VOL.

74, OCTOBER 28, 1942

15

De Luna et al. vs. Linatoc

[No. 48403. October 28,1942]

AGUSTIN DE LUNA ET AL., petitioners and appellants, vs. JOSE

LINATOC, respondent and appellee.
1.APPEAL AND ERROR INQUIRY BY SUPREMECOURT INTO CONCLUSION OF FACT
MADE

BY

COURT

OF

APPEALS.The Court of Appeals found that no

deceit had been committed by appellee upon appellants. This

conclusion of fact is drawn from certain facts which are either
undisputed or have been clearly established by the evidence. When
may the Supreme Court review or question such deduction of fact
based on uncontroverted or plain evidence? Only when reasonable
men readily agree that the inference is manifestly mistaken, absurd
or impossible. If, however, fairminded men may differ on whether or
not the main conclusion of fact is rightly drawn from the undisputed
evidence, the Supreme Court should not, as a rule, inquire into the
discretion exercised by the Court of Appeals. The instant case is of
the latter category, because the findings of the Court of Appeals that
there has been no deceit may or may not be persuasive, according to
one's own reasoning after reading the decision and resolution of that
court. It cannot be said that fairminded men will not .differ in this
case on the existence of fraud. Held: That die Supreme Court cannot
examine the question of whether or not the Court of Appeals was
right when that tribunal concluded from the uncontroverted evidence
that there had been no deceit.
2.CONFIRMATION, RATIFICATION
WIFE

TO

SELL PROPERTY

AND

RECOGNITION DISTINGUISHED AUTHORITY

OF THE

OF

CONJUGAL PARTNERSHIP.A careful

analysis of Exhibit I reveals that the same is neither a confirmation

nor a ratification of the sales made by the wife, but is what Spanish
jurists call a "reconocimiento" or recognition. Confirmation tends to
cure a vice of nullity, and ratification is for the purpose of giving
authority to a person who previously acted in the name of another
without authority. Recognition, on the other hand, is merely to cure a
defect of proof. In recognition, there is no vice to be remedied, such as
fraud, violence or. mistake, so the case is distinguished from
confirmation. In recognition, the person acting on behalf of another is
duly authorized to do so, so the situation is different from ratification.
The instant case is one of recognition because the husband was not

trying to cleanse the sales of all taint, such as fraud, violence or

mistake, nor was it his purpose to confer authority to his wife,
because he stated in Exhibit I: "when my wife sold said lands to J. L.
she did so with my knowledge and consent." Exhibit I merely made it
appear in a deed that at the time the sales were made by the wife, she
did so with his knowledge and consent. Thus the requirement in the
statute of frauds that in a sale of real property the authority of the
agent should be in writing, has been complied with. Therefore, she
was only acting as his agent.
3.ID. ID. ILLEGALITY

OF

PARTITION

BETWEEN

SPOUSES MADE

DURING

MARRIAGE.

However, as such agent, the wife could not sell her portions of those
lands in the name of her husband, because the partition was illegal
and void, as it was made during the marriage and there was no
judicial order authorizing separation of property between the
husband and the wife (art. 1432, Civil Code). Consequently, the
character of these portions of lands as conjugal partnership property
was never changed. The wife could, therefore, sell and did sell, as
agent of the husband, these portions as part of the conjugal part
nership assets. And the wife may bind the conjugal partnership with
the consent of the husband, according to article 1416 of the Civil
Code.
4.ID. ID. ID. MISTAKE

OF

LAW DOES

NOT

RENDER CONTRACT VOIDABLE.

Mistake of law does not make a contract voidable, because ignorance

of the law does not excuse anyone from its compliance (art. 2, Civil
Code 8 Manresa, 646, 2d ed.). That the petitioners did not know the
prohibition against partition of the conjugal partnership property
during marriage (art. 1432, Civil Code) is no valid reason why they
should ask for the annulment of the sales made in Exhibits C and D
and recognized in Exhibit I.
5.ID. ID. ID. NO MAN CAN TAKE ADVANTAGE

OF

HIS OWN WRONG.

Moreover, there is the timehonored legal maxim that no man can

take advantage of his own wrong. To repudiate the sales in question,
petitioners are setting up their own wrongful act of partitioning their
conjugal property, which violated article 1432 of the Civil Code.
16

16

PHILIPPINE REPORTS ANNOTATED

De Luna et al. vs. Linatoc

The prohibition in said article affects public policy, as it is designed to

protect creditors of the conjugal partnership and other third persons.
Petitioners shall not, therefore, be allowed thus to rest their cause of
action to recover the lands sold, upon the illegality of the partition
which they attempted to make. Otherwise, they would profit by their
own unlawful act.
6.ID. ID. ID. ARTICLE 1284

OF THE

CIVIL CODE.Finally, the contracts of

sale in Exhibits C and D and the deed of recognition Exhibit I are

susceptible of two interpretations, one of which leads to their inva

lidity and illegality, and the other to their validity and legality. The
former construction is that these contracts refer to the separate
property of the wife as a result of the partition, and the latter inter
pretation is that these deeds have as their subject matter the
conjugal partnership property. This latter interpretation is not only
proper as already indicated but it is also warranted by the rules of
interpretation of contracts. This construction is, therefore, adopted,
which recognizes the binding character of these three deeds. The Civil
Code in article 1284 provides: "If some clause of contracts admits of
various meanings, it should be understood as that which is most
adequate to make it effective."

PETITION for review on certiorari.

Decision penned by Associate Justice Jorge Bocobo.
Claro M. Recto for petitioners.
Jose Mayo Librea for respondent.

Copyright2016CentralBookSupply,Inc.Allrightsreserved.