G.R. No. 198465 - Litex Glass and Aluminum Supply vs. Sanchez

CLAUDINA VDA. DE VILLARUEL, ET AL., plaintiffs and appellees, sued MANILA MOTOB CO., INC. AND ARTURO COLMENARES, defendants and appellants, in Civil Case No. 648, Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental.
The trial court ordered defendants to pay (a) P11,900 with legal interest from May 18, 1953 (first cause of action); (b) P38,395 with legal interest from April 26, 1947 (second cause of action); and (c) P30,000 jointly and severally (third cause of action). Defendants appealed to the Supreme Court.

On May 31, 1940 the parties executed lease contract (Exhibit "A") whereby plaintiffs leased to the defendant company: (a) 500 sq. meters showroom/offices/store room; (b) repair-shop building; and (c) a five-bedroom residence for the Bacolod Branch Manager. Term: five years from delivery with option to renew for five more years.
Monthly rental: Three Hundred (P300) pesos for business premises payable in advance; residential house rental not to exceed Fifty (P50) pesos, payable separately by the Manager.
Lessee received possession on October 31, 1940 and paid rentals until the Japanese invasion of 1941.
Japanese forces occupied and used the leased premises as quarters from June 1, 1942 to March 29, 1945, ousting the lessee; no rentals were paid during that occupation.
After liberation, American Forces occupied the same buildings until October 31, 1945 and paid monthly rentals to the owners at the same rate previously paid by the defendant company.
The lessee exercised the renewal option for an additional five-year term, agreed that the seven months of U.S. Army occupancy would not be counted in the new term, and sublet the commercial buildings (except the manager's residence) to Arturo Colmenares.

Dr. Alfredo Villaruel consulted Atty. Luis Hilado whether lessors could collect rents for the Japanese occupation period; advised they could, and he demanded payment from the defendant company, which refused.
Defendant's letter dated July 27, 1946 rejected the demand. In July 1946 Rafael B. Grey offered P350 with a request for a receipt stating it was full payment for that month; Villaruel conditioned acceptance as "without prejudice" to claims for rescission and increased rentals.
No agreement on receipt wording produced further tenders until December 4, 1946, when the company remitted P350 and Villaruel issued a receipt stating payment was "without prejudice" to demands for arrears and rescission.
Plaintiffs filed the original complaint on April 26, 1947 seeking rescission and recovery of unpaid rentals; after fire destroyed buil...(Subscriber-Only)

Whether the trial court properly admitted the supplemental complaint adding the third cause of action.
Whether the trial court's dismissal of the first and second causes on February 5, 1951 operated as a dismissal with prejudice or without prejudice given the Debt Moratorium.

Whether the defendant-lessee Manila Motor Co., Inc. was liable for rent corresponding to the period of Japanese military occupation (June 1, 1942 to March 29, 1945).
Whether the ouster by Japanese forces constituted perturbacion de mero hecho or perturbacion de derecho under Art. 1560 of the Spanish Civil Code (1889).
Whether the lessors' insistence on collecting occupation rents and their refusal to accept current rentals without qualification placed them in default (mora accipiendi) and shifted the risk of accidental loss (fire) to them...(Subscriber-Only)