MONTHLY ARCHIVES: OCTOBER 2013

September 2013 Philippine Supreme

Court Decisions on Civil Law
Posted on October 16, 2013 by Rose Marie M. King-Dominguez Posted in Civil Law, Philippines -
Cases, Philippines - Law
Here are select September 2013 rulings of the Supreme Court of the Philippines on civil
law:

CIVIL CODE

Civil registry; nature of civil register books; books making up the civil register and all
documents relating thereto are public documents and shall be prima facie evidence of
the facts therein contained; as public documents, they are admissible in evidence even
without further proof of their due execution and genuineness.There is no question that
the documentary evidence submitted by petitioner are all public documents. As
provided in the Civil Code:
ART. 410. The books making up the civil register and all documents relating thereto shall
be considered public documents and shall be prima facie evidence of the facts therein
contained.

As public documents, they are admissible in evidence even without further proof of their
due execution and genuineness. Thus, the RTC erred when it disregarded said
documents on the sole ground that the petitioner did not present the records custodian
of the NSO who issued them to testify on their authenticity and due execution since
proof of authenticity and due execution was not anymore necessary. Moreover, not only
are said documents admissible, they deserve to be given evidentiary weight because
they constitute prima facie evidence of the facts stated therein. And in the instant case,
the facts stated therein remain unrebutted since neither the private respondent nor the
public prosecutor presented evidence to the contrary. In Yasuo Iwasawa v. Felisa
Custodio Gangan (a.k.a. Felisa Gangan Arambulo and Felisa Gangan Iwasawa), et
al., G.R. No. 204169, September 11, 2013.
Contracts; contract to sell distinguished from contract of sale; in a contract to sell,
ownership remains with the vendor and does not pass to the vendee until full payment
of the purchase price; a deed of sale is absolute when there is no stipulation in the
contract that title to the property remains with the seller until the full payment of the
purchase price. In a conditional sale, as in a contract to sell, ownership remains with
the vendor and does not pass to the vendee until full payment of the purchase price.
The full payment of the purchase price partakes of a suspensive condition, and non-
fulfillment of the condition prevents the obligation to sell from arising. To differentiate, a
deed of sale is absolute when there is no stipulation in the contract that title to the
property remains with the seller until full payment of the purchase price. Ramos v.
Heruela held that Articles 1191 and 1592 of the Civil Code are applicable to contracts of
sale, while R.A. No. 6552 applies to contracts to sell. Manuel Uy & Sons, Inc. v. Valbueco,
Incorporated, G.R. No. 179594, September 11, 2013.