IN RE GUARDIANSHIP OF THE MINORS MANUEL LIWAG, PACIFICO LIWAG AND MERCEDES LIWAG, JOSEFA ONGPAUCO, GUARDIAN AND APPELLANT; MANUEL LIWAG, WARD AND APPELLEE.

Pablo Liwag, married to Josefa Ongpauco with whom
he had three children named Manuel, Pacifico and Mercedes, died on
December 11,19S1, leaving, among other properties, two insurance
policies for P46,647.76 of which his said children were the
beneficiaries. On the 24th of said month, Josefa Ongpauco, upon her
petition, was appointed guardian of her said three children who where
then minors. It is stated in the appointment that when the guardian
collects the proceeds of the two insurance policies, she shall be
obliged to deposit them in any bank in the name of the wards.

On October 15, 1932, the wards filed a petition in court praying
that their mother, the guardian, be dismissed from her charge without
prejudice to her being ordered to deposit the proceeds of the insurance
in a bank. On the 5th of the following month, however, the wards filed
another petition withdrawing the former one on the ground that they
found the guardian’s oral explanations of the investments made by her
of a part of the guardianship funds satisfactory and because of her
promise to render a detailed account of said investments.

On December 20, 1933, the ward Manuel, having become of age, asked
the court to order the guardian to turn over to him one-third of the
guardianship funds due him. This petition gave rise to several
incidents, among them that of the guardian’s having been compelled to
render accounts of the proceeds of the insurance policies. It should be
noted that the intestate proceedings of the deceased, wherein said
guardian was appointed administratrix, had been instituted at the same
time as these guardianship proceedings. According to the accounts
presented by the guardian in these guardianship proceedings, she had
spent the entire proceeds of the insurance policies in the payment of
debts and other necessary care to protect and avoid the sale of the
properties under her administration and in which she and her wards were
the only persons interested. However, the court, in connection with
Manuel’s petition, issued its order of June 13, 1935, disapproving the
account presented by the guardian and ordering her to deposit the funds
of the guardianship in the office of the clerk of court, warning her
that if she failed to comply with said order she would be placed under
arrest and detained until she complied therewith.

The
guardian, on the 22d of said month, filed a motion for reconsideration
of said order, supporting it with an agreement entered into between her
and her wards who, in consideration of this agreement, asked that the
order of June 13, 1935, be set aside and that the guardian be relieved
of all obligation. The wards state in this agreement that they
acknowledge the legality of the investments made by the guardian of the
guardianship funds, having been used in urgent payments for the benefit
of the intestate estate of their deceased father, and because she made
said investments in the best of faith, with no intent of gain and with
no other purpose than to safeguard the well-being and prosperity of her
children, acknowledging her inability, thereby, to comply with the
order in question. This notwithstanding, the ward Manuel Liwag,
repudiating the agreement for the reasons stated in his petition of the
25th of said month of June, askeci that the guardian be placed under
arrest and detained until she complied with the order of the court of
June 13. Acting upon this petition, the court, in its order of July 1,
of said year, ordered the arrest and detention of the guardian until
she complied with the order of June 13, 1935. The appeal now under
consideration by this court was taken from said order.

It is inferred from the foregoing, with reference to this appeal,
that two resolutions were entered by the court: That of December 24,
1931, stating that the guardian, after collecting the proceeds of the
insurance policies, would be obliged to deposit them in a bank, and
that of June 13,1935, ordering her to deposit all the guardianship
funds with the clerk of court.

Technically, the resolution of December 24, 1931, did not contain,
in the strict sense, an order to the guardian to deposit the proceeds
of the insurance policies in a bank, and it cannot be a ground for an
action for contempt.

As to the order of June 13,1935, it refers to an act which the
guardian can no longer perform, inasmuch as the guardianship funds
which the court orders her to deposit with the clerk of court are no
longer in her possession, having used them, as already stated, in
paying obligations for the purpose of protecting the properties under
her administration. On the other hand, she cannot replace this amount
with her own funds because her property consisting of her share in the
conjugal partnership with her deceased husband, is still subject to
liquidation in the intestate proceedings.

“With respect to the court’s resolution
disapproving the guardian’s accounts, it appears that said accounts
include expenses incurred for the benefit of the intestate estate of
the deceased as well as of the guardianship. The disapproval of these
accounts is well taken with respect to those referring to expenses
incurred for the benefit of the intestate estate, for which the
proceeds of the insurance policies which belong to the guardianship
should not be used.

For the foregoing reasons, the court’s resolution of June 13, 1935,
is set aside in so far as it orders the arrest and detention of the
guardian until she deposits all the funds of the guardianship with the
clerk of court, and it is affirmed in so far as it disapproves the
guardian’s accounts relative to expenses incurred for the benefit of
the intestate estate, all without prejudice to the guardian’s rendering
to the court accounts of the expenses incurred exclusively for the
benefit of the guardianship and without prejudice, further, to the
civil liability she may have incurred in the performance of her duties,
without special pronouncement as to costs. So ordered.

Villa-Real, Abad Santos, Imperial, Diaz, Laurel, and Concepcion, JJ., concur.