- CASE DIGEST -
Vda. De
Roxas v. Roxas
G.R. L-2396,
December 11, 1950
FACTS: Pablo M. Roxas died leaving properties in Bulacan. On August 10
1946, Natividad Vda. de Roxas, widow of Pablo M. Roxas, filed a petition for
the probate of an alleged will of her deceased husband, and for her appointment
as executrix of his estate. An opposition was
filed by Pablo’s siblings on the ground that the alleged will was not executed
and attested as required by law, and that, in any event, it was intended as a
mere formal request which was, however, subsequently revoked as shown by the
fact that it was crumpled with intent to destroy. The
oppositors (Maria and Pedro Roxas) also alleged that the will is vitiated by
the following formal defects: "(a) The alleged last will and testament was
not attested and subscribed by three or more credible witnesses in the presence
of the testator and of each other; (b) The testator and the instrumental
witnesses did not sign the only page of the will on the left margin, nor was
the page numbered in letters on the upper part of the sheet; (c) The
attestation clause does not state that the alleged witnesses thereto witnessed
and signed the will in the presence of the testator and of each other."
The respondent judge rendered a decision denying the probate of the
will. The lower court concluded that the body of the will was typewritten and
signed by the testator on a date or occasion different from and anterior to the
date or occasion when the attestation clause was typewritten and signed by the
attesting witnesses, with the result that the will was not signed by the
testator in the presence of the witnesses, and by the latter in the presence of
the testator and of each other. That
had the testator and the attesting witnesses signed on the same occasion, the
probability was that one or two fountain pens only should have been used
instead of three as testified to unanimously by the expert witnesses both for
the proponent and the oppositors.
The petitioner has appealed. Her counsel insist that the testimony,
unanimous in all essential points, of the three attesting witnesses should be
given controlling weight. Counsel for oppositors, upon the other hand, argue
that the testimony of Maria Roxas, in conjunction with the opinions of experts,
should prevail.
ISSUE: Whether or not, experts testimony on handwritings shall be favored in the presence of small infirmities of witness testimony on the account of due execution of the will.
RULING: No. Testimonies of attesting witness shall prevail. This case is
one in which the will is couched in a language known and spoken by the testator
and the signatures of the three attesting witnesses are admittedly genuine.
Such being the situation, the question that arises, far from requiring the
intervention of experts, is one merely of credibility of witnesses.
In our opinion, the testimony of the three attesting witnesses —
confirmatory of the due execution of the will — deserves full credit, not only
because of their qualifications (hereinbefore pointed out) but because their
reputation for probity has not been impeached. The fact that they may have some
relationship with the petitioner is not sufficient to warrant the belief that
they did not tell the truth. The law, in the first place, does not bar relatives
either of the testator of the heirs or legatees from acting as witnesses.
Ordinarily, the findings of fact of a trial court, because of the
benefit of having seen and heard the witnesses, are entitled to great weight.
But, in this case, the lower court relied on the conclusions of experts.
The Court do not venture to impute bias to the experts introduced during
the trial, but we hasten to state that the positive testimony of the three
attesting witnesses ought to prevail over the expert opinions which cannot be
mathematically precise but which, on the contrary, are "subject to
inherent infirmities." Speculations on these matters should give way to
the positive declarations of the attesting witnesses. The law impliedly
recognizes the almost conclusive weight of the testimony of attesting witnesses
when it provides that if the will is contested, all the subscribing witnesses
present in the Philippines and not insane, must be produced and examined, and
the death, absence, or insanity of any of them must be satisfactorily shown to
the court.
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