Title
Vda. de Jison vs. Court of Appeals
Case
G.R. No. L-8454
Decision Date
Apr 13, 1956
Dispute over land adjudication in Sagay, Negros Occidental; petitioners' appeal deemed timely by Supreme Court, mandamus granted to approve joint record on appeal.
appeal
joint record on appeal
appeal bond
A

Case Summary (G.R. No. L-44628)

Factual Background

On October 17, 1952, the Court of First Instance rendered decision, as penned by Judge Lorenzo C. Garlitos, adjudicating the questioned lots to respondents Dominador and Visitacion Lacson. Petitioners, as claimants of those lots, received notice of the decision on November 17, 1952. Petitioners then served their notice of appeal on December 8, 1952.

On December 12, 1952, petitioners requested permission to file a joint record on appeal. Because Judge Garlitos was on leave during Christmas of 1952, the request was not acted upon until January 10, 1953, when Judge Garlitos issued an order authorizing petitioners “to file and submit for approval a joint record on appeal within the reglementary period as required by law.” Petitioners’ counsel received a copy of the order on February 19, 1953. Petitioners filed the joint record on appeal and the corresponding appeal bond immediately thereafter, on February 20, 1953.

Dominador and Visitacion Lacson later objected to the approval of the joint record on appeal and moved for the dismissal of petitioners’ appeal on the ground that the joint record and appeal bond were filed beyond the reglementary period. Judge Garlitos denied the objection in an order dated April 23, 1953.

Judge Garlitos later ceased to preside the Court of First Instance. Respondent Judge Francisco Arellano, to whom the case was reassigned, reconsidered and dismissed the appeal upon motion of Dominador and Visitacion Lacson. Petitioners then filed the present petition for mandamus in the Court of Appeals to compel the respondent judge to approve and certify the joint record on appeal.

Court of Appeals Proceedings

The Court of Appeals dismissed the mandamus petition and assessed costs against petitioners. The Supreme Court noted that the Court of Appeals appeared to have been under an erroneous impression regarding the date when petitioners’ motion for permission to file the joint record on appeal was filed. The Court of Appeals decision stated that on January 10, 1953 petitioners filed their motion seeking authority to file the joint record on appeal together with other appellants. The Supreme Court observed that this narration was inaccurate because the record and respondents’ admissions showed that the motion had been filed on December 12, 1952. The Supreme Court also pointed out that the Court of Appeals decision inaccurately stated that petitioners gave notice of intention to appeal on December 12, 1952, whereas the record showed, and respondents admitted, that notice of appeal was filed earlier on December 8, 1952.

The Parties’ Contentions

Respondents contended that petitioners’ appeal was not perfected on time. They argued that filing the motion on December 12, 1952 did not suspend the running of the period to perfect the appeal. They further argued that petitioners did not seek an extension in that motion. They maintained that Judge Garlitos’s January 10, 1953 order merely authorized filing of the joint record on appeal “within the reglementary period,” which, in respondents’ view, expired on December 17, 1952; hence, petitioners were required to file the joint record on appeal on or before that date.

Petitioners countered that they could not have filed the joint record on appeal after December 12, 1952 and before receiving notice of the January 10, 1953 order granting authority to file and submit the joint record on appeal. They also maintained that, in light of the circumstances, their appeal had been seasonably perfected.

Supreme Court’s Analysis of Timeliness and Discretion

The Supreme Court treated the governing facts as materially undisputed and found that the Court of Appeals’ key premise was mistaken. The Supreme Court reasoned that petitioners filed their motion for permission on December 12, 1952, which was five (5) days before the expiration of the reglementary period to perfect the appeal. The notice of appeal was recorded four (4) days before, or on December 8, 1952. Accordingly, the joint record on appeal and bond were filed immediately after petitioners received notice of the January 10, 1953 order that authorized submission of the joint record on appeal within the reglementary period.

In addressing respondents’ position that the motion did not suspend the period and that petitioners should have filed on or before December 17, 1952, the Supreme Court emphasized practical and fairness considerations. It held that if respondents’ theory required petitioners to assume unfavorable action on their motion, then petitioners likewise were not entitled to assume that their motion would necessarily be denied. Thus, petitioners could not be said to be under a legal obligation to file the joint record on appeal while the court’s authority to file a joint record was pending. The Supreme Court also underscored that whether a joint record on appeal would be authorized was addressed principally to the trial court’s sound discretion, to be exercised in light of the case’s circumstances.

The Supreme Court relied heavily on Judge Garlitos’s April 23, 1953 order explaining why extensions were granted and why the delay was attributable to burdens in the particular cadastral proceedings. Judge Garlitos described the “shuttling back and forth” of voluminous case records between Bacolod City and Escalante, Negros Occidental, and the resulting inconvenience to counsel in Bacolod City due to the distance of 102 kilometers. He also referenced that the cadastral case involved reconstitution of records destroyed during the war and the hearing of many witnesses, which made the record voluminous and necessitated a longer period for preparation of the joint record on appeal. Judge Garlitos stated that, acting within the bounds of both justice and equity and in the exercise of sound discretion, the court had to be liberal in granting extensions to enable the parties to file their records on appeal.

The Supreme Court further noted that the record reflected similar discretionary practice: other heirs, such as those of Raymundo Tupas, had sought and been granted extension before the expiration of the original period to file their record on appeal. Judge Garlitos’s narrative also explained that, after petitioners’ motion for a joint record on appeal was filed on December 12, 1952, the court resolved the petition on January 10, 1953 and autho

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