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HEIRS OF TEOFILO GABATAN v. CA

This case has been cited 5 times or more.

	GR Nos. 187308 & 187517 2013-09-18	HILARIA BAGAYAS v. ROGELIO BAGAYAS PERLAS-BERNABE, J.
First. While the RTC may have made a definitive ruling on petitioner's adoption, as well as the forgery of Eligia's signature on the questioned deed, no partition was decreed, as the action was, in fact, dismissed. Consequently, the declaration that petitioner is the legally adopted child of Maximino and Eligia did not amount to a declaration of heirship and co-ownership upon which petitioner may institute an action for the amendment of the certificates of title covering the subject land. More importantly, the Court has consistently ruled that the trial court cannot make a declaration of heirship in an ordinary civil action, for matters relating to the rights of filiation and heirship must be ventilated in a special proceeding instituted precisely for the purpose of determining such rights.[49]
	GR No. 198680 2013-07-08	HEIRS OF MAGDALENO YPON v. GAUDIOSO PONTERAS RICAFORTE PERLAS-BERNABE, J.
As stated in the subject complaint, petitioners, who were among the plaintiffs therein, alleged that they are the lawful heirs of Magdaleno and based on the same, prayed that the Affidavit of Self-Adjudication executed by Gaudioso be declared null and void and that the transfer certificates of title issued in the latter's favor be cancelled. While the foregoing allegations, if admitted to be true, would consequently warrant the reliefs sought for in the said complaint, the rule that the determination of a decedent's lawful heirs should be made in the corresponding special proceeding[20] precludes the RTC, in an ordinary action for cancellation of title and reconveyance, from granting the same. In the case of Heirs of Teofilo Gabatan v. CA,[21] the Court, citing several other precedents, held that the determination of who are the decedent's lawful heirs must be made in the proper special proceeding for such purpose, and not in an ordinary suit for recovery of ownership and/or possession, as in this case: Jurisprudence dictates that the determination of who are the legal heirs of the deceased must be made in the proper special proceedings in court, and not in an ordinary suit for recovery of ownership and possession of property. This must take precedence over the action for recovery of possession and ownership. The Court has consistently ruled that the trial court cannot make a declaration of heirship in the civil action for the reason that such a declaration can only be made in a special proceeding. Under Section 3, Rule 1 of the 1997 Revised Rules of Court, a civil action is defined as one by which a party sues another for the enforcement or protection of a right, or the prevention or redress of a wrong while a special proceeding is a remedy by which a party seeks to establish a status, a right, or a particular fact. It is then decisively clear that the declaration of heirship can be made only in a special proceeding inasmuch as the petitioners here are seeking the establishment of a status or right.
	GR No. 170026 2012-06-20	SHIMIZU PHILIPPINES CONTRACTORS v. MRS. LETICIA B. MAGSALIN BRION, J.
For this same reason, we are not moved by respondent FGU Insurance's statement that the disposition of the present petition must be limited to the issue of whether the CA had correctly dismissed the appeal in CA-G.R. CV No. 83096.[25] This statement implies that we cannot properly look into the validity of the December 16, 2003 dismissal order in this Rule 45 petition. A void decision, however, is open to collateral attack. While we note that the validity of the dismissal order with respect to Section 1, Rule 36 of the Rules of Court was never raised by the petitioner as an issue in the present petition, the Supreme Court is vested with ample authority to review an unassigned error if it finds that consideration and resolution are indispensable or necessary in arriving at a just decision in an appeal.[26] In this case, the interests of substantial justice warrant the review of an obviously void dismissal order.
	GR No. 165487 2011-07-13	COUNTRY BANKERS INSURANCE CORPORATION v. ANTONIO LAGMAN PEREZ, J.
In the case at bar, Lagman mentioned during the direct examination that there are actually four (4) duplicate originals of the 1990 Bond: the first is kept by the NFA, the second is with the Loan Officer of the NFA in Tarlac, the third is with Country Bankers and the fourth was in his possession. [29] A party must first present to the court proof of loss or other satisfactory explanation for the non-production of the original instrument. [30] When more than one original copy exists, it must appear that all of them have been lost, destroyed, or cannot be produced in court before secondary evidence can be given of any one. A photocopy may not be used without accounting for the other originals. [31]
	GR No. 170375 2010-07-07	REPUBLIC v. MAMINDIARA P. MANGOTARA LEONARDO-DE CASTRO, J.
Another case, Heirs of Teofilo Gabatan v. Court of Appeals[102] (Gabatan case), involved an action for recovery of ownership and possession of property with the opposing parties insisting that they are the legal heirs of the deceased. Recalling the Portugal case, the Court ruled: Similarly, in the present case, there appears to be only one parcel of land being claimed by the contending parties as their inheritance from Juan Gabatan. It would be more practical to dispense with a separate special proceeding for the determination of the status of respondent as the sole heir of Juan Gabatan, specially in light of the fact that the parties to Civil Case No. 89-092, had voluntarily submitted the issue to the RTC and already presented their evidence regarding the issue of heirship in these proceeding. Also the RTC assumed jurisdiction over the same and consequently rendered judgment thereon.