Gil Puyat Vs Ron Zabarte G
Gil Puyat Vs Ron Zabarte G
Facts:
Ron Zabarte commenced an action to enforce the money judgment rendered by the Superior Court for
the State of California. Puyat filed his Answer with the following special and affirmative defenses:
1. The Superior Court for the State of California did not properly acquire jurisdiction over the subject
matter of and over the persons involved in this case.
2. The Judgment on Stipulation for Entry in Judgment in the case is null and void and unenforceable in
the Philippines.
The RTC a quo issued an Order granting Zabarte’s Motion for Summary Judgment and likewise granting
Puyat ten (10) days to submit opposing affidavits, after which the case would be deemed submitted for
resolution. Puyat filed a Motion for Reconsideration of the aforesaid Order.
Subsequently Puyat filed a Motion to Dismiss on the ground of lack of jurisdiction over the subject matter
of the case and forum-non-conveniens. In his Opposition to the Motion, Zabarte contended that Puyat
could no longer question the jurisdiction of the lower court on the ground that Puyat’s Answer had failed
to raise the issue of jurisdiction.
The CA also ruled that summary judgment was proper, because petitioner had failed to tender any
genuine issue of fact and was merely maneuvering to delay the full effects of the judgment.
2nd issue: W/N the court has jurisdiction to hear and decide the case? (Yes)
3rd Issue: W/N the principle forum non conveniens is applicable in this case? (No)
Held:
1st Issue:Petitioner vehemently insists that summary judgment is inappropriate to resolve the case at bar,
arguing that his Answer allegedly raised genuine and material factual matters which he should have been
allowed to prove during trial.
The RTC granted respondents Motion for Summary Judgment because petitioner, in his Answer,
admitted the existence of the Judgment on Stipulation for Entry in Judgment. Besides, he had already
paid $5,000 to respondent, as provided in the foreign judgment sought to be enforced.iHence, the trial
court ruled that, there being no genuine issue as to any material fact, the case should properly be
resolved through summary judgment. The CA affirmed this ruling.
We concur with the lower courts. Summary judgment is a procedural device for the prompt disposition of
actions in which the pleadings raise only a legal issue, and not a genuine issue as to any material fact. By
genuine issue is meant a question of fact that calls for the presentation of evidence. It should be
distinguished from an issue that is sham, contrived, set in bad faith and patently unsubstantial.
Summary judgment is resorted to in order to avoid long drawn out litigations and useless delays. When
affidavits, depositions and admissions on file show that there are no genuine issues of fact to be tried, the
Rules allow a party to pierce the allegations in the pleadings and to obtain immediate relief by way of
summary judgment.
Petitioner contends that by allowing summary judgment, the two courts a quo prevented him from
presenting evidence to substantiate his claims. We do not agree. Summary judgment is based on facts
directly proven by affidavits, depositions or admissions. In this case, the CA and the RTC both merely
ruled that trial was not necessary to resolve the case. Additionally and correctly, the RTC specifically
ordered petitioner to submit opposing affidavits to support his contentions.
2nd Issue: Petitioner alleges that jurisdiction over the case, which involved partnership interest, was
vested in the Securities and Exchange Commission, not in the Superior Court of California, County of
Contra Costa.
We disagree. In the absence of proof of California law on the jurisdiction of courts, we presume that such
law, if any, is similar to Philippine law. We base this conclusion on the presumption of identity or similarity,
also known as processual presumption. The Complaint, which respondent filed with the trial court, was
for the enforcement of a foreign judgment. He alleged therein that the action of the foreign court was for
the collection of a sum of money, breach of promissory notes, and damages.
In our jurisdiction, such a case falls under the jurisdiction of civil courts, not of the Securities and
Exchange Commission (SEC). The jurisdiction of the latter is exclusively over matters enumerated in
Section 5, PD 902-A, prior to its latest amendment. If the foreign court did not really have jurisdiction over
the case, as petitioner claims, it would have been very easy for him to show this. Since jurisdiction is
determined by the allegations in a complaint, he only had to submit a copy of the complaint filed with the
foreign court. Clearly, this issue did not warrant trial.
3rd Issue: Petitioner argues that the RTC should have refused to entertain the Complaint for enforcement
of the foreign judgment on the principle of forum non conveniens. He claims that the trial court had no
jurisdiction, because the case involved partnership interest, and there was difficulty in ascertaining the
applicable law in California. All the aspects of the transaction took place in a foreign country, and
respondent is not even Filipino.
We disagree. Under the principle of forum non conveniens, even if the exercise of jurisdiction is
authorized by law, courts may nonetheless refuse to entertain a case for any of the following practical
reasons:
1) The belief that the matter can be better tried and decided elsewhere, either because the main aspects
of the case transpired in a foreign jurisdiction or the material witnesses have their residence there;
2) The belief that the non-resident plaintiff sought the forum[,] a practice known as forum shopping[,]
merely to secure procedural advantages or to convey or harass the defendant;
3) The unwillingness to extend local judicial facilities to non-residents or aliens when the docket may
already be overcrowded;
4) The inadequacy of the local judicial machinery for effectuating the right sought to be maintained; and
None of the aforementioned reasons barred the RTC from exercising its jurisdiction. In the present action,
there was no more need for material witnesses, no forum shopping or harassment of petitioner, no
inadequacy in the local machinery to enforce the foreign judgment, and no question raised as to the
application of any foreign law.
Authorities agree that the issue of whether a suit should be entertained or dismissed on the basis of the
above-mentioned principle depends largely upon the facts of each case and on the sound discretion of
the trial court. Since the present action lodged in the RTC was for the enforcement of a foreign judgment,
there was no need to ascertain the rights and the obligations of the parties based on foreign laws or
contracts. The parties needed only to perform their obligations under the Compromise Agreement they
had entered into.
Under Section 48, Rule 39 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, a judgment in an action in personam
rendered by a foreign tribunal clothed with jurisdiction is presumptive evidence of a right as between the
parties and their successors-in-interest by a subsequent title.
Also, under Section 5(n) of Rule 131, a court -- whether in the Philippines or elsewhere -- enjoys the
presumption that it is acting in the lawful exercise of its jurisdiction, and that it is regularly performing its
official duty. Its judgment may, however, be assailed if there is evidence of want of jurisdiction, want of
notice to the party, collusion, fraud or clear mistake of law or fact. But precisely, this possibility signals the
need for a local trial court to exercise jurisdiction. Clearly, the application of forum non coveniens is not
called for.