Case Digest (G.R. No. 138592)
Facts:
Elsa Tagunicar and Emerson Tagunicar, G.R. No. 138592, February 28, 2006, Supreme Court Second Division, Sandoval-Gutierrez, J., writing for the Court. Petitioners obtained on October 19, 1994 a P60,000 loan from Lorna Express Credit Corporation (respondent) and secured it by a deed of mortgage over two unregistered lots (Lots 14 and 16, Block 175, Upper Bicutan, Taguig). When petitioners defaulted, they proposed a restructuring that respondent initially accepted, and later offered to pay P100,000 in cash to settle the obligation; respondent refused and instead sued for P223,057.34 in RTC Makati (Civil Case No. 96-777), which the RTC dismissed for failure to prosecute on August 7, 1997.With the loan balance later asserted to have grown to P740,254.87, respondent, through counsel, applied to the Office of the Sheriff of Taguig for extrajudicial foreclosure under Act No. 3135, as amended. A Notice of Auction Sale was issued September 29, 1997, posted at three public places in Taguig and Pasig, and published in the newspaper Bongga on October 4, 11 and 18, 1997, scheduling the auction for October 24, 1997 at the Taguig Municipal Hall.
Petitioners filed a petition for prohibition with motion for TRO and preliminary injunction (RTC Pasig, Branch 68, Civil Case No. SCA‑1501) to enjoin Notary Public Wilfredo T. Albarico and Sheriff Carlos G. Maog from conducting the sale, alleging noncompliance with Section 3 of Act No. 3135 because the auction was set after the first publication (October 4) and not after the third. The RTC issued a TRO (Nov. 5, 1997) but, after hearing, denied the petition for prohibition in a Decision dated November 20, 1997 and denied reconsideration (Resolution dated Dec. 8, 1997).
Petitioners appealed to the Court of Appeals. In a Decision dated November 11, 1998 (CA-G.R. SP No. 46378), the Court of Appeals denied the petition, holding that the notice complied with Section 3 and that Bongga was a newspaper of general circulation; its denial of the motion for reconsideration was embodied in a Resolution dated May 4, 1999. Petitioners filed this petition for review on certiorari u...(Pro-only)
Issues:
- Is the twenty‑day posting requirement under Section 3 of Act No. 3135 to be counted from the date of posting in three public places or from the date of the last publication?
- Is an auction sale conducted under the direction of a Notary Public valid under Section 4 of Act No. 3135 and applicable Supreme Court adm...(Pro-only)
Ruling:
- (Pro-only)
Ratio:
- (Pro-only)
Doctrine:
- (Pro-only)