THIRD DIVISION

G.R. No. 214593, July 17, 2019

DANA S. SANTOS, PETITIONER, v. LEODEGARIO R. SANTOS,

RESPONDENT.

DECISION

The Facts

Dana and Leodegario first met each other in 1982, in a wake, through a common
friend. Their relationship developed into a romance. Soon, the couple began
living together. Their cohabitation produced two children. As their business
ventures prospered, Dana and Leodegario married each other on December 3,
1987, before a Catholic priest. Two more children were born to the couple after
the marriage. However, their relationship started to deteriorate as time passed
by. Heated arguments and suspicions of infidelity marred their marriage so
much, so that in 2001, Dana and Leodegario filed a joint petition for the
dissolution of their conjugal partnership, which was granted. 5

The final straw came on September 11, 2003, when Leodegario filed a petition
for declaration of absolute nullity of marriage with the RTC, docketed as Civil
Case No. 03-6954, alleging psychological incapacity on the part of Dana. The
case was assigned to Branch 72 of the aforesaid court. On April 2, 2004, Dana
filed her Answer, alleging that Leodegario filed the petition in order to marry his
paramour, with whom he had a son.6

The case proceeded to trial on the merits. The Public Prosecutor found no
evidence of collusion between Dana and Leodegario. Both parties appeared in
the pre-trial conference and marked their documentary exhibits. Leodegario
presented as witnesses a clinical psychologist, a former employee of the couple's
joint business, and himself. However, when it was Dana's turn to present
evidence, her counsel failed to appear despite notice. On February 26, 2009, the
trial court issued an Order declaring Dana to have waived her right to present
evidence and ordering Leodegario to submit his memorandum, after which the
case would be deemed submitted for decision. 7

On June 24, 2009, the trial court rendered its Decision. 8 It declared the marriage
between Dana and Leodegario null and void on the ground of psychological
incapacity. The court held that Dana was afflicted with grave, incurable, and
juridically antecedent Histrionic Personality Disorder. Dana received a copy of the
decision on August 26, 2009.

Dana filed a Notice of Appeal on September 4, 2009; but she withdrew her
appeal and instead filed a Petition for Relief from Judgment with the RTC, dated
October 19, 2009, alleging that extrinsic fraud and mistake prevented her from
presenting her case at the trial. Leodegario filed a comment on the petition.
In an Order9 dated February 17, 2010, the trial court denied Dana's petition,
ruling that there was no sufficient allegation of fraud or mistake in the petition.

Dana filed a motion for reconsideration, which the trial court denied in an
Order10 dated April 22, 2010. Aggrieved, she filed a petition for certiorari with
the CA,11 ascribing grave abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court when it
denied her petition for relief and allowed the Decision dated June 24, 2009 to
stand despite her inability to present her evidence. After a further exchange of
pleadings, the appellate court, in a Resolution 12 dated February 7, 2011, referred
Dana's petition to the Philippine Mediation Center.

On June 6, 2011, under the auspices of the appellate court mediator, Dana and
Leodegario entered into a compromise agreement, 13 where they agreed to
transfer the titles to their conjugal real properties in the name of their four
common children. On June 16, 2011, Dana moved for the archival of the case.
On July 19, 2011, the CA issued a Resolution 14 declaring the case closed and
terminated by virtue of the compromise agreement and ordering the issuance of
entry of judgment.

On July 3, 2012, Dana filed a Manifestation 15 alleging that Leodegario was not
complying with the compromise agreement. She reiterated this allegation in her
Motion to Reopen and/or Reinstate the Petition 16 which she filed on August 14,
2012. Ordered by the appellate court to comment on the Motion to Reopen,
Leodegario countered that he has complied with the essential obligations under
the compromise agreement. He, subsequently, filed a Manifestation showing
such compliance, attaching the copies of the transfer certificates of title with the
required annotations thereon, deeds of sale in favor of their common children,
and the new transfer certificates of title in the names of their common children. 17

Resolution dated April 15, 2014

On April 15, 2014, the Former 15 th Division of the CA rendered the first assailed
Resolution18 denying Dana's Motion to Reopen, thusly: cralawred

WHEREFORE, the motion to open and/or reinstate the petition is hereby

DENIED for lack of merit. Respondent's manifestation showing compliance with
the compromise agreement is hereby NOTED.

SO ORDERED.19
chanRoblesvirtualLaw1ibrary

The appellate court noted Leodegario's Manifestation showing his compliance

with the terms of the compromise agreement; on the other hand, it found that
Dana did not make any allegation or showing of her compliance with the terms of
the compromise agreement. It then concluded that the motion was
unmeritorious since Dana, as a party to the compromise agreement herself,
should also prove her faithful compliance therewith.
Undaunted, Dana filed a Motion for Reconsideration and/or to Submit Petition for
Decision (with Plea to Preserve Marital Union), 20 asserting that the compromise
agreement was never intended to settle the issue of the validity and subsistence
of her marriage to Leodegario.

Resolution dated September 26, 2014

On September 26, 2014, the Former 15th Division of the CA rendered the second
assailed Resolution21 denying Dana's Motion for Reconsideration and/or to
Submit Petition for Decision, disposing, thus: cralawred

WHEREFORE, the Motion for Reconsideration and/or to Submit Petition for

Decision is DENIED for lack of merit.

SO ORDERED.22
chanRoblesvirtualLaw1ibrary

The appellate court found the Motion for Reconsideration and/or to Submit
Petition for Decision unmeritorious. It held that the marital ties between Dana
and Leodegario had been severed by the trial court's decision of June 24, 2009;
hence, the compromise agreement did not involve the validity of their marriage
but only their property relations. Furthermore, the appellate court found that
Dana, in her Motion to Archive Case, had conceded her intention to have the
case dismissed upon compliance with the stipulations of the Compromise
Agreement.23

Aggrieved, Dana filed the present petition for review on certiorari before this
Court on November 24, 2014. The Office of the Solicitor General (OSG) and
Leodegario filed their respective Comments on the petition.

The Issues

Dana raises the following issues for resolution by this Court: cralawred

1) Whether or not the assailed resolutions of the CA, which terminated her case
by reason of the compromise agreement, were erroneous for being contrary to
the State's legal mandate to defend the sanctity of marriage;

2) Whether or not the assailed resolutions of the CA, which in effect upheld the
order of the trial court dismissing her petition for relief, violated her right to due
process; and

3) Whether or not the CA erred in ruling that the trial court's decision declaring
the marriage void had attained finality despite the filing of the petition for relief
from judgment.24
chanRoblesvirtualLaw1ibrary

Dana argues that she never intended to compromise the issue of the validity of
her marriage, as this cannot be the subject of compromise under Article 2035 of
the New Civil Code. She further asserts that under Article 2041 of the New Civil
Code, as applied in Miguel v. Montanez,25 she is entitled to simply consider the
compromise agreement as rescinded, since Leodegario committed a breach of
the agreement. Dana also claims that the termination of the case on the basis of
the compromise agreement violated her right to due process, since she was
unable to present her side of the controversy. Lastly, she contends that the
appellate court erred in ruling that the trial court decision declaring the marriage
void had become final, claiming that her petition for relief amounted to a motion
for new trial, the filing of which is one of the requirements for filing an appeal
under A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC.26

The defensor vinculi, in his Comment, asserts that Dana's failure to file a motion
for reconsideration or an appeal paved the way for the trial court judgment to
attain finality. Due to Dana's failure to file an appeal in accordance with Section
20 of A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC, the OSG now contends, as the appellate court
similarly concluded, that the trial court decision had attained finality.

Ruling of the Court

The petition has no merit.

The core issue in this petition is the propriety of setting aside the judgment upon
compromise rendered by the court a quo. Dana maintains that the judgment
should be vacated because of Leodegario's alleged breach of their compromise;
and because she did not intend to compromise the issue of the validity of her
marriage. To bolster her stand, she invokes Sections 1 and 2, Article XV of the
Constitution and urges the State to uphold, or at least try to uphold, her
marriage. Leodegario, on the other hand, asserts the binding force of the trial
court's decision and the judgment on compromise, claiming that the courts a
quo acted according to law and jurisprudence in rendering the assailed
judgments.

It must be borne in mind that Civil Case No. 03-6954 is a proceeding for the
declaration of nullity of the marriage between Dana and Leodegario on the
ground of psychological incapacity. The applicable substantive laws are,
therefore, the Family Code and the New Civil Code, while the governing
procedural law is A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC, with the Rules of Court applying
suppletorily.27

In the case at bar, the CA 28 and the OSG29 both concluded that the trial court
decision had attained finality after Dana's inability to file an appeal therefrom.
The two resolutions of the appellate court presuppose that the judgment on the
validity of Dana and Leodegario's marriage had attained finality. Dana, on the
other hand, asserts that it had not.

The Court agrees with the conclusion of the CA and the defensor

vinculi regarding the finality of the RTC decision; however, we do not agree with
their assertions as to the effect of the decision on the subsequent proceedings a
quo.
There is indeed no showing in the record that Dana moved for reconsideration or
new trial from the RTC decision. She, nevertheless, filed an appeal. However,
probably cognizant of the proscription in Section 20 30 of A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC,
which makes the filing of a motion for reconsideration or a motion for new trial a
precondition for filing an appeal, she withdrew her appeal and filed a petition for
relief from judgment.

There is no provision in A.M. No. 02-11-10-SC prohibiting resort to a petition for

relief from judgment in a marriage nullity case. Furthermore, the said Rule
sanctions the suppletory application of the Rules of Court 31 to cases within its
ambit. It cannot, therefore, be said that Dana availed of an inappropriate remedy
to question the decision of the trial court. Indeed, the trial court admitted Dana's
petition for relief, heard the parties on the issues thereon, and rendered an order
denying the petition. Dana then properly and seasonably assailed the order of
denial via certiorari to the CA. It is, therefore, clear that the proceedings in Civil
Case No. 03-6954 continued even after the trial court had rendered judgment
and even after the lapse of the 15-day period for appealing the decision.

Nevertheless, considering the nature and office of a petition for relief, which is to
set aside a final judgment,32 the Court cannot agree with Dana's assertion that
the decision of the RTC in Civil Case No. 03-6954 had not attained finality. In
fact, the decision has already been annotated in their marriage contract. 33 This
finding, however, does not detract from the fact that the proceedings in Civil
Case No. 03-6954  continued even after the trial court had rendered judgment,
precisely because Dana filed a petition for relief from that judgment. From the
denial of her petition, she sought recourse to the appellate court. The appellate
court, in dismissing the case upon the parties' compromise on their conjugal
properties, invoked the finality of the RTC decision as a bar to the litigation of
the other issues raised by Dana's petition. This conclusion is untenable.

In Samia v. Medina,34 which involved the application of the statutory ascendant

of Rule 38 in the old Code of Civil Procedure, the Court held: cralawred

There is a great deal of similarity between an order granting a motion for a new
trial based upon "accident or surprise which ordinary prudence could not have
guarded against" under section 145 of the Code of Civil Procedure, and an order
granting a motion for a new trial based upon "mistake, inadvertence, surprise, or
excusable neglect," under section 113 of the Code of Civil Procedure, as both set
aside the judgment, order, or proceeding complained of; both call for a new trial,
and in both the injured party may question the order granting the motion for the
new trial upon appeal from the new judgment rendered upon the merits of the
case. The only fundamental difference lies in this, that while the judgment,
order, or proceeding coming under section 145 of the Code of Civil Procedure is
not final, that coming under section 113 is final. But this does not alter the
nature or effect of the order granting the new trial, for this order does not put
an end to the litigation in the sense that the party injured thereby has
no other remedy short of appeal; he may question the propriety of the
new trial on appeal from an adverse judgment rendered after such
trial.35 (Emphasis and underscoring Ours)
In Servicewide Specialists, Inc. v. Sheriff of Manila,36 decided prior to the
enactment of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, the Court held: cralawred

There is no question that a judgment or order denying relief under Rule 38 is

final and appealable, unlike an order granting such relief which is interlocutory.
However, the second part of the above-quoted provision (that in the course of an
appeal from the denial or dismissal of a petition for relief, a party may also assail
the judgment on the merits) may give the erroneous impression that in such
appeal the appellate court may reverse or modify the judgment on the merits.
This cannot be done because the judgment from which relief is sought is already
final and executor. x x x

The purpose of the rule is to enable the appellate court to determine not only the
existence of any of the grounds relied upon whether it be fraud, accident,
mistake or excusable negligence, but also and primarily the merit of the
petitioner's cause of action or defense, as the case may be. If the appellate court
finds that one of the grounds exists and, what is of decisive importance, that the
petitioner has a good cause of action or defense, it will reverse the denial or
dismissal, set aside the judgment in the main case and remand the case to the
lower court for a new trial in accordance with Section 7 of Rule 38. 37 (Citations
omitted)

The 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure changed the nature of an order of denial of a
petition for relief from judgment, making it unappealable 38 and, hence, assailable
only via a petition for certiorari.39 Nevertheless, the appellate court, in deciding
such petitions against denials of petitions for relief, remains tasked with making
a factual determination, i.e., whether or not the trial court committed grave
abuse of discretion in denying the petition. To do so, it is still obliged, as Service
Specialists instructs, to "determine not only the existence of any of the grounds
relied upon whether it be fraud, accident, mistake or excusable negligence, but
also and primarily the merit of the petitioner's cause of action or defense, as the
case may be."40 Stated otherwise, the finality of the RTC decision cannot bar the
appellate court from determining the issues raised in the petition for relief, if
only to determine the existence of grave abuse of discretion on the part of the
trial court in denying such petition. While a Rule 38 Petition does not stay the
execution of the judgment,41 the grant thereof reopens the case for a new
trial;42 and thus, if merit be found in Dana's certiorari petition assailing the trial
court's denial of her petition for relief, the case will be reopened for new trial.

The CA, therefore, erred in refusing to reopen Dana's petition on the basis of the
finality of the trial court decision.

The Court now resolves the question regarding the propriety of setting aside the
judgment on compromise.

On one hand, the immutability and immediate effect of judgments upon

compromise is well-settled. In Magbanua v. Uy,43 it was held that: cralawred

When a compromise agreement is given judicial approval, it becomes more than

a contract binding upon the parties. Having been sanctioned by the court, it is
entered as a determination of a controversy and has the force and effect of a
judgment. It is immediately executory and not appealable, except for vices of
consent or forgery. The nonfulfillment of its terms and conditions justifies the
issuance of a writ of execution; in such an instance, execution becomes a
ministerial duty of the court.44
chanRoblesvirtualLaw1ibrary

However, like any other judgment, a judgment upon compromise which is

contrary to law is a void judgment; and "[a] void judgment or order has no legal
and binding effect. It does not divest rights, and no rights can be obtained under
it; all proceedings founded upon a void judgment are equally worthless." 45

On the other hand, Article 2035(2) and Article 5 of the New Civil Code provide: cralawred

ART. 2035. No compromise upon the following questions shall be valid: cralawred

xxxx

(2) The validity of a marriage or a legal separation;

xxxx

ART. 5. Acts executed against the provisions of mandatory or prohibitory laws

shall be void, except when the law itself authorizes their validity.

Again, the Court reiterates, at the risk of being repetitive, that the petition which
gave rise to these proceedings is for the declaration of nullity of Dana and
Leodegario's marriage. Dana's petition for certiorari with the CA, which is nothing
but a consequence of the proceedings before the RTC, alleges the fraudulent
deprivation of her chance to refute and controvert Leodegario's allegations and
to present her side of the issue, which she also lays down in her petition. The
core issue of Dana's petition is, therefore, the validity of her marriage to
Leodegario. The termination of the case by virtue of the compromise agreement,
therefore, necessarily implies the settlement by compromise of the issue of
the validity of Dana and Leodegario's marriage.

In Uy v. Chua,46 which also involves an issue not subject to compromise under

Article 2035, the Court held: cralawred

The Compromise Agreement between petitioner and respondent, executed on 18

February 2000 and approved by RTC-Branch 9 in its Decision dated 21 February
2000 in Special Proceeding No. 8830-CEB, obviously intended to settle the
question of petitioner's status and filiation, i.e., whether she is an illegitimate
child of respondent. In exchange for petitioner and her brother Allan
acknowledging that they are not the children of respondent, respondent would
pay petitioner and Allan P2,000,000.00 each. Although unmentioned, it was
a necessary consequence of said Compromise Agreement that petitioner
also waived away her rights to future support and future legitime as an
illegitimate child of respondent. Evidently, the Compromise Agreement
dated 18 February 2000 between petitioner and respondent is covered
by the prohibition under Article 2035 of the Civil Code. 47 (Emphasis and
underscoring Ours)

In a long line of cases, 48 the Court has censured and punished lawyers, and even
judges, who have drafted agreements to dissolve marriages or to sanction
adulterous relations. The rule applies a fortiori to the CA. It was, therefore,
erroneous for the appellate court to terminate Dana's suit - which puts in issue
the validity of her marriage - by virtue of the execution of the Decision 11 Q.R.
No. 214593 compromise agreement which only covers the property relations of
the spouses. While these issues are intertwined, a compromise of the latter issue
should not and cannot operate as a compromise of the former, per Article 2035
of the Civil Code.

The Court cannot give its imprimatur to the dismissal of the case at bar even if,
as the appellate court held, it was Dana's intention 49 to have the case terminated
upon the execution of the compromise agreement. Nevertheless, the Court
agrees with the appellate court when it ruled that the scope of the compromise
agreement is limited to Dana and Leodegario's property relations vis-à-vis their
children, as Article 2036 of the Civil Code provides that "[a] compromise
comprises only those objects which are definitely stated therein, or which by
necessary implication from its terms should be deemed to have been included in
the same." As held by the appellate court: cralawred

The agreement makes no mention of the marital ties between [Leodegario] and
[Dana] but is limited only to their property relations vis-à-vis their children.50
chanRoblesvirtualLaw1ibrary

However, despite the error committed by the appellate court, absent vices of
consent or other defects, the compromise agreement remains valid and binding
upon Dana and Leodegario, as they have freely and willingly agreed to, and have
already complied with, the covenants therein. The agreement operates as a
partial compromise on the issue of the disposition of the properties of the
marriage.

Nevertheless, the Court is constrained to uphold the appellate court's decision,

because the trial court's denial of Dana's petition for relief from judgment does
not amount to grave abuse of discretion.

While the remaining issues in the petition partake of a factual nature, the Court
deems it necessary to write finis to this case at this level in order to avoid
remanding the case to the appellate court. It has been held that "remand is not
necessary if the Court is in a position to resolve a dispute on the basis of the
records before it; and if such remand would not serve the ends of justice." 51 A
careful perusal of the petitions filed by Dana before the trial court, the appellate
court, and this Court betrays the lack of allegations sufficient to support a
petition for relief from judgment under Rule 38.
Jurisprudence provides that fraud, as a ground for a petition for relief, refers to
extrinsic or collateral fraud 52 which, in turn, has been defined as fraud that
prevented the unsuccessful party from fully and fairly presenting his case or
defense and from having an adversarial trial of the issue, as when the lawyer
connives to defeat or corruptly sells out his client's interest. Extrinsic fraud can
be committed by a counsel against his client when the latter is prevented from
presenting his case to the court.53 In Lasala v. National Food Authority,54 the
Court defined extrinsic fraud in relation to parties represented by counsel, viz.: cralawred

Extrinsic fraud x x x refers to "any fraudulent act of the prevailing party in

litigation committed outside of the trial of the case, where the defeated party is
prevented from fully exhibiting his side by fraud or deception practiced on him
by his opponent, such as by keeping him away from court, by giving him a false
promise of a compromise, or where an attorney fraudulently or without authority
connives at his defeat."

Because extrinsic fraud must emanate from the opposing party, extrinsic fraud
concerning a party's lawyer often involves the latter's collusion with the
prevailing party, such that his lawyer connives at his defeat or corruptly sells out
his client's interest.

In this light, we have ruled in several cases that a lawyer's mistake or gross
negligence does not amount to the extrinsic fraud that would grant a petition for
annulment of judgment.

We so ruled not only because extrinsic fraud has to involve the opposing party,
but also because the negligence of counsel, as a rule, binds his
client.55 (Citations omitted)

Given this definition, the Court found the following circumstances sufficient to
make out a case for extrinsic fraud: cralawred

The party in the present case, the NFA, is a government agency that could
rightly rely solely on its legal officers to vigilantly protect its interests. The NFA's
lawyers were not only its counsel, they were its employees tasked to advance
the agency's legal interests.

Further, the NFA's lawyers acted negligently several times in handling the case
that it appears deliberate on their part.

First, Atty. Mendoza caused the dismissal of the NFA's complaint against Lasala
by negligently and repeatedly failing to attend the hearing for the presentation of
the NFA's evidence-in-chief. Consequently, the NFA lost its chance to recover
from Lasala the employee benefits that it allegedly shouldered as indirect
employer.

Atty. Mendoza never bothered to provide any valid excuse for this crucial
omission on his part. Parenthetically, this was not the first time Atty. Mendoza
prejudiced the NFA; he did the same when he failed to file a motion for
reconsideration and an appeal in a prior 1993 case where Lasala secured a
judgment of P34,500,229.67 against the NFA.

For these failures, Atty. Mendoza merely explained that the NFA's copy of the
adverse decision was lost and was only found after the lapse of the period for
appeal. Under these circumstances, the NFA was forced to file an administrative
complaint against Atty. Mendoza for his string of negligent acts.

Atty. Cahucom, Atty. Mendoza's successor in handling the case, notably did not
cross-examine Lasala's witnesses, and did not present controverting evidence to
disprove and counter Lasala's counterclaim. Atty. Cahucom further prejudiced
the NFA when he likewise failed to file a motion for reconsideration or an appeal
from the trial court's September 2, 2002 decision, where Lasala was awarded the
huge amount of P52,788,970.50, without any convincing evidence to support it.

When asked to justify his failure, Atty. Cahucom, like Atty. Mendoza, merely
mentioned that the NFA's copy of the decision was lost and that he only
discovered it when the period for appeal had already lapsed.

The trial court's adverse decision, of course, could have been avoided or the
award minimized, if Atty. Cahucom did not waive the NFA's right to present its
controverting evidence against Lasala's counterclaim evidence. Strangely, when
asked during hearing, Atty. Cahucom refused to refute Lasala's testimony and
instead simply moved for the filing of a memorandum.

The actions of these lawyers, that at the very least could be equated with
unreasonable disregard for the case they were handling and with obvious
indifference towards the NFA's plight, lead us to the conclusion that Attys.
Mendoza's and Cahucom's actions amounted to a concerted action with Lasala
when the latter secured the trial court's huge and baseless counterclaim award.
By this fraudulent scheme, the NFA was prevented from making a fair
submission in the controversy.56
chanRoblesvirtualLaw1ibrary

Lasala has been subsequently reiterated in Cagayan Economic Zone Authority v.

Meridien Vista Gaming Corporation,57 where the Court held that: cralawred

[I]n cases of gross and palpable negligence of counsel and of extrinsic fraud, the
Court must step in and accord relief to a client who suffered thereby. x x x [F]or
the extrinsic fraud to justify a petition for relief from judgment, it must be that
fraud which the prevailing party caused to prevent the losing party from being
heard on his action or defense. Such fraud concerns not the judgment itself but
the manner in which it was obtained. Guided by these pronouncements, the
Court in the case of Apex Mining, Inc. vs. Court of Appeals wrote: cralawred

If the incompetence, ignorance or inexperience of counsel is so great and the

error committed as a result thereof is so serious that the client, who otherwise
has a good cause, is prejudiced and denied his day in court, the litigation may
be reopened to give the client another chance to present his case. Similarly,
when an unsuccessful party has been prevented from fully and fairly presenting
his case as a result of his lawyer's professional delinquency or infidelity, the
litigation may be reopened to allow the party to present his side. Where counsel
is guilty of gross ignorance, negligence and dereliction of duty, which
resulted in the clients being held liable for damages in a damage suit, the client
is deprived of his day in court and the judgment may be set aside on such
ground.58 (Citations omitted and emphases in the original)

As in Lasala, the Court found sufficient factual justification for the grant of
CEZA's petition for relief, viz.: cralawred

At the inception, CEZA was already deprived of its right to present evidence
during the trial of the case when Atty. Baniaga filed a joint manifestation
submitting the case for decision based on the pleadings without informing CEZA.
In violation of his sworn duty to protect his client's interest, Atty. Baniaga agreed
to submit the case for decision without fully substantiating their defense. Worse,
after he received a copy of the decision, he did not even bother to inform his
client and the OGCC of the adverse judgment. He did not even take steps to
protect the interests of his client by filing an appeal. Instead, he allowed the
judgment to lapse into finality. Such reckless and gross negligence deprived
CEZA not only of the chance to seek reconsideration thereof but also the
opportunity to elevate its case to the CA.59
chanRoblesvirtualLaw1ibrary

Turning now to the case at bar, it is clear that Dana's allegations in her petition
for relief fall way short of the jurisprudential threshold for extrinsic fraud. The
Court quotes the allegations Dana made in her petition for relief with the trial
court: cralawred

In all candor, [Dana] wanted to present her side of the controversy and all she
intended was to take the witness stand. Without her knowing it, however, her
time to present her evidence passed without her being able to do so. Her
previous counsel did not remind, much less advice [sic], her of the hearing dates
to present her case. Particularly, she was not simply aware of the hearings held
by this [h]onorable [c]ourt on February 26 and March 26, 2009. She can only
surmise that somebody must have maneuvered to impress, if not mislead, the
[h]onorable [c]ourt that she was not interested to present her side.

This must be so since after [Dana] confronted her counsel about the
promulgation of the Decision without her being able to present evidence, her
counsel nonchalantly told her that it was their mutual decision not to present any
evidence. This was not what [Dana] thought and knew. In the first place, she
filed her Answer to the petition and assailed all the material allegations therein.
She found no reason to abandon her case.

[Dana], by these assertions does not accuse her previous counsel any
wrongdoing or neglect, or any other parties probably in cahoots with her
said counsel. But it certainly had caused some harm to and, in fact, defrauded
this [h]onorable [c]ourt which was led into believing that [Dana] was not
interested in presenting her evidence. Hence, this [h]onorable [c]ourt found that
[Dana] failed to appear despite notice as already mentioned above. Had it known
that she was interested on [sic] presenting her side, this [h]onorable [c]ourt
certainly would not have denied her that right. Otherwise put, by the deception,
this Honorable Court was not aware that [Dana] was deprived of her day in
court.60 (Emphasis and underlining Ours)

Dana's petition is anchored on two main allegations: first, that her counsel failed
to notify her of the hearings dated February 26 and March 26, 2009; and second,
that her counsel nonchalantly told her that it was their mutual decision to not
present any evidence. However, she categorically admits that she "does not
accuse her previous counsel [of] any wrongdoing or neglect, or any other parties
probably in cahoots with her said counsel." 61 Furthermore, the petition makes no
specific citation of other acts or circumstances attributable to her counsel that
fraudulently deprived Dana of her opportunity to fully ventilate her claims and
defenses with the trial court. The acts complained of in the petition constitute
neither "gross and palpable negligence" nor corruption or collusion amounting to
extrinsic fraud. The general rule, which binds the client to the negligence of her
counsel, remains applicable to this case. All told, the trial court did not commit
grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction when it
dismissed her petition for relief.

WHEREFORE, premises considered, the petition is hereby DENIED. The

Resolutions dated April 15, 2014 and September 26, 2014 of the Court of
Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 115420, are hereby AFFIRMED insofar as they
declared the proceedings CLOSED and TERMINATED.

SO ORDERED.
cralawlawlibrary

Peralta (Chairperson), Leonen, Gesmundo,* and Hernando, JJ., concur.