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January 21, 2019

CONCURRING OPINION

G.R. No. 231459

HEIRS OF PAULA C. FABILLAR, AS REPRESENTED BY AUREO[[*]] FABILLAR, Petitioners
vs.
MIGUEL M. PALLER, FLORENTINA P. ABAYAN, AND DEMETRIA P. SAGALES, Respondents

CAGUIOA, J.:

1âшphi1

I concur in the result.

Since the Court has ruled that the baptismal certificate of Ambrosio Paller (Ambrosio), respondents' father, cannot be considered by itself as competent proof of the claimed filiation with Marcelino Paller, respondents' alleged grandfather and Ambrosio's alleged father, and that respondents failed to prove the identity of the land they are seeking to recover, I take the view that the resolution of the issue of whether a special proceeding for declaration of heirship is necessary before the trial court can resolve the issue of ownership is superfluous.

I reserve my opinion on whether a declaration of heirship can only be made in a separate special proceeding is the rule. I submit that a review of relevant jurisprudence shows that the real rule is that the heirs' rights become vested without need for them to be declared as such in a separate special proceeding — pursuant to Article 7771 of the Civil Code — which I will expound on more in an appropriate case wherein such issue is determinative of its disposition.

1âшphi1

Footnotes

1 Article 777 of the Civil Code provides: "The rights to the succession are transmitted from the moment of the death of the decedent."

The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation

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