HEIRS OF NICOLAS vs. METROPOLITAN BANK

"He swept the floor with his jacket and lay down, using the book he had just finished reading as a pillow. 
He told himself that he would have to start reading thicker books: they lasted longer, 
and made more comfortable pillows."  

- The Alchemist

Do you remember this kind of bike? The BMX Schwinn Sting-Ray? I'm sure it's familiar. This was the fastest and sturdiest bike ever created when children began racing their bicycles on dirt tracks in southern California in the mid 70's. Inspired by the Motocross stars of that time it picked up and became a craze in the Philippines in the 80s up to the 90s. It's the closest you can get to a Motocross dirt bike when you were still young and tender and adults don't allow you to ride a real motorcycle but you're dreaming of the action. This bike is unmistakably one of the toughest icons of the 80s.

Speaking of the 80s which is considerably the most wild and unforgettable decade. If there's two words to describe that particular era, it's glory & radicalism. My gad it was a glorious and rebellious era and I'm proud I was at least a part of it. It's an ironic time so-to-speak, the era of innocence yet ironically the toughest times and perhaps was the only decade that is home for the braves, you know what I'm sayin? No gadgets, no i-phones. The gadget we knew was an Atari and a load of mechanical stuff and a little Gameboy here and there. And everything was operated by gut feel. Kids then were toughest as nails. No guts? no glory. Every boy and girl were pushed to their limits and I think that made them sturdy. The good thing is they become tougher to protect and preserve the other side of the irony, innocence, if you know what I mean. Something the millennials nowadays are having a hard time to understand simply because of their gadget focus. LOL.

I remember standing at the defunct Roces Velodrome with two of my good high school pals and we were watching the throng of bikers doing the slaloms on the dirt tracks racing like all hell's loosed with this bike. What's great about it is they've put up boombox speakers on each corners playing rock music and so if you're out there racing, it doubles the adrenaline, you'd feel the testosterone rising within, you can't help thinking you're like some actor dude in the coolest movie scene or somethin'. You feel your heart beating fast like the beat of the drum and the electric guitars screaming in your soul with all those overdrives and distortions sound that makes you think that life is putting you to the test, pushing you to the limits and you don't care, all you think about is survive, that you gotta push yourself to that fuckin' limits in order to prove something, that you can win. It's crazy you feel your life is actually larger than life itself. Tsk.. magnificent.

The good thing then was there were rentals that costs us almost our week's allowance (exag) so.. we looked at each other.. what the hell right? cease the day! might as well go broke for a week yet have the feels. So we each took one to join the pack. They were playing 'follow-the-leader', of course we all knew the mechanics, there's this pack of bikers constantly vying for the No. 1 spot. The rule is simple, what ever the leader does, everyone behind should follow. If he took a skid at the angle track each one should do it too. If he did a bunny hop after the slaloms you must do it too. Until another rider get's the lead and takes over. I tell you it's so pretty to watch all the circuit action from afar. The girls go gaga and that is what we want. It's an open race anyone can enter at any point and it's all on-going for hours and if you think you're tough enough then no one stops you from entering the race. That is if you can take it. And I tell yah it usually gets dirty.

At first the three of us raced with each other at the off-dirt fine track.. until this song from the first Karate Kid Soundtrack played THE BEST and soon enough adrenaline kicked in we went straight into the race shouting and laughing "Larusso!!!" hungry for victory. The thing about this race is if you enter in the middle, riders will try to kick you out and they have the right to do so, but if you enter at the tail and work your way to the front, hostility is minimized. But who would want to start at the tail right? Everyone's staring and working to steal the 1st position anyway. So we entered the middle part and boom we were kicked out of the race. And so we dusted off and had to step back and watch the pack and the whole dirt circuit to see some loop holes. We were like lions looking for the weak link from the pack of prey where we could enter. And we saw one weak spot and soon enough we were all inside trying our best to widen the gaps. I think almost 60 seconds I was able to take the lead, until another one stole it from me. Boy I tell yah it was one hell of a ride, and knowing you were able to hold the reins and become a leader even for just less than 60 seconds? the feels man. The guys try to look at you with that coveted approval, "that cowboy held it for more than 8 seconds". (just made that up :) I asked my pals what's that song they were playing when I took the lead. "Someday love will find you.. by Journey". I bought a cassette tape after that HAHAHAHAHA!!!  Cassette Tape!!! and the song reads "Separate Ways" WTF.

I was trying to restore this bike (inset picture). Yeah trying to do some Rick's Restoration stuff. You know how Rick does it? He strips everything and builds everything from scratch. And this is how I exactly wanted to do it. This is my nephews bike. I took it from their garage a week after his father died. You're right it's a BMX Schwinn Sting-Ray. His dad bought it for him at a tight budget on his birthday when he was about 11 or 12. It was the best gift you can give an 11 year old boy. not to mention that it's not just some bike, it's an original one. I saw it lying there after the wake a little bit rusted, old and wrecked and unusable... so I took it put it at the back of the car and told him I'd fix it, I mean you know, just to alleviate at least a part of his suffering and sorrow for the loss, the least thing that I can do co'z I know it's special to him.

It was a horrible feeling seeing your loved ones like two of my nephs and niece going through the toughest time of their life carrying that ordeal as young as that. I'd consider they have more depths in life experience compared to mine I never knew the feeling of loss of a loved one, which is too ironic, considering I'm old and their young. I kinda question God why they should have to go through it at such a young age. I always thought it was too unfair.

It was so heart wrenching I tell you. These kids grew up with me as their tito who fixed everything for them when they needed help ever since they were toddlers and at that moment I was so dumb founded I couldn't do anything. I remember arriving at the funeral and about to park my car when I saw my neph seated at his car parked there with an open door, his friends were outside waving at me and pointing inside. So I walked over and soon as I got there he quickly slipped a pair of shades. He doesn't want me to see him crying. Were talking about a 17 year old and the youngest child here who naturally is considered to be the most affected by scientific findings in this type of circumstance. I opened the car door sat beside him and slowly inched up his shades. "You're crying" "No tito I'm not". But the eyes were so swollen and red.  You should see his friends, they never left his side. Tough bunch. "It's alright you don't have to hide it from me. It's okay to cry.. it will help you and I will always understand" I told him. "I miss him tito.. (sob)" He didn't bawl. But tears kept flowing from his eyes he wanted to slip back the shades. And then he said something like how he loved that car and how his dad taught him how to drive. My heart was shattering like glass pieces.

You should have seen my eldest neph. Tough as the toughest nail. Of course the family slept in their house during the wake. It was morning when he entered the room. I woke "How are you John? hows it going?" "Everything's good tito!.. don't worry I can handle it." So cool and savvy he just gave that usual smile I love seeing. "Ok hit the sack you need to get some sleep from last night's wake vigil" "Alrightyy!!". The minute he hit the bed he bawled so loud like a little child my tears suddenly gushed out unknowingly I had to call my dad his lolo to comfort him. I know these kids are tough but going through an experience like that, it's more tougher to just cry co'z they usually see their tito always strong enough to withstand adverse conditions and control emotions so they were trying to show me their made of the same stuff. Of course they haven't seen me going  through the same ordeal so I'd think it's unfair for them to even think of comparisons.

Ah you should've seen my niece. 'Gad.. :) my niece was the toughest ever. The only time I saw her cry was when she had thrown to me all her sorrows the first time I got there during the funeral and I gave her a hug and that was it, she was okay during the whole funeral. Here's the thing. It sank into her right after all the people were gone and everything was through and they were all by themselves in the house back to their everyday lives. She must've suddenly felt that big hole of absence of her father. She bawled almost everyday. And I know how deeply she missed him, her profy pic had been always a picture of her and her dad and statuses of how she misses him, it brakes my heart every time I chanced reading it. And it's so good to see hundreds of her acquaintances and close friends bombard her page with comforting comments.  

Right now after about two years I am so proud my sister was able to hold it together. I see three very positive out-looked, happy and productive, and well brought up young human beings every time they come over for a visit or we visit them in their house. Sometimes I look at them and feel glad they were able to survive that life storm and everything were all kept in tact. Thanks for God's everyday comfort and provision and love of course. He never left them. God never left us, the whole family. We can only do so much but I think God saw the suffering and brought comfort and true healing and joy each day.

I told them "You will get over this.. I know how tough you three are... for now it may look impossible, and too painful... I understand, and it's because of the abrupt change you were forced to face and you weren't ready for it... but pain heals.. I guarantee you... it's just a matter of time... you just have to hang in there and comfort each other (and tears flowed).   And whenever you pass that hospital (VRP Medical Center) I know you'd feel a pain in your heart inside when you see it whoever you are with, in a bus, the MRT, the car.. don't disregard it, or be bitter about it... make it a point of reference, a place that is something special, like Calvary.. the cross. Make it your own Calvary. We know there's suffering that happened there.. but there's also Salvation... and always remember this and never forget this... the absence of your dad doesn't make you incomplete compared to your friends. Knowing that you went through something or have something like this to carry in your heart... makes you more special.. very special. And you're dad served Him well, he's in heaven.. and we share the same Salvation... and at least we know that his sufferings from his diabetes complications are all over now, right?"  'God I will never forget that moment.

About 8 months after the burial my neph told me he was driving home along Edsa once and it was bumper-to-bumper traffic so he decided to pull over. Lo and behold he found himself right in front of the VRP Medical Hospital so he decided to try to see if he has fully recovered. He went inside the building, walked into the elevator, stepped out to the floor and went to the room where his dad was confined. He told me he never felt anything. Just recalled the funny and light conversations. And so he felt good. He decided to go down to the ICU and the Emergency Room. When he got there, that was when he suddenly felt such deep agony and pain and he started crying he had to control it co'z there were people and doctors and nurses around. He quickly got out of the building and ran to his car. And there he cried real loud where no one can see him. He was actually there at the deathbed with his brother and mom when they were trying to revive his dad and he was screaming holding his daddy's arm. He was telling me this while we were parked at the mall slipping on and off the same shades smiling and laughing as he switched on to other topics. So I laugh as he crack jokes and take a look at him, way too different from way back then... oh death where is your sting... truly the Lamb has overcome.

Roughly almost two years now. It was only this start of the year that I finished the bike. Just right in time for his Feb 13 birthday. He understands of course I'm in my review now so he told me to take my time. They spent the New Year celebration with us so I asked him "What color do you want?" "Maroon, or red and gold" "Any particular reason for the colors?" "It's the color of Ironman's suit" "Ahhhh okay..." "And the label?" His brother interrupted "Mark 46.. that's the best suit Tony Stark had". Well it really does look good compared to the Mark 7... but I've read  from the threads that Mark 7 was one of the toughest and carries a real good history with it even though it's old. Well.. I guess I was talking to millennials here.

I look at them both as they check out my books in the room and stuff and throw some queries about law as we laugh and say funny stuffs. It was a far cry from way back... and I'm so proud of them. They've grown tougher and yet protected that goodness and innocence inside of them. Like that in the 80's... I guess something the millennials have picked up.

Anyway, let's go digest. This is a.. a succession case.

Domingo and Josefa Nicolas are the registered owner of a conjugal property which are 2 parcels of land located in Q.C. both having TCTs respectively under the QC Registry of Deeds. And on this lots stood their residential house. Any children? yup. The spouses got 2 children who herein actually are the petitioners. 

Here's how the story goes. In 1986 the father died, and 2 years after that, a fire broke out and gutted down the QC Registry of Deeds office and among records destroyed were the original TCT copies of herein stated 2 parcels of land. So what the widow did since she had no choice was to file with the Land Registration Administration (LRA) an application for reconstitution of the 2 land titles of which the LRA approved. 

Now here's the start of the controversy. Since the co-owner of the conjugal property was deceased the LRA signed the approved application in the name of the applicant alone, meaning the widow.

And boom!  Roughly about 7 years upon approval the 2 kids found out their mother mortgaged the lots with Metrobank who is inhere respondents. Well there must be some valid reason for the widow's act, this was a woman who was making both ends meet in the absence of a spouse. And well of course there's now the absence of a co-signee in a conjugal property, so might as well right? Wala kang magagawa kailangang mabuhay eh.  Eto matinde, the mortgage was foreclosed. Of course you know, that's what all banks are waiting for right? That's actually how they always want it done. Then they also found out that the respondent bank had the land titles already consolidated in its name. Of course then they would find out what respondent was trying to do next, finalize everything by taking possession of their land. They were filing a court petition in the QC RTC for issuance of a writ of possession which actually was granted.

So what the children did was file a petition for:

1. Annulment of the following: (1) Reconstituted Titles, (2) Mortgage, (3) Sale at Public Auction
2. File with the corresponding court a Motion to Quash the Writ of Possession (which was denied)
3. (Thereupon) They filed with the CA a petition for Certiorari

But the appellate court dismissed the petition, it held that the trial court did not commit Grave Abuse of Discretion amounting to Lack or Excess of Jurisdiction in its Writ of Possession issuance since such task of issuance of such writ is purely ministerial.

An MR of course was their next move yet to no avail, hence this petition.

ISSUE:

Heirs of Nicolas contends CA erred in the dismissal of their petition for certiorari. Of course the certiorari dismissal zooms on the previous lower court decision of dismissal on their earlier motion to quash the writ of possession, thereby affirming the lower court ruling.

In assailing the CA decision petitioners invoked the ruling in Rivero de Ortega vs. Natividad contending that:

"Where a party in possession was not a party to the foreclosure, and did not acquire his possession from a person who was bound by the decree, but who is a mere stranger and who entered into possession before the suit was begun, the court has no power to deprive him of possession by enforcing the decree."  Thus, it was held that only parties to the suit, persons who came in under them pendente lite (meaning pending law suit), and trespassers or intruders without title, can be evicted by a writ of possession. 

Now the question is.. are the Heirs of Nicolas' contention tenable?

RULING:

Here the Supreme Court coming to the rescue.. stating that..

Petitioners are the children of owners of above said registered properties and therefore compulsory heirs of the spouses. Hence prior to the foreclosure of mortgage and respondent's filing of a writ of possession the children by operation of law acquired ownership of portions of the lot as their legitime upon their father's death.

Second is, petitioners are strangers or 3rd parties to the writ of possession whose rights cannot be determined since they were not impleaded by the respondent. Verily they should not be deprived of their legitime by the enforcement of the writ. So, crystal clear that writ of possession should not include parts of the 2 lots above mentioned.

Furthermore, records indicate that the estate of Domingo Nicolas has not been judicially or extra-judicially settled. Therefore such writ of possession should only apply as far as their mother Josefa Nicolas' share is concerned as determined in a civil case for the purpose of settling the undivided estate of their father.

The CA's assailed decision was modified in the sense that the writ of possession issued by the RTC applies only to such portions of lots pertaining to the mother Josefa Nicolas.

The heirs of  Nicolas wins their shares.

UY CHICO vs. UNION LIFE ASSURANCE SOCIETY

I dunno. In some way I kinda miss Atty. Edward Chico's class in Civil Law Review. I love that class. The teacher was such a stand up comedian you are kept smiling and laughing from the moment you enter the room up to your way out. Atty. Chico is such a genius when it comes to punchlines. The guy reminds me of this stand-up comedian turned gov. official.. what's his face?. Arnel Ignacio. They kinda look alike too LOL. Word of advice to students behind me. If you look at the subject list to enroll this year and you see the teacher is that guy, by all means enlist your name in that class. I think the dude is sui generis hahaha. Sya lang talaga yung ganon, mahirap makausap ng matino. But I admire his wisdom sometimes. We have the same viewpoint on life.  And I guarantee you, it'll be an experience you'll never regret. Well the fact that genuinely mabait si sir ok na yon. And di sya  gaanong nangbabagsak. He even helps you to remember and push you to dig into your stock knowledge while reciting. That's a real review class. Walang pressure. 

What's the case today..

UY CHICO vs..“Uyy chikoo!!” I remember back in my freshmen year in my previous law school we sort of make fun of the names on the case titles just so it would stick and we wouldn’t forget.  This kinda remind me of an old favorite Bamboo song “..amoy chiko na ako..”. 

To tell you frankly the fruit doesn’t even taste a bit like wine, its so sweet. I remember being introduced to the fruit by my grandma back when I was a little boy swinging on a vine during summer vacation in the province. My grandpa lived in this big old house that got a stuck river like a lagoon right in front of it where me and my cousins took a dip almost everyday. It got this big chico tree standing overlapped on the waters, thing was, the best ones were all at the top of the water so we tied a rope to swing like monkeys. The best part was landing on water with a chico on your mouth. (grabe.. ngiting kasama ng hangin) Tsk.. I guess the best ones are really the ones that’s hard to get huh? (don't believe that crap). And whenever my grandma slides this big bowl full of ripe chicos on the table in the morning when I woke? That’s what I say “Uyyy chikoo!!” It’s really one of my fave fruits.

You know it's awesome living then. Every part of the day is a best part. Morning we feed the ducks and pigs, and then laugh and go fishing. Afternoon we take a dip at the lagoon and climb trees and eat fruits. Evening comes we smile and play and play some more.  Play in the garden under the light of the sky full of stars or the full moon. And all sudden bushes would shake so we'd all stop and stare and then "Awwooooooo!!" boy split second were all running to the veranda when we hear that and our uncles would pop out of the flower bushes laughing so hard. So we'd get the remaining hard chikos and throw at them. But the part I like the most is the haunting part in the mid evening. Co'z the big house was fuckin' infested with ghosts. So it's so exciting when we're all inside the big mosquito net and we hear footsteps in shackles (this is really true) and we were all shaking Aw! coz the old huge house was once used by the japs durin the war I guess, I dunno, I heard stories from my uncles and aunts, and it's got a long silent romantic history I swear. And  I so love the adventure of ghost hunting. One time I secretly took a ball of thread from my aunt's sewing box, tied my lolo's damn rocking chair and secretly kept pulling hahahahaha!.. everyone was screaming like crazy when they saw it movin right before their very eyes. And then my aunt caught me laughing I was almost kicked out of the mosquito net still laughing ahahahahaha!!!  

Anyway let's get to the case (LOL).

This case is ah.. an insurance case. But we will tackle the evidence aspect of this case zeroing in on the attorney-client privilege.

FACTS:

Plaintiff Uy Chico had his dry goods insured. He availed of the insurance upon stocks of dry goods Union Life Assurance had to offer then. And he signed the insurance policies himself. You must understand these were Chinese businessmen and security in their commerce is utmost to them. And subsequent to signing his insurance contract with Union Life, his goods were gutted down by fire. Perfect timing huh?

It appears that the dad of Uy Chico died in 1897 (Am I correct? 1897? This must have been a very old case) . At which time he was conducting business under his own name Uy Layco. (Uuyyy! Like ko!! ehehehe, that’s what you say when you’re liking what you read on facebook and itching to click the ‘like’ button... nahawa na yata ako kay papa Jack este.. papa Edward Chico).  

The thing was, when the dad died Uy Chico and his brother took over the business and merely continued it under the same name “Uy Layco”. (I can attest that this really is an old case, just take a close look at the Chinese names. None of the Chinese names I know nowadays precedes their first names by their last names, which was very prevalent during the Rizal era, sorry I didn’t check the decision date).   

Ok so what happened was.. during years of conducting business with his brother, which was subsequent to the death of the dad and preceding the incident of fire. The plaintiff Uy Chico bought off his brother’s interest in the business. So probably holding a handsome amount his brother ventured on a different business, of course we all know how these Chinese are. Which is a good and wise practice of course, you don't put your eggs in just one basket, right?  So Uy Chico continued the dry goods business on his own, but the thing was, he was still carrying on the business under his father’s name whom we all know was already deceased.

Now there’s quite a controversy that surfaced on this. You see at the time of the fire, the dad was heavily indebted and Uy Chico inheriting the business became even more indebted even to the creditors of the estate of his dad.

Now here comes the attorney-client privilege issue. During the course of the legal proceedings, Uy Chico’s attorney due to the indebtedness of his client had no choice but to enter a compromise with the insurance company for half the face value of the signed insurance policy. Here's what the counsel did. He took the insurance policy documents, surrendered it to the court assigned administrator of his dad’s estate, who in turn compromised with the insurance company. So money was paid into court and held by the court sheriff.

(I take that ah.. I dunno, I'm trying to rationalize the counsel's behavior. Maybe he's trying to salvaged what's there to save, I dunno, maybe by virtue of a promise to the former's deathbed to guard and help diminish future loss. He must've belonged to the older Uy's retainer. He must be originally a lawyer of his dad to be able to behave like that. You know most of the time as I have observed, those who served the predecessor automatically or even unawarely pay tribute to or consider the former's will).

Uy Chico  now brings this action maintaining that the policies and goods insured belonged to him and not to the estate of his deceased father, and together with it he alleges that he is not bound by the compromise effected by the administrator of his father’s estate (see what I'm talking about? there you go). (I wonder if this was Uy Chico’s ploy not to transfer his dad’s title of ownership under his own name, maybe to evade 3^rd party creditors. Thing was, his dad's lawyers therefore operated on the former premise, if that be the case).

Nevertheless, plaintiff was asked by the court if he had any objection to his attorney’s testifying concerning the surrendering of the policies. Plaintiff replied in the negative. Counsel was then called for that purpose. (Imagine you’re supposed to stand as counsel for a party in court and you end up finding yourself on your way to the witness stand, but hey, as I have said, there must be an underlying reason behind all of these. Subject of course to whether such counsel's move was proper).

ISSUE:

The gist of this case is the Attorney-Client Privilege. Whether or not the attorney-client privilege was violated by the attorney’s act of surrendering the insurance policies to the administrator of the estate to effect a compromise agreement with the insurance company.   

The counsel based his argument of the proposition anchoring on a jurisprudence that a waiver of the client’s privilege may be withdrawn at any time before acted upon. 

Let’s see if it will hold.

RULING:

SC ruled that “A lawyer must strictly maintain inviolate the confidence and preserve the secrets of his client. He shall not be permitted in any court, without the consent of his client, to testify to any facts imparted to him by his client in professional consultation, or for the purpose of obtaining advice upon legal matters”

So it’s clear. It's a question of Legal Ethics. I will not further expound on this. This is interlocutory in nature. We have not even touched on the real legal issue of this case. So if I may close this case post without further ado. The act amounts to a violation of the Attorney-Client Privilege Rule stated under the Rules of Court. 

Atty. E. Chico.... a este... Uy Chico wins this case.