FULL Republic vs. Bañez
FULL Republic vs. Bañez
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* FIRST DIVISION.
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they are filed before the court, when there is a written extrajudicial
demand by the creditors, and when there is any written
acknowledgment of the debt by the debtor.·The accrual of the cause
of action to demand the titling of the land cannot be earlier than 15
August 1984. So that, the petitioner can sue on the contract until 15
August 1994. Prior to the expiration of the aforesaid period, the
petitioner sent a demand letter to Hojilla dated 29 May 1991. A few
months thereafter, petitioner sent another demand letter to Hojilla
dated 24 October 1991. The prescriptive period was interrupted on
29 May 1991. The consequence is stated in Article 1155 of the Civil
Code. It states, „[t]he prescription of actions is interrupted when
they are filed before the court, when there is a written extrajudicial
demand by the creditors, and when there is any written
acknowledgment of the debt by the debtor.‰
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PEREZ, J.:
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and for a period of one (1) month from and after CRC shall have
been notified in writing by the co-owners that an original certificate
of title has been issued in their names and that they are ready to
execute the x x x deed of sale.3
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7 Id.
8 Id.
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no proof of service.
With regard to the issue of running of prescriptive
period against the State, the Court of Appeals opined that
because the subject property is a patrimonial property of
the State when APT became the controlling stockholder of
CRC, prescription may run against the State. Thus, the
reasonable period within which to register the property is
three (3) years. According to the Court of Appeals, the
cause of action of petitioner accrued three (3) years from
the time the Contract was executed on 7 December 1981 or,
to say the least, on 15 August 1984 when Hojilla sent the
acknowledgment letter dated 15 August 1984, at which
time it became clear that respondents could no longer fulfill
their obligation.
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will of respondents.
C. The Court of Appeals erred in ignoring certain
manifest equitable considerations which militate
against a resort to a purely mathematical
computation of the prescriptive period and in
disregarding the provision of the irrevocable
offer that the option remains effective for a
period of one month from and after notice that a
certificate of title has been issued.9
PetitionerÊs Arguments
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10 Id., at p. 43.
11 Id., at p. 46.
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RespondentsÊ Arguments
Our Ruling
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12 Records, p. 383.
13 258 Phil. 552; 177 SCRA 740 (1989).
14 Id., at p. 553; p. 745.
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Under the agreement to purchase the lot, APT-CRC shall pay the
whole of the purchase price thereof when the certificate of title and
other documents enumerated therein are presented to it. Clearly,
the consummation of the sale is within your control. x x x
In view of the foregoing, demand is hereby made upon
you and your principals, the heirs of Urbano Bañez, to
return the properties withdrawn and to unlock the gates
leading to the staffhouses (sic), within fifteen (15) days from
receipt thereof, otherwise we will be constrained to institute
the necessary action to protect the interest of APT-CRC.15
(Emphasis and underscoring ours)
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15 Records, p. 105.
16 Id., at p. 385.
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We do not agree.
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17 Id., at p. 12.
313
HojillaÊs SPA
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18 Id., at p. 14.
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under the name of his principal, and all the necessary acts
for such purpose. It observed that nowhere in the SPA was
Hojilla authorized as administrator or agent of respondents
with respect to the execution of the Contract.
In the case at bar, the reliefs prayed for by petitioner
include the execution of the Contract such as delivery of
the subject title, recovery of possession of the subject
property, execution of the deed of sale or transfer of
absolute ownership upon full payment of the balance, and
damages for alleged violation of respondents of the
Contract for nondelivery of the title and refusal to vacate
the subject property. Indeed, following the reading of the
lower courts of the scope of HojillaÊs authority, Hojilla is
neither the proper party to execute the Contract nor the
proper party to receive the demand letters on behalf of
respondents.
This strict construction of the tenor of the SPA will
render the obligatory force of the Contract ineffective.
Construction is not a tool to prejudice or commit fraud or to
obstruct, but to attain justice. Ea Est Accipienda
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20 Id., at p. 445.
21 Rollo, p. 96.
22 Records, p. 383.
23 Petition for Review; Rollo, p. 43.
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In the case at bar, the findings of the RTC and the Court
of Appeals are contradictory: the RTC did not make any
finding on the receipt of the demand letters by Hojilla,
while the Court of Appeals resolved that assuming
arguendo that the letters were demand letters
contemplated under Article 1155 of the Civil Code, the
same are unavailing because the letters do not bear any
proof of service of receipt by respondents.
A perusal of the records reveals that only the 24 October
1991 letter has no proof of receipt.30 The demand letters
dated 29 May 199131 and 6 July 199932 contain proofs of
receipt.
Thus, the core issue of whether or not the action has
prescribed.
An action based on a written contract must be brought
within ten (10) years from the time the right of action
accrued. Accordingly, a cause of action on a written contract
accrues only when an actual breach or violation thereof oc-
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29 Id.
30 Records, p. 106.
31 Id., at p. 105.
32 Id., at p. 16.
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34 Id.
35 Pascual v. Pascual, 622 Phil. 307, 320; 607 SCRA 288, 298-299
(2009).
320
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The Bañez heirs will only claim for the full payment of the
property upon presentation of a clean title and execution of a
Deed of Sale signed by the heirs.36
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36 Records, p. 383.
37 The 24 October 1991 letter was not duly received by the sellers.
Such fact is irrelevant because the expiration of the prescriptive period
may be reckoned on 29 May 1991, giving a new prescriptive period until
29 May 2001.
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38 Records, p. 12.
39 Petition for Review; Rollo, p. 43.
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