SABINO LIWAG ET AL., PLAINTIFFS AND APPELLEES, VS. EXEQUIEL YAUCO ET AL., DEFENDANTS AND APPELLANTS.

The purpose of the present action was to recover of the defendants two pieces
or parcels of land particularly described in paragraph 2 of the complaint^
together with damages for the illegal use and occupation of the same, and
costs.

The theory of the plaintiffs is that the land formerly belonged to Marcelo
Liwag; that he had obtained the same by a “composicion con el Estado;” that at
the time of his death he was the owner of said parcels of land; that they (said
plaintiffs) are his lawful descendants. The record shows that the plaintiffs
Sabino Liwag and Petra Liwag are the children of the said Marcelo Liwag; that
Paulina Soriano, now mentally incapacitated, is the wife of Marcelo Liwag; that
Manuel Liwag and Barbara Liwag are the grandchildren of the said Marcelo Liwag;
that said plaintiffs are the only heirs surviving the said Marcelo Liwag.

The theory of the defendants is that during the life-time of the said Marcelo
Liwag he sold and transferred the parcels of land in question to Agaton Yauco;
that Exequiel Yauco and Pascual Yauco, being the children of Agaton Yauco,
inherited the same from him, and later sold a portion of the lands in question
to Agueda Magsacay.

The plaintiffs alleged and proved that after the death of Marcelo Liwag (3d
day of May, 1886) his wife Paulina Soriano employed the said Agaton Yauco to
administer said lands; that Agaton Yauco paid to Paulina Soriano a certain
portion of the crops produced on said lands; that after the death of Agaton
Yauco (6th day of August, 1892) his wife, Juana Prades, continued the
administration of said parcels of land; that during the administration of said
lands by said Juana Prades she continued to pay to the heirs of Marcelo Liwag a
portion of the crops produced thereon; that after the death of Juana Prades (in
the year 1906) the defendants Exequiel Yauco and Pascual Yauco took possession
of the lands in question, and later (1908-1910) sold a portion of said lands to
their codefendant Agueda Magsacay.

The defendants, as a part of their defense, alleged that the right of action
by the plaintiffs is prescribed. Even though it be admitted that the
predecessor, Agaton Yauco, had occupied the land adversely since the death of
Marcelo Liwag in 1886, his occupancy could not have ripened into a title under
the provisions of articles 1941, 1942, and 1959 of the Civil Code; for the
reason that, under that assumption, the extraordinary period of thirty years had
not elapsed at the time of the commencement of the present action in 1912.
Neither can the defendants invoke the prescriptive period of ten years under
section 40 of Act No. 190, for the reason that said period had not elapsed after
the death of their mother in 1906, before the present action was commenced. The
mother of the defendants had recognized the right of the plaintiffs to the land
in question by paying to them a portion of the crops produced thereon up to the
time of her death.

The proof, by a large preponderance, shows that the plaintiffs herein are the
successors in interest to the parcels of land in question, are the owners
thereof and entitled to the possession of the same.

Therefore, the judgment of the lower court is hereby affirmed, with costs. So
ordered.

Arellano, C. J., Carson, Araullo, Street, and Malcolm, JJ.,
concur.