Liquez vs CA

G.R. No. L-11240        December 18, 1957

CONCHITA LIGUEZ, petitioner, 
vs.
THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS, MARIA NGO VDA. DE LOPEZ, ET AL., respondents.

The case began upon complaint filed by petitioner-appellant against the widow and heirs of the late Salvador P. Lopez to recover a parcel of 51.84 hectares of land, situated in barrio Bogac-Linot, of the municipality of Mati, Province of Davao. Plaintiff averred to be its legal owner, pursuant to a deed of donation of said land, executed in her favor by the late owner, Salvador P. Lopez.  the Court of Appeals found that when the donation was made, Lopez had been living with the parents of appellant for barely a month; that the donation was made in view of the desire of Salvador P. Lopez, a man of mature years, to have sexual relations with appellant Conchita Liguez; that Lopez had confessed to his love for appellant to the instrumental witnesses, with the remark that her parents would not allow Lopez to live with her unless he first donated the land in question; that after the donation, Conchita Liguez and Salvador P. Lopez lived together in the house that was built upon the latter's orders, until Lopez was killed on July 1st, 1943, by some guerrillas who believed him to be pro-Japanese. It was also ascertained by the Court of Appeals that the donated land originally belonged to the conjugal partnership of Salvador P. Lopez and his wife, Maria Ngo.

Upon these facts, the Court of Appeals held that the deed of donation was inoperative, and null and void (1) because the husband, Lopez, had no right to donate conjugal property to the plaintiff appellant; and (2) because the donation was tainted with illegal cause or consideration, of which donor and donee were participants.

Issue:

1. WON the donor and donee are pari delicto?

2. WON the donation was valid?

Held:

1.     The SC held that the Court of Appeals erred in applying to the present case the pari delicto rule. First, because it cannot be said that both parties here had equal guilt when we consider that as against the deceased Salvador P. Lopez, who was a man advanced in years and mature experience, the appellant was a mere minor, 16 years of age, when the donation was made; that there is no finding made by the Court of Appeals that she was fully aware of the terms of the bargain entered into by and Lopez and her parents; that, her acceptance in the deed of donation (which was authorized by Article 626 of the Old Civil Code) did not necessarily imply knowledge of conditions and terms not set forth therein; and that the substance of the testimony of the instrumental witnesses is that it was the appellant's parents who insisted on the donation before allowing her to live with Lopez. These facts are more suggestive of seduction than of immoral bargaining on the part of appellant. It must not be forgotten that illegality is not presumed, but must be duly and adequately proved.

In the second place, the rule that parties to an illegal contract, if equally guilty, will not be aided by the law but will both be left where it finds them, has been interpreted by this Court as barring the party from pleading the illegality of the bargain either as a cause of action or as a defense.  

2.     The Court of Appeals correctly held that Lopez could not donate the entirety of the property in litigation, to the prejudice of his wife Maria Ngo, because said property was conjugal in character and the right of the husband to donate community property is strictly limited by law.

ART. 1409. The conjugal partnership shall also be chargeable with anything which may have been given or promised by the husband alone to the children born of the marriage in order to obtain employment for them or give then, a profession or by both spouses by common consent, should they not have stipulated that such expenditures should be borne in whole or in part by the separate property of one of them.

ART. 1415. The husband may dispose of the property of the conjugal partnership for the purposes mentioned in Article 1409.

ART. 1413. In addition to his powers as manager the husband may for a valuable consideration alienate and encumber the property of the conjugal partnership without the consent of the wife.

The text of the articles makes it plain that the donation made by the husband in contravention of law is not void in its entirety, but only in so far as it prejudices the interest of the wife.

To determine the prejudice to the widow, it must be shown that the value of her share in the property donated cannot be paid out of the husband's share of the community profits. The requisite data, however, are not available to us and necessitate a remand of the records to the court of origin that settled the estate of the late Salvador P. Lopez.

The situation of the children and forced heirs of Lopez approximates that of the widow. As privies of their parent, they are barred from invoking the illegality of the donation. But their right to a legitime out of his estate is not thereby affected, since the legitime is granted them by the law itself, over and above the wishes of the deceased. Hence, the forced heirs are entitled to have the donation set aside in so far as in officious: i.e., in excess of the portion of free disposal (Civil Code of 1889, Articles 636, 654) computed as provided in Articles 818 and 819, and bearing in mind that "collationable gifts" under Article 818 should include gifts made not only in favor of the forced heirs, but even those made in favor of strangers. So that in computing the legitimes, the value of the property to herein appellant, Conchita Liguez, should be considered part of the donor's estate.

In view of the foregoing, the decisions appealed from are reversed and set aside, and the appellant Conchita Liguez declared entitled to so much of the donated property as may be found, upon proper liquidation, not to prejudice the share of the widow Maria Ngo in the conjugal partnership with Salvador P. Lopez or the legitimes of the forced heirs of the latter.