Case Digest (G.R. No. 176438)
Facts:
Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) v. Philippine Countryside Rural Bank, Inc., G.R. No. 176438, January 24, 2011, Second Division, Mendoza, J., writing for the Court. The petition arises from CA-Cebu’s September 18, 2006 Decision (and its January 25, 2007 denial of reconsideration) granting respondents’ petition for injunction and restraining PDIC from conducting investigations or examinations of the respondent banks without prior approval of the Monetary Board.The petitioners are Philippine Deposit Insurance Corporation (PDIC) and the respondents are four rural/commercial banks collectively referred to as the Banks: Philippine Countryside Rural Bank, Inc. (PCRBI), Rural Bank of Carmen (Cebu), Inc. (RBCI), Bank of East Asia (Minglanilla, Cebu), Inc. (BEAI), and Pilipino Rural Bank (Cebu), Inc. (PRBI). The PDIC Board adopted resolutions in March and May 2005 authorizing investigations pursuant to Section 9(b-1) of R.A. No. 3591, as amended, and a Special Investigation Team was created and empowered to administer oaths and examine bank records.
In June 2005 PDIC issued Notices of Investigation to PCRBI, PRBI, BEAI and RBCI based on BSP Reports of Examination and a depositor’s complaint. PDIC’s investigations sought documents and testimony; some banks initially complied but later refused entry and access upon counsel’s advice. Counsel for the Banks protested that PDIC’s investigatory power under Section 9(b-1) was not distinguishable from its examination power under Section 8, paragraph 8, which, the Banks contended, required prior Monetary Board approval.
The Banks first filed a Petition for Declaratory Relief (with TRO request) before the Regional Trial Court of Makati (RTC-Makati), which dismissed it for lack of jurisdiction because the alleged breach had already occurred. They then filed a petition for injunction before the Court of Appeals–Manila (CA-Manila), which dismissed the petition as moot after the RTC dismissal. Thereafter the Banks filed a Petition for Injunction with Prayer for Preliminary Injunction before the Court of Appeals–Cebu (CA-Cebu). CA-Cebu issued a TRO on March 15, 2006, required PDIC to comment, and on September 18, 2006 rendered a decision granting the preliminary injunction: it held that prior approval of the Monetary Board was necessary before PDIC could conduct investigations/examinations.
PDIC filed a Rule 65 petition (G.R. No. 173370) challenging CA-Cebu’s interlocutory orders; the Supreme Court dismissed that pe...(Subscriber-Only)
Issues:
- Did the respondent Banks violate the rule against forum shopping when they filed the petition for injunction before the Court of Appeals–Cebu?
- Does the RTC-Makati’s pronouncement in the petition for declaratory relief constitute res judicata as to the CA-Cebu petition for injunction?
- Was PDIC deprived of its opportunity to be heard when the Court of Appeals–Cebu issued the writs of injunction?
- Are the issues raised in this Rule 45 petition the same issues raised in G.R. No. 173370 which this Court earlier dismissed?
- Did the Court of Appeals–Cebu err in finding that prior approval of the Monetary Board of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas is necessary...(Subscriber-Only)
Ruling:
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Ratio:
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Doctrine:
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