Tayag v.

Court of Appeals 209 SCRA 665 (1992)

Facts:
In April 9, 1987, private respondent (Emelie Dayrit Cuyugan) in her capacity as
mother and legal guardian of Chad Cuyugan, filed a claim for inheritance against
the petitioner (Corito Ocampo Tayag) as administratrix of the estate of the
late Ricardo Ocampo. The private respondent alleged the following.
She is the mother and legal guardian of her minor son, Chad Cuyugan
That she has been estranged from her husband for several years, and that
she and Atty. Ocampo had an illicit amorous relationship with each other, and
as consequence, they begot a child named Chad Cuyugan.
Chad was born in Angeles City on October 5, 1980 who had been sired,
showed with exceptional affection, fervent love and care by his putative
father for being his only son, as can be gleaned from letters and documents
produced by Atty. Ocampo.
Keep good keep faith keep Chad and yourself for me alone and for me all
the time. As I have now I shall save my heart to you and to Chad
I have vowed to recognize him and be my heir
Why should we not start now to own him, jointly against the whole world.
After all we love each other and CHAD is the product of our love

That minor although illegitimate is entitled to a share in the intestate estate

of his father. That at the time of Atty. Ocampos death, he was the owner of
real and personal property located at Baguio City, Angeles City and
Pampanga.
That the estate of Atty. Ocampo has not yet been inventoried and inheritance
of surviving heirs including Chad, had not yet been ascertained.
Plaintiff has no means of livelihood and she only depends on the charity of
friends and relatives for the sustenance of her son, and after several
demands from the petitioner, petitioner refused and failed to satisfy the claim
for inheritance against the estate of Atty. Ocampo.
Petitioner filed a motion to dismiss, then a motion for recon which was denied by
the trial court. So she filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with writ of
preliminary injunction before the Court of Appeals, which denied the same.

Issue:
1. WON the complaint is premature and that it states a cause of action?
2. WON an action to compel recognition has prescribed?

Ruling:
1.
Petitioners contention: Petitioner contends that the claim for inheritance is
premature and that the complaint states no cause of action. She submits that the
recognition of the minor child, either voluntary or by judicial action, must first be
established before the child can invoke his right to succeed and participate in the
estate. And that since there is no allegation of such recognition in the complaint
denominated as Claim for inheritance then there is no basis for private
respondents claim.
Ruling:
The Supreme Court said that the case is similar to Paulino v. Paulino, however the
difference is that at the time of the filing of the complaint, the claimant had reached
the age of majority, whereas the claimant in the present case is merely a minor .
That the ratio decidendi in Paulino is not the absence of a cause of action for failure
of the petitioner to allege the fact in the acknowledgment in the complaint , but the
prescription of action.
In the case at bar, although petitioner contends that the private respondents
complaint merely alleges that Chad Cuyugan is an illegitimate child of the deceased
and is actually a claim for inheritance. From the allegations therein, the same may
be considered as one to compel recognition. Further, the two causes of action, one
to compel recognition and the other to claim inheritance, may be joined in one
complaint, and is not new in our jurisprudence.

2.
Petitioners contention: Petitioner contends that the action is one to compel
recognition and that private respondents cause of action has prescribed for the
reason that, since filiation is sought to be proved by means of a private handwritten
instrument signed by the parent and under Art. 175 of the Family Code, the action
to establish filiation must be brought during the lifetime of the alleged putative
father. That Art 2851 of the Civil Code is not applicable, but Art. 175 since the
provision of law is procedural in nature, and no vested rights are created, hence Art.
175 should be applied retroactively.
1 Art. 285 of the CC: The action for recognition may be brought only during the
lifetime of the presumed parents. Except: (1) If the father or mother died during
the minority of the child, in which case the latter may file the action before
the expiration of four years from the attainment of his majority.

Ruling:
Art. 256 of the Family Code (FC) states that, This code shall have retroactive effect,
insofar as it does not prejudice or impair vested rights acquired in accordance with
the Civil Code.
The right of action of the minor child has been vested by the filing of the complaint
in court under the Regime of the Civil Code prior to the effectivity of the Family
Code.
Even assuming that the provision in the Family Code is procedural in nature, the
rule that, statutory change in matters of procedure may affect pending actions and
proceedings unless the language of the act excludes them from its operation, is not
so persuasive, that it may be used to invalidate proceedings before it goes
effective, since procedure must be governed by the law regulating it at the time the
question of procedure arises, especially where vested rights are prejudiced.
Art. 175 of the FC finds no application to the instant case since it will affect the right
of the private respondent and the minor she represents, both of which have been
vested by the filing of the complaint in court. The trial court is therefore correct in
applying Art. 285 of the Civil Code.

Republic of the Philippines

SUPREME COURT
Manila
FIRST DIVISION

G.R. No. 95229 June 9, 1992

CORITO OCAMPO TAYAG, petitioner,
vs.
HON. COURT OF APPEALS and EMILIE DAYRIT CUYUGAN, respondent.

REGALADO, J.:
The instant petition seeks to reverse and set aside the decision 1 of respondent Court of Appeals in
CA-G.R. SP No. 20222, entitled "Corito Ocampo Tayag vs. Hon. Norberto C. Ponce, Judge, Regional Trial
Court of San Fernando, Pampanga and Emilde Dayrit Cuyugan," promulgated on May 10, 1990, and its
resolution denying petitioner's motion for reconsideration. 2 Said decision, now before us for review,
dismissed petitioner's Petition for Certiorari and Prohibition with Preliminary Injunction on the ground that
the denial of the motion to dismiss Civil Case No. 7938 of the court a quo is an interlocutory order and
cannot be the subject of the said special civil action, ordinary appeal in due time being petitioner's
remedy.
In said Civil Case No, 7938, herein private respondent, in her capacity as mother and legal guardian
of minor Chad D. Cuyugan, filed on April 9, 1987 a complaint denominated "Claim for Inheritance"
against herein petitioner as the administratrix of the estate of the late Atty. Ricardo Ocampo. The
operative allegations in said complaint are as follows:
xxx xxx xxx
2. Plaintiff is the mother and legal guardian of her minor son, Chad Cuyugan, by the
father of the defendant, the late Atty. Ricardo Ocampo; and the defendant is the
known administratrix of the real and personal properties left by her deceased father,
said Atty. Ocampo, who died intestate in Angeles City on September 28, 1983;
3. Plaintiff has been estranged from her husband, Jose Cuyugan, for several years
now and during which time, plaintiff and Atty. Ricardo Ocampo had illicit amorous
relationship with each other that, as a consequence thereof, they begot a child who

was christened Chad Cuyugan in accordance with the ardent desire and behest of
said Atty. Ocampo;
4. Chad, the son of plaintiff by the late Atty. Ricardo Ocampo, who was born in
Angeles City on October 5, 1980 bad been sired, showered with exceptional
affection, fervent love and care by his putative father for being his only son as can be
gleaned from indubitable letters and documents of the late Atty. Ocampo to herein
plaintiff, excerpts from some of which are hereunder reproduced;
. . . Keep good keep faith keep Chad and yourself for me alone and
for me all the time. As I have now I shall save my heart to you and to
Chad.
. . . Please take good care and pray to Sto. Nio for our sake and for
the child sake.
. . . Keep him. Take good care of him.
. . . I'm proud that you are his mother. . . I'm proud of him and you. Let
me bless him by my name and let me entitle him to all what I am and
what I've got.
. . . I have vowed to recognize him and be my heir.
. . . How is CHAD and you . . .
. . . Why should we not start now to own him, jointly against the whole
world. After all we love each other and CHAD is the product of our
love.
5. The minor, Chad D. Cuyugan, although illegitimate is nevertheless entitled to a
share in the intestate estate left by his deceased father, Atty. Ricardo Ocampo as one
of the surviving heirs;
6. The deceased Atty. Ricardo Ocampo, at the time of his death was the owner of
real and personal property, located in Baguio City, Angeles City and in the Province
of Pampanga with approximate value of several millions of pesos;
7. The estate of the late Atty. Ocampo has not as yet been inventoried by the
defendant and the inheritance of the surviving heirs including that of said Chad has
not likewise been ascertained;
8. The only known surviving heirs of the deceased Atty. Ricardo Ocampo are his
children, namely: Corito O. Tayag, Rivina O. Tayag, Evita O. Florendo, Felina
Ocampo, and said minor Chad, for and in whose behalf this instant complaint is filed;

9. Plaintiff has no means of livelihood and she only depends on the charity of friends
and relatives for the sustenance of her son, Chad, such that it is urgent, necessary
and imperative that said child be extended financial support from the estate of his
putative father, Atty. Ricardo Ocampo;
10. Several demands, verbal and written, have been made for defendant to grant
Chad's lawful inheritance, but despite said demands, defendant failed and refused
and still fails and refused and still fails and refuses to satisfy the claim for inheritance
against the estate of the late Atty. Ocampo; 3
xxx xxx xxx

Plaintiff thereafter prays, among others, that judgment be rendered ordering defendant to render an
inventory and accounting of the real and personal properties left by Atty. Ricardo Ocampo; to
determine and deliver the share of the minor child Chad in the estate of the deceased; and to give
him support pendente lite.
Petitioner, as defendant therein, filed her answer with counterclaim on June 3, 1987, disputing the
material allegations in the complaint. She maintained by way of affirmative defenses, inter alia, that
the complaint states no cause of action; that the action is premature; that the suit as barred by
prescription; that respondent Cuyugan has no legal and judicial personality to bring the suit; that the
lower court was no jurisdiction over the nature of the action; and that there is improper joinder of
causes of action. 4
After the hearing of the motion to dismiss on the grounds asserted as affirmative defenses, the trial
court issued the following order on October 20, 1987:
xxx xxx xxx
The Court is of the considered opinion that there is a need of further proceedings to
adduce evidence on the various claims of the parties so as to hear their respective
sides
WHEREFORE, resolution on the preliminary hearing which partakes of the nature of
a motion to dismiss requiring additional evidence is in the meantime held in
abeyance. The Motion to Dismiss is hereby denied and the case as set for pre-trial . .
.5
With the denial of her motion for reconsideration of said order on November 19, 1987, 6 petitioner
filed on December 10, 1987 a petition for certiorari and prohibition before the Court of Appeals, docketed
therein as CA-G.R. SP No. 13464, which was granted by the Sixth Division of respondent court on August
2, 1989 and enjoined respondent judge to resolve petitioner's motion praying for the dismissal of the
complaint based on the affirmative defenses within ten (10) days from notice thereof. 7

In compliance with said decision of respondent court, the trial court acted on and thereafter denied
the motion to dismiss, which had been pleaded in the affirmative defenses in Civil Case No. 7938, in
an order dated October 24, 1989, resolving the said motion in the following manner:
xxx xxx xxx
The Court now resolves:
No. 1. The complaint sufficiently shows that a cause of action exists in favor of the
plaintiff. A cause of action being the "primary right to redress a wrong" (Marquez vs.
Valera, 48 OG 5272), which apparently on the face of the complaint, plaintiff has a
right to enforce through this case. Defendant's protestation that there is no sufficient
cause of action is therefore untenable.
No. 2. The present action. despite the claim of defendant is not premature. It is
exactly filed in order to prove filiation, and then recognition. To go about the step by
step procedure outlined by the defendant by filing one action after another is
definitely violative of the prohibition against splitting a cause of action.
No. 3. It is not the plaintiff that is now bringing the case before the Court. It is (her)
spurious child that she represents as natural guardian that is instituting the action.
No. 4. Prescription has not set in if we consider that a spurious child may file an
action for recognition within four years from his attainment of majority (New Civil
Code. Art, 285, No. 2). Whether the letters of the putative father, Atty. Ocampo, is
evidence, that should be inquired into in a hearing on the merits.
No. 5. Several causes of action may be joined in one complaint as was done in this
case. The defendant's claim that there was a misjoinder is untenable.
No. 6. The Court being a court of general jurisdiction, and of special jurisdiction, such
as a probate court has capacity to entertain a complaint such as the one now before
it.
The nature of the case "CLAIM FOR INHERITANCE" does not control the body of the
complaint.
From all the foregoing, the Court finds that the complaint is sufficient' in form and
substance and, therefore, the motion to dismiss could not be granted until after trial
on the merits in which it should be shown that the allegations of the complaint are
unfounded or a special defense to the action exists.
WHEREFORE, the Motion to Dismiss is hereby DENIED. 8
Petitioner's motion for reconsideration of said order was denied by the trial court on January 30,
1990. 9 As a consequence, another petition for certiorari and prohibition with preliminary injunction was

filed by petitioner on March 12, 1990 with respondent court, docketed as CA-G.R. SP No. 20222, praying
that the orders dated October 24, 1989 and January 30, 1990 of the trial court be annulled and set aside
for having been issued with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.

On May 10, 1990, as earlier stated, respondent court promulgated its decision dismissing the
petition, and likewise denied petitioner's motion for reconsideration in a resolution dated September
5, 1990, hence the present petition for review on certiorari.
In elevating the case before us, petitioner relies on these grounds:
a. The Honorable Respondent Court of Appeals dismissed Petitioner's Petition
for Certiorari and Prohibition in UTTER DISREGARD OF APPLICABLE DECISIONS
OF THIS HONORABLE COURT providing clear exceptions to the general rule that
interlocutory orders may not be elevated by way of the special civil action
of certiorari;
b. Respondent Court refused to resolve certain issues raised by Petitioner before the
Regional Trial Court and before Respondent Court of Appeals involving QUESTIONS
OF SUBSTANCE not theretofore determined by this Honorable Court, such as the
interpretation and application of Art. 281 of the Civil Code requiring judicial approval
when the recognition of an illegitimate minor child does not take place in a record of
birth or in a will: of Art. 175, Par. 2, in relation to Art. 172, Par. 2 of the Family Code,
providing for the prescriptive period with respect to the action to establish illegitimate
filiation; and of Art. 285 of the Civil Code, providing for the prescriptive period with
respect to the action for recognition of a natural child; and
c. Respondent Court has sanctioned a DEPARTURE by the Regional Trial Court
from the accepted and usual course of judicial proceedings. 10
Petitioner contends that the action to claim for inheritance filed by herein private respondent in
behalf of the minor child, Chad Cuyugan, is premature and the complaint states no cause of action,
she submits that the recognition of the minor child, either voluntarily or by judicial action, by the
alleged putative father must first be established before the former can invoke his right to succeed
and participate in the estate of the latter. Petitioner asseverates that since there is no allegation of
such recognition in the complaint denominated as "Claim for Inheritance," then there exists no basis
for private respondent's aforesaid claim and, consequently, the complaint should be dismissed.
The instant case is similar to the case of Paulino vs. Paulino, et al., 11 wherein the petitioner, as
plaintiff, brought an action against the private respondents, as defendants, to compel them to give her
share of inheritance in the estate of the late Marcos Paulino, claiming and alleging, inter alia, that she is
the illegitimate child of the deceased; that no proceedings for the settlement of the deceased's estate had
been commenced in court; and that the defendants had refused and failed to deliver her share in the
estate of the deceased. She accordingly prayed that the defendants therein be ordered to deliver her
aforesaid share. The defendants moved for the dismissal of her complaint on the ground that it states no
cause of action and that, even if it does, the same is barred by prescription.

The only difference between the aforecited case and the case at bar is that at the time of the filing of
the complaint therein, the petitioner in that case had already reached the age of majority, whereas
the claimant in the present case is still a minor. In Paulino, we held that an illegitimate child, to be
entitled to support and successional rights from the putative or presumed parent, must prove his
filiation to the latter. We also said that it is necessary to allege in the complaint that the putative
father had acknowledged and recognized the illegitimate child because such acknowledgment is
essential to and is the basis of the right to inherit. There being no allegation of such
acknowledgment, the action becomes one to compel recognition which cannot be brought after the
death of the putative father. The ratio decidendi in Paulino, therefore, is not the absence of a cause
of action for failure of the petitioner to allege the fact of acknowledgment in the complaint, but the
prescription of the action.
Applying the foregoing principles to the case at bar, although petitioner contends that the complaint
filed by herein private respondent merely alleges that the minor Chad Cuyugan is an illegitimate
child of the deceased and is actually a claim for inheritance, from the allegations therein the same
may be considered as one to compel recognition. Further that the two causes of action, one to
compel recognition and the other to claim inheritance, may be joined in one complaint is not new in
our jurisprudence.
As early as 1922, we had occasion to rule thereon in Briz vs. Briz, et
al., 12 wherein we said:
The question whether a person in the position of the present plaintiff can any event
maintain a complex action to compel recognition as a natural child and at the same
time to obtain ulterior relief in the character of heir, is one which, in the opinion of this
court must be answered in the affirmative, provided always that the conditions
justifying the joinder of the two distinct causes of action are present in the particular
case. In, other words, there is no absolute necessity requiring that the action to
compel acknowledgment should have been instituted and prosecuted to a successful
conclusion prior to the action in which that same plaintiff seers additional relief in the
character of heir. Certainly, there is nothing so peculiar to the action to compel
acknowledgment as to require that a rule should be here applied different from that
generally applicable in other cases. . .
The conclusion above stated, though not heretofore explicitly formulated by this
court, is undoubtedly to some extent supported by our prior decisions. Thus, we have
held in numerous cases, and the doctrine must be considered well settled, that a
natural child having a right to compel acknowledgment, but who has not been in fact
legally acknowledged, may maintain partition proceedings for the division of the
inheritance against his co-heirs . . .; and the same person may intervene in
proceedings for the distribution of the estate of his deceased natural father, or mother
. . . In neither of these situations has it been thought necessary for the plaintiff to
show a prior decree compelling acknowledgment. The obvious reason is that in
partition suits and distribution proceedings the other persons who might take by
inheritance are before the court; and the declaration of heirship is appropriate to such
proceedings.

The next question to be resolved is whether the action to compel recognition has prescribed.
Petitioner argues that assuming arguendo that the action is one to compel recognition, private
respondent's cause of action has prescribed for the reason that since filiation is sought to be proved
by means of a private handwritten instrument signed by the parent concerned, then under paragraph
2, Article 175 of the Family Code, the action to establish filiation of the illegitimate minor child must
be brought during the lifetime of the alleged putative father. In the case at bar, considering that the
complaint was filed after the death of the alleged parent, the action has prescribed and this is
another ground for the dismissal of the complaint. Petitioner theorizes that Article 285 of the Civil
Code is not applicable to the case at bar and, instead, paragraph 2, Article 175 of the Family Code
should be given retroactive effect. The theory is premised on the supposition that the latter provision
of law being merely procedural in nature, no vested rights are created, hence it can be made to
apply retroactively.
Article 285 of the Civil Code provides:
Art. 285. The action for the recognition of natural children may be brought only during
the lifetime of the presumed parents, except in the following cases:
(1) If the father or mother died during the minority of the child, in which case the latter
may file the action before the expiration of four years from the attainment of his
majority;
xxx xxx xxx
On the other hand, Article 175 of the Family Code reads:
Art. 175. Illegitimate children may establish their illegitimate filiation in the same way
and on the same evidence as legitimate children.
The action must be brought within the same period specified in Article 173, except
when the action is based on the second paragraph of Article 172, in which case the
action may be brought during the lifetime of the alleged parent.
Under the last-quoted provision of law, therefore, if the action is based on the record of birth of the
child, a final judgment, or an admission by the parent of the child's filiation in a public document or in
a private handwritten signed instrument, then the action may be brought during the lifetime of the
child. However, if the action is based on the open and continuous possession by the child of the
status of an illegitimate child, or on other evidence allowed by the Rules of Court and special laws,
the view has been expressed that the action must be brought during the lifetime of the alleged
parent. 13
Petitioner submits that Article 175 of the Family Code applies in which case the complaint should
have been filed during the lifetime of the putative father, failing which the same must be dismissed
on the ground of prescription. Private respondent, however, insists that Article 285 of the Civil Code

is controlling and, since the alleged parent died during the minority of the child, the action for filiation
may be filed within four years from the attainment of majority of the minor child.
Article 256 of the Family Code states that "[t]his Code shall have retroactive effect insofar as it does
not prejudice or impair vested or acquired rights in accordance with the Civil Code or other laws." It
becomes essential, therefore, to determine whether the right of the minor child to file an action for
recognition is a vested right or not.
Under the circumstances obtaining in the case at bar, we hold that the right of action of the minor
child bas been vested by the filing of the complaint in court under the regime of the Civil Code and
prior to the effectivity of the Family Code. 14 We herein adopt our ruling in the recent case of Republic of
the Philippines vs. Court of Appeals, et al.15 where we held that the fact of filing of the petition already
vested in the petitioner her right to file it and to have the same proceed to final adjudication in accordance
with the law in force at the time, and such right can no longer be prejudiced or impaired by the enactment
of a new law.
Even assuming ex gratia argumenti that the provision of the Family Code in question is procedural in
nature, the rule that a statutory change in matters of procedure may affect pending actions and
proceedings, unless the language of the act excludes them from its operation, is not so pervasive
that it may be used to validate or invalidate proceedings taken before it goes into effective, since
procedure must be governed by the law regulating it at the time the question of procedure arises
especially where vested rights may be prejudiced. Accordingly, Article 175 of the Family Code finds
no proper application to the instant case since it will ineluctably affect adversely a right of private
respondent and, consequentially, of the mind child she represents, both of which have been vested
with the filing of the complaint in court. The trial court is therefore, correct in applying the provisions
of Article 285 of the Civil Code and in holding that private respondent's cause of action has not yet
prescribed.
Finally, we conform with the holding of the Court of Appeals that the questioned order of the court
below denying the motion to dismiss is interlocutory and cannot be the subject of a petition
for certiorari. The exceptions to this rule invoked by petitioner and allegedly obtaining in the case at
bar, are obviously not present and may not be relied upon.
WHEREFORE, the petition at bar is DENIED and the assailed decision and resolution of respondent
Court of Appeals are hereby AFFIRMED in toto.
SO ORDERED.