[No. 1627-R. July 1, 1948] Testate estate of the late Bernabe Rodriguez.

MARTINA ARANIEGO, petitioner- and appellee, ANTONIO RO!RIG"E# ET A$., oppositors and appellants. DECISION %"GO, %.& Martina Araniego filed on %ul' (), ()*+, a petition in the ,ourt of -irst Instan.e of Bula.an for the probate of the /ill of Bernabe Rodriguez /ho died on %ul' (*, ()*+, at Me'.a/a'an, Bula.an. Antonio, Trinidad and !olores, all surna0ed Rodriguez, brother and nie.es, respe.ti el', of the de.eased and the heirs of -ran.is.o %a ier Rodriguez, another brother of the de.eased, filed an opposition to said petition, alleging that the /ill /as not e1e.uted and /itnessed in a..ordan.e /ith la/2 that the testator had no 0ental .apa.it' to e1e.ute the /ill2 that it /as obtained b' 0eans of undue pressure and influen.e2 and that the said /ill /as not the /ill of the testator. After trial the .ourt issued an order ad0itting to probate as the last /ill and testa0ent of the de.eased Bernabe Rodriguez the do.u0ent 0ar3ed as E1hibit , 4,-(, translation into English5, and appointing Martina Araniego ad0inistratri1 upon the filing of a bond in the su0 of 6 7,888. -ro0 said order the oppositors appealed. In the repl'-0e0orandu0 of the oppositors-appellants dated -ebruar' 77, ()*9, the appellants alleged as an additional ground of opposition that the /ill of the de.eased Bernabe Rodriguez is oid for the reason that in said /ill, E1hibit ,, the de.eased instituted his /ife, the petitioner Martina Araniego, his uni ersal heir and the latter, on the other hand, in her /ill, E1hibit !, de.lared Bernabe Rodriguez her uni ersal heir2 that is, the' /ere re.ipro.al benefi.iaries in the t/o /ills, .iting arti.le ++) of the ,i il ,ode /hi.h sa's& :T/o or 0ore persons .annot 0a3e a /ill .on;ointl' or in the sa0e instr-i0ent, either for their re.ipro.al benefit or for the benefit of a third person.: The <panish te1t of said arti.le is as follo/s& :ART. ++). No podran testar dos o 0as personas 0an.o0unada0ente, o en un 0is0o instru0ento, 'a lo hagan en pro e.ho re.ipro.o, 'a en benefi.io de un ter.ero.: It /ill be noted that the la/ prohibits t/o or 0ore persons to 0a3e a /ill .on;ointl' or 0an.o0unada0ente or in the sa0e instru0ent. The /ills in this .ase are not .on;oint but are different instru0ents2 .onse=uentl', the abo e pro isions do not appl' to the0. This is .learl' e1plained b' >. Mu.ius <.ae ola in his ,odigo ,i il, ?ol. (7, pp. (9@-(99, and b' Manresa in ?ol. A, pp. B)*-B)A, Ath edition. No further re0ar3 is ne.essar' on our part. On %ul' 7@, ()*7, Bernab> Rodriguez e1e.uted the do.u0ent E1hibit , in Tagalog 4E1hibit ,-(, translation into English5, a language /hi.h he 3ne/, as his last /ill and testa0ent, .o0posed of onl' one page, /hi.h /as read before the testator and the /itnesses b' Att'. Teofilo Abe;o, upon the re=uest of the testator and Martina Araniego, and signed b' the /itnesses in the presen.e of the testator and of ea.h other. The na0e of the testator /as /ritten in his presen.e and in that of the other /itnesses b' the /itness Teodulo Iniguez b' the e1press dire.tion of the testator, for the reason that the latter /as blind and .ould not sign hi0self. The appellants .ontend that Teodulo Iniguez /rote the na0e of the testator /ithout being re=uested to do so b' the latter. Testif'ing on this point, Teodulo Iniguez said& :C. Ta0bien apare.e en el do.u0ento E1hibit , =ue la fir0a =ue se lee fernabe Rodriguez esta seguida .on otra fir0a de Teodulo Iniguez. Cuede usted de.ir Das .ir.unstan.ias ba;o las .uales se esta0po esta fir0a de Bernabe Rodri uez6 :R. Eo esta0pd la fir0a =ue se lee Bernabe Rodriguez, a peti.ion del difunto. :C. <abia usted la razon por =ue el difunto le pidio a usted =ue usted esta0para su fir0a en ese do.u0ento6-:R. Cor=ue el difunto no padia er, estaba .iego.: 4Cp. @-9, T. <. N. Trial of <ept. 7@, ()*+. 5 In the .ross-e1a0ination of Iniguez he said that he did not re0e0ber the .on ersation that too3 pla.e or the /ords that /ere uttered during the signing of the /ill. It is not strange .onsidering that the /ill /as e1e.uted on %ul' 7@, ()*7 and the /itness testified on O.tober (9, ()*+, or 0ore than four 'ears later. It s.

does not .ontradi.t his testi0on' to the effe.t that he /as re=uested b' the testator to sign the latterFs na0e. A 0an 0a' re0e0ber the substan.e of /hat he is told but not the /ords used. In the .ross-e1a0ination of Rosendo !aez, he stated that there /as no .on ersation during the o..asion of the signing of the do.u0ent, E1hibit ,. The /ord :.on ersation: 0eans an e1.hange of /ords or re0ar3s bet/een t/o or 0ore persons. There /as no ne.essit' for an' .on ersation ;ust for the signing of a /ill. To dire.t a person to do so0ething is not .on ersation. GebsterFs !i.tionar' gi es the pertinent 0eaning of :.on ersation: and :.on erse: as follo/s& :,on ersation-,olo=uial dis.ourse2 oral inter.hange of senti0ents or obser ations2 also, an instan.e of this2 tal32 .ollo=u'2 as <a0uel %ohnsonFs .on ersation. :,on erse-To engage in fa0iliar .ollo=u'2 to inter.hange thoughts and opinions in spee.h2 to tal3, espe.iall' in an intelligent or sustained 0anner2 to .o00uni.ate. The appellantFs brief =uotes the follo/ing testi0oi of !aez on .ross-e1a0ination& :>. Clease refresh 'our 0e0or', fro0 the ti0e this do.u0ent E1hibit , /as read up to the ti0e the signing /as finished, /as there an' .on ersation had bet/een and a0ong an' of the persons present6-A. There /as none. :>. -ro0 the ti0e that do.u0ent E1h. , /as read up to the ti0e the signing thereof /as finished, 'ou 0ean to sa' there /as no .on ersation at all a0ong or bet/een an' of the persons present6A. After I signed I left. :>. Ees, sir, but before 'ou left and beginning fro0 the ti0e this E1hibit , /as read, did 'ou re0e0ber if there /as an' .on ersation bet/een and a0ong the parties present6-A. There /as none. 4fls. 7(-7B, id.5 :>. Not a /ord /as spo3en bet/een the parties6 A. I ha e not heard an'bod'.: 4Cage #, appellantsF brief.5 It /ould see0 fro0 the last ans/er that no /ord at all /as spo3en b' an'bod'. This is er', unli3el', be.ause si1 persons .annot 0eet in a pla.e /ithout an'one uttering so0e /ords unless the' /ere all du0b. Ghat the /itness 0ust ha e 0eant is that he d F not hear an' .on ersation or e1.hange of re0ar3s. It, should be noted that the ans/er of the /itness :I ha e not heard an'bod': does not .o0e i00ediatel' after the =uestion :Not a /ord spo3en bet/een the parties6:, a..ording to the original trans.ription of the stenographi. notes. Bet/een said =uestion and ans/er there /as a great deal of dis.ussion bet/een the attorne's, and finall' the .ourt ordered the /itness to ans/er. Then the /itness said :I ha e not heard an'bod': /hi.h 0ight ha e referred to the .on ersation. The original re.ord of the trans.ription is as follo/s& :>. Ees, sir, but before 'ou left and beginning fro0 the tine this E1hibit , /as read, did 'ou re0e0ber if there /as an' .on ersation bet/een and a0ong the parties present6 <r. Osorio Nos opone0os a la pregunta por falta de base. Hasta ahora no ha' prueba, ni se ha leido, si =uien ha leido el testa0ento antes de fir0ar para .ontinuar .on la preguntas =ue despues de leido el testa0ento .uantos 0inutos ha trans.urrido para otorgar el testa0ento. <r. Bustos& <r. %uez, el testigo di.e =ue ha .o0prendido el .ontenido del do.u0ento por=ue .uando se le'o 'o lo entendi. !e 0odo =ue ha' prueba de =ue se le'o el do.u0ento. Ahora desde el 0o0ento =ue se le'o el do.uniento hasta el nionento de fir0ar si ha habido .on ersation entre Das partes presentes es lo =ue =uiero saber. %uzgado& ,onteste. :A. There /as none. :>. Not a /ord /as spo3en bet/een the parties6 <r. Osorio&

Nos opone0os a la pregunta Mr. Bustos& I /ithdra/ the =uestion. Mr. Bustos& :>. Are 'ou sure of that ans/er of 'ours, Mr. !aez6 <r. Osorio& $a 0is0a ob;e.ion. %uzgado& ,onteste. :A. I ha e not heard an'bod'.: 4pp. 77-7B, T <. N., Trial of O.t. (9, ()*+5 It is also .ontended b' the oppositors that it /as Martina Araniego /ho as3ed Iniguez to sign the na0e of Bernabe Rodriguez on E1hibit , and her na0e on E1hibit !, her /ill. If Martina as3ed Iniguez to sign both /ills, that does not pre.lude the fa.t that the testator also re=uested Iniguez to sign his /ill. The appellants allege that undue pressure and influen.e /as e1erted on the testator b' Martina to indu.e hi0 to 0a3e the /ill. The e iden.e of the . ipositors .onsists in that Bernabe Rodriguez and Martina Araniego attended to the pur.hasers in their sari-sari store2 that the .lothes of Bernabe /ere er' dirt' and his hair /as un.ut2 that Bernabe sold the arti.les /hi.h /ere near hi0 at the table of the store the lo.ation of /hi.h he 3ne/ b' the sense of tou.h 2 that Martina did not allo/ hi0 .hange his .lothes although the' /ere dirt'2 and that Bernabe attended to the pur.hasers in their store b' selling the arti.les /hi.h /ere near at hand, but on.e /hen he 0ade a 0ista3e b' selling the /rong 3ind of sugar, lie /as se erel' s.olded b' Martina and he er' 0ee3l' retired to a .orner, /ithout sa'ing an'thing. !oes this i0pl' undue pressure and influen.e6 It is rather the .ontrar', be.ause if Martina negle.ted or 0istreated hi0, she /ould ha e had less hope of being the benefi.iar'. If she /anted to e1ert influen.e, she /ould ha e treated hi0 /ell to obtain his good /ill. There 0a' ha e been =uarrels bet/een the t/o spouses regarding s0all 0atters in the household /hi.h 0a' ha e been o erheard b' people outside, but that does not 0ean that the spouses /ere on bad ter0s /ith ea.h other. On the other hand, it /as Martina /ho too3 .are of the testator and none of the relati es see0 to ha e ta3en an' interest in hi0, so far as the re.ord dis.loses. It /as natural, therefore, for hi0 to fa or his /ife, /ho /as ta3ing .are of hi0 rather than other people /ho did not re0e0ber hi0 at all. There is no spe.ifi. e iden.e that Martina or an'bod' in her behalf had e1erted pressure or influen.e of an' 3ind on the testator to indu.e hi0 to 0a3e the /ill. As to the 0ental .apa.it' of the testator, /e ha e the testi0on' of !r. Teodulo Iniguez and other /itnesses that the testator /as suffi.ientl' sound in 0ind to e1e.ute a /ill. !isease or ph'si.al /ea3ness alone does not effe.t the 0ental .apa.it' of a testator, unless it is of su.h a nature as to render hi0 in.apable of 3no/ing /hat he is doing. This has been held in nu0erous de.isions of the <upre0e ,ourt, one of the0 being that of Torres et al., s. $opez 4*9 Chil., @@7, @@B5, in /hi.h it /as held that& :(. I!.2 I!.2 TE<T< O- ,ACA,ITE.--Neither old age, ph'si.al infir0ities feebleness of 0ind, /ea3ness of the 0e0or', the appoint0ent of a guardian, nor e..entri.ities are suffi.ient singl' or ;ointl' to sho/ testa0entar' in.apa.it'. The nature and rationalit' of the /ill is of so0e pra.ti.al utilit' in deter0ining .apa.it'. Ea.h .ase rests on its o/n fa.ts and 0ust be de.ided b' its o/n fa.ts. I!.2 I!.2 E?I!EN,E.-On the issue of testa0entar' .apa.it', the e iden.e should be per0itted to ta3e a /ide range in order that all fa.ts 0a' be brought out /hi.h /ill assist in deter0ining the =uestion. The testi0on' of subs.ribing /itnesses to a /ill .on.erning the testatorFs 0ental .ondition is entitled to great /eight /here the' are truthful and intelligent. The e iden.e of those present at the e1e.ution of the /ill and of the attending ph'si.ian is also to be relied upon.

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In ie/ of the foregoing, the order appealed fro0 ad0itting to probate the do.u0ent, E1hibit ,, as the last /ill and testa0ent of the de.eased Bernabe Rordiguez is hereb' affir0ed, /ith .osts against the appellants. It is so ordered.

!e la Rosa and Caredes, %%., .on.ur. %udg0ent affir0ed.