Case Digest (G.R. No. 147968)
Facts:
Gil Buendia v. Vicente Sotto, G.R. No. 45695, May 09, 1939, the Supreme Court En Banc, Villa-Real, J., writing for the Court. The plaintiff and appellee was Gil Buendia; the defendant and appellant was Vicente Sotto.On March 16, 1937 the Court of First Instance of Manila rendered judgment in favor of Buendia, ordering Sotto to pay P1,573.26 with legal interest from the filing of the complaint (November 21, 1936) and costs. On April 22, 1937 Buendia, through his attorneys, filed a pleading styled “Motion for Reconsideration and Reopening of Trial.” Notice of the motion and a copy of the motion were sent to Sotto, but the copies of the documentary annexes (Annexes A, B, C and D) that the motion relied upon were not served with that notice.
The motion alleged, among other things, that the trial court had twice deducted P567.50 (legal interest) and P60.12 (costs) from the total sum adjudicated, and that the P400 fee referred to in Exhibit A of the stipulation of facts had in fact already been paid to Atty. Vicente Sotto; the annexes were proffered to prove payment and thereby justify reform of the March 16 judgment. The court a quo granted the motion, admitted annexes A–D without conducting a new trial or hearing the defendant, and on June 14, 1937 reconsidered and amended its March 16 decision, entering a new judgment ordering Sotto to pay P2,600.88 with legal interest from November 21, 1936 and costs.
Sotto appealed the June 14, 1937 judgment directly to the Supreme Court. The appeal raised seven assignments of error; two procedural assignments (errors IV and V) were arg...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the trial court commit reversible error in considering Buendia’s motion for reconsideration and reopening of trial when the notice to the adverse party was not accompanied by copies of the annexes relied upon?
- Did the trial court commit reversible error by admitting annexes and amending its judgment without setting the motion for trial or hearing the defendant, thereby deprivi...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Ratio:
- (Subscriber-Only)
Doctrine:
- (Subscriber-Only)