Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
FIRST DIVISION
G.R. No. 191388 March 9, 2011
ASIA UNITED BANK, CHRISTINE T. CHAN, and FLORANTE C. DEL MUNDO, Petitioners,
vs.
GOODLAND COMPANY, INC., Respondent.
D E C I S I O N
DEL CASTILLO, J.:
The costly consequence of forum shopping should remind the parties to ever be mindful against abusing court processes.
Before the Court is a Petition for Review1 under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court assailing the Decision2 dated June 5, 2009 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. CV No. 90114, as well as its Resolution3 dated February 17, 2010, which denied a reconsideration of the assailed Decision. The dispositive portion of the appellate court’s Decision reads:
WHEREFORE, the appeal is GRANTED and the appealed Order dated March 15, 2007 is REVERSED and SET ASIDE. In lieu thereof, another is entered ordering the DENIAL of appellee bank’s motion to dismiss and directing the REINSTATEMENT of appellant’s complaint as well as the REMAND of the case to the trial court for further proceedings.
SO ORDERED.4
Factual Antecedents
Respondent Goodland Company, Inc. (Goodland) executed a Third Party Real Estate Mortgage (REM) over two parcels of land located in the Municipality of Sta. Rosa, Laguna and covered by Transfer Certificates of Title (TCT) Nos. 3216725 and 3216736 in favor of petitioner Asia United Bank (AUB). The mortgage secured the obligation amounting to ₱250 million of Radiomarine Network, Inc. (RMNI), doing business as Smartnet Philippines, to AUB. The REM was duly registered on March 8, 2001 in the Registry of Deeds of Calamba, Laguna.7
Goodland then filed a Complaint8 docketed as Civil Case No. B-6242 before Branch 25 of the Regional Trial Court (RTC) of Biñan, Laguna for the annulment of the REM on the ground that the same was falsified and done in contravention of the parties’ verbal agreement (Annulment Case).
While the Annulment Case was pending, RMNI defaulted in the payment of its obligation to AUB, prompting the latter to exercise its right under the REM to extrajudicially foreclose the mortgage. It filed its Application for Extrajudicial Foreclosure of Real Estate Mortgage under Act No. 3135, as amended with the Office of the Executive Judge of the RTC of Biñan, Laguna on October 19, 2006.9 The mortgaged properties were sold in public auction to AUB as the highest bidder. It was issued a Certificate of Sale, which was registered with the Registry of Deeds of Calamba on November 23, 2006.
Before AUB could consolidate its title, Goodland filed on November 28, 2006 another Complaint10 docketed as Civil Case No. B-7110 before Branch 25 of the RTC of Biñan, Laguna, against AUB and its officers, petitioners Christine Chan and Florante del Mundo. This Complaint sought to annul the foreclosure sale and to enjoin the consolidation of title in favor of AUB (Injunction Case). Goodland asserted the alleged falsified nature of the REM as basis for its prayer for injunction.
A few days later, AUB consolidated its ownership over the foreclosed properties and obtained new titles, TCT Nos. T-65703111 and 657032,12in its name from the Registry of Deeds of Calamba.
Petitioners then filed on December 11, 2006 a Motion to Dismiss with Opposition to a Temporary Restraining Order in the Injunction Case.13 They brought to the trial court’s attention Goodland’s forum shopping given the pendency of the Annulment Case. They argued that the two cases both rely on the alleged falsification of the real estate mortgage as basis for the reliefs sought.
Ruling of the Regional Trial Court (Injunction Case)
On March 15, 2007, the trial court acted favorably on petitioners’ motion and dismissed the Injunction Case with prejudice on the grounds of forum shopping and litis pendentia.14 The trial court explained that the Injunction Case and the Annulment Case are both founded on the same transactions, same essential facts and circumstances, and raise substantially the same issues. The addition of the application for a writ of preliminary injunction does not vary the similarity between the two cases. The trial court further noted that Goodland could have prayed for injunctive relief as ancillary remedy in the Annulment Case. Finally, the trial court stated that any judgment in the Annulment Case regarding the validity of the REM would constitute res judicata on the Injunction Case.
Ruling of the Court of Appeals15 (Injunction Case)
Goodland appealed16 the same to the CA.
Meanwhile, AUB filed an Ex-Parte Application for Writ of Possession on December 18, 2006, which was granted on March 15, 2007. The writ was issued on March 26, 2007 and AUB obtained possession of the foreclosed properties on April 2, 2007.
On June 5, 2009, the CA promulgated its assailed Decision, which ruled in favor of Goodland and ordered the reinstatement of the Injunction Case in the trial court.17
The CA rejected petitioners’ contention that Goodland’s appeal raised pure questions of law,18 which are within the jurisdiction of the Supreme Court under Rule 45.19 Instead, it found Goodland’s Rule 41 appeal to be proper because it involved both questions of fact and of law. The CA held that a question of fact existed because petitioners themselves questioned in their Brief the veracity of Goodland’s Certification of Non-Forum Shopping.20
The CA conceded that Goodland’s Brief failed to comply with the formal requirements, which are all grounds for the dismissal of the appeal,21 e.g., failure of the appellant to serve and file the required number of copies of its brief on all appellees and absence of page references to the record. However, it relaxed the rules so as to completely resolve the rights and obligations of the parties. The CA, however, warned Goodland that its future lapses will be dealt with more severely.22
The CA further ruled against petitioners’ argument that the delivery of the foreclosed properties to AUB’s possession has rendered Goodland’s appeal moot. It explained that the Injunction Appeal involving the annulment of extrajudicial foreclosure sale can proceed independently of petitioners’ application for a writ of possession.23
The CA then concluded that Goodland was not guilty of forum shopping when it initiated the Annulment and Injunction Cases. The CA held that the reliefs sought in the two cases were different. The Annulment Case sought the nullification of the real estate mortgage, while the Injunction Case sought the nullification of the foreclosure proceedings as well as to enjoin the consolidation of title in favor of petitioners.24 The CA further held that aside from the difference in reliefs sought, the two cases were independent of each other because the facts or evidence that supported their respective causes of action were different. The acts which gave rise to the Injunction Case (i.e., the extrajudicial foreclosure proceedings) occurred long after the filing of the Annulment Case.25
The appellate court also held that any decision in either case will not constitute res judicata on the other. It explained that the validity of the real estate mortgage has no "automatic bearing" on the validity of the extrajudicial foreclosure proceedings.26
Moreover, according to the CA, the fact that Goodland stated in its Certification of Non-Forum Shopping in the Injunction Case that the Annulment Case was pending belied the existence of forum shopping.27
Petitioners filed a Motion for Reconsideration28 on July 2, 2009, which was denied in the assailed Resolution of February 17, 2010.29
Hence, the instant petition.
Ruling in G.R. No. 190231 (Annulment Case)
Contemporaneously with the proceedings of the Injunction Case, the earlier Annulment Case (Civil Case No. B-6242) was also dismissed by the trial court on the ground of forum shopping on August 16, 2007.30
Goodland filed an appeal31 of the dismissal to the CA, which appeal was granted. The CA ordered on August 11, 2009 the reinstatement of the Annulment Case in the trial court.32
AUB then filed with this Court a Petition for Review,33 docketed as G.R. No. 190231 and entitled Asia United Bank and Abraham Co v. Goodland Company, Inc.
On December 8, 2010, the Court’s First Division reversed the CA ruling and resolved the appeal in AUB’s favor.34 The sole issue resolved by the Court was whether Goodland committed willful and deliberate forum shopping by filing Civil Case Nos. B-6242 (Annulment Case) and B-7110 (Injunction Case).lavvphil The Court ruled that Goodland committed forum shopping because both cases asserted non-consent to the mortgage as the only basis for seeking the nullification of the REM, as well as the injunction of the foreclosure. When Goodland did not notify the trial court of the subsequent filing of the injunction complaint, Goodland revealed its "furtive intent to conceal the filing of Civil Case No. B-7110 for the purpose of securing a favorable judgment." Thus, the Court concluded that the trial court was correct in dismissing the annulment case with prejudice. The dispositive portion of the said Resolution reads as follows:
WHEREFORE, the petition is hereby GRANTED. The August 11, 2009 decision and November 10, 2009 resolution of the Court of Appeals in CA-GR CV No. 9126[9] are REVERSED and SET ASIDE. The August 16, 2007 and December 5, 2007 orders of the Regional Trial Court of Biñan, Laguna, Branch 25 in Civil Case No. B-6242 are REINSTATED.35
Goodland filed a Motion for Reconsideration36 but the same was denied with finality in the Court’s Resolution dated January 19, 2011.
Issue37
The parties present several issues for the Court’s resolution. Most of these address the procedural infirmities that attended Goodland’s appeal to the CA, making such appeal improper and dismissible. The crux of the case, however, lies in the issue of whether the successive filing of the Annulment and Injunction Cases constitute forum shopping.
Petitioners’ Arguments
Petitioners maintain that Goodland is guilty of forum shopping because it sought in the Annulment Case to annul the REM on the ground that it was falsified and unlawfully filled-out; while in the Injunction Case, Goodland wanted to nullify the foreclosure sale arising from the same REM on the ground that the REM was falsified and unlawfully filled-out. Clearly, Goodland’s complaints rise and fall on the issue of whether the REM is valid. This requires the presentation of the same evidence in the Annulment and Injunction Cases.38
Goodland’s Arguments
Goodland counters that it did not commit forum shopping because the causes of action for the Injunction and Annulment Cases are different. The Annulment Case is for the annulment of REM; while the Injunction Case is for the annulment of the extrajudicial foreclosure sale. Goodland argues that any judgment in the Annulment Case, regardless of which party is successful, would not amount to res judicata in the Injunction Case.39
Our Ruling
We grant the petition.
There is forum shopping "when a party repetitively avails of several judicial remedies in different courts, simultaneously or successively, all substantially founded on the same transactions and the same essential facts and circumstances, and all raising substantially the same issues either pending in or already resolved adversely by some other court."40 The different ways by which forum shopping may be committed were explained in Chua v. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company:41
Forum shopping can be committed in three ways: (1) filing multiple cases based on the same cause of action and with the same prayer, the previous case not having been resolved yet (where the ground for dismissal is litis pendentia); (2) filing multiple cases based on the same cause of action and the same prayer, the previous case having been finally resolved (where the ground for dismissal is res judicata); and (3) filing multiple cases based on the same cause of action, but with different prayers (splitting causes of action, where the ground for dismissal is also either litis pendentia or res judicata).
Common in these types of forum shopping is the identity of the cause of action in the different cases filed. Cause of action is defined as "the act or omission by which a party violates the right of another."42
The cause of action in the earlier Annulment Case is the alleged nullity of the REM (due to its allegedly falsified or spurious nature) which is allegedly violative of Goodland’s right to the mortgaged property. It serves as the basis for the prayer for the nullification of the REM. The Injunction Case involves the same cause of action, inasmuch as it also invokes the nullity of the REM as the basis for the prayer for the nullification of the extrajudicial foreclosure and for injunction against consolidation of title. While the main relief sought in the Annulment Case (nullification of the REM) is ostensibly different from the main relief sought in the Injunction Case (nullification of the extrajudicial foreclosure and injunction against consolidation of title), the cause of action which serves as the basis for the said reliefs remains the same — the alleged nullity of the REM. Thus, what is involved here is the third way of committing forum shopping, i.e., filing multiple cases based on the same cause of action, but with different prayers. As previously held by the Court, there is still forum shopping even if the reliefs prayed for in the two cases are different, so long as both cases raise substantially the same issues.43
There can be no determination of the validity of the extrajudicial foreclosure and the propriety of injunction in the Injunction Case without necessarily ruling on the validity of the REM, which is already the subject of the Annulment Case. The identity of the causes of action in the two cases entails that the validity of the mortgage will be ruled upon in both, and creates a possibility that the two rulings will conflict with each other. This is precisely what is sought to be avoided by the rule against forum shopping.
The substantial identity of the two cases remains even if the parties should add different grounds or legal theories for the nullity of the REM or should alter the designation or form of the action. The well-entrenched rule is that "a party cannot, by varying the form of action, or adopting a different method of presenting his case, escape the operation of the principle that one and the same cause of action shall not be twice litigated."44
The CA ruled that the two cases are different because the events that gave rise to them are different. The CA rationalized that the Annulment Case was brought about by the execution of a falsified document, while the Injunction Case arose from AUB’s foreclosure based on a falsified document. The distinction is illusory. The cause of action for both cases is the alleged nullity of the REM due to its falsified or spurious nature. It is this nullity of the REM which Goodland sought to establish in the Annulment Case. It is also this nullity of the REM which Goodland asserted in the Injunction Case as basis for seeking to nullify the foreclosure and enjoin the consolidation of title. Clearly, the trial court cannot decide the Injunction Case without ruling on the validity of the mortgage, which issue is already within the jurisdiction of the trial court in the Annulment Case.
The recent development in Asia United Bank v. Goodland Company, Inc.,45 which involved substantially the same parties and the same issue is another reason for Goodland’s loss in the instant case. The issue that Goodland committed deliberate forum shopping when it successively filed the Annulment and Injunction Cases against AUB and its officers was decided with finality therein. This ruling is conclusive on the petitioners and Goodland considering that they are substantially the same parties in that earlier case.
Given our ruling above that the Injunction Case ought to be dismissed for forum shopping, there is no need to rule further on the procedural infirmities raised by petitioners against Goodland’s appeal.
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the Petition is GRANTED. The June 5, 2009 Decision of the Court of Appeals and its February 17, 2010 Resolution in CA-G.R. CV No. 90114 are hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE. The March 15, 2007 Order of Branch 25 of the Regional Trial Court of Biñan, Laguna DISMISSING Civil Case No. B-7110 is hereby REINSTATED and AFFIRMED.
SO ORDERED.
MARIANO C. DEL CASTILLO
Associate Justice
WE CONCUR:
RENATO C. CORONA
Chief Justice
Chairperson
PRESBITERO J. VELASCO, JR.
Associate Justice |
TERESITA J. LEONARDO-DE CASTRO
Associate Justice |
JOSE PORTUGAL PEREZ
Associate Justice
C E R T I F I C A T I O N
Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII of the Constitution, and the Division Chairperson's attestation, it is hereby certified that the conclusions in the above Decision had been reached in consultation before the case was assigned to the writer of the opinion of the Court’s Division.
RENATO C. CORONA
Chief Justice
Footnotes
1 Rollo of G.R. No. 191388, pp. 44-95. The prayer of the petition reads:
WHEREFORE, petitioners respectfully pray that this Honorable Court REVERSE and SET ASIDE the assailed Decision dated 5 June 2009 and Resolution dated 17 February 2010 issued by the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 90114, and in lieu thereof, REINSTATE the Order dated 15 March 2007 of the Regional Trial Court of Biñan, Laguna, Branch 25, in Civil Case No. B-7110.
Petitioners pray for such further or other reliefs as may be deemed just or equitable. (Petition, p. 50; id. at 93).
2 Id. at 9-25; penned by Associate Justice Rebecca De Guia-Salvador and concurred in by Associate Justices Japar B. Dimaampao and Sixto C. Marella, Jr.
3 Id. at 27-32; penned by Associate Justice Rebecca De Guia-Salvador and concurred in by Associate Justices Japar B. Dimaampao and Normandie B. Pizzaro.
4 Id. at 24.
5 Id. at 516-520.
6 Id. at 521-525.
7 Id. at 518, 523.
8 Id. at 256-271.
9 Id. at 502-505.
10 Id. at 282-306.
11 Id. at 599-602.
12 Id. at 603-606.
13 Id. at 370-431.
14 Id. at 916-917. The dispositive portion of the trial court’s Order states:
WHEREFORE, finding the Motion to Dismiss filed by the defendants to be meritorious and well-taken, the same is hereby GRANTED. Consequently, the above-entitled case is hereby ordered DISMISSED, with prejudice.
No costs.
SO ORDERED. (Id. at 917; penned by Acting Presiding Judge Romeo C. De Leon.)
15 Id. at 9-25.
16 Id. at 958- 993.
17 Id. at 9-25.
18 Rules of Court, Rule 50, Section 2. Dismissal of improper appeal to the Court of Appeals. – An appeal under Rule 41 taken from the Regional Trial Court to the Court of Appeals raising only questions of law shall be dismissed, issues purely of law not being reviewable by said court. x x x
An appeal erroneously taken to the Court of Appeals shall not be transferred to the appropriate court but shall be dismissed outright.
19 Rules of Court, Rule 41, Section 2. Modes of Appeal. –
(a) Ordinary appeal. – x x x
(b) Petition for review. – x x x
(c) Appeal by certiorari. – In all cases where only questions of law are raised or involved, the appeal shall be to the Supreme Court by petition for review on certiorari in accordance with Rule 45.
20 Rollo of G.R. No. 191388, pp. 15-16.
21 Rules of Court, Rule 50, Section 1. Grounds for dismissal of appeal. – An appeal may be dismissed by the Court of Appeals, on its own motion or on that of the appellee, on the following grounds:
x x x x
(e) Failure of the appellant to serve and file the required number of copies of his brief or memorandum within the time provided by these Rules;
(f) Absence x x x of page references to the record as required in section 13, paragraphs (a), (c), (d) and (f) of Rule 44.
22 Rollo of G.R. No. 191388, p. 16.
23 Id. at 17.
24 Id. at 18-22.
25 Id. at 22.
26 Id. at 22-23.
27 Id. at 24.
28 Id. at 123-158.
29 Id. at 27-32.
30 Id. at 1069-1074; penned by Presiding Judge Teodoro N. Solis.
31 Id. at 1078-1105.
32 Rollo of G.R. No. 190231, pp. 40-51; penned by Associate Justice Juan Q. Enriquez, Jr. and concurred in by Associate Justices Celia C. Librea-Leagogo and Antonio L. Villamor.
33 Id. at 3-38.
34 Id. at 584-592.
35 Id. at 591.
36 Id. at 593-611.
37 Rollo of G.R. No. 191388, p. 60.
38 Id. at 67-81.
39 Id. at 1486.
40 Chua v. Metropolitan Bank & Trust Company, G.R. No. 182311, August 19, 2009, 596 SCRA 524, 535.
41 Id. at 535-536.
42 Rules of Court, Rule 2, Section 2.
43 See Prubankers Association v. Prudential Bank and Trust Company, 361 Phil. 744, 756 (1999).
44 Ramos v. Pangasinan Transportation Company, Inc., 169 Phil. 172, 179 (1977).
45 G.R. No. 190231, supra note 34.
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