Title
Caballes vs. Court of Appeals
Case
G.R. No. 263481
Decision Date
Feb 8, 2023
A petitioner's agrarian case was dismissed by the CA for procedural defects, but the Supreme Court ruled the filing was timely and defects were corrected, emphasizing substantial justice over technicalities.
procedural defects
dismissal
grave abuse of discretion

Case Summary (G.R. No. 105308)

Factual Background

Petitioner filed a complaint before the Regional Agrarian Reform Adjudicator (RARAD) of Tagum City against the private respondents. The RARAD ruled in favor of petitioner. Private respondent Corazon Adolfo Calderon appealed to the DARAB, which reversed the RARAD in its Decision of December 26, 2019. Petitioner filed a motion for reconsideration with the DARAB, which the DARAB denied in its Resolution of December 14, 2020. Petitioner received a copy of that DARAB resolution on February 11, 2021.

Procedural History in the Courts Below

On February 26, 2021, petitioner mailed a petition for review under Rule 43 to the Court of Appeals. The Court of Appeals issued a Minute Resolution dated March 25, 2021 dismissing the petition outright for multiple procedural defects and citing Section 7, Rule 43. Petitioner filed a Motion for Reconsideration with an Attached Amended Petition for Review on April 27, 2021, attempting to correct the defects. The Court of Appeals denied reconsideration in its Resolution of June 24, 2022, reiterating that the petition was filed three days late and, accordingly, dismissed the petition. Petitioner then filed the present petition for certiorari under Rule 65 in the Supreme Court.

Issues Presented

Petitioner contended that the Court of Appeals committed grave abuse of discretion in dismissing his petition for review on various grounds: that the petition was belatedly filed; failure to attach certified true copies of the assailed decision and resolution; failure to indicate dates of receipt and filing of the motion for reconsideration; failure to show competent evidence of identity by attaching a photocopy of the voter’s ID presented to the notary; indication of an outdated IBP Official Receipt number of counsel; failure to state the addresses of the private respondents; and inordinately delaying resolution of the motion for reconsideration.

Respondents’ Position before the Supreme Court

Private respondents argued that petitioner availed of the wrong remedy by filing a petition for certiorari, and maintained that the Court of Appeals correctly dismissed the petition for review because it suffered from six procedural defects. They contended that the DARAB Decision had become final and executory due to the dismissal.

Standard for Rule 65 Review

The Supreme Court stated the governing standard for grave abuse of discretion under Rule 65: it denotes an arbitrary or despotic exercise of power, a whimsical or capricious exercise that evades a positive duty enjoined by law. The abuse must be patent and gross to warrant relief. The Court cited Fajardo v. Court of Appeals for this proposition.

Court’s Finding on Timeliness and Application of the Mailbox Rule

The Supreme Court found that petitioner timely filed his petition for review. Petitioner produced registry receipts showing the petition was mailed on February 26, 2021, the last day of the 15-day reglementary period computed from receipt of the DARAB resolution on February 11, 2021. The Court applied Section 3, Rule 13 of the Rules of Court, which treats the date of mailing as the date of filing when shown by post office stamps or registry receipts. The Court concluded that the Court of Appeals’ finding that the petition was filed belatedly and its insistence that filing occurred on March 1, 2021, displayed a failure to observe an elemental rule and amounted to grave abuse of discretion.

Consideration of the Other Procedural Defects

The Supreme Court addressed each procedural defect the Court of Appeals relied upon and found that none justified outright dismissal where petitioner had timely filed and proffered corrections in the motion for reconsideration.

Material Dates and the Requirement under Section 6(d), Rule 43

Regarding the omission of the dates when petitioner received the DARAB Decision and when he filed his motion for reconsideration, the Court explained that the critical material date for an appeal under Rule 43 is the date of receipt of the resolution denying the motion for reconsideration. Citing Victoriano v. Dominguez and related authorities, the Court held that failure to state other material dates may be dispensed with when the pivotal date is indicated and records supply reasonable certainty. Petitioner had stated the date he received the DARAB resolution and thus substantially complied.

Certified True Copies of the Assailed Decision

On the failure to attach duplicate originals or certified true copies of the DARAB Decision and Resolution, the Supreme Court relied on Duremdes v. Jorilla, holding that subsequent submission of certified copies in a motion for reconsideration constitutes substantial compliance with Section 6(c), Rule 43. Petitioner attached an amended petition with certified copies to his motion for reconsideration, curing the defect.

Competent Evidence of Identity under the Notarial Rules

The Court considered the Court of Appeals’ faulting petitioner for not attaching a photocopy of the identification card presented to the notary. The Supreme Court examined Section 12, Rule II of the 2004 Rules on Notarial Practice, as amended by A.M. No. 02-8-13-SC, and observed that a voter’s ID is expressly listed as competent evidence of identity. The Court emphasized that neither the Notarial Rules nor Rule 43 requires attachment of a photocopy of the ID to the petition, and cited Heirs of Amada Zaulda v. Zaulda to conclude that absence of such an attachment is not a ground for dismissal. The Court further reiterated that verification is a formal, not jurisdictional, requirement.

Counsel’s Outdated IBP Official Receipt

On the outdated IBP official receipt number of petitioner’s counsel, the Supreme Court cited precedents such as Go v. Sunbanun and Victoriano v. Dominguez to hold that inadvertent failure by counsel to indicate updated professional receipt numbers is not fatal where counsel promptly rectifies the omission. The amended petition and motion for reconsideration contained the updated IBP information.

Failure to State Respondents’ Addresses

The Court noted that Section 6, Rule 43 requires naming the respondents but does not mandate stating their addresses. The omission of private respondents’ addresses was treated as inadvertence because the counsel’s name and address were provided and petitioner served copies to respondents’ counsel. Because respondents wer

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