Case Digest (G.R. No. L-26364)
Facts:
Mariano A. Albert v. The Court of First Instance of Manila (Br. VI), University Publishing Co., Inc., and Jose M. Aruego, G.R. No. L-26364, May 29, 1968, Supreme Court En Banc, Reyes, J. B. L., J., writing for the Court.Petitioner Albert (later represented by Justo R. Albert, administrator of his estate) sued University Publishing Company, Inc. for breach of contract, and ultimately recovered P15,000 with legal interest by a judgment that this Court had earlier clarified and affirmed in prior proceedings. The litigation, commenced in 1949, had travelled through this Court on several occasions (notably L-9300, Apr. 18, 1958; L-15275, Oct. 24, 1960; L-18350, dismissed May 17, 1961; and L-19118, promulgated Jan. 30, 1965 with a denial of reconsideration June 16, 1965).
When the Court of First Instance of Manila issued a writ of execution on July 22, 1961, plaintiff’s counsel and the sheriff discovered that University Publishing Co., Inc. was not shown on the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) records as registered; the SEC issued a certification to that effect on July 31, 1961. Plaintiff then filed a verified petition in the trial court (Aug. 10, 1961) seeking execution against the assets of Jose M. Aruego as the real party in interest, alleging Aruego had acted as president and had signed the contract on behalf of the purported corporation.
Instead of producing corporate papers in the trial court, the corporation (through the law firm of Aruego) filed an unsworn manifestation denying that Aruego was a party (Aug. 11, 1961). Judge Gaudencio Cloribel denied plaintiff’s petition for execution on Sept. 9, 1961 because Aruego was not a party. Plaintiff appealed to this Court in L-19118; in an opinion by Justice Bengzon (Jan. 30, 1965), this Court held that because the corporation was not registered it could not be regarded as a legal entity and that Aruego, having acted as its representative and litigated in effect as the defendant, was personally liable; the case was remanded for supplementary proceedings to carry the judgment into effect against the corporation and/or Aruego. A subsequent motion for reconsideration by the corporation proffered registration papers obtained April 1, 1965, but the Court refused to consider them because they were produced only after the adverse decision.
Armed with that decision and the June 16, 1965 resolution, petitioner moved in the trial court (July 28, 1965) for issuance of writ of execution against Aruego. Aruego intervened and opposed, arguing he was never a party and that supplementary proceedings were required before execution. Judge Cloribel initially directed issuance of the writ (Feb. 21, 1966) but on motion for reconsideration denied execution (Mar. 5, 1966). After supplementary proceedings were allowed, Aruego produced corporate documents (May 2...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did Judge Gaudencio Cloribel commit grave abuse of discretion in refusing to carry into effect this Court’s prior judgment (L-19118) and thereby warrant certiorari and mandamus?
- May execution be lawfully issued against University Publishing Co., Inc. and/or Jose M. Aruego despite Aruego not having been formally named as defendant, where Aruego acted as the corporation’s representative and the corporation’s SEC r...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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