Case Digest (G.R. No. 204641)
Facts:
Camarines Sur IV Electric Cooperative, Inc. and Atty. Veronica T. Briones, Petitioners, vs. Expedita L. Aquino, Respondent, G.R. No. 204641, June 29, 2015, Supreme Court Second Division, Mendoza, J., writing for the Court.
Camarines Sur IV Electric Cooperative, Inc. (CASURECO) is an electric cooperative and Atty. Veronica T. Briones was its general manager; Expedita L. Aquino was a former CASURECO employee who leased a commercial building in Tigaon, Camarines Sur to operate a computer-gaming shop and caused a reconnection fee to be paid using the previous tenant’s registered account. While renovations were ongoing, CASURECO discovered electricity pilferage in the leased premises; conciliation efforts failed and CASURECO offered Aquino options to avoid permanent disconnection and criminal prosecution, which she rejected; CASURECO permanently disconnected the electricity on January 23, 2003.
On January 30, 2003 Aquino sued CASURECO for damages in RTC, Branch 62 (Civil Case No. 2003-023). CASURECO moved to dismiss for failure to state a cause of action (no contract between parties). RTC-Br. 62 initially denied dismissal (July 10, 2003) but on December 22, 2003 granted CASURECO’s motion on reconsideration. Aquino’s motion for reconsideration was later denied for noncompliance with the three-day notice rule; the Court of Appeals (CA) reversed and found a cause of action, but this Court in G.R. No. 167691 (Sept. 23, 2008) granted CASURECO’s petition because Aquino’s motion for reconsideration was defective and her appeal to the CA should have been dismissed; the Court nevertheless recognized that Aquino had stated a cause of action.
After finality of the earlier proceedings, Aquino filed a new complaint for damages on March 20, 2009 impleading Atty. Briones (RTC, Branch 27, Civil Case No. 2009-0040). CASURECO and Atty. Briones answered and raised, among others, res judicata, failure to exhaust administrative remedies (referring to the Energy Regulatory Commission under R.A. No. 9136), lack of cause of action, prescription, and forum shopping. RTC-Br. 27 dismissed the new complaint on January 29, 2010, reasoning that res judicata had set in because of the prior case and that Aquino failed to exhaust administrative remedies. Parties appealed to the CA; the CA (July 10, 2012) reversed, holding the earlier dismissal was not a judgment on the merits and that R.A. No. 9136 did ...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Whether the dismissal of Civil Case No. 2003-023 operates as a bar to Civil Case No. RTC 2009-0040 under the principle of res judicata?
- Whether respondent’s cause of action has p...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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