4) In re will of Josefa Zalamea y Abella, deceased. PEDRO UNSON vs.

ANTONIO ABELLA, ET
AL. (June 12, 1922 VILLAMOR, J.)
The object of the solemnities surrounding the execution of wills is to close the door against bad faith and
fraud, to avoid substitution of wills and testaments and to guaranty their truth and authenticity.
FACTS:
Doña Josefa Zalamea y Abella, single, 60 years old, executed her last will and testament with an
attached inventory of her properties, in the presence of three witnesses, who signed with her all the pages
of said documents. The testatrix died on the 6 January 1921. The executor appointed in the will, Pedro
Unson, filed in the CFI of Laguna on 19 January 1921 an application for the probate of the will and the
issuance of the proper letters of administration in his favor.

Opposition was presented by appellants Antonio Abella, Ignacia Abella, Avicencia Abella, and
Santiago Vito, alleging that the supposed will of the Zalamea was not executed in conformity with the
provinces of the law, for it was not paged correlatively in letters, nor was there any attestation clause in it,
nor was it signed by the testatrix and the witnesses in the presence of each other.

Trial court overruled the opposition and ordered the probate of the will and the inventory, holding
that both documents contained the true and last will of the deceased Josefa Zalamea. Oppositors appealed
and assigned three errors:
1. The court below erred in the finding to the effect that the will of the Josefa Zalamea, was executed
with all the solemnities required by the law.
2. The court below erred in admitting the will to probate notwithstanding the omission of the proponent
to produce one of the attesting witnesses.
3. The court below erred in the probate of the inventory, that it has no attestation clause, and its paging
is made in Arabic numerals and not in letters (main issue, Art.827).

ISSUE:
WON the will is void. (NO)

RULING:
1. The appellants intimate that one of the pages of the will was not signed by the testatrix, nor by the
witnesses on the day of the execution of the will (19 July 1918). However, the attesting witnesses, Eugenio
Zalamea and Gonzalo Abaya, clearly testify that together with the other witness to the will, Pedro de Jesus,
they did sign each and every page of the will and of the inventory in the presence of each other and of the
testatrix, as the latter did sign all the pages of the will and of the inventory in their presence.

2. The non-production of the attesting witness, Pedro de Jesus, does not render void the decree of the court
a quo, allowing the probate.

In the case of Avera vs. Garcia and Rodriguez: "while it is undoubtedly true that an uncontested
will may be proved by the testimony of only one of the three attesting witnesses, nevertheless in Cabang
vs. Delfinado, this court declared after an elaborate examination of the American and English authorities
that when a contest is instituted, all of the attesting witnesses must be examined, if alive and within reach
of the process of the court.” However, this point was not raised by appellant in the lower court thus this
question cannot now be raised for the first time in this court.

Moreover in Cabang vs. Delfinado the general rule is that, where opposition is made to the probate
of a will, the attesting witnesses must be produced. But there are exceptions: when a witness is dead, or
cannot be served with process of the court, or his reputation for truth has been questioned or he appears
hostile to the cause of the proponent. In such cases, the will may be admitted to probate without the
testimony of said witness, if upon the other proofs, the court is satisfied that the will has been duly executed.

3. In the third paragraph of the will and at the bottom of said will, the testatrix Josefa Zalamea says:
In witness whereof, I sign this will composed of ten folios including the page containing the
signatures and the attestation of the witnesses; I have likewise signed the inventory attached to this
will composed of ten folios in the presence of Messrs. Gonzalo Abaya, Eugenio Zalamea, Pedro de
Jesus, in this municipality of Pagsanjan, Laguna, Philippine Islands, this 19th of July, 1918.

And the attestation clause is as follows:

The foregoing will composed of ten folios including this one whereunto we have affixed our
signatures, as well as the inventory of the properties of Doña Josefa Zalamea y Abella, was read to
Doña Josefa Zalamea y Abella, and the latter affixed her name to the last, and each and every page
of this will and inventory composed of ten folios in our presence; and she declared this to be her last
will and testament and at her request we have affixed hereunto our respective signatures in her
presence and in the presence of each other as witnesses to the will and the inventory this 19th of July,
1918, at Pagsanjan, Laguna, P.I.
(Sgd.) GONZALO ABAYA, EUGENIO ZALAMEA, PEDRO DE JESUS.

In view of the fact that the inventory in the will as an integral part of it, we find that the foregoing
attestation clause is in compliance with section 1 of Act No. 2645, which requires this solemnity for the
validity of a will, and makes unnecessary any other attestation clause at the end of the inventory.

As to the paging of the will in Arabic numerals, instead of in letters, we adhere to the doctrine
announced in the case of Aldaba vs. Roque: the validity of the will was assailed on the ground that its folios
were paged with the letters A, B, C, etc., instead of with the letters "one," two," "three," etc. The numbering
of pages of a will is in compliance with the spirit of the law ... to make falsification more difficult, but it
should be noted that since all the pages of the testament are signed at the margin by the testatrix and the
witnesses, the difficulty of forging the signatures in either case remains the same.”

Abangan vs. Abangan: "The object of the solemnities surrounding the execution of wills is to close
the door against bad faith and fraud, to avoid substitution of wills and testaments and to guaranty their truth
and authenticity. On the other hand, one must not lose sight of the fact that it is not the object of the law to
restrain and curtail the exercise of the right to make a will. So when an interpretation whatsoever, that adds
nothing but demands more requisites entirely unnecessary, useless, and frustrative of the testator's last will,
must be disregarded."

The court sees no reason why the same rule in the cases of Abangan vs. Abangan and Aldava vs.
Roque, should not be applied, with regard to the appreciation of the solemnities of a will. The judgement
appealed is hereby affirmed with the costs against the appellants. So ordered.