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LEONCIA BALOGBOG v. VS. CA

FACTS:

The case involves a petition for review regarding the decision of the Court of Appeals that affirmed the decision of the Court of First Instance of Cebu City. The said decision declared the private respondents, who are the heirs of Basilio and Genoveva Balogbog, as entitled to inherit from them. The petitioners, Leoncia and Gaudioso Balogbog, are the children of Basilio Balogbog and Genoveva Arnibal, who both died intestate in 1951 and 1961. The petitioners claimed to be the only rightful heirs since their older brother, Gavino, died in 1935, predeceasing their parents. On the other hand, the private respondents, Ramonito and Generoso Balogbog, asserted that they are the legitimate children of Gavino by Catalina Ubas, and therefore entitled to inherit from their grandparents. The trial court ruled in favor of the private respondents, ordering the petitioners to render an accounting, partition the estate, and deliver one-third of the estate to the private respondents. The Court of Appeals affirmed the decision, stating that the private respondents failed to overcome the legal presumption of marriage and legitimacy. The petitioners filed a motion for new trial and/or reconsideration, which was denied. The Court of Appeals found no reversible error and upheld its previous decision.

ISSUES:

  1. Whether or not private respondents have proven the marriage of Gavino and Catalina in accordance with Arts. 53 and 54 of the Civil Code of 1889.

  2. Whether or not private respondents are entitled to inherit from Basilio and Genoveva Balogbog.

RULING:

  1. The Court held that private respondents have proven the marriage of Gavino and Catalina in accordance with Arts. 53 and 54 of the Civil Code of 1889. The Court considered the testimonies of witnesses who personally knew Gavino and Catalina as husband and wife. The marriage certificate may have been burned during the war, but the testimonies of witnesses provide sufficient proof of the marriage.

  2. The Court found that private respondents are entitled to inherit from Basilio and Genoveva Balogbog. Private respondents have established their status as legitimate children of Gavino and Catalina, making them entitled to the one-third share of Gavino in the estate of their grandparents.

PRINCIPLES:

  • The legal presumption that a man and a woman deporting themselves as husband and wife are in fact married.

  • The legal presumption that a child is legitimate.

  • Things happen according to the ordinary course of nature and the ordinary habits of life.

  • Marriages celebrated under the Civil Code of 1889 should be proven only by a certified copy of the memorandum in the Civil Registry, unless the books thereof have not been kept or have been lost, or unless they are