TESTACY OF SIXTO LOPEZ, JOSE LOPEZ VS.

LIBORO

(GR No. L-1787; Aug. 27, 1978)

FACTS:

The will subject of the controversy is the last will and testament of
Don Sixto Lopez who died at the age of 83 in Balayan, Batangas on March
3, 1947. Only one of the objections raised in the lower court was raised on
appeal: that the said will (Exhibit A) was not executed in accordance
with requirements under the law. The fatal defect pertained to by
the oppositor is the absence of a page in the first sheet, either in
letters or in Arabic numerals.

In the case of Abangan, the purpose of the law in prescribing the paging of
wills is to guard against fraud, and to afford means of preventing the
substitution or of detecting the loss of any of its pages. Another, the
Supreme Court dwelled on the issue also of putting his thumbmark by the
testator instead of a signature. Lastly, Supreme Court raised that appellant
impugns the will because of its silence on the testator’s understanding of the
language used in the testament which is Spanish.

Issues: (1) WON the will was validly executed despite the absence of a page
number.

(2) WON the thumbmark used by the testator is sufficient in lieu of his
signature.

(3) WON the testator’s knowledge of the Spanish language used in the
will is material.

Held:

(1) Yes. The will is still valid despite the absence of a page
number on the first sheet. The omission to put a page number
on the first sheet, if that be necessary, is supplied by other forms of
identification more trustworthy than the conventional numeral
words or characters. The Supreme Court determined the first sheet
as the first page by virtue of the document’s (will) contents for
which the said sheet was logically and coherently a precedent of the
second one and the two cannot be interchanged since there were
only two sheets.
(2) Yes. The thumbmark was sufficient in lieu of his signature.
The Court took notice of the fact that the testator was suffering
from partial paralysis. The Court added that it was a matter of taste
or preference. A statute requiring a will to be "signed" is satisfied if
the signature is made by the testator's mark. (De Gala vs. Gonzales
and Ona, 53 Phil., 108)

(3) No. The knowledge of Spanish language of the testator is

immaterial according to the Supreme Court. There is no statutory
requirement that such knowledge be expressly stated in the will
itself. Citing Gonzales vs. Laurel (46 Phil 781), there is a
presumption that the testator knew the language.