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Vios V Sadasd Pre Class Sadasda
Vios V Sadasd Pre Class Sadasda
Ponente: Brion
Court of Appeals
We find the petition by Vios praying for reversal of the CA Ruling partially meritorious.
What is the proper remedy from the decision of the RTC in a petition for certiorari? - APPEAL
Section 2, Rule 41 of the Revised Rules of Court: “an appeal may be taken from a judgment or final order that completely disposes of the case, or of a particular matter therein when declared by
The procedural issue herein basically hinges on the proper remedy which petitioner should have availed himself of before the Court of Appeals: an ordinary
appeal or a petition for certiorari.
The correct procedural recourse for petitioner was appeal, not only because RTC-Branch 83 did not commit any grave abuse of discretion in dismissing
petitioner's Petition for Certiorari in Civil Case No. Q-99-39358 but also because RTC-Branch 83's Order of dismissal was a final order from which petitioners should
have appealed in accordance with Section 2, Rule 41 of the Revised Rules of Court.
Order or a judgment (final) when it finally disposes of a pending action, so that nothing more can be done with it in the trial court, ending the litigation in the lower
court.
Interlocutory order does not dispose of the case completely, but leaves something to be done as regards the merits of the latter.
Certiorari generally lies only when there is no appeal nor any other plain, speedy or adequate remedy available to petitioners.
As in this cited case, Pantangco did not appeal. In lieu of an appeal, Pantangco sought to review the RTC certiorari decision through a Petition for Declaration of Nullity of the RTC Decision that is
apparently based on Rule 47 of the Rules of Court, a remedy based on external fraud and lack of jurisdiction.[6]
Pantangco’s arguments for nullity of the RTC decision for lack of jurisdiction:
1. only interlocutory orders of the MTC are subject to the RTC certiorari jurisdiction;
rendered with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of or excess of jurisdiction. [8]
Pantangcos Rule 47 (Declaration of Nullity) remedy is fatally defective because its use against an RTC decision in a certiorari case is foreclosed by the availability of an appeal to the CA.
Section 1 of Rule 47 provides that it covers only annulment of judgments for which the ordinary remedies of new trial, appeal, petition for relief or other appropriate remedies are no longer available
In Ramirez-Jongco v. Veloso III[10] , petitioners also want to use Rule 47 (Declaration of Nullity) but they themselves did not avail the remedy of appeal, hence Rule 47 (Declaration of Nullity) is
unapplicable.
Petitioners are wrong in their invoking the Law of the Case Doctrine to fight for the upholding of the RTC Decision.
Petitioners position: the RTC decision has become final because of Pantangcos clearly erroneous remedy; this final decision is now the law of the case between the parties.
The law of the case doctrine applies in a situation where an appellate court has made a ruling on a question on appeal and thereafter remands the case to the lower court for further proceedings;
The question settled by the appellate court becomes the law of the case at the lower court and in any subsequent appeal, whether correct on general principles or not, so long as the facts on which
the legal rule or decision was predicated continue to be the facts of the case before the court. [11]
Rather than the law of the case doctrine, the petitioners may actually be invoking the binding effect of what they view as a final RTC decision on the theory that the RTC decision already determined
It is a hornbook rule that once a judgment has become final and executory, it may no longer be modified in any respect, even if the modification is meant to correct
an erroneous conclusion of fact or law, and regardless of whether the modification is attempted to be made by the court rendering it or by the highest court of the land, as what
remains to be done is the purely ministerial enforcement or execution of the judgment even if at the risk of occasional errors.
Final Decision: Partially Granted (void part is due to lack of jurisdiction since case was a petition for Certiorari)
1. Granting the Petition: CA is in error in ruling on the merits of Pantangco’s Rule 47 Petition (for Declaration of Nullity).
2. Denying the Petition: RTC decision is not fully valid.
a. The valid parts are only: MTC decision is not yet final. MTC writ of execution is invalid.
b. The invalid part is: MTC decision was modified and reversed on the merits.
Certiorari is a remedy designed for the correction of errors of jurisdiction, not errors of judgment.
(a) Ordinary appeal. — The appeal to the Court of Appeals in cases decided by the Regional Trial Court in the exercise of its original jurisdiction shall be taken by filing a notice of appeal
with the court which rendered the judgment or final order appealed from and serving a copy thereof upon the adverse party. No record on appeal shall be required except in special proceedings and
other cases of multiple or separate appeals where law on these Rules so require. In such cases, the record on appeal shall be filed and served in like manner.
(b) Petition for review. — The appeal to the Court of Appeals in cases decided by the Regional Trial Court in the exercise of its appellate jurisdiction shall be by petition for review in
accordance with Rule 42.
(c) Appeal by certiorari. — In all cases where only questions of law are raised or involved, the appeal shall be to the Supreme Court by petition for review on certiorari in accordance with the
Rule 45. (n)
Rule 45: Certiorari (Petition for Review on Certiorari) – Errors of Judgment w/in 15 days
Mode of Appeal to the Supreme Court for Questions of Law: After the final disposition of a judgment
Rule 65: Certiorari (Extraordinary Writ of Certiorari) – Errors of Jurisdiction (special civic action)
a) for Judicial / Quasi-Judicial Decisions
b) without / in excess jurisdiction or with grave abuse of discretion,
c) no appeal, no plain, speedy, adequate remedy such as MR