SATURNINO ESCOVAL ET AL., PLAINTIFFS AND APPELLEES, VS. LORENZO ESCOVAL ET AL., DEFENDANTS AND APPELLANTS.

This is an appeal from a decision of the Court of First Instance of
Tarlac wherein defendants Francisco, Lorenza and Delfin surnamed
Escoval, are compelled to recognize plaintiffs Saturnino, Luz and
Bienvenido surnamed Escoval as natural children of one Faustino
Escoval, deceased, and in consequence cadastral lot No.4012 of Paniqui,
Tarlac, was ordered delivered to said plaintiffs.

The facts found by the lower court are as follows: On April 18,
1937, Faustino Escoval died unmarried, leaving a parcel of land
designated as lot No.4012 of the Cadastral Survey of Paniqui, Tarlac,
covered by original Certificate of Title No. 13633 of said province. On
February 23, 1946, Francisco Escoval, Lorenza Escoval and Delfin
Escoval, brothers and sister of the deceased, executed a “deed of
extrajudicial partition and absolute sale” wherein they partitioned
said parcel of land among themselves and Lorenza Escoval, married to
Juan Arellano, purchased the shares of her co-heirs Francisco and
Delfin. On March 31, 1946, spouses Juan Arellano and Lorenza Escoval
sold to Francisco Llabres the same parcel of land for the sum of P2,500
and Transfer Certificate of Title No.23351 was issued in favor of the
purchaser.

It turned out, however, and it is also a fact found by the trial
court that minor plaintiffs were begotten by Purificacion Arcilla with
Faustino Escoval, both unmarried, and have been in continuous
possession of the status of natural children of said Faustino Escoval
as justified by the latter’s conduct of supporting them, caring for
them and living with them as his natural,children; and that the birth
certificate of Luz Escoval is an indubitable writing wherein Faustino
Escoval’s paternity is expressly recognised by him with his authentic
signature.

The judgment appealed from is as follows:

“IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, judgment is rendered in
favor of the plaintiffs against the defendants: first, compelling the
defendants to recognize minor plaintiffs Saturnino Escoval, Luz Escoval
and Bienvenido Escobal; second, the extrajudicial partition as well as
all transfers of Certificate of Title No.13633 are hereby annulled,
restoring to its original force and effect said Certificate of Title
No.13633; third, ordering Francisco Llabres to deliver the land in
question to the plaintiffs; fourth, ordering defendants Lorenza
Escoval, Francisco Escoval and Delfin Escoval to pay their co-defendant
Francisco Llabres the amount of P1,000 with legal interests from March
6, 1946, and P1,500 with legal interests from March 31, 1946, until
those amounts are fully paid; and fifth, sentencing said defendants
Escovals to pay legal costs to the plaintiffs.”

Only defendants Delfin and Lorenza surnamed Escoval appealed and
the only issue in their appeal is whether or not, under the facts found
by the trial court, plaintiffs may be declared as acknowledged natural
children of the deceased Faustino Escoval, and whether or not the
defendants surnamed Escoval may be compelled to make the acknowledgment.

The judgment appealed from is predicated upon Article 135 of the Civil Code which reads:

“Art. 135. The father may be compelled to acknowledge his natural child in the following cases:

1. When an indubitable writing of his exists in which he expressly acknowledge his paternity.
2. When the child is in the uninterrupted possession of the status of a
   natural child of the defendant father, justified by the conduct of the
   father himself or that of his family.

It is maintained that the conduct of the father in supporting his
children, caring for them and living together with them is not
sufficient recognition of their status as natural children if at the
same time he never presented them to his brothers and sisters and to
his other relatives. There is, however, no finding by the trial court
of such negative fact which may or may not be justifiable depending on
whether the father and his relatives were or were not in good terms.
There being no data on this matter, the conduct of the father in
treating his children continuously as such in his own house,
spontaneously and without concealment, though without publicity, is
sufficient proof of the uninterrupted possession of the status of
natural children as referred to in the above provision. And there is
further the birth certificate of Luz Escoval duly signed by the
deceased Faustino Escoval wherein his paternity is expressly recognized
by him. The authenticity of Faustino Escoval is signature in that
certificate is admitted by the appellants in their brief.

Appellants seem, to hold the theory that to compel acknowledgment
of natural children, the action may be brought only against the father
because “only the father is obliged to acknowledge said natural child”.
But article 137 of the Civil Code authorizes action after the death of
the parents if they die during the minority of the children, and here
plaintiffs are.still minors.

Furthermore, the action to compel recognition of natural children
and the action by such natural children to recover property inherited
by them may be joined in one complaint against the same defendants
under Rule 2, Section 5 of the Rules of Court as well as under the
former rulings of this Court in Briz vs. Briz 43 Phil. 763; and Suarez vs. Suarez 43 Phil. 903. In the first case we held:

“The question whether a person in the position of
the present plaintiff can in any event maintain a complex action to
compel recognition as a natural child and at the same time to obtain
ulterior relief in the character of heir, is one which in the opinion
of this court must be answered in the affirmative, provided always that
the conditions justifying the joinder of the two distinct causes of
action are present in the particular case. In other words, there is no
absolute necessity requiring that the action to compel acknowledgment
should have been instituted and prosecuted to a successful conclusion
prior to the action in which that same plaintiff seeks additional
relief in the character of heir * * *”

All the legitimate heirs who may be affected by the action for
recognition are made defendants in the instant case. And there being
sufficient proof that minor plaintiffs have been in an uninterrupted
possession of the status of natural children of the deceased Faustino
Escoval defendants-appellants were rightly compelled by the trial court
to make the acknowledgment and the natural children thus acknowledged
were rightly declared to be the owners of Lot No.4012 to the exclusion
of defendants who are merely brothers and sister of the deceased.
Therefore, the partition by defendants amongst themselves, the sale to
Lorenza Escoval by her alleged co-heirs, and the conveyance to
Francisco Llabres are all null and void.

For all the foregoing, the judgment of the lower court is hereby
affirmed, the costs of this Court to be paid-by appellants Delfin
Escoval and Lorenza Escoval.

Paras, Feria, Pablo, Bengzon, Tuason, Montemayor, and Reyes, JJ., concur.