TRUSTEESHIP OF BENIGNO, ANTONIO AND ANGELA, ALL SURNAMED PEREZ Y TUASON, ANTONIO M. PEREZ, JUDICIAL GUARDIAN-APPELLANT, VS. J. ANTONIO ARANETA, TRUSTEE-APPELLEE.

The four (4) cases above numbered are before this Court upon a
joint motion to dismiss filed in each of the said cases, which motions to
dismiss are written in the same language, one a verbatim reproduction of the
others except as hereinafter noted.  A
sample of the joint motion to dismiss as
set forth in L-23159 reads:

“JOINT MOTION TO
DISMISS

COME NOW, J. Antonio Araneta, the
trustee-appellee in the above-entitled case, and the
undersigned Benigno de la Vega, Angela T. Staley (nee
Angela Perez y Tuason), and Antonio Perez y Tuason, assisted by their
respective counsels and to this Honorable Court respectfully allege:

1. That this appeal from an order of the trusteeship court in
Special Proceeding No. Q-73 involves a trust which was created by the late
Angela S. Tuason for the benefit of the children of
her daughter, Angela I. Tuason, and which was
administered by J. Antonio Araneta as trustee in
trusteeship proceeding No. Q-73 of
the lower court.

2. That the undersigned Benigno de la
Vega is Angela I. Tuason’s son by the late Benigno de la Vega Inclan, but
was also known as Benigno Perez y Tuason‘
because he was adopted by Antonio M. Perez the present husband of Angela I. Tuason; Angela T. Staley (nee Angela Perez y Tuason)
and Antonio Perez y Tuason are the children of Angela I. Tuason
by Antonio M. Perez; and that Benigno de la Vega (Benigno Perez y Tuason), Angela
T. Staley (nee Angela Perez y Tuason) and Antonio
Perez y Tuason are all the beneficiaries of the trust
administered by the trustee-appellee in Special
Proceeding No. Q-73 in the lower court.

3. That the judicial guardian-appellant, Antonio M. Perez, is a
party to trusteeship pro­ceeding No. Q-73 and
prosecuted this appeal and other appeals from orders of the lower court in said
proceeding only in his capacity as the judicial guardian and in behalf of
the aforesaid three beneficiaries who were then his wards on account of their
minority.

4. That the guardianship over the three afore-named beneficiaries
terminated when they became of legal age.

5. That Benigno de la Vega (Benigno Perez y Tuason) became of age on February 3, 1960, Angela T. Staley on March 21,1965 and
Antonio Perez y Tuason, the youngest, on April 17, 1969.

6. That under the terms of the trust herein involved, the trust
would terminate when all of the beneficiaries become of legal age and a
majority of them should decide to terminate it, in which case, the entire trust
estate should be distributed equally among all the beneficiaries; and that all
the said three bene­ficiaries as well as the trustee-appellee
decided and agreed, after the youngest beneficiary, Antonio Perez y Tuason, had reached the age of 21 on April 17, 1969, to
terminate the trust on April 30, 1969.

7. That the trustee-appellee and all the
afore-named three beneficiaries of the trust, assisted by their respective
counsels, thereafter filed with the lower court in the trusteeship proceeding a
‘Joint Manifestation and Motion for Approval of Project of Partition’, dated
April 18, 1969, praying for an order declaring that the trust would terminate
on April 30, 1969, approving the project of partition of the trust estate therein embodied, and authorizing the trustee-appellee to convey all the assets of the trust estate to
the above-named three beneficiaries in accordance with said project of
partition.  A xerox
copy of said ‘Joint Manifestation and Motion for Approval of Project of
Partition’ is hereto attached as Appendix ‘A’, and the corresponding Order (xerox copy) of the lower court, dated April 19, 1969
granting it is hereto attached as Appendix ‘B’.

8. That as this honorable Court will note, all the three
beneficiaries already manifested in the said joint manifestation and motion
(Appendix ‘A’) that they confirmed and ratified all the quarterly accounts of
the trustee-appellee which had been filed prior to
the date of said motion (See paragraphs 5 and 12 of Appendix ‘A’), and that ‘for
expediency and practical reasons ……all motions, petitions and incidents which
may still be pending resolution in this proceeding, and all appeals and special
civil actions pending in the Supreme Court and the Court of Appeals relating to
or affecting this trust be considered abandoned and withdrawn‘ (See paragraph
4 of Appendix ‘A’).

9. That the three beneficiaries herein confirm and ratify the
trustee-appellee’s right to the trustee’s fees
involved in this appeal.

10. That all the undersigned parties have no further desire to
prosecute this appeal.

11. That since the undersigned are all the real parties in interest
in the above-entitled case, it is submitted that in view of the foregoing, this
case has become academic and should be dismissed.

WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that the above-entitled case
be dismissed.

Manila, MAY 30, 1969.

(SGD.)
J. ANTONIO ARANETA

Trustee

(SGD.)
ANGELA T. STALEY                                                              (SGD.)
BENIGNO DE LA VEGA

 Beneficiary                                                                                         Beneficiary

(SGD.)
ANTONIO PEREZ Y TUASON

Beneficiary

Assisted By:

ARANETA, MENDOZA & PAPA

By

(SGD.)
J. ANTONIO ARANETA

Counsel for Trustee

4th Floor, A & T Building

Escolta, Manila

(SGD.)
ANTONIO PISON, JR.                                                            (SGD.) LEONARDO ABOLA

Counsel for Angela T.
Staley                                                                 Counsel for Benigno
dela

UPL
Building                                                                             Vega and Antonio Perez y

Port Area, Manila                                                                                       Tuason

3rd Floor, Avenue
Building

Rizal
Avenue, Manila

V e r i
f i c a t i o n

WE, the undersigned, after being duly sworn, depose and declare:

That we have read the foregoing motion and that the allegations
thereof are true and correct of our own know­ledge.

(SGD.) ANGELA T. STALEY                                                (SGD.)
J. ANTONIO ARANETA

(SGD.) BENIGNO DE LA VEGA                                          (SGD.)
ANTONIO PEREZ Y TUASON

J u r a t

SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN TO BEFORE me on this 30th day of May,
1969 at Manila affiants exhibiting to me the following:

Name                                                Res.
Cert. No.                                     Date
and Place

J. Antonio Araneta                            A-182901                                 Jan. 10, 1969 –
Manila

Angela T. Staley                               A-157243                                 Feb.
27, 1969 –Manila

Benigno de la Vega                          A-3417506                               Jan. 31, 1969 – Sagada,
Mt. Prov.

Antonio Perez y Tuason                   A-5879287
                              May 19, 1969
– Manila

(SGD.)
RODOLFO D. MAPILE

NOTARY PUBLIC

Until December 31,
1970

Doc. No. 314

Page No. 64

Book No. II

Series of 1969.”

The sole difference between the averments in the joint motion to dismiss
in L-23159 and L-23160 is in the averment of paragraph 9 in the last mentioned case, which reads:

“9. That this appeal was made solely to seek a ruling on what
expenses should be charged to principal of the trust or to its income, a
question that will serve no purpose now because the undersigned beneficiaries
of the trust, in whose behalf this appeal was made, are now entitled both to the principal and income of the trust.”

In L-23161 and in L-24297, the allegations noted in paragraph
9 of the joint motion to dismiss in
L-23159 and L-23160 are omitted.  Instead, paragraphs 10 and 11 in L-23159 and L-23160 were reproduced
in L-23161 and L-24297 as
paragraphs 9 and 10.

It thus appearing that the above-entitled casts have all become moot and academic, the Court RESOLVED to dismiss all of the said cases, without
costs.

SO ORDERED.

Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, J.B.L., Makalintal, Dizon, Zaldivar, Castro, Fernando, Capistrano, Teehankee
and Barredo, JJ., concur.