SANTOS v. BERNABE

Category: Property, Ownership and Its Modifications

SANTOS v. BERNABE

If two things of identical or dissimilar nature are mixed and the owners of the things are in good faith, OR if the mixture occurs accidentally and cannot be separated without injury, each owner shall acquire a right in the mixture proportionate to the part belonging to him, according to the value of the things mixed or comingled.

FACTS:

Santos deposited 778 cavans and 38 kilos of palay in the warehouse of Bernabe. At the same time, Tiongson also deposited 1,026 cavans and 9 kilos of palay. The share of Tiongson and Santos were mixed together and cannot be separated.

Later on and for some unknown reason, Tiongson files a case against Bernabe to recover the 1,026 cavans and 9 kilos of palay deposited in Bernabe’s warehouse. So Tiongson files for a petition for a writ of attachment and the Court granted it. Bernabe’s properties were attached, including only 924 cavans of rice and 31 ½ kilos of palay. These were sold at a public auction and the proceeds were delivered to Tiongson.

Santos tried to intervene in the attachment of the palay but then the sheriff had already proceeded with the attachment, so Santos files a complaint. He says that Tiongson cannot claim the 924 cavans of palay; he says that by asking for the attachment of the properties, Tiongson is claiming that the cavans of rice all belonged to Bernabe and not to him.

ISSUE:

Whether or not Tiongson can claim the 924 cavans of rice as his own.

HELD:

No, both Tiongson and Santos must divide the cavans and palay proportionately.

The cavans belonging to Santos, having been mixed with those belonging to Tiongson, the following rule prescribed is Article 381 of the Civil Code: “If, by will of one of their owners, two things of identical or dissimilar nature are mixed, or if the mixture occurs accidentally, if in the latter case, the things cannot be separated without injury, each owner shall acquire a right in the mixture proportionate to the part belonging to him, according to the value of the things mixed or comingled.”

The number of kilos in a cavan not having been determined, the Court took the proportion only of the 924 cavans of palay which were attached andsold, therby giving Santos, who deposited 778 cavans, 398.49 and Tiongson, who deposited 1,026 cavans, 525.51, or the value thereof at the rate of 3Php per cavan.