Case Digest (G.R. No. L-61752)
Facts:
Sy Kao and Chua Lian King v. Hon. Court of Appeals, Hon. Jose P. Castro, Presiding Judge of the Court of First Instance of Rizal, Branch IX (Quezon City) and Chua Keng Giap, G.R. No. L-61752, September 28, 1984, Supreme Court First Division, Gutierrez, Jr., J., writing for the Court.
Petitioners Sy Kao (widow) and Chua Lian King (son) are heirs of the late Chua Bing Guan, who died on October 29, 1967. On November 11, 1967 they executed and registered an extrajudicial settlement adjudicating the decedent’s properties to themselves as the only surviving heirs. On November 14, 1968, respondent Chua Keng Giap filed Special Proceeding No. Q-12592 in the Court of First Instance of Rizal, Branch IV, petitioning for settlement of the intestate estate and alleging he was a son of the decedent; petitioners opposed on December 19, 1968, denying his alleged filiation.
After a protracted ten-year hearing, the CFI dismissed respondent’s petition on March 2, 1979, finding he was not a son of the decedent and thus had no interest to institute intestacy proceedings. Respondent’s attempt to appeal was denied as late; his mandamus to the Court of Appeals was dismissed; and his certiorari before this Court (G.R. No. 54992) was dismissed on January 30, 1982, with subsequent motions for reconsideration denied.
On July 14, 1980 respondent filed Civil Case No. 30340 in the CFI (Quezon City) seeking annulment of the petitioners’ extrajudicial settlement and partition of the estate, alleging again that he was a son of the deceased and relying on an alleged will probated in the Court of First Instance of Batangas, Balayan Branch, wherein the decedent allegedly acknowledged him. Petitioners moved to dismiss on grounds including lack of cause of action, res judicata/conclusiveness of judgment, and prescription; they alleged the filiation issue had already been resolved against respondent in Special Proceeding No. Q-12592 and that the Balayan probate was unknown to them and was being contested separately in Civil Case No. 833.
Process in Civil Case No. 30340 was served only on February 25, 1981; after pleadings the...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Is respondent Chua Keng Giap’s Civil Case No. 30340 barred by the doctrine of res judicata based on the prior Special Proceeding No. Q-12592?
- Did the respondent court and the Court of Appeals err in denying petitioners’ motion to dismiss Civi...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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