SECOND DIVISION

[Adm. Case No. 8075. March 25, 1946.]

TRINIDAD NEYRA , plaintiff-appellant, vs . ENCARNACION NEYRA ,

defendant-appellee.

Alejandro M. Panis for appellant.

Lucio Javillonar for appellee.

SYLLABUS

1. WILLS; TESTAMENTARY CAPACITY; INSOMNIA, TUBERCULOSIS,

DIABETES, NOT SUFFICIENT TO DESTROY MENTAL CAPACITY. — Insomnia, in spite of
the testimony of two doctors, who testi ed for the opponents to the probate of a will,
to the effect that it tended to destroy mental capacity, was held not to affect the full
possession of the mental faculties deemed necessary and su cient for its execution.
(Caguioa vs. Calderon, 20 Phil., 400.) The testatrix was held to have been compos
mentis, in spite of the physician's testimony to the contrary, to the effect that she was
very weak, being in the third or last stage of tuberculosis. (Yap Tua vs. Yap Ca Kuan and
Yap Ca Llu, 27 Phil., 579.) The testimony of the attending physician that the deceased
was suffering from diabetes and had been in a comatose condition for several days,
prior to his death, was held not su cient to establish testamentary incapacity, in view
of the positive statement of several credible witnesses that he was conscious and able
to understand what was said to him and to communicate his desires. (Samson vs.
Corrales Tan quintin, 44 Phil., 573.)
2. ID; ID; OLD AGE OF ILL HEALTH INSUFFICIENT TO INVALIDATE WILL. —
Where the mind of testator is in perfectly sound condition, neither old age, nor ill health,
nor the fact that he might sign, is sufficient to invalidate his will.
3. ID; ID; EVIDENCE OF SOUND MIND. — Where it appears that a few hours
and also a few days after the execution of the will, the testator intelligently and
intelligibly conversed with other persons, although lying down and unable to move or
stand up unassisted, but could still effect the sale of property belonging to him, these
circumstances show that the testator was in a perfectly sound mental condition at the
time of the execution of the will.
4. ID; ID; SLEEPING SICKNESS (ADDISON'S DISEASE) DOES NOT IMPAIR
MENTAL FACULTIES. — The mental faculties of persons suffering from Addison's
disease, like the testatrix in the case, remain unimpaired, partly due to the fact that, on
account of the sleep they enjoy, they necessarily receive the bene t of physical and
mental rest. And that like patients suffering from tuberculosis, insomnia or diabetes,
they preserve their mental faculties until the moments of their death.
5. ID; SIGNING BY THUMBMARK; PRESENCE OF ATTESTING WITNESSES; TEST
OF. — The contention that the attesting witnesses were not present, at the time E. N.
thumbmarked the agreement and will in question, on her bed, in the sala of the house,
as they were allegedly in the caida, is untenable. It has been fully shown that said
witnesses were present, at the time of the signing and execution of the agreement and
will in question, in the sala, where the testatrix was lying on her bed. The true test is not
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 whether they actually saw each other, at the time of the signing of the documents, but
whether they might have seen each other sign, had they chosen to do so; and the
attesting witnesses actually saw it all in this case. (Jaboneta vs. Gustilo, 5 Phil., 541.)
And the thumbmark placed by the testatrix on the agreement and will in question is
equivalent to her signature. (Yap Tua vs. Yap Ca Kuan and Yap Ca Llu, supra.)

DECISION

DE JOYA , J : p

On October 25, 1939, Trinidad Neyra led a complain against her sister,
Encarnacion Neyra, in the Court of First Instance of the City of Manila, for the recovery
of one-half (1/2) of the property mentioned and described therein, which had been left
by their deceased father, Severo Neyra, and which had been previously divided equally
between the two extrajudicially, demanding at the same time one-half (1/2) of the rents
collected on the said property by the defendant Encarnacion Neyra.
The defendant led an answer admitting that the property mentioned and
described therein was community property, and at the same time set up counterclaims
amounting to over P1,000, for money spent, during the last illness of their father, and
for money loaned to the plaintiff.
After the trial of the case, the court found that the plaintiff was really entitled to
one-half (1/2) of the said property, adjudicating the same to her, but at the same time
ordered said plaintiff to pay to the defendant the sum of P727.77, plus interests, by
virtue of said counterclaims.
Plaintiff Trinidad Neyra appealed from said decision, to the Court of Appeals for
Manila, alleging several errors, attacking the execution and validity of said agreement;
and on November 10, 1942, said appeal was dismissed, pursuant to an agreement or
compromise entered into by the parties, as shown by the corresponding document,
dated November 3, 1942, which was led in the case the following day, November 4,
1942.
In the meanwhile, Encarnacion Neyra, who had been sickly for about two years,
unexpectedly died, on November 4, 1942, at the age of 48, allegedly from heart attack,
as a consequence of Addison's disease from which, it was claimed, she had been
suffering from sometime.
In view of the decision of the Court of Appeals, dated November 10, 1942,
dismissing the appeal, by virtue of said agreement or compromise, Atty, Lucio
Javillonar, claiming to represent Encarnacion Neyra, who had died since November 4,
1942, and other relatives of hers, led a petition, dated November 23, 1942, asking for
the reconsideration of said decision of the Court of Appeals, dismissing the appeal,
claiming that the alleged compromise or agreement, dated November 3, 1942, could
not have been understood by Encarnacion Neyra, as she was already then at the
threshold of death, and that as a matter of fact she died the following day; and that if it
had been signed at all by said Encarnacion Neyra, her thumb mark appearing on said
document must have been a xed thereto by Trinidad Neyra's attorney, against
Encarnacion's will; and that the court had no more jurisdiction over the case, when the
alleged agreement was led on November 4, 1942, at the instance of Trinidad Neyra, as
Encarnacion was already dead at the time.
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 The principal question to be decided, in connection with said petition for
reconsideration, is whether or not said compromise or agreement had been legally
executed and signed by Encarnacion Neyra, on November 3, 1942. Trinidad Neyra
maintains the affirmative.
The voluminous evidence, testimonial and documentary, adduced by the parties,
in this case, has fully established the following facts:
That Severo Neyra died intestate in the City of Manila, on May 6, 1938, leaving
certain properties and two children, by his rst marriage, named Encarnacion Neyra and
Trinidad Neyra, and other children by his second marriage; that after the death of
Severo Neyra, the two sisters, Encarnacion Neyra and Trinidad Neyra, had serious
misunderstandings, in connection with the properties left by their deceased father, and
so serious were their dissensions that, after March 31, 1939, they had two litigations in
the Court of First Instance of Manila, concerning said properties. In the rst case, led
on March 31, 1939, Trinidad Neyra and others demanded from Encarnacion Neyra and
others the annulment of the sale of the property located at No. 366 Raon Street, Manila,
which was nally decided in favor of the defendants, in the court of rst instance, and in
the Court of Appeals, on December 21, 1943 (G. R. No. 8162); and the second is the
instant case.
That Encarnacion Neyra, who had remained single, and who had no longer any
ascendants, executed a will on September 14, 1939, marked Exhibit 16, disposing of
her properties in favor of the "Congregacion de Religiosas de la Virgen Maria" and her
other relatives, named Teodora Neyra, Pilar de Guzman and Maria Jacobo Vda. de
Blanco, making no provision whatsoever in said will, in favor of her only sister of the
whole blood, Trinidad Neyra, who had become her bitter enemy; that when the said will
was brought to the attention of the authorities of said Congregation, after due
deliberation and consideration, said religious organization declined the bounty offered
by Encarnacion Neyra, and said decision of the Congregation was duly communicated
to her; that in order to overcome the di culties encountered by said religious
organization in not accepting the generosity of Encarnacion Neyra, the latter decided to
make a will, and for that purpose, about one week before her death, sent for Atty.
Ricardo Sikat, and gave him instructions for the preparation of a new will; that Atty.
Sikat, instead of preparing a new will, merely prepared a draft of a codicil, amending
said will, dated September 14, 1939, again naming said religious organization, among
others, as bene ciary, and said draft of a codicil was also forwarded to the authorities
of said religious organization, for their consideration and acceptance; but it was also
rejected.
In the meanwhile, Encarnacion Neyra had become seriously ill, suffering from
Addison's disease, and on October 31, 1942, she sent for her religious adviser and
confessor, Mons. Vicente Fernandez of the Quiapo Church to make confession, after
which she requested that holy mass be celebrated in her house at No. 366 Raon Street,
City of Manila, so that she might take holy communion; that Mons. Fernandez caused
the necessary arrangements to be made; and, as a matter of fact, on November 1,
1942, holy mass was solemnized in her house by Father Teodoro Garcia, also of the
Quiapo Church, on which occasion, Encarnacion Neyra, who remained in bed, took holy
communion; that after the mass, Father Garcia talked to Encarnacion Neyra and
advised reconciliation between the two sisters, Encarnacion and Trinidad Neyra.
Encarnacion accepted said advise and, at about noon of the same day (November 1,
1942), sent Eustaquio Mendoza to fetch her sister Trinidad, who came at about 2.30
that same afternoon; that the two sisters greeted each other on a most affectionate
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 manner, and became reconciled and the two had a long and cordial conversation, in the
course of which they also talked about the properties left by their father and their
litigations which had reached the Court of Appeals for the City of Manila, the instant
case being the second, and they agreed to have the latter dismissed, on the condition
that the property involved therein should be given exclusively to Trinidad Neyra, that the
latter should waive her share in the rents of said property collected by Encarnacion, and
that Trinidad had no more indebtedness to Encarnacion. They also agreed to send for
Atty. Alejandro M. Panis, to prepare the necessary document embodying the said
agreement, but Attorney Panis could come only in the afternoon of the following day,
November 2, 1942, when Encarnacion gave him instructions for the preparation of the
document embodying their agreement, and other instructions for the preparation of her
last will and testament; that Attorney Panis prepared said document of compromise as
well as the new will and testament, naming Trinidad Neyra and Eustaquio Mendoza as
bene ciaries therein, pursuant to Encarnacion's express instructions, and the two
documents were prepared, in duplicate, and were ready for signature, since the morning
of November 3, 1942; that in the afternoon of that day, November 3, 1942, Attorney
Panis read said document of compromise and last will and testament to Encarnacion
Neyra, slowly and in a loud voice, in the presence of Father Teodoro Garcia, Dr. Moises
B. Abad, Dr. Eladio Aldecoa, Trinidad Neyra, and others, after which he asked her if their
terms were in accordance with her wishes, or if she wanted any change made in said
documents; that Encarnacion Neyra did not suggest any change, and asked for the pad
and the two documents, and, with the help of a son of Trinidad, placed her thumb mark
at the foot of each one of the two documents, in duplicate, on her bed in the sala, in the
presence of the attesting witnesses, Dr. Moises B. Abad, Dr. Eladio R. Aldecoa and Atty.
Alejandro M. Panis, after which said witnesses signed at the foot of the will, in the
presence of Encarnacion Neyra, and of each other. The agreement was also signed by
Trinidad Neyra, as party, and by Dr. M. B. Abad and Eustaquio Mendoza, a protege, as
witnesses.
Father Teodoro Garcia was also present at the signing of the two documents, at
the request of Encarnacion Neyra.
The foregoing facts have been established by the witnesses presented by
Trinidad Neyra, who are all trustworthy men, and who had absolutely no interest in the
nal outcome of this case. Two of them are ministers of the Gospel, while three of the
attesting witnesses are professional men of irreproachable character, who had known
and seen and actually talked to the testatrix.
Petitioner Teodora Neyra, half sister of Encarnacion, and her young daughter
Ceferina de la Cruz, and Presentacion Blanco, daughter of petitioner Maria Jacobo Vda.
de Blanco, substantially corroborated the testimony of the witnesses presented by
Trinidad Neyra, with reference to the signing of documents, in the bedroom of
Encarnacion Neyra, in the afternoon of November 3, 1942.
Teodora Neyra, Presentacion Blanco and Ceferina de la Cruz testi ed, however,
that when the thumb mark of Encarnacion Neyra was a xed to the agreement in
question, dated November 3, 1942, she was sleeping on her bed in the sala; and that the
attesting witnesses were not present, as they were in the caida.
But Ceferina de la Cruz also stated that the attesting witnesses signed the
documents thumb marked by Encarnacion Neyra, in the sala near her bed, thus
contradicting herself and Teodora Neyra and Presentacion Blanco.
Strange to say, Teodora Neyra, Presentacion Blanco and Ceferina de la Cruz also
testi ed that Encarnacion Neyra's thumb mark was a xed to the will, only in the
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 morning of November 4, 1942, by Trinidad Neyra and one Ildefonso del Barrio, when
Encarnacion was already dead.
The testimony of Dr. Dionisio Parulan, alleged medical expert, as to the nature
and effects of Addison's disease, is absolutely unreliable. He had never seen or talked
to the testatrix Encarnacion Neyra.
According to medical authorities, persons suffering from Addison's disease
often live as long as ten (10) years, while others die after a few weeks only, and that as
the disease progresses, asthenia sets in, and from 80 per cent to 90 per cent of the
patients develop tuberculosis, and complications of the heart also appear. (Cecil,
Textbook of Medicine, 3d ed., 1935, pp. 1250-1253; McCrae, Osler's Modern Medicine,
3d ed., Vol. V, pp. 272-279.)
And it has been conclusively shown that Encarnacion Neyra died on November 4,
1942, due to a heart attack, at the age of 48, after an illness of about two (2) years.
In connection with mental capacity, in several cases, this court has considered
the testimony of witnesses, who had known and talked to the testators, more
trustworthy than the testimony of alleged medical experts.
Insomnia, in spite of the testimony of two doctors, who testi ed for the
opponents to the probate of a will, to the effect that it tended to destroy mental
capacity, was held not to affect the full possession of the mental faculties deemed
necessary and su cient for its execution. (Caguioa vs. Calderon, 20 Phil., 400.) The
testatrix was held to have been compos mentis, in spite of the physician's testimony to
the contrary, to the effect that she was very weak, being in the third or last stage of
tuberculosis. (Yap Tua vs. Yap Ca Kuan and Yap Ca Llu, 27 Phil., 579.) The testimony of
the attending physician that the deceased was suffering from diabetes and had been in
a comatose condition for several days, prior to his death, was held not su cient to
establish testamentary incapacity, in view of the positive statement of several credible
witnesses that he was conscious and able to understand what was said to him and to
communicate his desires. (Samson vs. Corrales Tan Quintin, 44 Phil., 573.) Where the
mind of the testator is in perfectly sound condition, neither old age, nor ill health, nor the
fact that somebody had to guide his hand in order that he might sign, is su cient to
invalidate his will. (Amata and Almojuela vs. Tablizo, 48 Phil., 485.)
Where it appears that a few hours and also a few days after the execution of the
will, the testator intelligently and intelligibly conversed with other persons, although
lying down and unable to move or stand up unassisted, but could still effect the sale of
property belonging to him, these circumstances show that the testator was in perfectly
sound mental condition at the time of the execution of the will. (Amata and Almojuela
vs. Tablizo, 48 Phil., 485.)
Presentacion Blanco, in the course of her cross-examination, frankly admitted
that, in the morning and also at about 6 o'clock in the afternoon of November 3, 1942,
Encarnacion Neyra talked to her and that they understood each other clearly, thus
showing that the testatrix was really of sound mind, at the time of signing and
execution of the agreement and will in question.
It may, therefore, be reasonably concluded that the mental faculties of persons
suffering from Addison's disease, like the testatrix in this case, remain unimpaired,
partly due to the fact that, on account of the sleep they enjoy, they necessarily receive
the bene t of physical and mental rest. And that like patients suffering from
tuberculosis, insomnia or diabetes, they preserve their mental faculties until the
moments of their death.
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 Judging by the authorities above cited, the logical conclusion is that Encarnacion
Neyra was of sound mind and possessed the necessary testamentary and mental
capacity, at the time of the execution of the agreement and will, dated November 3,
1942.
The contention that the attesting witnesses were not present, at the time
Encarnacion Neyra thumb marked the agreement and will in question, on her bed, in the
sala of the house, as they were allegedly in the caida, is untenable. It has been fully
shown that said witnesses were present, at the time of the signing and execution of the
agreement and will in question, in the sala, where testatrix was lying on her bed. The
true test is not whether they actually saw each other, at the time of the signing of the
documents, but whether they might have seen each other sign, had they chosen to do
so; and the attesting witnesses actually saw it all in this case. (Jaboneta vs. Gustilo, 5
Phil., 541.) And the thumbmark placed by testatrix on the agreement and will in
question is equivalent to her signature. (Yap Tua vs. Yap Ca Kuan and Yap Ca Llu, 27
Phil., 579.)
Teodora Neyra and her principal witnesses are all interested parties, as they are
children of legatees named in the will, dated September 14, 1939, but eliminated from
the will, dated November 3, 1942.
Furthermore, the testimony of Teodora Neyra and her witnesses, to the effect
that there could have been no reconciliation between the two sisters, and that the
thumbmark of Encarnacion Neyra was a xed to the document embodying the
agreement, while she was sleeping, on November 3, 1942, in their presence; and that
her thumbmark was a xed to the will in question, when she was already dead, in the
morning of November 4, 1942, within their view, is absolutely devoid of any semblance
of truth. Said testimony is contrary to common sense. It violates all sense of
proportion. Teodora Neyra and her witnesses could not have told the truth; they have
testi ed to deliberate falsehoods; and they are, therefore, absolutely unworthy of belief.
And to the evidence of the petitioners is completely applicable the legal
aphorism-falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus. (Gonzalez vs. Mauricio, 53 Phil., 728, 735.)
To show the alleged improbability of reconciliation, and the execution of the two
documents, dated November 3, 1942, petitioners have erroneously placed great
emphasis on the fact that, up to October 31, 1942, the two sisters Encarnacion and
Trinidad Neyra were bitter enemies. They were banking evidently on the common belief
that the hatred of relatives is the most violent. Terrible indeed are the feuds of relatives
and di cult the reconciliation; and yet not impossible. They have forgotten that
Encarnacion Neyra was a religious woman instructed in the ancient virtues of Christian
faith, and hope and charity, and that to forgive is a divine attribute. They had also
forgotten that there could be no more sublime love than that embalmed in tears, as in
the case of a reconciliation.
It was most natural that there should have been reconciliation between the two
sisters, Encarnacion and Trinidad Neyra, as the latter is the nearest relative of the
former, her only sister of the whole blood. The approach of imminent death must have
evoked in her the tenderest recollections of family life. And believing perhaps that her
little triumphs had not always been just to her sister, who had been demanding
insistently what was her due, Encarnacion nally decided upon reconciliation, as she did
not want to go to her eternal rest, with hatred in her heart or wrath upon her head. It
was, therefore, most logical that Encarnacion should make Trinidad the bene ciary of
her generosity, under her last will and testament, and end all her troubles with her, by
executing said agreement, and thus depart in perfect peace from the scenes of her
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 earthly labors.
It having been shown that the said compromise or agreement had been legally
signed and executed by Encarnacion Neyra on November 3, 1942, in the presence of
credible and trustworthy witnesses, and that she was compos mentis and possessed
the necessary testamentary and mental capacity at the time; the petition for
reconsideration led by Atty. Lucio Javillonar, on November 23, 1942, on behalf of a
client, Encarnacion Neyra, who had been dead since November 4, 1942, and some
relatives, who have appeared, in accordance with the provisions of section 17 of Rule 3
of the Rules of Court, is hereby denied; and the decision of the Court of Appeals for
Manila, dated November 10, 1942, dismissing the appeal, is hereby re-affirmed, without
costs. So ordered.
Ozaeta, Perfecto, Hilado, and Bengzon, JJ., concur.

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