Facts:
Petitioner
J. M. Tuason & Co., Inc., represented by its managing partner, the
Gregor io Araneta, Inc., and
Hon. Nicasio Yatco, Judge of the Court of First Instance of Rizal (Quezon City, Branch V), brought an application for review of a decision of the Court of Appeals (Sixth Division) which set aside the orders of execution and demolition issued by the Court of First Instance of Quezon City in
Civil Case No. Q-3519. Respondent
Bienvenido Sanvictores occupied a portion of the so-called
Tatalon Estate, designated as
Lot 49 of the Veterans Subdivision plan, which petitioner held under a
Torrens certificate. Sanvictores purchased the lot in
1949 from
Pedro Deudor, who had claimed title to the estate as against the registered owners, and Sanvictores possessed the premises since then, erecting a house and making improvements estimated at
P20,000, more or less. The Tuasons, as registered owners, and Deudor later litigated, culminating in a
deed of compromise dated March 16, 1953, whereby Deudor recognized the Tuason title and the Tuasons agreed to pay certain compensation; the compromise also expressly addressed the rights of Deudor’s previous vendees by requiring that Deudor make them recognize Tuason ownership and sign new purchase contracts for their respective lots at the then-current prices and terms specified by the Tuasons. On
November 20, 1958, Tuason & Co. filed an
accion publiciana in the Court of First Instance to recover Lot 49 (
Case No. Q-3519). After trial, the court rendered judgment on
March 30, 1959 declaring Sanvictores without right to possession and ordering him to vacate; no appeal was taken, so the judgment became final and executory. A writ of execution issued on
July 29, 1959, but upon Sanvictores’ motion, the Court of First Instance, in an order dated
September 26, 1959, suspended execution and granted
60 days for him to voluntarily remove his house and other constructions and to conduct proper negotiations with the plaintiff, after which a corresponding writ of demolition would issue. It appeared that from
May 1959 Sanvictores was bargaining for purchase of Lot 49, but the parties could not agree on the price. Before the suspension period expired, on
November 20, 1959 (the record states
November 20, 1950, but it places the filing six days before the suspension lapsed, in relation to the
1959 suspension), Sanvictores filed another case (
Q-4809) in the same court asking that a fair and equitable price be fixed and that Tuason & Co. be compelled to convey the lot to him as
preferential purchaser under the Deudor-Tuason compromise. Five days later, he moved in
Q-3519 for an indefinite suspension of execution, which the Court of First Instance denied on
December 2, 1959. Sanvictores then sought certiorari in the Court of Appeals, which granted it and ordered the trial court to hold execution in abeyance until final judgment in
Q-4809. Tuason & Co. sought review before the Supreme Court, which granted the petition for review on
July 26, 1960. The Supreme Court found that the Court of Appeals erred in sustaining Sanvictores’ attempt to suspend execution of a final and executory judgment based on the pendency of his suit for specific performance.
Issues:
Whether the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction to entertain Sanvictores’ petition for certiorari to suspend the execution of a final and executory judgment in
Civil Case No. Q-3519 pending final judgment in
Civil Case No. Q-4809.
Ruling:
Ratio:
Doctrine: