Testate estate of CARLOS GIL, deceased. ISABEL HERRERO VDA.

DE GIL,
administratrix-appellee,
vs.
PILAR GIL VDA. DE MURCIANO, oppositor-appellant.

FACTS:

Carlos Gil executed a last will and testament. After his death, it was presented
for probate in the Court of First Instance of Manila. This was opposed by his nephew,
Roberto Toledo y Gil and sister, Pilar Vda. de Murciano. Toledo was eliminated from
the case since he has no legal right to intervene.

The will was initially destroy and was reconstituted. The parties all agree that
the reconstituted will is a copy of the original will. In the said will, the attestation clause
does not state that the testator signed the will. It only declares that it was signed by
the witnesses. Despite this defect, the Court of First Instance admitted to probate the
will. Pilar opposed such probate and appealed the decision of CFI to the Supreme
Court. The latter, reversed the decision of the CFI. Not contended with the decision,
Isabel Herreros Vda. de Gil, the administratrix, filed a motion for reconsideration to the
Supreme Court.

CONTENTIONS:

ADMINISTRATRIX-APPELLEE:

Isabel Herreros Vda. de Gil, the administratrix, contends that defective

attestation clause may be cured by inferring in the other parts of the will and inserting
a missing phrase to complete the whole meaning of the attestation clause. She also
claims that the court may correct clerical errors in a will as evidence by the earlier
decisions of the Supreme Court.

OPPOSITOR-APPELLANT.

Pilar, on the other hand, contends that the will should not be probated since the
will did not comply with the requirement of Section 618 of the Code of Civil Procedure,
as amended, which provides that "The attestation clause shall state the number of
sheets or pages used, upon which the will is written, and the fact that the testator
signed the will and every page thereof, or caused some other person to write his name,
under his express direction, in the presence of three witnesses, and the latter
witnessed and signed the will and all pages thereof in the presence of the testator and
of each other." Secondly, the earlier decision of the Supreme Court in this case stated
that the defect in the attestation clause is a fatal and not just a mere clerical error for
it affects the very essence of the clause. Thus, the defect cannot be cured by inference
to the will itself

ISSUE:

Whether or not the will is valid despite its defective attestation clause?

HELD:
 The will is valid. It seems obvious that the missing phrase was left out from the
copy. The problem posed by the omission in question is governed, not by the law of
wills which require certain formalities to be fulfilled in the execution but by the rules of
construction applicable to statutes and documents in general. The court may and
should correct the error by supplying the omitted word or words.

It has been said, and experience has shown, that the mechanical system of
construction has operated more to defeat honest wills than prevent fraudulent ones.
That would be the effect in this case if the will under consideration were rejected for
the adverse party now concedes the genuineness of the document. The genuineness
is super obvious, and there is not the slightest insinuation of undue pressure, mental
incapacity of the testator or fraud.

Coming to the execution of wills, the Supreme Court saw no legitimate, practical
reason for objecting to the testator instead of the witnesses certifying that he signed
the will in the presence of the latter. The will is of the testator’s own making, the
intervention of attesting witnesses being designed merely to protect his interest.