Isabela Bandong v. Alejandra Austria

Summary

This 1915 Supreme Court case involved a dispute over the duration of a contractual right to repurchase land. Plaintiffs Bandong and Ferrer sold land in 1905 with a clause allowing repurchase 'in the month of March of any year.' When they attempted to exercise this right in 1913, the vendee's widow argued it had prescribed under the Civil Code's four-year limitation. The Supreme Court reversed the trial court, ruling that the contract's express language created a valid repurchase right extending beyond the default four-year period, subject only to the Civil Code's ten-year maximum limitation for express agreements. The case established that specific contractual language regarding repurchase timing constitutes an express agreement, overriding the default statutory limitation period.