Title
Dasmarinas Village Association, Inc. vs. Court of Appeals
Case
G.R. No. 127276
Decision Date
Dec 3, 1998
A dispute arose between Colegio San Agustin and Dasmariñas Village Association over membership dues and access policies, leading to two separate legal cases. The Supreme Court ruled that litis pendentia and forum-shopping did not apply, as the cases involved distinct causes of action and facts.
membership dues
access to the village
legal battle
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. 127276)

Factual Background: Agreements on “Special Membership” and Dues

Private respondent operated a school within the premises of Dasmarinas Village since 1969. Under the village by-laws, it was exempted from paying village dues, and the arrangement was embodied in those by-laws. Later, petitioner, as the residents association, inquired whether private respondent wished to become a “special member” by assuming the corresponding responsibility of paying “membership dues” in lieu of regular residents’ dues. To promote harmonious relations, private respondent agreed.

In 1975, petitioner informed private respondent that it was increasing its membership dues by twenty-five (25%) percent, and private respondent acceded to the increase. On December 5, 1988, private respondent proposed that it be assessed permanent “membership dues” equivalent to 50% of the village dues collectible from residents. Petitioner accepted the proposal. From 1988 to 1991, both parties complied with this arrangement, including the application of the 50% basis for membership dues.

Events Leading to the First Case: Alleged Breach of the Agreed Dues and Access Rules

In 1992, petitioner sent private respondent an assessment of P550,000 with the notation “No Discount for 1992.” Private respondent protested and demanded that the agreed 50% assessment be observed pursuant to their earlier agreement. Petitioners ignored the protest. Petitioners further prohibited access to some village gates to vehicles bearing private respondent’s stickers, thereby causing inconvenience to parents who fetched their children. Petitioners also implemented a security measure barring entry of those vehicles after 6:00 p.m., regardless of who needed to transact business with private respondent after that hour.

Civil Case No. 94-2062: Declaratory Relief, Damages, and Injunction

Concerned by the acts of petitioner, private respondent filed on June 24, 1994 a petition for “Declaratory Relief and Damages with Preliminary Injunction” with the Regional Trial Court of Makati, Branch 39, docketed as Civil Case No. 94-2062, together with an amended petition seeking, among others, determination of the proper amount due as membership dues and an injunction against the alleged unreasonable security policy.

On September 21, 1994, petitioner moved to dismiss on the ground of lack of legal merit. The trial court granted the motion and dismissed the petition. The dispositive portion read that the motion to dismiss was granted and the petition dismissed, without pronouncement as to costs.

Private respondent appealed the dismissal to the Court of Appeals on December 16, 1994, docketed as CA-G.R. CV No. 48733.

Civil Case No. 95-1396: Denial of Vehicle Entry During Review Classes

While the first appeal was pending, a further incident occurred on September 9, 1995, when private respondent was scheduled to conduct review classes preparatory to the NEAT and NSAT. On the morning of the scheduled date, petitioner denied entry to all vehicles going to private respondent’s campus. Petitioner also informed persons that unless they had the regular DVA sticker, they would be barred from entering the village premises throughout the review period.

To address this, private respondent filed on September 13, 1995 a complaint for “injunction and damages” with the Regional Trial Court of Makati, Branch 66, docketed as Civil Case No. 95-1396. On September 25, 1995, petitioner moved for dismissal, invoking: (a) the existence of another action involving the same parties for the same cause; and (b) violation of the anti-forum-shopping rule.

Trial Court’s Denial of the Motion to Dismiss in Civil Case No. 95-1396

On October 16, 1995, the trial court issued an order denying petitioners’ motion to dismiss, admitted the supplemental complaint, and proceeded with the case.

Petitioner elevated the order to the Court of Appeals through a petition for review, but the Court of Appeals dismissed the petition. The appellate court reasoned that litis pendentia did not exist between Civil Case No. 94-2062 and Civil Case No. 95-1396. It stressed that the captions did not show identity of parties in the required sense and that the causes of action were different: Civil Case No. 94-2062 concerned declaratory relief and damages tied to the proper amount of membership dues and related acts, while Civil Case No. 95-1396 concerned injunction and damages arising from the September 9, 1995 denial of entry during review classes. The Court of Appeals thus ruled that the requisites for litis pendentia were not met and dismissed the petition for lack of merit.

Parties’ Arguments in the Present Petition

Petitioner pursued the instant petition on the decisive issue of whether Civil Case No. 95-1396 should have been barred by Civil Case No. 94-2062 on the ground of litis pendentia. Petitioners also relied on the premise that private respondent’s filing of the second case constituted forum-shopping, given the supposed overlap between the two actions.

The Court required scrutiny of litis pendentia doctrine and, consistent with that doctrine, evaluated whether the requisites for abatement were present.

Doctrine on Litis Pendentia and Splitting of a Single Cause of Action

The Court reiterated that when a party-litigant splits a single cause of action, the other action may be dismissed based on litis pendentia, pursuant to Sec. 1(e), Rule 16 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, in relation to Sec. 4, Rule 2. Sec. 4, Rule 2 provides that if two or more suits are instituted on the basis of the same cause of action, filing of one suit or judgment upon the merits in any one may be a ground for dismissal of the others. The Court noted that the second case should generally be abated under the priority and time rule, as a policy against multiplicity of suits.

Still, the Court emphasized that for litis pendentia to exist, the following requisites must concur: (one) identity of parties or parties representing the same interests; (two) identity of rights asserted and reliefs prayed for, founded on the same facts; and (three) such identity in the first two particulars that any judgment in the pending case would amount to res judicata in the other.

Analysis: Requisites of Litis Pendentia Were Not Present

On the first requisite, the Court held that both cases involved the same essential parties in interest. Civil Case No. 94-2062 had plaintiffs San Agustin College Inc., Colegio San Agustin Parents Association, and Colegio San Agustin Administrative Staff Association, with defendant Dasmarinas Village Association, Inc. Civil Case No. 95-1396 had plaintiff Colegio San Agustin Inc. and defendants including Dasmarinas Village Inc. and named individuals. The Court recognized that addition or elimination of parties did not change the assessment where the parties and interests were materially the same.

The Court, however, found that the other requisites failed.

With respect to identity of rights and reliefs, the Court examined the pleadings’ core content. It held that Civil Case No. 94-2062 challenged petitioners’ arbitrary acts: increasing membership fees beyond the prescribed rate and prohibiting access to some village gates without petitioners’ stickers. The Court stated that private respondent argued those measures violated agreements entered between 1969 to 1989, and thus sought to enjoin petitioner from enforcing or increasing membership dues and to require that vehicles with private respondent’s sticker be accorded the same schedule given to village residents.

By contrast, Civil Case No. 95-1396 related to a distinct incident on September 9, 1995, when petitioner denied vehicles entry to private respondent’s campus to participate in ongoing review classes. The Court noted that petitioner had earlier approved, on August 28, 1995, a request allowing unhampered vehicular movement during specific review dates. The Court characterized the issue in Civil Case No. 95-1396 as the prejudice and alleged damages suffered because petitioner allegedly disregarded that prior approval by barring review participants’ vehicles absent DVA stickers.

The Court therefore concluded that the two cases arose from different acts and causes of action. The crux of Civil Case No. 94-2062 was petitioners’ alleged failure to abide by stipulations regarding private respondent’s “special member” status and the associated terms and conditions. The crux of Civil Case No. 95-1396 was the damages and injunctive relief sought for alleged denial of entry to review participants’ vehicles based on the events of September 9, 1995.

The Court also held that the third requisite was absent. A judgment in Civil Case No. 94-2062, which turned on petitioners’ alleged violation of the agreement involving membership dues as of earlier periods, would not amount to res judicata in Civil Case No. 95-1396, which concerned petitioners’ alleged wrongful refusal to permit entry of review participants during the August 28, 1995-approved dates. Similarly, a judgment in the second case would not bar the first. The Court thus found no identity sufficient for res judicata effects to support lit

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