Patricio Alino v. Fortunato Adove

Summary

This 1921 Supreme Court case established important precedent on redemption rights in pacto de retro sales. Defendants sold land to plaintiff in 1906 with right to repurchase but without specifying the redemption period. When defendants attempted to redeem nine years later in 1915, plaintiff refused. The Supreme Court affirmed that under Article 1508 of the Civil Code, when no redemption period is stipulated, the legal period is four years. Since defendants failed to exercise their right within four years (by 1910), plaintiff's title became absolute. The Court rejected the argument that procedural law had repealed the Civil Code provision, clarifying that both conventional (up to 10 years) and legal (4 years) redemption periods exist, with the latter applying when no period is specified.