Title
Multinational Village Homeowners' Association, Inc. vs. Gacutan
Case
G.R. No. 188307
Decision Date
Aug 2, 2017
Election dispute between 2004 and 2005 MVHAI directors; HLURB and OP rulings clarified; 2007 election upheld as valid, ending hold-over tenure.

Case Summary (G.R. No. 188307)

Key Dates and Procedural Landmarks

  • January 23, 2005: MVHAI annual election (resulted in the 2005 group claiming victory).
  • March 10/27 (variously cited as March 10/10 March) 2005: HLURB–NCRFO Decision invalidating the January 23, 2005 election and ordering petitioners to relinquish office and for an Ad Hoc/Election Committee to be constituted.
  • October 13, 2005: HLURB–BoC reversed NCRFO and declared the 2005 election valid.
  • May 16, 2006: OP Decision reinstating HLURB–NCRFO (i.e., setting aside HLURB–BoC) — declared final and executory thereafter.
  • July 18, 2006: OP Resolution declaring its May 16, 2006 Decision final and executory.
  • April 2, 2007 and June 18, 2007: OP Clarificatory Resolution and denial of partial reconsideration (the Clarificatory Resolution directed the 2004 BOD to call/conduct an election within 30 days, HLURB to supervise, and allowed the 2004 BOD to manage daily operations pending election).
  • August 12, 2007: Election supervised by HLURB–NCRFO resulting in constitution of the 2007 BOD.
  • February 27, 2009: CA Decision granting certiorari, nullifying the OP Clarificatory Resolution and all elections after March 10, 2005, and directing enforcement of the OP May 16, 2006 Decision.
  • Petition for Review under Rule 45 to the Supreme Court (decision summarized herein).

Applicable law: 1987 Philippine Constitution (per instructions for decisions dated 1990 or later), Rules of Court (Rules 43 and 65), HLURB resolutions and rules in force at the time (HLURB Res. No. 770-04; HLURB Res. No. R-771-04), Republic Act No. 9904 (Magna Carta for Homeowners) and its Implementing Rules and Regulations (IRR) referenced by the Court, and controlling jurisprudence cited in the decision.

Issues Presented

  1. Whether the Court of Appeals erred in reconsidering its initial dismissal and reinstating the Petition for Certiorari to review the OP Clarificatory Resolution and the June 18, 2007 Resolution despite their finality.
  2. Whether the Court of Appeals erred in declaring that the OP Clarificatory Resolution and the June 18, 2007 Resolution modified the dispositive portion of the HLURB–NCRFO Decision dated March 10, 2005 (reinstated by OP May 16, 2006), thereby violating the immutability of final judgments.
  3. Whether the Court of Appeals erred in invalidating all elections conducted during the pendency of the litigation.

Procedural and Factual Background (Concise)

A faction (respondents, the 2004 BOD) resisted the outcome of the January 23, 2005 election, alleging procedural defects; HLURB–NCRFO nullified the 2005 election and ordered petitioners to relinquish office. HLURB–BoC reversed, declaring the 2005 election valid; OP reinstated the NCRFO decision. Execution writs followed and multiple elections were held thereafter (including August 12, 2007) under HLURB supervision pursuant to OP clarifications. Respondents sought certiorari in the CA to annul the OP Clarificatory Resolution and related orders. The CA granted certiorari and nullified the Clarificatory Resolution and all elections after the March 2005 HLURB–NCRFO decision. Petitioners elevated the matter to the Supreme Court via Rule 45.

Legal Standards on Remedy and Review

  • Appeals from final orders of quasi-judicial agencies ordinarily proceed under Rule 43 (verified petition for review to the CA within 15 days).
  • Where the assailed administrative order is alleged to exhibit grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction (e.g., substantial modification of a decision already final and executory), the proper remedy is certiorari under Rule 65 because the claim raises jurisdictional error, not mere error of judgment (Fortich v. Corona and related authority).
  • Final and executory judgments are generally immutable; exceptions include clerical errors, nunc pro tunc entries that cause no prejudice, and void judgments. Clarificatory amendments are permissible to remedy ambiguity or omission in the dispositive portion when supported by the body of the decision and pleadings.

Court’s Determination on Proper Remedy

The Supreme Court held that certiorari is the proper remedy where a petition alleges that the administrative agency (OP) committed grave abuse of discretion by substantially modifying a final and executory decision. The Court distinguished between an error of judgment (appealable under Rule 43) and an error of jurisdiction (properly attacked by certiorari). The Court agreed with the respondents that certiorari was an appropriate mode of review where jurisdictional questions (i.e., a claimed modification of a final decision) are at issue.

Analysis: Whether OP Clarificatory Resolution Modified a Final Decision

  • The Court analyzed the dispositive parts of the HLURB–NCRFO Decision (March 10, 2005) and the OP Clarificatory Resolution (April 2, 2007) to determine whether the latter modified the former. Two principal components of the NCRFO dispositive were: (a) order to petitioners to relinquish office and turn over clubhouse/records to the former BOD, and (b) an instruction to constitute an Ad Hoc/Election Committee to call and hold elections.
  • The Court found that the OP Clarificatory Resolution did not amend or delete substantive parts of the NCRFO dispositive but clarified ambiguities and supplied operational detail: it explicitly directed the 2004 BOD to call, conduct, and proclaim winners within 30 days; it authorized HLURB to supervise the election; it allowed the 2004 BOD to manage daily operations pending election; and it required winners to assume office immediately upon proclamation.
  • The alleged omission in the Clarificatory Resolution of the literal, word-for-word directive ordering petitioners to relinquish the clubhouse and records did not amount to deletion or substantive modification because the Clarificatory Resolution’s recognition of the 2004 BOD’s authority to manage daily operations necessarily implied the power to exercise custody and control. The Court cited jurisprudence (e.g., UPSI Property Holdings, Republic Surety) supporting the principle that a judgment’s effect extends beyond the literal words of its dispositive part to what is necessarily included or logically follows.

Nunc pro tunc and Immutability Considerations

  • Even assuming the Clarificatory Resolution effected a modification, the Court held such a modification would qualify as a nunc pro tunc clarification — an exception to the immutability doctrine — because it merely placed on record what the prior decision necessarily intended and caused no prejudice to the parties.
  • The Clarificatory Resolution primarily set a 30-day timeline for compliance and otherwise reiterated or clarified directives already implicit in the HLURB–NCRFO Decision and the OP’s own May 16, 2006 reinstatement. The Court concluded the Clarificatory Resolution was valid as either a permissible clarification or a lawful nunc pro tunc entry.

Validity of Elections Conducted During Pendency

  • The Court distinguished the nullity of the January 23, 2005 election (expressly invalidated by HLURB–NCRFO and reinstated by OP) from later elections held under HLURB supervision pursuant to the OP Clarificatory Resolution and HLURB orders.
  • The August 12, 2007 election (and subsequent supervised elections in 2009 referenced in the record) were found lawful because they were conducted pursuant to the HLURB–NCRFO/HLURB–BoC implementation of the OP Clarificatory Resolution; parties had notice and the HLURB supervised pre-election proceedings. Respondents’ refusal to participate did not render those elections void.
  • The Court rejected the CA’s broad nullification of all elections after March 10, 2005, holding instead that only the 2005 election was void as previously declared; subsequent elections conducted under HLURB supervision pursuant to the OP Clarificatory Resolution were valid.

Hold-over Doctrine and Duration of Hold-over Service

  • The Court invoked HLURB Resolution Nos. 770-04 and R-771-04 to explain the hold-over concept: directors may continue to serve in a hold-over capacity pending the election and qualification of successors, subject to HLURB rules and authority to order elections.
  • The Court emphasized that the hold-over period is distinct from the original term: the term is fixed (one year under the

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