These contentions have no merit. The authenticity of the will of Luis Rafael
Yangco, as reproduced in Exhibit I herein and as copied from Exhibit 20 in the
proceeding for the probate of Teodoro R. Yangco's wilt in incontestable. The said
will is part of a public or official judicial record.
On the other hand, the children of Ramona Arguelles and Tomas Corpus are
presumed to be legitimate. A marriage is presumed to have taken place between
Ramona and Tomas.
Semper praesumitur pro matrimonio
. It is disputably
presumption "That a man and a woman deporting themselves as husband and
wife have entered into a lawful contract of marriage"; "that a child born in lawful
wedlock, there being no divorce, absolute or from bed and board, is legitimate",
and "that things have happened according to the ordinary course of nature and
the ordinary habits of life" (Sec. 5[z], [bb] and cc Rule 131, Rules of Court).
Since Teodoro R. Yangco was an acknowledged natural child or was illegitimate
and since Juanita Corpus was the legitimate child of Jose Corpus, himself a
legitimate child, we hold that appellant Tomas Corpus has no cause of action for
the recovery of the supposed hereditary share of his mother, Juanita Corpus, as a
legal heir, in Yangco's estate. Juanita Corpus was not a legal heir of Yangco because
there is no reciprocal succession between legitimate and illegitimate relatives.
The trial court did not err in dismissing the complaint of Tomas Corpus.
Article 943 of the old Civil code provides that "el hijo natural y el legitimado no
tienen derecho a suceder abintestato a los hijos y parientes legitimos del padre o
madre que to haya reconocido, ni ellos al hijo natural ni al legitimado". Article 943
"prohibits all successory reciprocity mortis causa between legitimate and
illegitimate relatives" 16 Sanchez Roman, Civil Code, pp. 996-997 cited in Director
of Lands vs. Aguas, 63 Phil. 279, 287. See 16 Scaevola Codigo Civil, 4th Ed., 455-6).
...
Appellant Corpus concedes that if 'Teodoro R. Yangco was a natural child, he
(Tomas Corpus) would have no legal personality to intervene in the distribution
of Yangco's estate (p. 8, appellant's brief).
The rule in article 943 is now found in article 992 of the Civil Code which provides
that "an illegitimate child has no right to inherit
ab intestato
from the legitimate
children and relatives of his father or mother; nor shall such children or relatives
inherit in the same manner from the illegitimate child".
That rule is based on the theory that the illegitimate child is disgracefully looked
upon by the legitimate family while the legitimate family is, in turn, hated by the
illegitimate child.
The law does not recognize the blood tie and seeks to avod further grounds of
resentment (7 Manresa, Codigo Civil, 7th Ed., pp. 185- 6).
Under articles 944 and 945 of the Spanish Civil Code, "if an acknowledged natural
or legitimated child should die without issue, either legitimate or acknowledged,
the father or mother who acknowledged such child shall succeed to its entire
