Santiago Degal, Plaintiff-appellee vs. Cecilia Reyes et al., Defendants-Apellants, G.R. No. 2402, November 29, 1950

Media

Part of The Lawyers Journal

Title: Santiago Degal, Plaintiff-appellee vs. Cecilia Reyes et al., Defendants-Apellants, G.R. No. 2402, November 29, 1950
extracted text: �II which leave certain properties of the testatrix for the saying oi Santiago Degala, Plaintiff-Appellee vs. Cecilia Reyes et al., fendants-Ap-pella.nts, G.R. No. 2402, November 29, 1950. De- m11.sses for the soul of the testatrix and her relatives and for the maintenance and repair of the church, convent and the old chapel of the Roman Ca.tholic cemetery of Sta. Maria and of the ehurd1 of Burgos, Iloeos Sur, create a charitable and religious trust, and this court in the case of GovernmE"nt of the P. I. vs. Ahadilla, 46 Phil. 642, 647, quoting Perry on Trusts, held that m regard to private trust it is not always necessary that the ct-slui q,u! trust should be in esse at the time the trust is created in his favor, and that in charito.ble trust the rule is still further relaxed, And (2) as to prohibition to alienate the properties in trust, Art. 785 ol the Civil Code provides that in fiduciary substitutions "dis positions, imposing perpetual prohibition and temporary prohibi. tion beyond the limits fixed by Art. 781 " are inoperative; �nd that Art. 792 prescribes that, impossible conditions and those contrary to law and good morals imposed in testamentary disposition shall be considered as not imposed, and shall not prejudice that heir or legatee in any manner whatsoever, even should the testator other� PLEADING AND PRACTICE; INDISPENSABLE PARTIES; DE CLARATORY RELIEF. - The Roman Catholic church, or its legal representative, the Roman Catholic Bishop of Nueva Segovia, has interest in defending the validity of the trust created in the will in question and its interest would be affected by the declaration of nullity of the trust. "When declaratory relief is sought all persons shall be made parties wko have or claim any inter<?st which would be affected by the de claration . .. " (Rule 66, sec. 3.) "And the absence of a defendant with such adverse interest is a jurisdictional de fect, and no declaratory judiment can be rendered Cl C.J.S., p. 1049). But the Roman Catholic Church, or its legal representatives, was not included as party defendant in the present case. J. Qu.intiltan for appellants. Antonio Directo for appellee. D EC IS I O N FE RIA, J.: During the pendency of the appeal from the o,rder of the Court of First Instance of Ilocos Sur probating a will executed by the late Placida Mina of Santa Maria. Ilocos Sur, on April 22, 1927, Santiago Degala, alleging tha.t he is one of the legal heirs of said Placida Mina, filed a petition with thf' · court -pray. mg that the provisions of said will and testament creating a trust be declared null and void bees.use there is no ustui que trust nt!.med therein, under Rule 66 on Declaratory judgment. The said will provides, among others, the following: "SEGUNDO. - Las rentas o productos de mis terrenos, casas y animales cQn exccpcion de las parcelas de terreno ar riba mencionadas se aplicaran al pago de amillara rniento de mis propiedades par3 la reparacion y con. tinuacion de la construccion de mis dos casas de mam_poS teria que estan frente a frente, y para la !'e.alizacion de las misas dispuestas en este testamento; y c&SO de que sobrare algo se dispondra, en caso necesario, para ayudar en los gastos de la reparacion de la iglesia, conver.to y la a.n. tigua capilla de! cementerio romano de Santa Maria y I::,. iglesia de Burgos. X X X X OCT A VO. - Ordeno quc todos los aii.os empezando des.. de mi muerte se celehren misas cantadas en las fechaa del d.ia de mi nacimiento y mueI'te, en :!ufragio de mi alma, de las de mis parientes mencionadas al comienzo de este testamento y de las de mis difuntos abuelos Santiago Minn y Florentina Degala, padre y madre de mi padre, y de las de Mariano Directo y Anastacia Peralta, padre y ma.dre de mi madre.'' The only person& who were made party defendants in the petition for declaratory judgm ent are Cecilia Reyes, petitioner fo1· the probate of the will in Case No. 3689, Valentin Umipig, specia.l administrator of the estate of the deceased appointed by the court, and Leona Leones and Cipriana Alcantara named as trustees under the will. After the hearing of the petition, the Court of First Instance of Ilocos Sur held that if it were not the unanimous desire of all the parties that the court declare, once and for a.II, whether cer tain provisions of the will are null and void or not, it would dismiss the petition for declaratory judgm ent in accordance with .American precedf'.nt.s. becausE" the judgm f'nt of the lower court pro bating the will was then still pending appeal in the Supreme Court. But in view of such unanimous desire, the court declared, among others, that the above quoted provisions of the will creating a fideicomiso or trust are null and void, because the testatrix has not named the first heir or eestui quc tn£St Gnd because they are contrary to the law on perpetuities. The defendants Cecilia Reyes and Va1entin Umiplg appealed from the said judgm ent to this court. The appellants in a well . w1·itten briel contend (1) that the pl'ovisions in the will or testament of the late Placida. Mina wise provide. It is obvious, that the Roman Catholic church or its legal representative the Roman Catholic Rishop of Nueva Segovia, has interest in defrr.ding that validity of the trust created in the will "end its interest would be affected by the declaration ol nullity of the trust. See. 3, Rule 66, of the Rules of Court providt's thar ''when declaratory relief is sought, all persons shall be made par. ties who have •)r claim any interest which would be affected by the declaration, and no declaration shall, except as othei· wise provided in these rules, prejudice th(: rights ol persons not parties to the action." The nonjoinder of necessary parties would deprive the declaration of the final and pacifying function it is calculated to suhserve, as they would not be bound by the declnra.. tion and may raise the identical issue (Hoskyns vs. National City Bank of New York, G.R. No. L-1.877, promulgated December 29, 1949) ''And the absence of a defe.ndant with such adverse inter est is a jurisdictional defect, and no declaratory judgm ent can be rendered <Corpus Juris Secundum, Vol. I, p. 1049). But the Roman Catholic Church, or its lcga.l representatives was not in cluded as party defendant in the present case. In view of the loregoing, the judgment appealed from in so far it declares the trust under consideration null and void; is set aside, without pronouncf'ment as to .costs. So ordered. .Mor"'n, Paras, Pablo, Beng::on, Tuasou, Montemayor; Reyes; Ju90, and Bautista Angelo, J.J., concur. 140 THE LA WYE RS JOURNAL March 31, 1954
Date: 1954
Rights