SPOUSES ROSALINA S. DE LEON and ALEJANDRO L.

DE
LEON, petitioners, vs. THE COURT OF APPEALS, GLICERIO MA.
ELAYDA II, FEDERICO ELAYDA and DANILO ELAYDA, respondents.
[G.R. No. 104796. March 6, 1998]

The question for decision is whether in assessing the docket fees to be

paid for the filing of an action for annulment or rescission of a contract of
sale, the value of the real property, subject matter of the contract, should be
used as basis, or whether the action should be considered as one which is
not capable of pecuniary estimation and therefore the fee charged should be
a flat rate of P400.00 as provided in Rule 141, 7(b)(1) of the Rules of
Court. The trial court held the fees should be based on the value of the
property, but the Court of Appeals reversed and held that the flat rate should
be charged. Hence this petition for review on certiorari.

FACTS:

On August 8, 1991, private respondents filed in the Regional Trial Court

of Quezon City a complaint for annulment or rescission of a contract of
sale of two (2) parcels of land against petitioners, praying for the
following reliefs:

1. Ordering the nullification or rescission of the Contract of Conditional Sale

(Supplementary Agreement) for having violated the rights of plaintiffs
(private respondents) guaranteed to them under Article 886 of the Civil Code
and/or violation of the terms and conditions of the said contract.
2. Declaring void ab initio the Deed of Absolute Sale for being absolutely
simulated; and
3. Ordering defendants (petitioners) to pay plaintiffs (private respondents)
attorneys fees in the amount of P100,000.00.

Upon the filing of the complaint, the clerk of court required private
respondents to pay docket and legal fees in the total amount
of P610.00, broken down as follows:

P450.00 - Docket fee for the Judicial Development Fund under Official Receipt
No. 1877773
150.00 - Docket fee for the General Fund under Official Receipt No. 6834215
10.00 - for the Legal Research Fund under Official Receipt No. 6834450.[2]

On September 26, 1991, petitioners moved for the dismissal of the

complaint on the ground that the trial court did not acquire jurisdiction
over the case by reason of private respondents non-payment of the
correct amount of docket fees.

Petitioners contended that in addition to the fees already paid based

on the claim for P100,000.00 for attorneys fees, private respondents
should have paid docket fees in the amount of P21,640.00, based on
the alleged value of the two (2) parcels of land subject matter of the
contract of sale sought to be annulled.[3]

On September 30, 1991, private respondents filed opposition to the

motion to dismiss, arguing that outright dismissal of their complaint
was not warranted on the basis of the alleged non-payment of the
correct amount of docket fees, considering that the amount paid by
them was that assessed by the clerk of court.[4]

On October 21, 1991, the trial court [5] denied petitioners motion to
dismiss but required private respondents to pay the amount of docket
fees based on the estimated value of the parcels of land in litigation as
stated in the complaint.

Private respondents filed a motion for reconsideration but their motion

was denied by the trial court. They therefore, brought the matter to the
Court of Appeals.

on February 26, 1992, CA rendered a decision [6] annulling the orders

of the trial court.

The appellate court held that an action for rescission or annulment of

contract is not susceptible of pecuniary estimation and, therefore, the
docket fees should not be based on the value of the real property,
subject matter of the contract sought to be annulled or rescinded.

Petitioners moved for reconsideration, but their motion was denied in a

resolution dated March 25, 1992 of the appellate court.

Hence, this petition for review on certiorari.

Rule 141 of the Rules of Court provides:

SEC. 7. Clerks of Regional Trial Courts. - (a) For filing an action or a
permissive counter-claim or money claim against an estate not based on
judgment, or for filing with leave of court a third-party, fourth-party,
etc. complaint, or a complaint in intervention, and for all clerical services in
the same, if the total-sum claimed, exclusive of interest, or the stated value
of the property in litigation, is:
1. Not more than P20,000.00 .............P120.00
2. More than P20,000.00 but less than
P40,000.00 ......................... 150.00
3. P40,000.00 or more but less than
P60,000.00 ......................... 200.00
4. P60,000.00 or more but less than
P80,000.00 ... ...................... 250.00
5. P80,000.00 or more but less than
P100,000.00 ........................... 400.00
6. P100,000.00 or more but less than
P150,000.00 ........................... 600.00

7. For each P1,000.00 in excess of

P150,000.00 ............................. 5.00
(b) For filing:
1. Actions where the value of the subject
matter cannot be estimated ............. P400.00
2. Special civil actions except judicial
foreclosure of mortgage which shall be
governed by paragraph (a) above .... 400.00
3. All other actions not involving
property........................... 400.00
In a real action, the assessed value of the property, or if there is none, the
estimated value thereof shall be alleged by the claimant and shall be the
basis in computing the fees. (emphasis added)
Petitioners argue that an action for annulment or rescission of a
contract of sale of real property is a real action and, therefore, the
amount of the docket fees to be paid by private respondent should be
based either on the assessed value of the property, subject matter of
the action, or its estimated value as alleged in the complaint, pursuant
to the last paragraph of 7(b) of Rule 141, as amended by the
Resolution of the Court dated September 12, 1990.

Since private respondents alleged that the land, in which they claimed
an interest as heirs, had been sold for P4,378,000.00 to petitioners,
this amount should be considered the estimated value of the land for
the purpose of determining the docket fees.

On the other hand, private respondents counter that an action for

annulment or rescission of a contract of sale of real property is
incapable of pecuniary estimation and, so, the docket fees should be
the fixed amount of P400.00 in Rule 141, 7(b)(1).

In support of their argument, they cite the cases of Lapitan v. Scandia,

Inc.[7] and Bautista v. Lim.[8] In Lapitan this Court, in an opinion by
Justice J.B.L. Reyes, held:
A review of the jurisprudence of this Court indicates that in
determining whether an action is one the subject matter of which is not
capable of pecuniary estimation, this Court has adopted the criterion of
first ascertaining the nature of the principal action or remedy sought. If
it is primarily for the recovery of a sum of money, the claim is
considered capable of pecuniary estimation, and whether jurisdiction is
in the municipal courts or in the courts of first instance would depend
on the amount of the claim. However, where the basic issue is
something other than the right to recover a sum of money, or where
the money claim is purely incidental to, or a consequence of, the
principal relief sought, like in suits to have the defendant perform his
part of the contract (specific performance) and in actions for support,
or for annulment of a judgment or to foreclose a mortgage, this Court
has considered such actions as cases where the subject of the litigation
may
not
be
estimated
in
terms
of
money,
and
are
cognizable exclusively by courts of first instance. The rationale of the
rule is plainly that the second class cases, besides the determination of
damages, demand an inquiry into other factors which the law has
deemed to be more within the competence of courts of first instance,
which were the lowest courts of record at the time that the first organic
laws of the Judiciary were enacted allocating jurisdiction (Act 136 of
the Philippine Commission of June 11, 1901).
Actions for specific performance of contracts have been
expressly pronounced to be exclusively cognizable by courts of first
instance: De Jesus vs. Judge Garcia, L-26816, February 28, 1967;
Manufacturers Distributors, Inc. vs. Yu Siu Liong, L-21285, April 29,
1966. And no cogent reason appears, and none is here advanced by
the parties, why an action for rescission (or resolution) should be
differently treated, a rescission being a counterpart, so to speak, of
specific performance. In both cases, the court would certainly have to
undertake an investigation into facts that would justify one act or the
other. No award for damages may be had in an action for rescission
without first conducting an inquiry into matters which would justify the
setting aside of a contract, in the same manner that courts of first
instance would have to make findings of fact and law in actions not

capable of pecuniary estimation expressly held to be so by this Court,

arising from issues like those raised in Arroz v. Alojado, et al., L-22153,
March 31, 1967 (the legality or illegality of the conveyance sought for
and the determination of the validity of the money deposit made); De
Ursua v. Pelayo, L-13285, April 18, 1950 (validity of a judgment);
Bunayog v. Tunas, L-12707, December 23, 1959 (validity of a
mortgage); Baito v. Sarmiento, L-13105, August 25, 1960 (the relations
of the parties, the right to support created by the relation, etc., in
actions for support); De Rivera, et al. v. Halili, L-15159, September 30,
1963 (the validity or nullity of documents upon which claims are
predicated). Issues of the same nature may be raised by a party
against whom an action for rescission has been brought, or by the
plaintiff himself. It is, therefore, difficult to see why a prayer for
damages in an action for rescission should be taken as the basis for
concluding such action as one capable of pecuniary estimation a
prayer which must be included in the main action if plaintiff is to be
compensated for what he may have suffered as a result of the breach
committed by defendant, and not later on precluded from recovering
damages by the rule against splitting a cause of action and
discouraging multiplicity of suits.

RULING:

Conformably with this discussion of actions where the value of the

case cannot be estimated, the Court in Bautista v. Lim, held that an
action for rescission of contract is one which cannot be estimated
and therefore the docket fee for its filing should be the flat amount
of P200.00 as then fixed in the former Rule 141, 5(10). Said this
Court:

Thus, although eventually the result may be the recovery of land, it

is the nature of the action as one for rescission of contract which is
controlling. The Court of Appeals correctly applied these cases to
the present one. As it said:

We would like to add the observations that since the action of

petitioners [private respondents] against private respondents
[petitioners] is solely for annulment or rescission which is not
susceptible of pecuniary estimation, the action should not be
confused and equated with the value of the property subject of the

transaction; that by the very nature of the case, the allegations,

and specific prayer in the complaint, sans any prayer for recovery
of money and/or value of the transaction, or for actual or
compensatory damages, the assessment and collection of the legal
fees should not be intertwined with the merits of the case and/or
what may be its end result; and that to sustain private respondents
[petitioners] position on what the respondent court may decide
after all, then the assessment should be deferred and finally
assessed only after the court had finally decided the case, which
cannot be done because the rules require that filing fees should be
based on what is alleged and prayed for in the face of the
complaint and paid upon the filing of the complaint.

WHEREFORE, the decision of the Court of Appeals is AFFIRMED.

SO ORDERED.