G.R. No. L-38006 - De las Alas vs. Court of Appeals

Petitioners, comprising Natalia de las Alas and other family members with assistance from their respective husbands, filed a petition for mandamus seeking to compel the respondent judge of the Court of First Instance of Batangas (Lipa City Branch) to approve and certify their appeal from the decision rendered in Civil Case No. 2117.
The decision in Civil Case No. 2117 was rendered on August 7, 1972. A copy of this decision reached petitioners’ counsel on September 9, 1972.

On September 28, 1972, petitioners’ counsel filed an urgent motion for an extension of 15 days (from October 9, 1972—the deadline for filing a motion for reconsideration and/or perfecting the appeal) to file a motion for reconsideration of the August 7 decision.
The motion for extension was granted, and petitioners subsequently filed their motion for reconsideration on October 7, 1972.
The respondent lower court judge denied the motion for reconsideration on November 9, 1972, and petitioners’ counsel received a copy of the denial order on November 16, 1972.

On November 20, 1972, petitioners sent via registered mail their notice of appeal and appeal bond, and concurrently filed a motion for an extension of 20 days within which to file their record on appeal.
Under this extension, the record on appeal was due on December 25, 1972; however, petitioners submitted the record on appeal on December 8, 1972.
On December 9, 1972, private respondents moved to dismiss the appeal and disapprove the record on appeal on grounds that the notice of appeal, appeal bond, and record on appeal were filed out of time.
Petitioners opposed the motion to dismiss on December 20, 1972.
The respondent lower court judge granted the motion to dismiss on January 26, 1973, and the dismissal order was communicated to petitioners on February 9, 1973.

Petitioners filed a subsequent motion for extension of 15 days from March 11, 1973 to submit a motion for reconsideration.
On March 11, 1973, private respondents filed a motion for the execution of the August 7, 1972 decision.
Petitioners filed another motion for reconsideration of the January 26, 1973 dismissal order on March 21, 1973, which was ultimately denied on June 18, 1973.
On July 3, 1973, petitioners elevated the matter to a petition for certiorari and mandamus before the Court of Appeals, with further pleadings (including oppositions and replies) following in November 1973.
On December 13, 1973, the Court of Appeals issued a resolution denying petitioners’ motion for reconsideration.
Finally, on January 17, 1974, petitioners filed the instant petition before this Court, with the pivotal issue concerning the timely perfection of their appeal.

Whether the appeal interposed by petitioners from the August 7, 1972, decision was perfected within the reglementary 30-day period.
The controversy centered on the computation of the period of appeal, particularly taking into consideration the period during which the motion for reconsideration was pending.

Petitioners argued that by filing the motion for reconsideration on October 7, 1972, they had effectively suspended the run of the appeal period, leaving them three additional days (October 7, 8, and 9, 1972) to perfect their appeal after the denial of the motion.
Private respondents maintained that petitioners had only two days remaining following the receipt of the denial order on November 16, 1972, and that all filings on November 20, 1972, were definitively out of time.
The issue also involved the interpretation and application of the rules on computation of appeal periods as provided under the Revised Rules of Court and relevant provisions of the Civil and Administrative Codes.