G.R. No.

L-26278 August 4, 1927

LEON SIBAL ,
vs.
EMILIANO J. VALDEZ ET AL.,
EMILIANO J. VALDEZ,

FACTS:

As a first cause of action the plaintiff alleged that the defendant Vitaliano Mamawal, deputy sheriff of
the Province of Tarlac, by virtue of a writ of execution issued by the Court of First Instance of
Pampanga, attached and sold to the defendant Emiliano J. Valdez the sugar cane planted by
the plaintiff and his tenants on seven parcels of land described in the complaint in the third
paragraph of the first cause of action; that within one year from the date of the attachment and
sale the plaintiff offered to redeem said sugar cane and tendered to the defendant Valdez the
amount sufficient to cover the price paid by the latter, the interest thereon and any assessments or
taxes which he may have paid thereon after the purchase, and the interest corresponding thereto
and that Valdez refused to accept the money and to return the sugar cane to the plaintiff.

As a second cause of action, the plaintiff alleged that the defendant Emiliano J. Valdez was
attempting to harvest the palay planted in four of the seven parcels mentioned in the first cause of
action; that he had harvested and taken possession of the palay in one of said seven parcels and in
another parcel described in the second cause of action, amounting to 300 cavans; and that all of
said palay belonged to the plaintiff.

Plaintiff prayed that a writ of preliminary injunction be issued against the defendant Emiliano J.
Valdez his attorneys and agents, restraining them (1) from distributing him in the possession of the
parcels of land described in the complaint; (2) from taking possession of, or harvesting the sugar
cane in question; and (3) from taking possession, or harvesting the palay in said parcels of land.
Plaintiff also prayed that a judgment be rendered in his favor and against the defendants ordering
them to consent to the redemption of the sugar cane in question, and that the defendant Valdez be
condemned to pay to the plaintiff the sum of P1,056 the value of palay harvested by him in the two
parcels above-mentioned ,with interest and costs.

On December 27, 1924, the court, after hearing both parties and upon approval of the bond for
P6,000 filed by the plaintiff, issued the writ of preliminary injunction prayed for in the complaint.

The defendant Emiliano J. Valdez, in his amended answer, denied generally and specifically each
and every allegation of the complaint and step up the following defenses:

(a) That the sugar cane in question had the nature of personal property and was not,
therefore, subject to redemption;

(b) That he was the owner of parcels 1, 2 and 7 described in the first cause of action of the
complaint;

(c) That he was the owner of the palay in parcels 1, 2 and 7; and

(d) That he never attempted to harvest the palay in parcels 4 and 5.

The defendant Emiliano J. Valdez by way of counterclaim, alleged that by reason of the preliminary
injunction he was unable to gather the sugar cane, sugar-cane shoots (puntas de cana dulce) palay
in said parcels of land, representing a loss to him of P8,375.20 and that, in addition thereto, he
suffered damages amounting to P3,458.56. He prayed, for a judgment (1) absolving him from all
liability under the complaint; (2) declaring him to be the absolute owner of the sugar cane in question
and of the palay in parcels 1, 2 and 7; and (3) ordering the plaintiff to pay to him the sum of
P11,833.76, representing the value of the sugar cane and palay in question, including damages.

Upon the issues thus presented by the pleadings the cause was brought on for trial. After hearing
the evidence, and on April 28, 1926, the Honorable Cayetano Lukban, judge, rendered a judgment
against the plaintiff and in favor of the defendants —

(1) Holding that the sugar cane in question was personal property and, as such, was not
subject to redemption;

(2) Absolving the defendants from all liability under the complaint; and

(3) Condemning the plaintiff and his sureties Cenon de la Cruz, Juan Sangalang and Marcos
Sibal to jointly and severally pay to the defendant Emiliano J. Valdez the sum of P9,439.08
as follows:

(a) P6,757.40, the value of the sugar cane;

(b) 1,435.68, the value of the sugar-cane shoots;

(c) 646.00, the value of palay harvested by plaintiff;

(d) 600.00, the value of 150 cavans of palay which the defendant was not able to
raise by reason of the injunction, at P4 cavan. 9,439.08 From that judgment the
plaintiff appealed and in his assignments of error contends that the lower court erred:
(1) In holding that the sugar cane in question was personal property and, therefore,
not subject to redemption;

(2) In holding that parcels 1 and 2 of the complaint belonged to Valdez, as well as parcels 7
and 8, and that the palay therein was planted by Valdez;

(3) In holding that Valdez, by reason of the preliminary injunction failed to realized P6,757.40
from the sugar cane and P1,435.68 from sugar-cane shoots (puntas de cana dulce);

(4) In holding that, for failure of plaintiff to gather the sugar cane on time, the defendant was
unable to raise palay on the land, which would have netted him the sum of P600; and.

(5) In condemning the plaintiff and his sureties to pay to the defendant the sum of P9,439.08.

It appears from the record:

(1) That on May 11, 1923, the deputy sheriff of the Province of Tarlac, by virtue of writ of
execution in civil case No. 20203 of the Court of First Instance of Manila (Macondray & Co.,
Inc. vs. Leon Sibal),levied an attachment on eight parcels of land belonging to said Leon
Sibal, situated in the Province of Tarlac, designated in the second of attachment as parcels
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 (Exhibit B, Exhibit 2-A).
 (2) That on July 30, 1923, Macondray & Co., Inc., bought said eight parcels of land, at the
auction held by the sheriff of the Province of Tarlac, for the sum to P4,273.93, having paid for
the said parcels separately as follows (Exhibit C, and 2-A):

Parcel

1 ..................................................................... P1.00

2 ..................................................................... 2,000.00

3 ..................................................................... 120.93

4 ..................................................................... 1,000.00

5 ..................................................................... 1.00

6 ..................................................................... 1.00

7 with the house thereon .......................... 150.00

8 ..................................................................... 1,000.00
==========

4,273.93

(3) That within one year from the sale of said parcel of land, and on the 24th day of
September, 1923, the judgment debtor, Leon Sibal, paid P2,000 to Macondray & Co., Inc.,
for the account of the redemption price of said parcels of land, without specifying the
particular parcels to which said amount was to applied. The redemption price said eight
parcels was reduced, by virtue of said transaction, to P2,579.97 including interest (Exhibit C
and 2).

The record further shows:

(1) That on April 29, 1924, the defendant Vitaliano Mamawal, deputy sheriff of the Province
of Tarlac, by virtue of a writ of execution in civil case No. 1301 of the Province of Pampanga
(Emiliano J. Valdez vs. Leon Sibal 1.º — the same parties in the present case), attached the
personal property of said Leon Sibal located in Tarlac, among which was included the sugar
cane now in question in the seven parcels of land described in the complaint (Exhibit A).

(2) That on May 9 and 10, 1924, said deputy sheriff sold at public auction said personal
properties of Leon Sibal, including the sugar cane in question to Emilio J. Valdez, who paid
therefor the sum of P1,550, of which P600 was for the sugar cane (Exhibit A).

(3) That on April 29,1924, said deputy sheriff, by virtue of said writ of execution, also
attached the real property of said Leon Sibal in Tarlac, including all of his rights, interest and
participation therein, which real property consisted of eleven parcels of land and a house and
camarin situated in one of said parcels (Exhibit A).
 (4) That on June 25, 1924, eight of said eleven parcels, including the house and the camarin,
were bought by Emilio J. Valdez at the auction held by the sheriff for the sum of P12,200.
Said eight parcels were designated in the certificate of sale as parcels 1, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 10 and
11. The house and camarin were situated on parcel 7 (Exhibit A).

(5) That the remaining three parcels, indicated in the certificate of the sheriff as parcels 2, 12,
and 13, were released from the attachment by virtue of claims presented by Agustin
Cuyugan and Domiciano Tizon (Exhibit A).

(6) That on the same date, June 25, 1924, Macondray & Co. sold and conveyed to Emilio J.
Valdez for P2,579.97 all of its rights and interest in the eight parcels of land acquired by it at
public auction held by the deputy sheriff of Tarlac in connection with civil case No. 20203 of
the Court of First Instance of Manila, as stated above. Said amount represented the unpaid
balance of the redemption price of said eight parcels, after payment by Leon Sibal of P2,000
on September 24, 1923, fro the account of the redemption price, as stated above. (Exhibit C
and 2).

FACTS:

(1) The Emilio J. Valdez bought the sugar cane in question, located in the seven parcels of
land described in the first cause of action of the complaint at public auction on May 9 and 10,
1924, for P600.

(2) That on July 30, 1923, Macondray & Co. became the owner of eight parcels of land
situated in the Province of Tarlac belonging to Leon Sibal and that on September 24, 1923,
Leon Sibal paid to Macondray & Co. P2,000 for the account of the redemption price of said
parcels.

(3) That on June 25, 1924, Emilio J. Valdez acquired from Macondray & Co. all of its rights
and interest in the said eight parcels of land.

(4) That on June 25, 1924, Emilio J. Valdez also acquired all of the rights and interest which
Leon Sibal had or might have had on said eight parcels by virtue of the P2,000 paid by the
latter to Macondray.

(5) That Emilio J. Valdez became the absolute owner of said eight parcels of land.

The first question raised by the appeal is, whether the sugar cane in question is personal or real
property. It is contended that sugar cane comes under the classification of real property as
"ungathered products" in paragraph 2 of article 334 of the Civil Code. Said paragraph 2 of
article 334 enumerates as real property the following: Trees, plants, and ungathered
products, while they are annexed to the land or form an integral part of any immovable
property." That article, however, has received in recent years an interpretation by
the Tribunal Supremo de España, which holds that, under certain conditions, growing crops
may be considered as personal property. (Decision of March 18, 1904, vol. 97, Civil
Jurisprudence of Spain.)

Manresa, the eminent commentator of the Spanish Civil Code, in discussing section 334 of the Civil
Code, in view of the recent decisions of the supreme Court of Spain, admits that growing crops are
sometimes considered and treated as personal property.
From the foregoing it appears (1) that, under Spanish authorities, pending fruits and ungathered
products may be sold and transferred as personal property; (2) that the Supreme Court of Spain, in a
case of ejectment of a lessee of an agricultural land, held that the lessee was entitled to gather the
products corresponding to the agricultural year, because said fruits did not go with the land but
belonged separately to the lessee; and (3) that under the Spanish Mortgage Law of 1909, as
amended, the mortgage of a piece of land does not include the fruits and products existing thereon,
unless the contract expressly provides otherwise.

An examination of the decisions of the Supreme Court of Louisiana may give us some light
on the question which we are discussing. Article 465 of the Civil Code of Louisiana, which
corresponds to paragraph 2 of article 334 of our Civil Code, provides: "Standing crops and
the fruits of trees not gathered, and trees before they are cut down, are likewise immovable,
and are considered as part of the land to which they are attached."

It is contended on the part of the appellee that paragraph 2 of article 334 of the Civil Code has been
modified by section 450 of the Code of Civil Procedure as well as by Act No. 1508, the Chattel
Mortgage Law. Said section 450 enumerates the property of a judgment debtor which may be
subjected to execution. The pertinent portion of said section reads as follows: "All goods, chattels,
moneys, and other property, both real and personal, * * * shall be liable to execution. Said section
450 and most of the other sections of the Code of Civil Procedure relating to the execution of
judgment were taken from the Code of Civil Procedure of California. The Supreme Court of
California, under section 688 of the Code of Civil Procedure of that state (Pomeroy, p. 424) has held,
without variation, that growing crops were personal property and subject to execution.

Act No. 1508, the Chattel Mortgage Law, fully recognized that growing crops are personal property.
Section 2 of said Act provides: "All personal property shall be subject to mortgage, agreeably to the
provisions of this Act, and a mortgage executed in pursuance thereof shall be termed a chattel
mortgage." Section 7 in part provides: "If growing crops be mortgaged the mortgage may contain an
agreement stipulating that the mortgagor binds himself properly to tend, care for and protect the crop
while growing.

It is clear from the foregoing provisions that Act No. 1508 was enacted on the assumption
that "growing crops" are personal property. This consideration tends to support the
conclusion hereinbefore stated, that paragraph 2 of article 334 of the Civil Code has been
modified by section 450 of Act No. 190 and by Act No. 1508 in the sense that "ungathered
products" as mentioned in said article of the Civil Code have the nature of personal property.
In other words, the phrase "personal property" should be understood to include "ungathered
products."

At common law, and generally in the United States, all annual crops which are raised by
yearly manurance and labor, and essentially owe their annual existence to cultivation by
man, . may be levied on as personal property." (23 C. J., p. 329.) On this question Freeman,
in his treatise on the Law of Executions, says: "Crops, whether growing or standing in the
field ready to be harvested, are, when produced by annual cultivation, no part of the realty.
They are, therefore, liable to voluntary transfer as chattels. It is equally well settled that they
may be seized and sold under execution. (Freeman on Executions, vol. p. 438.)

We may, therefore, conclude that paragraph 2 of article 334 of the Civil Code has been
modified by section 450 of the Code of Civil Procedure and by Act No. 1508, in the sense that,
for the purpose of attachment and execution, and for the purposes of the Chattel Mortgage
Law, "ungathered products" have the nature of personal property. The lower court, therefore,
committed no error in holding that the sugar cane in question was personal property and, as
such, was not subject to redemption.

The description of the parcels in the complaint is as follows:

On the other hand the evidence for the defendant purported to show that parcels 1 and 2 of the
complaint were included among the parcels bought by Valdez from Macondray on June 25, 1924,
and corresponded to parcel 4 in the deed of sale (Exhibit B and 2), and were also included among
the parcels bought by Valdez at the auction of the real property of Leon Sibal on June 25, 1924, and
corresponded to parcel 3 in the certificate of sale made by the sheriff (Exhibit A). The description of
parcel 4 (Exhibit 2) and parcel 3 (Exhibit A) is as follows:

As will be noticed, there is hardly any relation between parcels 1 and 2 of the complaint and parcel 4
(Exhibit 2 and B) and parcel 3 (Exhibit A). But, inasmuch as the plaintiff did not care to appear at the
trial when the defendant offered his evidence, we are inclined to give more weight to the evidence
adduced by him that to the evidence adduced by the plaintiff, with respect to the ownership of
parcels 1 and 2 of the compliant. We, therefore, conclude that parcels 1 and 2 of the complaint
belong to the defendant, having acquired the same from Macondray & Co. on June 25, 1924, and
from the plaintiff Leon Sibal on the same date.

It appears, however, that the plaintiff planted the palay in said parcels and harvested
therefrom 190 cavans. There being no evidence of bad faith on his part, he is therefore
entitled to one-half of the crop, or 95 cavans. He should therefore be condemned to pay to
the defendant for 95 cavans only, at P3.40 a cavan, or the sum of P323, and not for the total of
190 cavans as held by the lower court.

As to the ownership of parcel 7 of the complaint, the evidence shows that said parcel
corresponds to parcel 1 of the deed of sale of Macondray & Co, to Valdez (Exhibit B and 2),
and to parcel 4 in the certificate of sale to Valdez of real property belonging to Sibal,
executed by the sheriff as above stated (Exhibit A). Valdez is therefore the absolute owner of
said parcel, having acquired the interest of both Macondray and Sibal in said parcel.

With reference to the parcel of land in Pacalcal, Tarlac, described in paragraph 3 of the
second cause of action, it appears from the testimony of the plaintiff himself that said parcel
corresponds to parcel 8 of the deed of sale of Macondray to Valdez (Exhibit B and 2) and to
parcel 10 in the deed of sale executed by the sheriff in favor of Valdez (Exhibit A). Valdez is
therefore the absolute owner of said parcel, having acquired the interest of both Macondray
and Sibal therein.

In this connection the following facts are worthy of mention:

Execution in favor of Macondray & Co., May 11, 1923. Eight parcels of land were attached under
said execution. Said parcels of land were sold to Macondray & Co. on the 30th day of July, 1923.
Rice paid P4,273.93. On September 24, 1923, Leon Sibal paid to Macondray & Co. P2,000 on the
redemption of said parcels of land. (See Exhibits B and C ).

Attachment, April 29, 1924, in favor of Valdez. Personal property of Sibal was attached, including the
sugar cane in question. (Exhibit A) The said personal property so attached, sold at public auction
May 9 and 10, 1924. April 29, 1924, the real property was attached under the execution in favor of
Valdez (Exhibit A). June 25, 1924, said real property was sold and purchased by Valdez (Exhibit A).
June 25, 1924, Macondray & Co. sold all of the land which they had purchased at public auction on
the 30th day of July, 1923, to Valdez.

As to the loss of the defendant in sugar cane by reason of the injunction, the evidence shows that
the sugar cane in question covered an area of 22 hectares and 60 ares (Exhibits 8, 8-b and 8-c); that
said area would have yielded an average crop of 1039 picos and 60 cates; that one-half of the
quantity, or 519 picos and 80 cates would have corresponded to the defendant, as owner; that
during the season the sugar was selling at P13 a pico (Exhibit 5 and 5-A). Therefore, the defendant,
as owner, would have netted P 6,757.40 from the sugar cane in question. The evidence also shows
that the defendant could have taken from the sugar cane 1,017,000 sugar-cane shoots (puntas de
cana) and not 1,170,000 as computed by the lower court. During the season the shoots were selling
at P1.20 a thousand (Exhibits 6 and 7). The defendant therefore would have netted P1,220.40 from
sugar-cane shoots and not P1,435.68 as allowed by the lower court.

As to the palay harvested by the plaintiff in parcels 1 and 2 of the complaint, amounting to 190
cavans, one-half of said quantity should belong to the plaintiff, as stated above, and the other half to
the defendant. The court erred in awarding the whole crop to the defendant. The plaintiff should
therefore pay the defendant for 95 cavans only, at P3.40 a cavan, or P323 instead of P646 as
allowed by the lower court.

The evidence also shows that the defendant was prevented by the acts of the plaintiff from
cultivating about 10 hectares of the land involved in the litigation. He expected to have raised
about 600 cavans of palay, 300 cavans of which would have corresponded to him as owner.
The lower court has wisely reduced his share to 150 cavans only. At P4 a cavan, the palay
would have netted him P600.

In view of the foregoing, the judgment appealed from is hereby modified. The plaintiff and his
sureties Cenon de la Cruz, Juan Sangalang and Marcos Sibal are hereby ordered to pay to the
defendant jointly and severally the sum of P8,900.80, instead of P9,439.08 allowed by the lower
court, as follows:

P6,757.40 for the sugar cane;

1,220.40 for the sugar cane shoots;

323.00 for the palay harvested by plaintiff in parcels 1 and 2;

600.00 for the palay which defendant could have raised.

8,900.80
============

In all other respects, the judgment appealed from is hereby affirmed, with costs. So ordered.