Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Jazzie Sarona-Lozare) 1
1ST EXAM COVERAGE COMPILATION OF CASES
COMMODATUM
PAJUYO v. CA
Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
FIRST DIVISION
G.R. No. 146364
June 3, 2004
DECISION
stands because the lot is within the 150 hectares set aside
by Proclamation No. 137 for socialized housing. Guevarra
pointed out that from December 1985 to September 1994,
Pajuyo did not show up or communicate with him. Guevarra
insisted that neither he nor Pajuyo has valid title to the lot.
On 15 December 1995, the MTC rendered its decision in
favor of Pajuyo. The dispositive portion of the MTC decision
reads:
WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby
rendered for the plaintiff and against defendant, ordering the
latter to:
A) vacate the house and lot occupied by the defendant or
any other person or persons claiming any right under him;
B) pay unto plaintiff the sum of THREE HUNDRED PESOS
(P300.00) monthly as reasonable compensation for the use
of the premises starting from the last demand;
C) pay plaintiff the sum of P3,000.00 as and by way of
attorneys fees; and
CARPIO, J.:
The Case
SO ORDERED.7
Aggrieved, Guevarra appealed to the Regional Trial Court of
Quezon City, Branch 81 ("RTC").
On 11 November 1996, the RTC affirmed the MTC decision.
The dispositive portion of the RTC decision reads:
The Antecedents
In June 1979, petitioner Colito T. Pajuyo ("Pajuyo") paid
P400 to a certain Pedro Perez for the rights over a 250square meter lot in Barrio Payatas, Quezon City. Pajuyo then
constructed a house made of light materials on the lot.
Pajuyo and his family lived in the house from 1979 to 7
December 1985.
On 8 December 1985, Pajuyo and private respondent Eddie
Guevarra ("Guevarra") executed a Kasunduan or agreement.
Pajuyo, as owner of the house, allowed Guevarra to live in
the house for free provided Guevarra would maintain the
cleanliness and orderliness of the house. Guevarra promised
that he would voluntarily vacate the premises on Pajuyos
demand.
In September 1994, Pajuyo informed Guevarra of his need of
the house and demanded that Guevarra vacate the house.
Guevarra refused.
Pajuyo filed an ejectment case against Guevarra with the
Metropolitan Trial Court of Quezon City, Branch 31 ("MTC").
In his Answer, Guevarra claimed that Pajuyo had no valid
title or right of possession over the lot where the house
motion
for
SO ORDERED.12
The Ruling of the MTC
The MTC ruled that the subject of the agreement between
Pajuyo and Guevarra is the house and not the lot. Pajuyo is
the owner of the house, and he allowed Guevarra to use the
house only by tolerance. Thus, Guevarras refusal to vacate
the house on Pajuyos demand made Guevarras continued
possession of the house illegal.
The Ruling of the RTC
The RTC upheld the Kasunduan, which established the
landlord and tenant relationship between Pajuyo and
Guevarra. The terms of the Kasunduan bound Guevarra to
return possession of the house on demand.
The RTC rejected Guevarras claim of a better right under
Proclamation No. 137, the Revised National Government
Center Housing Project Code of Policies and other pertinent
The Issues
We are not persuaded.
Pajuyo raises the following issues for resolution:
WHETHER THE COURT OF APPEALS ERRED OR
ABUSED
ITS
AUTHORITY
AND
DISCRETION
TANTAMOUNT TO LACK OF JURISDICTION:
1) in GRANTING, instead of denying, Private Respondents
Motion for an Extension of thirty days to file petition for
review at the time when there was no more period to extend
as the decision of the Regional Trial Court had already
become final and executory.
2) in giving due course, instead of dismissing, private
respondents Petition for Review even though the
certification against forum-shopping was signed only by
counsel instead of by petitioner himself.
3) in ruling that the Kasunduan voluntarily entered into by the
parties was in fact a commodatum, instead of a Contract of
Lease as found by the Metropolitan Trial Court and in holding
that "the ejectment case filed against defendant-appellant is
without legal and factual basis".
4) in reversing and setting aside the Decision of the Regional
Trial Court in Civil Case No. Q-96-26943 and in holding that
the parties are in pari delicto being both squatters, therefore,
illegal occupants of the contested parcel of land.
5) in deciding the unlawful detainer case based on the socalled Code of Policies of the National Government Center
Housing Project instead of deciding the same under the
Kasunduan voluntarily executed by the parties, the terms
and conditions of which are the laws between themselves.13
The Ruling of the Court
The procedural issues Pajuyo is raising are baseless.
However, we find merit in the substantive issues Pajuyo is
submitting for resolution.
Procedural Issues
Pajuyo insists that the Court of Appeals should have
dismissed outright Guevarras petition for review because the
RTC decision had already become final and executory when
the appellate court acted on Guevarras motion for extension
to file the petition. Pajuyo points out that Guevarra had only
one day before the expiry of his period to appeal the RTC
decision. Instead of filing the petition for review with the
DECISION
CALLEJO, SR., J.:
This is a petition for review on certiorari of the Decision1 of
the Court of Appeals dated June 25, 1991 in CA-G.R. CV
No. 11791 and of its Resolution 2 dated May 5, 1994, denying
the motion for reconsideration of said decision filed by
petitioner Producers Bank of the Philippines.
Sometime in 1979, private respondent Franklin Vives was
asked by his neighbor and friend Angeles Sanchez to help
her friend and townmate, Col. Arturo Doronilla, in
incorporating his business, the Sterela Marketing and
Services ("Sterela" for brevity). Specifically, Sanchez asked
private respondent to deposit in a bank a certain amount of
money in the bank account of Sterela for purposes of its
incorporation. She assured private respondent that he could
withdraw his money from said account within a months time.
Private respondent asked Sanchez to bring Doronilla to their
house so that they could discuss Sanchezs request.3
On May 9, 1979, private respondent, Sanchez, Doronilla and
a certain Estrella Dumagpi, Doronillas private secretary, met
and discussed the matter. Thereafter, relying on the
assurances and representations of Sanchez and Doronilla,
private respondent issued a check in the amount of Two
Hundred Thousand Pesos (P200,000.00) in favor of Sterela.
III.
THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS ERRED IN
ADOPTING THE ENTIRE RECORDS OF THE REGIONAL
TRIAL COURT AND AFFIRMING THE JUDGMENT
IV.
V.
THE HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS ERRED IN
UPHOLDING THE DECISION OF THE LOWER COURT
THAT HEREIN PETITIONER BANK IS JOINTLY AND
SEVERALLY LIABLE WITH THE OTHER DEFENDANTS
FOR THE AMOUNT OF P200,000.00 REPRESENTING THE
SAVINGS ACCOUNT DEPOSIT, P50,000.00 FOR MORAL
DAMAGES, P50,000.00 FOR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES,
P40,000.00 FOR ATTORNEYS FEES AND THE COSTS OF
SUIT.11
Private respondent filed his Comment on September 23,
1994. Petitioner filed its Reply thereto on September 25,
1995. The Court then required private respondent to submit
a rejoinder to the reply. However, said rejoinder was filed
only on April 21, 1997, due to petitioners delay in furnishing
private respondent with copy of the reply12 and several
substitutions of counsel on the part of private respondent. 13
On January 17, 2001, the Court resolved to give due course
to the petition and required the parties to submit their
respective memoranda.14 Petitioner filed its memorandum on
April 16, 2001 while private respondent submitted his
memorandum on March 22, 2001.
Petitioner contends that the transaction between private
respondent and Doronilla is a simple loan (mutuum) since all
the elements of a mutuum are present: first, what was
delivered by private respondent to Doronilla was money, a
consumable thing; and second, the transaction was onerous
as Doronilla was obliged to pay interest, as evidenced by the
check issued by Doronilla in the amount of P212,000.00, or
P12,000 more than what private respondent deposited in
Sterelas bank account.15 Moreover, the fact that private
respondent sued his good friend Sanchez for his failure to
recover his money from Doronilla shows that the transaction
was not merely gratuitous but "had a business angle" to it.
Hence, petitioner argues that it cannot be held liable for the
return of private respondents P200,000.00 because it is not
privy to the transaction between the latter and Doronilla.16
It argues further that petitioners Assistant Manager, Mr. Rufo
Atienza, could not be faulted for allowing Doronilla to
withdraw from the savings account of Sterela since the latter
was the sole proprietor of said company. Petitioner asserts
that Doronillas May 8, 1979 letter addressed to the bank,
authorizing Mrs. Vives and Sanchez to open a savings
account for Sterela, did not contain any authorization for
EN BANC
G.R. No. L-8321
ARELLANO, C.J.:
Francisco Fontanilla and Andres Fontanilla were brothers.
Francisco Fontanilla acquired during his lifetime, on March
12, 1874, a lot in the center of the town of Laoag, the capital
of the Province of Ilocos Norte, the property having been
awarded to him through its purchase at a public auction held
by the alcalde mayor of that province. The lot has a frontage
of 120 meters and a depth of 15.
Nor did the decree of the lower court that ordered the sale
have the least influence in our previous decision to require
our making any finding in regard thereto, for, with or without
that decree, the Supreme Court had to decide the ownership
of the lot consistently with its titles and not in accordance
with the judicial acts or proceedings had prior to the setting
up of the issue in respect to the ownership of the property
that was the subject of the judicial decree.
He who has only the use of a thing cannot validly sell the
thing itself. The effect of the sale being a transfer of the
ownership of the thing, it is evident that he who has only the
mere use of the thing cannot transfer its ownership. The sale
of a thing effected by one who is not its owner is null and
void. The defendants never were the owners of the lot sold.
EN BANC
G.R. No. L-4150
TORRES, J.:
On the 1st of September, 1906, Felix de los Santos brought
suit against Agustina Jarra, the administratrix of the estate of
Magdaleno Jimenea, alleging that in the latter part of 1901
Jimenea borrowed and obtained from the plaintiff ten firstclass carabaos, to be used at the animal-power mill of his
hacienda during the season of 1901-2, without recompense
or remuneration whatever for the use thereof, under the sole
condition that they should be returned to the owner as soon
as the work at the mill was terminated; that Magdaleno
Jimenea, however, did not return the carabaos,
notwithstanding the fact that the plaintiff claimed their return
after the work at the mill was finished; that Magdaleno
Jimenea died on the 28th of October, 1904, and the
defendant herein was appointed by the Court of First
Instance of Occidental Negros administratrix of his estate
and she took over the administration of the same and is still
performing her duties as such administratrix; that the plaintiff
presented his claim to the commissioners of the estate of
Jimenea, within the legal term, for the return of the said ten
carabaos, but the said commissioners rejected his claim as
appears in their report; therefore, the plaintiff prayed that
judgment be entered against the defendant as administratrix
of the estate of the deceased, ordering her to return the ten
first-class carabaos loaned to the late Jimenea, or their
present value, and to pay the costs.
The defendant was duly summoned, and on the 25th of
September, 1906, she demurred in writing to the complaint
on the ground that it was vague; but on the 2d of October of
the same year, in answer to the complaint, she said that it
was true that the late Magdaleno Jimenea asked the plaintiff
to loan him ten carabaos, but that he only obtained three
The record discloses that it has been fully proven from the
testimony of a sufficient number of witnesses that the
plaintiff, Santos, sent in charge of various persons the ten
carabaos requested by his father-in-law, Magdaleno
Jimenea, in the two letters produced at the trial by the
plaintiff, and that Jimenea received them in the presence of
some of said persons, one being a brother of said Jimenea,
who saw the animals arrive at the hacienda where it was
proposed to employ them. Four died of rinderpest, and it is
for this reason that the judgment appealed from only deals
with six surviving carabaos.
The alleged purchase of three carabaos by Jimenea from his
son-in-law Santos is not evidenced by any trustworthy
documents such as those of transfer, nor were the
declarations of the witnesses presented by the defendant
PADILLA, J.:
The Court of Appeals certified this case to this Court
because only questions of law are raised.
On 8 May 1948 Jose V. Bagtas borrowed from the Republic
of the Philippines through the Bureau of Animal Industry
three bulls: a Red Sindhi with a book value of P1,176.46, a
Bhagnari, of P1,320.56 and a Sahiniwal, of P744.46, for a
period of one year from 8 May 1948 to 7 May 1949 for
breeding purposes subject to a government charge of
breeding fee of 10% of the book value of the bulls. Upon the
expiration on 7 May 1949 of the contract, the borrower asked
for a renewal for another period of one year. However, the
Secretary of Agriculture and Natural Resources approved a
renewal thereof of only one bull for another year from 8 May
1949 to 7 May 1950 and requested the return of the other
two. On 25 March 1950 Jose V. Bagtas wrote to the Director
of Animal Industry that he would pay the value of the three
bulls. On 17 October 1950 he reiterated his desire to buy
them at a value with a deduction of yearly depreciation to be
approved by the Auditor General. On 19 October 1950 the
Director of Animal Industry advised him that the book value
of the three bulls could not be reduced and that they either
be returned or their book value paid not later than 31
October 1950. Jose V. Bagtas failed to pay the book value of
the three bulls or to return them. So, on 20 December 1950
in the Court of First Instance of Manila the Republic of the
Philippines commenced an action against him praying that
he be ordered to return the three bulls loaned to him or to
pay their book value in the total sum of P3,241.45 and the
FIRST DIVISION
G.R. No. 80294
GANCAYCO, J.:
Before the Court are a motion for reconsideration and a
supplemental motion for reconsideration filed by petitioner
relating to the decision of the Court dated September 21,
1988. The comment and opposition thereto have been filed
by the private respondents and a reply was filed by
petitioner.
Petitioner argues that the findings of facts of the Court of
Appeals in CA-G.R. No. 38830-R are: (1) contrary to the law;
(2) contrary to the findings of the trial court; (3) contrary to
the findings of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. No. 08890-R;
(4) contrary to the admissions of the parties; and (5) based
on a clear misapprehension of historical and ecclesiastical
facts made of judicial notice, which are well within the
exceptions consistently adhered to by this Court as in
Republic vs. Court of Appeals. 1
The Court finds no merit in this contention. The said decision
of the Court of Appeals dated May 4, 1977 in CA-G.R. No.
38830-R was already elevated to this Court by petitioner
through a petition for review in G.R. No. L-46832 entitled
Catholic Vicar Apostolic of the Mountain Province vs. Court
of Appeals and Heirs of Egmidio Octaviano, while the heirs
of Juan Valdez and Pacita Valdez also filed a petition for
review of the same decision in this Court docketed as G.R.
No. L-46872 entitled Heirs of Juan Valdez and Pacita Valdez
vs. CA, et al. In a minute resolution dated January 13, 1978,
this Court denied both petitions for lack of merit.
It is in paid petition for review wherein the petitioner should
have questioned the findings of facts of the appellate court in
CA-G.R. No. 38830-R but since said petition had been
denied outright, the aforestated decision of the appellate
court which has long become final and executory, is res
judicata as between the parties and the findings of facts
therein are conclusive. Thus, the factual findings in said final
The Court, therefore, finds that the trial court and the Court
of Appeals erred in declaring the private respondents to be
entitled to the possession thereof. Much less can they
pretend to be owners thereof. Said lots are part of the public
domain.
QUINTOS v. BECK
Republic of the Philippines
SUPREME COURT
Manila
EN BANC
November 3, 1939
IMPERIAL, J.:
The plaintiff brought this action to compel the defendant to
return her certain furniture which she lent him for his use.
She appealed from the judgment of the Court of First
Instance of Manila which ordered that the defendant return to
her the three has heaters and the four electric lamps found in
the possession of the Sheriff of said city, that she call for the
other furniture from the said sheriff of Manila at her own
expense, and that the fees which the Sheriff may charge for
the deposit of the furniture be paid pro rata by both parties,
without pronouncement as to the costs.
The defendant was a tenant of the plaintiff and as such
occupied the latter's house on M. H. del Pilar street, No.
1175. On January 14, 1936, upon the novation of the
contract of lease between the plaintiff and the defendant, the
former gratuitously granted to the latter the use of the
furniture described in the third paragraph of the stipulation of
facts, subject to the condition that the defendant would return
them to the plaintiff upon the latter's demand. The plaintiff
sold the property to Maria Lopez and Rosario Lopez and on
September 14, 1936, these three notified the defendant of
the conveyance, giving him sixty days to vacate the
premises under one of the clauses of the contract of lease.
There after the plaintiff required the defendant to return all
the furniture transferred to him for them in the house where
they were found. On
November 5, 1936, the
defendant, through another person, wrote to the plaintiff
reiterating that she may call for the furniture in the ground
floor of the house. On the 7th of the same month, the
defendant wrote another letter to the plaintiff informing her
that he could not give up the three gas heaters and the four
electric lamps because he would use them until the 15th of
the same month when the lease in due to expire. The plaintiff
refused to get the furniture in view of the fact that the
defendant had declined to make delivery of all of them. On
November 15th, before vacating the house, the
defendant deposited with the Sheriff all the furniture
belonging to the plaintiff and they are now on deposit in the
warehouse situated at No. 1521, Rizal Avenue, in the
custody of the said sheriff.
In their seven assigned errors the plaintiffs contend that the
trial court incorrectly applied the law: in holding that they
violated the contract by not calling for all the furniture on
November 5, 1936, when the defendant placed them at their
disposal; in not ordering the defendant to pay them the value