G.R. No. 175507 - Ching vs. Cheng

Case Digest (G.R. No. 175507)
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Facts:

Procedural Background

The petitioner directly filed a petition for certiorari on September 4, 2003, challenging several orders emanating from the Regional Trial Court (RTC), Branch 12 in Malolos City, Bulacan, in Civil Case No. 722-M-2002 – an action for recovery of ownership and possession.
The orders under scrutiny include:

The March 24, 2003 order which reversed an earlier dismissal (from February 18, 2003) based on prescription and reinstated the action.
The April 21, 2003 denial of the petitioner’s motion for reconsideration.
The August 19, 2003 order which again denied a subsequent motion for reconsideration and compelled the petitioner to file his answer within a fixed 10-day period, notwithstanding the principal defendant’s lack of valid service.

Antecedents of the Controversy

Origin of the Dispute

Almost four decades earlier, Leodegario B. Ramos discovered that a parcel of land measuring approximately 1,233 square meters—which was part of a larger property of about 3,054 square meters in Meycauayan, Bulacan—had been previously transferred from his mother to Ricardo Asuncion and then sold to the late Rodrigo Gomez.
Ramos, who had adjudicated the larger tract to himself after his mother’s death (November 16, 1982), later entered into a dispute over the said property.

The 1990 Compromise Agreement

On October 9, 1990, before a RTC in Valenzuela could decide on Civil Case No. 3287-V-90 (Ramos v. Gomez, a.k.a. Domingo Ng Lim), Ramos and Gomez entered into a compromise agreement, wherein Ramos was to execute a deed of absolute sale in favor of Gomez covering the 1,233-square-meter parcel.
The agreement also required the petitioner (then counsel of Ramos) to issue post-dated checks totaling P110,000.00 as a guarantee for Ramos’s monetary obligations under the compromise.
Specific stipulations included:

The survey and segregation of the property into two parts – 1,233 sqm and 1,821 sqm.

ii. Registration of the deed of sale for the 1,233 sqm portion in favor of Gomez, and subsequent delivery and registration of documents by both parties. iii. A condition that if the check guaranteeing the payment (which broke down into P80,000.00 for a loan, P20,000.00 for its use, and P10,000.00 for attorney’s fees) was dishonored, the agreement would become null and void.

Breach and Subsequent Litigation

Although P80,000.00 was eventually paid to Gomez, the petitioner’s check for the remaining P30,000.00 (dated April 23, 1991) was dishonored for insufficient funds.
Following Gomez’s death on November 7, 1990, his estate—represented by Administratrix Tsui Yuk Ying—sued for specific performance in Caloocan City (Civil Case No. C-15750), which was later amicably settled in 1994 through another compromise agreement.
The Estate of Gomez, having complied with its undertakings under the original compromise (including conducting the survey), later initiated an action in the Valenzuela RTC (Civil Case No. 4679-V-95) to enforce the 1,233-square-meter lot transfer when Ramos failed to register the deed as agreed.
That action was dismissed by the Valenzuela RTC on April 1, 1996, on the ground of improper venue and the existence of an alternative remedy by execution of the compromise judgment.

Revival Action and Motion to Dismiss

On September 20, 2002, the Estate of Gomez revived the judgment by filing Civil Case No. 722-M-2002 in the Valenzuela RTC, seeking enforcement of the judgment by compromise.
On January 8, 2003, the petitioner moved to dismiss the case, arguing that the action was barred by prescription and res judicata, contending that he was not a real party-in-interest and that the obligation he had guaranteed had already been paid.
Initially, the RTC granted the dismissal on February 18, 2003 by applying Article 1143 (3) of the Civil Code, which sets a 10-year period for actions based on a judgment.
However, on March 24, 2003, the RTC reversed its earlier dismissal order—based on the argument by the Estate of Gomez that the filing on July 6, 1995 (in Civil Case No. 4679-V-95) interrupted the prescriptive period. Subsequent motions for reconsideration by the petitioner were denied on April 21, 2003 and August 19, 2003.

Direct Filing of the Petition for Certiorari

The petitioner, alleging grave abuse of discretion on the part of the presiding judge (specifically, reinstituting the action despite prescription and directing him to file an answer prematurely), filed the petition for certiorari directly with the Supreme Court on September 4, 2003.
The petitioner’s arguments also contend that the RTC acted with lack or excess of jurisdiction by reconsidering its dismissal order and by failing to observe the correct legal standards concerning prescription.

Issues:

Whether the lower court (RTC) committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction by:

Reversing its dismissal order on the basis of prescription and reinstating the action despite a previously granted dismissal.
Denying the petitioner’s motions for reconsideration and compelling him to file his answer while substantive issues regarding service and prescription were still pending.

Whether Civil Case No. 722-M-2002 should be dismissed for being barred by prescription (and res judicata) considering that the action to revive the judgment was filed beyond the prescribed period.
Whether the petitioner had an adequate and plain remedy available in the ordinary course of law (such as filing an answer and pursuing trial).
Whether it was proper for the petitioner to directly file his petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court instead of the Court of Appeals or the RTC, in light of the hierarchical rules governing the filing of extraordinary writs.

Ruling:

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Ratio:

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Doctrine:

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