Aranas vs. Mercado
Aranas vs. Mercado
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* FIRST DIVISION.
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BERSAMIN, J.:
The probate court is authorized to determine the issue of
ownership of properties for purposes of their inclusion or
exclusion from the inventory to be submitted by the
administrator, but its determination shall only be
provisional unless the interested parties are all heirs of the
decedent, or the question is one of collation or
advancement, or the parties consent to the assumption of
jurisdiction by the probate court and the rights of third
parties are not impaired. Its jurisdiction extends to matters
incidental or collateral to the settlement and distribution of
the estate, such as the determination of the status of each
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[1] Instead of administratrix, the gender-fair term administrator is
used.
[2] Rollo, p. 118.
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[3] Id., at p. 125.
[4] Id., at pp. 127-129.
[5] Id., at p. 130.
[6] Id., at p. 134.
[7] Id., at p. 56.
[8] Id., at p. 135.
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[9] Id., at p. 140.
[10] Id., at p. 24.
[11] Id., at p. 156.
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I
THE HONORABLE RESPONDENT JUDGE HAS
COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF JURISDICTION (sic)
AMOUNTING TO LACK OR EXCESS OF JURISDICTION
IN HOLDING THAT THE REAL PROPERTY WHICH
WAS SOLD BY THE LATE EMIGDIO S. MERCADO
DURING HIS LIFETIME TO A PRIVATE CORPORATION
(MERVIR REALTY CORPORATION) BE INCLUDED IN
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III
THE HONORABLE RESPONDENT JUDGE HAS
COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION
AMOUNTING TO LACK OR EXCESS OF JURISDICTION
IN HOLDING THAT PETITIONERS ARE NOW
ESTOPPED FROM QUESTIONING ITS JURISDICTION
IN PASSING UPON THE ISSUE OF WHAT PROPERTIES
SHOULD BE INCLUDED IN THE INVENTORY OF THE
ESTATE OF THE LATE EMIGDIO MERCADO.[12]
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[12] Id., at p. 25.
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[14] Rollo, pp. 32-33.
[15] Rollo, p. 35.
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Issue
Did the CA properly determine that the RTC committed
grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of
jurisdiction in directing the inclusion of certain properties
in the inventory notwithstanding that such properties had
been either transferred by sale or exchanged for corporate
shares in Mervir Realty by the decedent during his
lifetime?
Ruling of the Court
The appeal is meritorious.
I
Was certiorari the proper recourse
to assail the questioned orders of the RTC?
The first issue to be resolved is procedural. Thelma
contends that the resort to the special civil action for
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[16] G.R. No. 156358, August 17, 2011, 655 SCRA 553, 566-567.
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[17] No. L-39532, July 20, 1979, 91 SCRA 540.
[18] Id., at pp. 545-546.
[19] G.R. No. 128781, August 6, 2002, 386 SCRA 216, 226-227.
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[20] G.R. No. 75773, April 17, 1990, 184 SCRA 367, 372.
[21] Section 1, Rule 41 of the Rules of Court (as amended under A.M.
No. 07-7-12-SC; effective December 27, 2007) provides:
Section 1. Subject of appeal.—An appeal may be taken from a
judgment or final order that completely disposes of the case, or of
a particular matter therein when declared by these Rules to be
appealable.
No appeal may be taken from:
(a) An order denying a petition for relief or any similar motion
seeking relief from judgment;
(b) An interlocutory order;
(c) An order disallowing or dismissing an appeal;
(d) An order denying a motion to set aside a judgment by consent,
confession or compromise on the ground of fraud, mistake or duress, or
any other ground vitiating consent;
(e) An order of execution;
(f) A judgment or final order for or against one or more of several
parties or in separate claims, counterclaims, cross-claims and third-party
complaints, while the main case is pending, unless the court allows an
appeal therefrom; and
(g) An order dismissing an action without prejudice.
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In any of the foregoing circumstances, the aggrieved party may file an
appropriate special civil action as provided in Rule 65.
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[22] The word all means “every one, or the whole number of particular;
the whole number” (3 Words and Phrases 212, citing State v. Maine Cent.
R. Co., 66 Me. 488, 510). Standing alone, the word all means exactly what
it imports; that is, nothing less than all (Id., at p. 213, citing In re Staheli’s
Will, 57 N.Y.S.2d 185, 188).
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[23] Siy Chong Keng v. Collector of Internal Revenue, 60 Phil. 493, 500 (1934).
[24] 71 Phil. 66 (1940).
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[27] Id., at pp. 471-473, citing, among others, Coca v. Pizarras Vda. De
Pangilinan, No. L-27082, January 31, 1978, 81 SCRA 278, 283; Alvarez v.
Espiritu, No. L-18833, August 14, 1965, 14 SCRA
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892, 899; Cunanan v. Amparo, 80 Phil. 227 (1948); and Pascual v. Pascual, 73
Phil. 561 (1942).
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[28] Rollo, pp. 139-140.
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[29] See FAMILY CODE, Art. 105, 116.
[30] Dewara v. Lamela, G.R. No. 179010, April 11, 2011, 647 SCRA 483,
490, citing Coja v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 151153, December 10, 2007,
539 SCRA 517, 528.
[31] See Alvarez v. Espiritu, No. L-18833, August 14, 1965, 14 SCRA
892, 899.
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[32] San Juan v. Offril, G.R. No. 154609, April 24, 2009, 586 SCRA 439, 445-
446 citing Nazareno v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 138842, October 18, 2000, 343
SCRA 637, 652.
[33] G.R. No. 114950, December 19, 1995, 251 SCRA 430, 452-453, cited in
Nazareno v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 138842, October 18, 2000, 343 SCRA 637,
652.
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[34] Rollo, p. 138.
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[35] Rabaja Ranch Development Corporation v. AFP Retirement and
Separation Benefits System, G.R. No. 177181, July 7, 2009, 592 SCRA 201,
217, citing Republic v. Guerrero, G.R. No. 133168, March 28, 2006, 485
SCRA 424, 445.
[36] Reyes-Mesugas v. Reyes, G.R. No. 174835, March 22, 2010, 616
SCRA 345, 350, citing Pio Barretto Realty Development, Inc. v. Court of
Appeals, Nos. L-62431-33, August 3, 1984, 131 SCRA 606.
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[38] Gregorio v. Madarang, G.R. No. 185226, February 11, 2010, 612
SCRA 340, 345.
[39] Delos Santos v. Metropolitan Bank and Trust Company, G.R. No.
153852, October 24, 2012, 684 SCRA 410, 422-423.
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