Case Digest (G.R. No. 235641)
Facts:
Boracay Island Water Company (BIWC) operates the potable water and the only sewerage utility in Boracay Island, and issued Terms and Conditions of Factored Sewer Charging Program for charging customers connected to BIWC’s sewer system. Customers who are sewer-only or have dual water sources were to be charged five times the computed sewer charge, which prompted Ambassador in Paradise Corporation and Real Maris Resort & Hotel (plaintiffs) to file Civil Case No. 8849 with the RTC for declaration of nullity of the Program and damages. J. King and Sons Company, Inc. and Malay Resorts Holdings, Inc. (MRHI) were admitted as intervenors, and BIWC moved to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action and forum shopping, citing MRHI’s earlier letter-complaint before the National Water Resources Board (NWRB) and subsequent NWRB/DOJ action.
The RTC, Branch 9, Kalibo, Aklan dismissed the complaint and intervenors’ complaints for non-compliance with forum-shopping requirements, and later denied MRHI’s motion for reconsideration. On certiorari, the Court of Appeals reversed and set aside the RTC orders, and BIWC sought review before the Supreme Court.
Issues:
- Whether the Court of Appeals erred in finding grave abuse of discretion when the RTC dismissed MRHI’s complaint-in-intervention for forum shopping.
- Whether MRHI’s complaint-in-intervention should be dismissed as moot and academic.
Ruling:
The Supreme Court held that MRHI did not commit forum shopping and affirmed the CA’s setting aside of the RTC dismissal, explaining that the essential forum-shopping element was absent and that any purported forum-shopping issue had been rendered moot by the lack of further action before the NWRB after the DOJ opinion.
The Court also rejected mootness, applied the exception for issues capable of repetition yet evading review, and remanded the case to the RTC for resolution with dispatch because factual determinations were still necessary.
Ratio:
On forum shopping, the Court reiterated that the test looks to the presence of litis pendentia or res judicata elements—particularly the identity of rights asserted and relief prayed for, such that a ruling in one case would bind the other. It found that NWRB’s asserted lack of jurisdiction over sewerage utility and service was fatal to forum shopping, and thus any NWRB action would not amount to res judicata against the RTC case. The Court further noted that NWRB did not assume jurisdiction over the sewer-rate validity concerns and that after obtaining the DOJ opinion, NWRB took no further action that would create the grave evil the forum-shopping rule seeks to prevent.
As to mootness, the Court recognized the general rule against deciding moot questions but invoked the exception where the challenged conduct is capable of repetition yet evading review. It reasoned that the RTC’s summary dismissal prevented full ventilation of MRHI’s claims and that notices of public hearing showed the challenged sewer charging scheme was still in place; hence, the issue persisted despite alleged non-implementation, warranting remand for factual resolution since the Supreme Court is not a trier of facts.
Doctrine:
- Forum shopping exists only when the elements of litis pendentia or res judicata are present; absent these, forum shopping cannot lie.
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