FIRST DIVISION
[G.R. No. 21706. March 26, 1924. ]
JOSEFINA RUBIO VDA. DE LARENA, Plaintiff-Appellee, v. HERMENEGILDO VILLANUEVA, Defendant-Appellant.
Del Rosario & Del Rosario for Appellant.
Francisco Zialcita for Appellee.
SYLLABUS
TERM OF LEASE. — In a written contract of lease of land used for the cultivation of sugar cane the term of the lease was fixed at "five years, that is to say, five complete crops, beginning with the present crop 1920-1921 until the crop of 1925-1926." Held: That under the circumstances of the case the number of crops controls in computing the term of the lease and that it terminates with the crop of the year 1924-1925.
D E C I S I O N
OSTRAND, J.:
This action is brought by a lessor against he lessee for the rescission of the contract of lease on the ground that the lessee has violated the terms of the contract by failing to pay the rent therein specified. The plaintiff also asks judgment for overdue and unpaid rent in the sum of P6,278.68, as well as for rent which may have become due during the period between the filing of the complaint and the execution of the judgment to be rendered, together with the cost and the sum of P2,000 for attorney’s fees. The defendant’s amended answer denies that he has breached the contract and sets up a counterclaim in the sum of P2,051.52 for money advanced to the plaintiff in excess of the rent due under the contract.
The trial court rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff for the decision of the lease, for the unpaid balance of the rent for the agricultural year 1920-1921 in the sum of P5,949.28, with interest from August 26, 1922, the date the filing of the complaint, and for the rent the Agricultural year 1922-1923, with cost. From this judgment the defendant appeals to this court.
The decision turns upon the interpretation of the contract in question which was executed on August 2, 1920, and which reads as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"Este contrato de arrendamiento es sostenido por una parte por la arrendadora D.a Josefina Rubio, Viuda de Larena, duena y propietaria de la Hacienda Tacgajan, ubicada en este Municipio de Bais, Negros Oriental, I. F., y por otra parte por los arrendatarios Hermenegildo Villanueva y Mateo Montenegro, todos mayores de edad y vecinos de este municipio, con capacidad legal para contratar y otorgar el presente contrato de arrendamiento, y solemnemente manifiestan que de comun acuerdo pactan lo siguiente:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"1.
The trial court rendered judgment in favor of the plaintiff for the decision of the lease, for the unpaid balance of the rent for the agricultural year 1920-1921 in the sum of P5,949.28, with interest from August 26, 1922, the date the filing of the complaint, and for the rent the Agricultural year 1922-1923, with cost. From this judgment the defendant appeals to this court.
The decision turns upon the interpretation of the contract in question which was executed on August 2, 1920, and which reads as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"Este contrato de arrendamiento es sostenido por una parte por la arrendadora D.a Josefina Rubio, Viuda de Larena, duena y propietaria de la Hacienda Tacgajan, ubicada en este Municipio de Bais, Negros Oriental, I. F., y por otra parte por los arrendatarios Hermenegildo Villanueva y Mateo Montenegro, todos mayores de edad y vecinos de este municipio, con capacidad legal para contratar y otorgar el presente contrato de arrendamiento, y solemnemente manifiestan que de comun acuerdo pactan lo siguiente:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph
"1.
