Mendoza vs. Delos Santos

Reserva troncal under Article 891 does not apply when the property holder is a collateral relative rather than an ascendant reservor, and the claimants are fourth-degree relatives (first cousins) rather than third-degree reservees.

The case involves a dispute over three parcels of land in Sta. Maria, Bulacan, originally owned by Exequiel Mendoza. Upon Exequiel's death, the properties passed to his wife Leonor and only daughter Gregoria. After both died, Leonor's sister, Julia, adjudicated the properties to herself as the sole surviving heir. The descendants of Exequiel's brothers claimed the properties should return to the Mendoza line under the principle of reserva troncal.

• Original Filing: RTC of Malolos, Bulacan, Branch 6, Civil Case No. 609-M-92 (Action for Recovery of Possession by Reserva Troncal, Cancellation of TCT and Reconveyance)
• Lower Court Decision: November 4, 2002 — RTC granted the complaint and ordered respondents to reconvey the properties to petitioners.
• Appeal: CA-G.R. CV No. 77694
• CA Decision: November 16, 2006 — CA reversed the RTC and dismissed the complaint. MR denied on January 17, 2007.
• SC Action: Petition for Review on Certiorari under Rule 45 filed by petitioners, arguing errors in the CA's application of reserva troncal.

• The Properties: Three parcels of land in Sta. Maria, Bulacan (Lot 1681-B, Lot 1684, Lot 1646-B). Lot 1646-B is co-owned by respondent Julia and Victoria Pantaleon; the other two are solely in Julia's name.
• The Family Tree: Placido and Dominga Mendoza had four children: Antonio, Exequiel (married to Leonor), Apolonio, and Valentin. Petitioners are the children of Antonio and Valentin. Respondent Julia is Leonor's sister.
• The Inheritance: Exequiel owned the subject properties. Upon his death, they passed to his spouse Leonor and only daughter Gregoria. When Leonor died, her share went to Gregoria. In 1992, Gregoria died intestate and without issue.
• Adjudication by Julia: After Gregoria's death, Julia adjudicated all properties to herself as the sole surviving heir of Leonor and Gregoria.
• Conflicting Claims: Petitioners claim the properties originally came from Placido and Dominga via oral partition to Exequiel, and thus must revert to the Mendoza line under reserva troncal. Respondent denies the properties originated from the Mendoza line, claiming Exequiel and Antonio bought them from Alfonso Ramos in 1931, and only Exequiel possessed them.

• The CA erred in holding the subject properties are not reservable properties, as they came from the paternal line of Gregoria.
• The CA erred in holding petitioners have no right to the properties under reserva troncal.
• It is sufficient that the properties came from the paternal line of Gregoria to be subject to reserva troncal.
• Petitioners claim the properties in representation of their predecessors (Antonio and Valentin), who were brothers of Exequiel.

• There is no obligation to reserve the properties because they did not originate from petitioners' familial line and were not originally owned by Placido and Dominga.
• The properties were bought by Exequiel and Antonio from a certain Alfonso Ramos in 1931.

• Procedural Issues: Whether the SC can review factual findings in a Rule 45 Petition for Review on Certiorari.
• Substantive Issues:
  • Whether the properties in dispute are reservable properties under Article 891.
  • Whether petitioners are entitled to a reservation of these properties as reservees/reservatarios.

• Procedural: The SC can review the factual findings despite the Rule 45 limitation because an admitted exception exists when the CA's findings are contrary to those of the trial court.
• Substantive:
  • On reservable character: The CA erred in its premise by tracing the origin of the properties to Placido and trying to determine if Exequiel predeceased Placido. The lineal character of the reservable property is reckoned only from the ascendant from whom the prepositus received the property by gratuitous title—here, Exequiel. Because Gregoria inherited from Exequiel, the properties have a reservable character.
  • On entitlement to reservation: Reserva troncal still does not apply for two independent reasons. First, Julia is not the ascendant reservor contemplated by Art. 891; she is Gregoria's aunt, a collateral relative within the third degree, not an ascendant. Second, petitioners are not third-degree reservees; they are Gregoria's first cousins, making them fourth-degree relatives. First cousins cannot be reservees, and they cannot invoke right of representation because the right of reservation is strictly personal to relatives within the third degree (except for nephews/niices representing siblings of the prepositus).

• Reserva Troncal (Article 891) — The ascendant who inherits from a descendant any property which the latter may have acquired by gratuitous title from another ascendant, or a brother or sister, is obliged to reserve such property for relatives within the third degree belonging to the line from which said property came.
• Three lines of transmission in reserva troncal:
  1. First transmission: By gratuitous title from an ascendant/brother/sister to the descendant (prepositus).
  2. Second transmission: By operation of law from the prepositus to the other ascendant (reservor/reservista).
  3. Third transmission: From the reservista to the reservees/reservatarios (relatives within the third degree from the line the property came).
  4. The lineal character of the property is reckoned from the ascendant from whom the prepositus received the property; the law does not go farther back than that ascendant/brother/sister.
  5. Ascendants vs. Collateral Relatives (Article 964) — A direct line is constituted by ascendants and descendants. A collateral line is constituted by persons who are not ascendants or descendants but come from a common ancestor. An aunt is a collateral relative, not an ascendant, and thus cannot be a reservor under Art. 891.
  6. Degree of Relationship for Reservees — The degree is reckoned from the prepositus. First cousins of the prepositus are fourth-degree relatives and cannot be reservees. The right of reservation is personal and exclusive to third-degree relatives. Right of representation only applies to nephews/niices of the prepositus representing their parents (siblings of the prepositus).
  7. Nature of Reservista's Ownership — The reservista acquires absolute ownership of the reservable property, subject to a resolutory condition that it is extinguished if the reservor predeceases the reservee. The reservor is essentially a usufructuary who may alienate the property subject to the reservation. The reservee only becomes the owner by operation of law when the reservation takes place or is extinguished. The RTC erred in ordering immediate reconveyance; it should have ordered the annotation of the reservable nature of the property on the title.

• Article 891, Civil Code — Defines reserva troncal. Applied to determine that the obligation to reserve falls strictly on an ascendant who inherits from a descendant, and benefits only relatives within the third degree of the line of origin.
• Article 964, Civil Code — Defines direct and collateral lines of relationship. Applied to classify respondent Julia as a collateral relative (aunt) rather than an ascendant, disqualifying her as a reservor.
• Articles 1003 and 1009, Civil Code — Govern intestate succession by collateral relatives. The SC noted these provisions, rather than reserva troncal, should apply to the distribution of Gregoria's estate.