling him to the portion granted by Article 840 of the Civil Code. Mercedes' right as a legitimate daughter arose under prior law. Because the origins of their rights were different, the doctrine in De Gala vs. De Gala y Alabastro was deemed applicable, granting Heradio his share under the Civil Code. The Court also noted that the partition of property could not be ordered without evidence of the source of the property, particularly the claim that a portion was inherited from Mercedes' father.
Main Doctrine
The acknowledgment of a natural child, born under the former law, made separately by a mother under the Civil Code and in accordance with its provisions, cannot be attacked by a legitimate daughter also born under the same prior law, when such action would involve an investigation of the identity of the father who did not acknowledge said child, for under the present law such an inquiry is prohibited. The right to inherit from a deceased parent is governed by the Civil Code if the acknowledgment was made thereunder, even if the child was born prior to its effectivity, provided the acknowledgment occurred during the effectivity of the Civil Code.