Bar Q and A #3

1.) Roberta, a Filipino, 17 years of age, without the knowledge of his parents, can acquire a house in Australia because Australian Laws allow aliens to acquire property from the age of 16.

TRUE. Since Australian Law allows alien to acquire property from the age of 16, Roberta may validly own a house in Australia, following the principle of lex rei sitae enshrined in Art. 16, which states "Real property as well as personal property is subject to the law of the country where it is situated." Moreover, even assuming that the legal capacity of Roberta in entering the contract in Australia is governed by Philippine Law, she will acquire ownership over the property bought until the contract is annulled.

2.) Emmanuel and Margarita, American citizens and employees of the U.S. State Department, got married in the African state of Kenya where sterility is a ground for annulment of marriage. Thereafter, the spouses were assigned to the U.S. Embassy in Manila. On the first year of the spouses’ tour of duty in the Philippines, Margarita filed an annulment case against Emmanuel before a Philippine court on the ground of her husband’s sterility at the time of the celebration of the marriage. Will the suit prosper? Explain your answer.

No, the suit will not prosper. As applied to foreign nationals with respect to family relations and status of persons, the nationality principle set forth in Art. 15 will govern the relations of Emmanuel and Margarita. Since they are American citizens, the governing law as to the ground for annulment is not Kenyan Law which Magarita invokes in support of sterility as such ground; but should be U.S. Law, which is the national Law of both Emmanuel and Margarita as recognized under Philippine Law. Hence, the Philippine court will not give due course to the case based on Kenyan Law. The nationality principle as expressed in the application of national law of foreign nationals by Philippine courts is established by precedents. (Pilapil v. Ibay-Somera, G.R. No. 80116, June 30, 1989; Garcia v. Recio, G.R. No. 138322, October 2, 2001; Llorente v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 124371, November 23, 2000; and Bayot v. Court of Appeals,G.R. No. 155635, November 7, 2008)

3.) If Ligaya, a Filipino citizen residing in the United States, files a petition for change of name before the District Court of New York, what law shall apply? Explain.

New York law shall apply. The petition of change of name filed in New York does not concern the legal capacity or status of the petitioner. Moreover, it does not affect the registry of any other country including the country of birth of the petitioner. However, whatever judgment is rendered in that petition will have effect only in New York. The New York court cannot, for instance, order the Civil Registrar in the Philippines to change its records. The judgment of the New York court allowing a change in the name of the petitioner will be limited to the records of the petitioner in New York and the use of her new name in all transactions in New York. Since the records and processes in New York are the only ones affected, the New York court will apply New York law in resolving the petition.

4.) The doctrine of "processual presumption" allows the court of the forum to presume that the foreign law applicable to the case is the same as the local or domestic law.

TRUE. If the foreign law necessary to the resolve an issue is not proven as a fact, the court of the forum may presume that the foreign law is the same as the law of the forum.

5.) On December 1, 2000, Dr. Juanito Fuentes executed a holographic will, wherein he gave nothing to his recognized illegitimate son, Jay. Dr. Fuentes left for the United States, passed the New York medical licensure examinations, resided therein, and became a naturalized American citizen. He died in New York in 2007. The laws of New York do not recognize holographic wills or compulsory heirs. a) Can the holographic will of Dr. Fuentes be admitted to probate in the Philippines? Why or why not? b) Assuming that the will is probated in the Philippines, can Jay validly insist that he be given his legitime? Why or why not?

a) Yes, the holographic will of Dr. Fuentes may be admitted to probate in the Philippines because there is no public policy violated by such probate. The only issue at probate is the due execution of the will which includes the formal validity of the will. As regards formal validity, the only issue the court will resolve at probate is whether or not the will was executed in accordance with the form prescribed by the law observed by the testator in the execution of his will. For purposes of probate in the Philippines, an alien testator may observe the law of the place where the will was executed (Art. 17, NCC), or the formalities of the law of the place where he resides, or according to the formalities of the law of his own country, or in accordance with the Philippine Civil Code. (Art. 816, NCC) Since Dr. Fuentes executed his will in accordance with the Philippine law, the Philippine court shall apply the New Civil Code in determining the formal validity of the holographic will. The subsequent change in the citizenship ofDr. Fuentes did not affect the law governing the validity of his will. Under the New Civil Code, which was the law used by Dr. Fuentes, the law enforced at the time of execution of the will shall govern the formal validity of the will.(Art. 795, NCC)

b) No, Jay cannot insist because under New York law he is not a compulsory heir entitled to a legitime. The national law of the testator determines who his heirs are, the order that they succeed, how much their successional rights are, and whether or not a testamentary disposition in his will is valid. (Art 16) Since, Dr. Fuentes was a US citizen, the law of the New York determines who his heirs are. And since the New York law does not recognize the concept of compulsory heirs, Jay is not a compulsory heir of Dr. Fuentes entitled to a legitime.

6.) Ted, married to Annie, went to Canada to work. Five (5) years later, Ted became a naturalized Canadian citizen. He returned to the Philippines to convince Annie to settle in Canada. Unfortunately, Ted discovered that Annie and his friend Louie were having an affair. Deeply hurt, Ted returned to Canada and filed a petition for divorce which was granted. In December 2013, Ted decided to marry his childhood friend Corazon in the Philippines. In preparation for the wedding, Ted went to the Local Civil Registry of Quezon City where his marriage contract with Annie was registered. He asked the Civil Register to annotate the decree of divorce on his marriage contract with Annie. However, he was advised by the National Statistics Office (NSO) to file a petition for judicial recognition of the decree of divorce in the Philippines. Is it necessary for Ted to file a petition for judicial recognition of the decree of divorce he obtained in Canada before he can contract a second marriage in the Philippines?

Yes, a divorce decree even if validly obtained abroad cannot have effect in the Philippines unless it is judicially recognized through an appropriate petition filed before Philippine courts. The foreigner must file a petition under Rule 108 and prove therein the fact of divorce by presenting an official copy attested by the officer having custody of the original. He must also prove that the court which issued the divorce has jurisdiction to issue it and the law of the foreign country on divorce. (Corpuz v. Sto. Tomas, G.R. No. 186571, August 11, 2010)

7.) Rosa was leasing an apartment in the city. Because of the Rent Control Law, her landlord could not increase the rental as much as he wanted to, nor terminate her lease as long as she was paying her rent. In order to force her to leave the premises, the landlord stopped making repairs on the apartment, and caused the water and electricity services to be disconnected. The difficulty of living without electricity and running water resulted in Rosa's suffering a nervous breakdown. She sued the landlord for actual and moral damages. Will the action prosper? Explain.

Yes, based on quasi-delict under the human relations provisions of the New Civil Code (Arts. 19, 20 and 21) because the act committed by the lessor is contrary to morals. Moral damages are recoverable under Art. 2219(10) in relation to Art. 21. Although the action is based on quasi-delict and not on contract, actual damages may be recovered if the lessee is able to prove the losses and expenses she suffered.

8.) Ricky donated P 1 Million to the unborn child of his pregnant girlfriend, which she accepted. After six (6) months of pregnancy, the fetus was born and baptized as Angela. However, Angela died 20 hours after birth. Ricky sought to recover the P 1 Million. Is Ricky entitled to recover? Explain.

Yes, Ricky is entitled to recover the P1,000,000.00. The NCC considers a fetus is considered a person for purposes favorable to it provided it is born later in accordance with the provision of the NCC. While the donation is favorable to the fetus, the donation did not take effect because the fetus was not born in accordance with the NCC.

To be considered born, the fetus that had an intrauterine life of less than seven (7) months should live for 24 hours from its complete delivery from the mother’s womb. Since Angela had an intrauterine life of less than seven (7) months but did not live for 24 hours, she was not considered born and, therefore, did not become a person. (Art. 41) Not being a person, she has no juridical capacity to be a donee, hence, the donation to her did not take effect. The donation not being effective, the amount donated may be recovered. To retain it will be unjust enrichment.

9.) Isidro and Irma, Filipinos, both 18 years of age, were passengers of Flight No. 317 of Oriental Airlines. The plane they boarded was of Philippine registry. While en route from Manila to Greece some passengers hijacked the plane, held the chief pilot hostage at the cockpit and ordered him to fly instead to Libya. During the hijacking Isidro suffered a heart attack and was on the verge of death. Since Irma was already eight months pregnant by Isidro, she pleaded to the hijackers to allow the assistant pilot to solemnize her marriage with Isidro. Soon after the marriage, Isidro expired. As the plane landed in Libya Irma gave birth. However, the baby died a few minutes after complete delivery. Back in the Philippines, Irma Immediately filed a claim for inheritance. The parents of Isidro opposed her claim contending that the marriage between her and Isidro was void ab initio on the following grounds: (a) they had not given their consent to the marriage of their son; (b) there was no marriage license; (c) the solemnizing officer had no authority to perform the marriage; and, (d) the solemnizing officer did not file an affidavit of marriage with the proper civil registrar. Does Irma have any successional rights at all? Discuss fully.

Irma succeeded to the estate of Isidro as his surviving spouse to the estate of her legitimate child. When Isidro died, he was succeeded by his surviving wife Irma, and his legitimate unborn child. They divided the estate equally between them, the child excluding the parents of Isidro. An unborn child is considered born for all purposes favorable to it provided it is born later. The child was considered born because, having an intra-uterine life of more than seven months, it lived for a few minutes after its complete delivery. It was legitimate because it was born within the valid marriage of the parents. Succession is favorable to it. When the child died, Irma inherited the share of the child. However, the share of the child in the hands of Irma is subject to reserva troncal for the benefit of the relatives of the child within the third degree of consanguinity and who belong to the line of Isidro.

10.) Jaime, who is 65, and his son, Willy, who is 25, died in a plane crash. There is no proof as to who died first. Jaime’s only surviving heir is his wife, Julia, who is also Willy’s mother. Willy’s surviving heirs are his mother, Julia and his wife, Wilma. 1. In the settlement of Jaime’s estate, can Wilma successfully claim that her late husband, Willy had a hereditary share since he was much younger than his father and, therefore, should be presumed to have survived longer? 2. Suppose Jaime had a life insurance policy with his wife, Julia, and his son, Willy, as the beneficiaries. Can Wilma successfully claim that one-half of the proceeds should belong to Willy’s estate?

1. No, Wilma cannot successfully claim that Willy had a hereditary share in his father’s estate. Under Art. 43, Civil Code, two persons “who are called to succeed each other” are presumed to have died at the same time, in the absence of proof as to which of them died first. This presumption of simultaneous death applies in cases involving the question of succession as between the two who died, who in this case are mutual heirs, being father and son.

2. Yes, Wilma can invoke the presumption of survivorship and claim that one-half of the proceeds should belong to Willy’s estate, under Sec. 3 (jj) par. 5 Rule 131, Rules of Court, as the dispute does not involve succession. Under this presumption, the person between the ages of 15 and 60 years is deemed to have survived one whose age was over 60 at the time of their deaths. The estate of Willy endowed with juridical personality stands in place and stead of Willy, as beneficiary.