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Testate estate of the late Vicente Cagro. Case flow:

Jesusa Cagro, petitioner and appellee, CFI – Petition for probate of a will – GRANTED
vs.
Pelagio Cagro, et al., oppositors and appellants. SC – Reversed. Probate of the will is DENIED.

G.R. No. L-5826, April 29, 1953

FACTS:
 Vicente Cagro died leaving a will.
 Oppositor-appellant’s contention: the will is fatally defective because its attestation clause is not signed by the
attending witnesses.
 Petitioner-appellee’s contention: the signature of the three witnesses on the left-hand margin conforms
substantially to the law and may be deemed as their signatures to the attestation clause.

ISSUE(s): HELD:
WON the will is valid NO, Will is not valid. The attestation clause is a memorandum of the facts attending
the execution of the will. It is required by law to be made by the attesting witnesses
and it must necessarily bear their signatures.
An unsigned attestation clause cannot be considered as an act of the witnesses since
the omission of their signatures at the bottom negatives their participation.

Moreover, the signatures affixed on the left hand margin are not substantial
conformance to the law. The said signatures were merely in conformance with the
requirement that the will must be signed on the left-hand margin of all its pages. If the
attestation clause is unsigned by the 3 witnesses at the bottom, it would be easier to
add clauses to a will on a subsequent occasion and in the absence of the testator and
any or all of the witnesses.

DOCTRINES (from eSCRA):

Wills; Attestation Clause; Lack of Signatures of Attesting Witnesses at Bottom of Attestation Clause, is Fatal Defect.—
Inasmuch as the signatures of the three witnesses to the will do not appear at the bottom of the attestation clause,
although the page containing the same is signed by the witnesses on the left-hand margin, the will is fatally defective.
The attestation clause is "a memorandum of the facts attending the execution of the will" required by law to be made by
the attesting witnesses, and it must necessarily bear their signatures.