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VOL. 207, MARCH 25, 1992 561

Pascual vs. Pascual-Bautista

*
G.R. No. 84240. March 25, 1992.

OLIVIA S. PASCUAL and HERMES S. PASCUAL,

petitioners, vs. ESPERANZA C. PASCUAL-BAUTISTA,
MANUEL C. PASCUAL, JOSE C. PASCUAL, SUSANA C.
PASCUAL-BAUTISTA, ERLINDA C. PASCUAL,
WENCESLAO C. PASCUAL, JR., INTESTATE ESTATE
OF ELEUTERIO T. PASCUAL, AVELINO PASCUAL,
ISOCELES PASCUAL, LEIDA PASCUAL-MARTINES,
VIRGINIA PASCUAL-NER, NONA PASCUAL-
FERNANDO, OCTAVIO PASCUAL, GERANAIA
PASCUAL-DUBERT, and THE HONORABLE
PRESIDING JUDGE MANUEL S. PADOLINA of Br. 162,
RTC, Pasig, Metro Manila, respondents.

_______________

* SECOND DIVISION.

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Pascual vs. Pascual-Bautista

Succession; Applicability of Article 992 of the Civil Code to

acknowledged natural children.—Pertinent thereto, Article 992 of
the Civil Code, provides: “An illegitimate child has no right to
inherit ab intestato from the legitimate children and relatives of
his father or mother; nor shall such children or relatives inherit in
the same manner from the illegitimate child.” x x x Eligio Pascual
is a legitimate child but petitioners are his illegitimate children.
Applying the above doctrine to the case at bar, respondent IAC
did not err in holding that petitioners herein cannot represent
their father Eligio Pascual in the succession of the latter to the
intestate estate of the decedent Andres Pascual, full blood brother
of their father.

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Same; Same; Statutory Construction; When the words and

phrases of the statute are clear and unequivocal.—Verily, the
interpretation of the law desired by the petitioner may be more
humane but it is also an elementary rule in statutory construction
that when the words and phrases of the statute are clear and
unequivocal, their meaning must be determined from the
language employed and the statute must be taken to mean
exactly what it says. (Baranda v. Gustilo, 165 SCRA 758-759
[1988]). The courts may not speculate as to the probable intent of
the legislature apart from the words (Aparri v. CA, 127 SCRA 233
[1984]). When the law is clear, it is not susceptible of
interpretation. It must be applied regardless of who may be
affected, even if the law may be harsh or onerous. (Nepomuceno,
et al. v. FC, 110 Phil. 42). And even granting that exceptions may
be conceded, the same as a general rule, should be strictly but
reasonably construed; they extend only so far as their language
fairly warrants, and all doubts should be resolved in favor of the
general provisions rather than the exception. Thus, where a
general rule is established by statute, the court will not curtail
the former nor add to the latter by implication (Samson v. C.A.
145 SCRA 654 [1986]). Clearly the term “illegitimate” refers to
both natural and spurious.

PETITION for review on certiorari of the decision of the

Court of Appeals. Ramirez, J.

The facts are stated in the opinion of the Court.

          Joaquin P. Yuseco and Reynarte D. Hipolito for
petitioners.
     Cortes & Reyna Law Firm for private respondents.

PARAS, J.:

This is a petition for review on certiorari which seeks to

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Pascual vs. Pascual-Bautista

reverse 1and set aside: (a) the decision of the Court of

Appeals dated April 29, 1988 in CA-G.R. SP. No. 14010
entitled “Olivia S. Pascual and Hermes S. Pascual v.
Esperanza C. Pascual-Bautista, Manuel C. Pascual, Jose
Pascual, Susana C. Pascual-Bautista, Erlinda C. Pascual,
Wenceslao C. Pascual, Jr., et al.” which dismissed the
petition and in effect affirmed the decision of the trial court

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and (b) the resolution dated July 14, 1988 denying

petitioners’ motion for reconsideration.
The undisputed facts of the case are as follows:
Petitioners Olivia and Hermes both surnamed Pascual
are the acknowledged natural children of the late Eligio
Pascual, the latter being the full blood brother of the
decedent Don Andres Pascual (Rollo, petition, p. 17).
Don Andres Pascual died intestate on October 12, 1973
without any issue, legitimate, acknowledged natural,
adopted or spurious children and was survived by the
following:

(a) Adela Soldevilla de Pascual, surviving spouse;

(b) Children of Wenceslao Pascual, Sr., a brother of the
full blood of the deceased, to wit:

Esperanza C. Pascual-Bautista
Manuel C. Pascual
Jose C. Pascual
Susana C. Pascual-Bautista
Erlinda C. Pascual
Wenceslao C. Pascual, Jr.

(c) Children of Pedro Pascual, brother of the half blood

of the deceased, to wit:

Avelino Pascual
Isoceles Pascual
Loida Pascual-Martinez
Virginia Pascual-Ner
Nona Pascual-Fernando
Octavio Pascual
Geranaia Pascual-Dubert;

(d) Acknowledged natural children of Eligio Pascual,

brother of the full blood of the deceased, to wit:

Olivia S. Pascual

_______________

1 Penned by Associate Justice Pedro A. Ramirez and concurred in by

Associate Justices Serafin E. Camilon and Minerva P. Gonzaga-Reyes.

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564

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Hermes S. Pascual

(e) Intestate of Eleuterio T. Pascual, a brother of the

half blood of the deceased and represented by the
following:

Dominga M. Pascual
Mamerta P. Fugoso
Abraham S. Sarmiento, III
Regina Sarmiento-Macaibay
Eleuterio P. Sarmiento
Dominga P. San Diego
Nelia P. Marquez
Silvestre M. Pascual
Eleuterio M. Pascual
(Rollo, pp. 46-47)

Adela Soldevilla de Pascual, the surviving spouse of the

late Don Andres Pascual, filed with the Regional Trial
Court (RTC), Branch 162 (CFI of Rizal, Br. XXIII), a
Special Proceeding, Case No. 7554, for administration of
the intestate estate of her late husband (Rollo, p. 47).
On December 18, 1973, Adela Soldevilla de Pascual filed
a Supplemental Petition to the Petition for Letters of
Administration, where she expressly stated that Olivia
Pascual and Hermes Pascual, are among the heirs of Don
Andres Pascual (Rollo, pp. 99-101).
On February 27, 1974, again Adela Soldevilla de Pascual
executed an affidavit, to the effect that of her own
knowledge, Eligio Pascual is the younger full blood brother
of her late husband Don Andres Pascual, to belie the
statement made by the oppositors, that they are not among
the known heirs of the deceased Don Andres Pascual
(Rollo, p. 102).
On October 16, 1985, all the above-mentioned heirs
entered into a COMPROMISE AGREEMENT, over the
vehement objections of the herein petitioners Olivia S.
Pascual and Hermes S. Pascual, although paragraph V of
such compromise agreement provides, to wit:
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“This Compromise Agreement shall be without prejudice to the

continuation of the above-entitled proceedings until the final
determination thereof by the court, or by another compromise
agreement, as regards the claims of Olivia Pascual and Hermes
Pascual as legal heirs of the deceased, Don Andres Pascual.”
(Rollo, p. 108)

The said Compromise Agreement had been entered into

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Pascual vs. Pascual-Bautista

despite the Manifestation/Motion of the petitioners Olivia

Pascual and Hermes Pascual, manifesting their hereditary
rights in the intestate estate of Don Andres Pascual, their
uncle (Rollo, pp. 111-112).
On September 30, 1987, petitioners filed their Motion to
Reiterate Hereditary Rights (Rollo, pp. 113-114) and the
Memorandum in Support of Motion to reiterate Hereditary
Rights (Rollo, pp. 116-130).
On December 18, 1987, the Regional Trial Court,
presided over by Judge Manuel S. Padolina issued an
order, the dispositive portion of which reads:

“WHEREFORE, premises considered, this Court resolves as it is

hereby resolved to Deny this motion reiterating the hereditary
rights of Olivia and Hermes Pascual” (Rollo, p. 136).

On January 13, 1988, petitioners filed their motion for

reconsideration (Rollo, pp. 515-526), and such motion was
denied. Petitioners appealed their case to the Court of
Appeals docketed as CA-G.R. No. 14010 (Rollo, p. 15).
On April 29, 1988, the respondent Court of Appeals
rendered its decision the dispositive part of which reads:

“WHEREFORE, the petition is DISMISSED. Costs against the

petitioners.
“SO ORDERED.” (Rollo, p. 38)

Petitioners filed their motion for reconsideration of said

decision and on July 14, 1988, the Court of Appeals issued
its resolution denying the motion for reconsideration (Rollo,
p. 42).
Hence, this petition for review on certiorari.
After all the requirements had been filed, the case was
given due course.

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The main issue to be resolved in the case at bar is

whether or not Article 992 of the Civil Code of the
Philippines, can be interpreted to exclude recognized
natural children from the inheritance of the deceased.
Petitioners contend that they do not fall squarely within
the purview of Article 992 and of the doctrine laid down in
Diaz v. IAC (150 SCRA 645 [1987]) because being
acknowledged natural children, their illegitimacy is not
due to the subsistence of a prior marriage when such
children were under conception
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(Rollo, p. 418).
Otherwise stated they say the term “illegitimate”
children as provided in Article 992 must be strictly
construed to refer only to spurious children (Rollo, p. 419).
On the other hand, private respondents maintain that
herein petitioners are within the prohibition of Article 992
of the Civil Code and the doctrine laid down in Diaz v. IAC
is applicable to them.
The petition is devoid of merit.
Pertinent thereto, Article 992 of the Civil Code,
provides:

“An illegitimate child has no right to inherit ab intestato from the

legitimate children and relatives of his father or mother; nor shall
such children or relatives inherit in the same manner from the
illegitimate child.”

The issue in the case at bar, had already been laid to rest
in Diaz v. IAC, supra, where this Court ruled that:

“Article 992 of the Civil Code provides a barrier or iron curtain in

that it prohibits absolutely a succession ab intestato between the
illegitimate child and the legitimate children and relatives of the
father or mother of said legitimate child. They may have a natural
tie of blood, but this is not recognized by law for the purposes of
Article 992. Between the legitimate family and illegitimate family
there is presumed to be an intervening antagonism and
incompatibility. The illegitimate child is disgracefully looked
down upon by the legitimate family; the family is in turn hated by
the illegitimate child; the latter considers the privileged condition
of the former, and the resources of which it is thereby deprived;
the former, in turn, sees in the illegitimate child nothing but the
product of sin, palpable evidence of a blemish broken in life; the
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law does no more than recognize this truth, by avoiding further

grounds of resentment.”

Eligio Pascual is a legitimate child but petitioners are his

illegitimate children.
Applying the above doctrine to the case at bar,
respondent IAC did not err in holding that petitioners
herein cannot represent their father Eligio Pascual in the
succession of the latter to the intestate estate of the
decedent Andres Pascual, full blood brother of their father.
In their memorandum, petitioners insisted that Article
992 in the light of Articles 902 and 989 of the Civil Code
allows them
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(Olivia and Hermes) to represent Eligio Pascual in the

intestate estate of Don Andres Pascual.
On motion for reconsideration of the decision in Diaz v.
IAC, this Court further elucidated the successional rights
of illegitimate children, which squarely answers the
questions raised by the petitioner on this point.
The Court held:

“Article 902, 989, and 990 clearly speaks of successional rights of

illegitimate children, which rights are transmitted to their
descendants upon their death. The descendants (of these
illegitimate children) who may inherit by virtue of the right of
representation may be legitimate or illegitimate. In whatever
manner, one should not overlook the fact that the persons to be
represented are themselves illegitimate. The three named
provisions are very clear on this matter. The right of
representation is not available to illegitimate descendants of
legitimate children in the inheritance of a legitimate grandparent.
It may be argued, as done by petitioners, that the illegitimate
descendant of a legitimate child is entitled to represent by virtue
of the provisions of Article 982, which provides that ‘the
grandchildren and other descendants shall inherit by right of
representation.’ Such a conclusion is erroneous. It would allow
intestate succession by an illegitimate child to the legitimate
parent of his father or mother, a situation which would set at
naught the provisions of Article 992. Article 982 is inapplicable to
the instant case because Article 992 prohibits absolutely a
succession ab intestato between the illegitimate child and the
legitimate children and relatives of the father or mother. It may

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not be amiss to state Article 982 is the general rule and Article
992 the exception.
“The rules laid down in Article 982 that ‘grandchildren and
other descendants shall inherit by right of representation’ and in
Article 902 that the rights of illegitimate children x x x are
transmitted upon their death to their descendants, whether
legitimate or illegitimate are subject to the limitation prescribed
by Article 992 to the end that an illegitimate child has no right to
inherit ab intestato from the legitimate children and relatives of
his father or mother.” (Amicus Curiae’s Opinion by former Justice
Minister Ricardo C. Puno, p. 12). Diaz v. Intermediate Appellate
Court, 182 SCRA 427; pp. 431-432; [1990]).

Verily, the interpretation of the law desired by the

petitioner may be more humane but it is also an
elementary rule in statutory construction that when the
words and phrases of the statute are clear and unequivocal,
their meaning must be
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Pascual vs. Pascual-Bautista

determined from the language employed and the statute

must be taken to mean exactly what it says. (Baranda v.
Gustilo, 165 SCRA 758-759 [1988]). The courts may not
speculate as to the probable intent of the legislature apart
from the words (Aparri v. CA, 127 SCRA 233 [1984]). When
the law is clear, it is not susceptible of interpretation. It
must be applied regardless of who may be affected, even if
the law may be harsh or onerous. (Nepomuceno, et al. v.
FC, 110 Phil. 42). And even granting that exceptions may
be conceded, the same as a general rule, should be strictly
but reasonably construed; they extend only so far as their
language fairly warrants, and all doubts should be resolved
in favor of the general provisions rather than the exception.
Thus, where a general rule is established by statute, the
court will not curtail the former nor add to the latter by
implication (Samson v. C.A., 145 SCRA 654 [1986]).
Clearly the term “illegitimate” refers to both natural and
spurious.
Finally under Article 176 of the Family Code, all
illegitimate children are generally placed under one
category, which undoubtedly settles the issue as to whether
or not acknowledged natural children should be treated
differently, in the negative. It may be said that the law
may be harsh but that is the law (DURA LEX SED LEX).
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PREMISES CONSIDERED, the petition is DISMISSED

for lack of merit and the assailed decision of the respondent
Court of Appeals dated April 29, 1988 is AFFIRMED.
SO ORDERED.

          Melencio-Herrera, Padilla, Regalado and Nocon,

JJ., concur.

Petition dismissed; decision affirmed.

Note.—As a spurious child of Vicente, Carmelita is

barred from inheriting from Dominga, her paternal
grandmother, because of the barrier created by Article 992
of the New Civil Code, between legitimate and illegitimate
families. (De la Puerta vs. Court of Appeals, 181 SCRA
861.)

——o0o——

569

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