G.R. No. 42391 - Oriental Commercial Co., Inc. vs. Abeto

Oriental Commercial Co., Inc. filed a complaint in civil case No. 35897 before the Court of First Instance of Manila.
The petition sought recovery from Gregorio Bugayong, Vicente Rosario, and Alejo Mabanag for a sum of money, including interest, penalty, and costs.

After trial, the lower court rendered a judgment ordering Bugayong to pay the sum of ₱5,742.73 with legal interest from August 15, 1929, plus costs, while absolving Mabanag and Rosario.
On appeal, the appellate court modified the lower court’s decision:

It awarded the petitioner attorney’s fees of ₱1,000.
It ordered judgment to be entered against all defendants for ₱5,742.73, with legal interest from August 15, 1929, until full payment, plus the attorney’s fees and costs.
The clerk of court subsequently issued a decree incorporating these modifications and fixing the petitioner's recovery of an additional ₱143 as costs.

The petitioner obtained a writ of execution pursuant to the final judgment.
The writ was executed against Rosario and Mabanag by levying their real and personal properties.
Mabanag, in partial payment, executed a promissory note for ₱1,000 and managed to suspend the execution at that stage.
Due to the incomplete execution of the judgment, the petitioner procured an alias writ of execution against Mabanag, leading the provincial sheriff of Rizal to levy two pieces of Mabanag’s real property and schedule their public auction for August 10, 1934.

Mabanag filed a motion asking the court to enjoin the sheriff from proceeding with the sale.
He argued that under the terms of the final judgment, he was a mere joint obligor with Rosario and not liable for the entire unpaid balance, which amounted to ₱1,750.16 as per the alias writ of execution.
He further contended that, being a surety, execution against him should only proceed after the exhaustion of the principal debtor Gregorio Bugayong’s property, or in the event of Bugayong’s insolvency.

The trial court granted Mabanag’s motion, ordering the sheriff to desist from selling the levied properties.
It directed that no further writ of execution against Mabanag be issued until after Bugayong’s property was exhausted or Bugayong was declared insolvent.

The petitioner filed a petition for a writ of certiorari to set aside the trial court’s order.
The sole issue for the appellate review was whether the trial court had acted without or in excess of its jurisdiction, or abused its sound discretion in its issuance of the order.

Whether the trial court, in enjoining the sale of Mabanag’s property and delaying further execution, acted without or in excess of its jurisdiction or abused its discretion.
Whether the final judgment created an obligation that was joint or joint and several, particularly regarding the liability of respondent Mabanag.
Whether Mabanag, as a surety, was entitled to claim that execution should lie against him only after the exhaustion of the principal debtor’s (Bugayong’s) assets.