THE ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA, THE ROMAN CATHOLIC BISHOP OF IMUS, and the SPOUSES FLORENCIO IGNAO and SOLEDAD C. IGNAO, vs. HON. COURT OF APPEALS, THE ESTATE OF DECEASED SPOUSES EUSEBIO DE CASTRO and MARTINA RIETA, represented by MARINA RIETA GRANADOS and THERESA RIETA TOLENTINO.
- G.R. Number: G.R. No. 77425
- Promulgated: 1991-06-19
- Ponente: Regalado, J.
Doctrine
A prohibitory condition that unreasonably emasculates an attribute of ownership is an illegal or impossible condition under Article 727 and is treated as not imposed.
Judicial intervention in contracts with automatic revocation is to determine whether rescission was proper, not to effectuate rescission already deemed to have occurred.
The Court may resolve cases on the merits without remand when it can decide the controversy from the record and when remand would not serve the ends of justice.
Facts
On 29 November 1984 private respondents filed a complaint for nullification of deed of donation, rescission of contract and reconveyance of real property docketed as Civil Case No. 095-84 in the RTC, Branch XX, Imus, Cavite.
The RTC dismissed Civil Case No. 095-84; the Court of Appeals reversed and set aside the RTC's dismissal and ordered the case reinstated and remanded.
Petitioners filed motions for reconsideration which the Court of Appeals denied, prompting these petitions for review on certiorari to the Supreme Court.
Issues
Whether the action for rescission of contracts (deed of donation and deed of sale) has prescribed.
Whether dismissal of the action for rescission of contracts on the ground of prescription carries with it the dismissal of the main action for reconveyance of real property.
Ruling
The Court declared the prohibitory century-long restriction in the deed of donation illegal or impossible under Article 727 of the Civil Code and considered the condition as not imposed; reliance on that proscription is disallowed.
Because the Court could resolve the issue on the records, it set aside the CA judgment and rendered judgment dismissing Civil Case No. 095-84 of the RTC, Branch XX, Imus, Cavite.
Keywords
G.R. No. 77425, donation, rescission of contract, reconveyance of real property with damages, nullification of deed of donation, motion to dismiss, legal capacity to sue, no cause of action, prescription, Article 764 Civil Code, revocation of donation, automatic reversion, ipso facto null and void, judicial declaration, deed of absolute sale, Transfer Certificate of Title No. 115990, private respondents, action, roman catholic bishop, violation