Umale vs. Canoga Park Development Corporation, 654 SCRA 155, July 20, 2011
Umale vs. Canoga Park Development Corporation, 654 SCRA 155, July 20, 2011
Umale vs. Canoga Park Development Corporation, 654 SCRA 155, July 20, 2011
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* SECOND DIVISION.
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in the other. Also fundamental is the test of determining whether the cause
of action in the second case existed at the time of the filing of the first
complaint.
Same; Same; Forum Shopping; To determine whether a party violated
the rule against forum shopping, the test applied is whether the elements of
litis pendentia are present or whether a final judgment in one case will
amount to res judicata in another.—Similarly, we do not find the respondent
guilty of forum shopping in filing Civil Case No. 9210, the second civil
case. To determine whether a party violated the rule against forum shopping,
the test applied is whether the elements of litis pendentia are present or
whether a final judgment in one case will amount to res judicata in another.
Considering our pronouncement that not all the requisites of litis pendentia
are present in this case, the CA did not err in declaring that the respondent
committed no forum shopping.
BRION, J.:
Before us is a petition for review on certiorari1 filed by
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property. Under this contract, the petitioner shall use the leased lot as
a parking space for light vehicles and as a site for a small drivers’
canteen,8 and may not utilize the subject premises for other purposes
without the respondent’s prior written consent.9 The petitioner,
however, constructed restaurant buildings and other commercial
establishments on the lot, without first securing the required written
consent from the respondent, and the necessary permits from the
Association and the Ortigas & Co. Ltd. Partnership. The petitioner
also subleased the property to various merchants-tenants in violation
of the lease contract.
The MTC-Branch 68 decided the ejectment case in favor of the
respondent. On appeal, the RTC-Branch 155, Pasig City affirmed in
toto the MTC-Branch 68 decision.10 The case, however, was re-
raffled to the RTC-Branch 267, Pasig City because the Presiding
Judge of the RTC-Branch 155, upon motion, inhibited himself from
resolving the petitioner’s motion for reconsideration.11 The RTC-
Branch 267 granted the petitioner’s motion, thereby reversing and
setting aside the MTC-Branch 68 decision. Accordingly, Civil Case
No. 8084 was dismissed for being prematurely filed.12 Thus, the
respondent filed a petition for review with the CA on April 10,
2002.13
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17 Rollo, p. 323.
18 Id., at p. 649.
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19 Proton Pilipinas Corporation v. Republic, G.R. No. 165027, October 16, 2006,
504 SCRA 528, 545; and Guaranteed Hotels, Inc. v. Baltao, 489 Phil. 702, 707; 448
SCRA 739, 744 (2005).
20 Dotmatrix Trading v. Legaspi, G.R. No. 155622, October 26, 2009, 604 SCRA
431. See Coca-Cola Bottlers (Phils.), Inc. v. Social Security Commission, G.R. No.
159323, July 31, 2008, 560 SCRA 719, 736; Dayot v. Shell Chemical Company
(Phils.), Inc., G.R. No. 156542, June 26, 2007, 525 SCRA 535, 545-546; and Abines
v. Bank of the Philippine Islands, G.R. No. 167900, February 13, 2006, 482 SCRA
421, 429.
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It was only at the expiration of the lease contract that the cause of
action in the second ejectment complaint accrued and made
available to the respondent as a ground for ejecting the petitioner.
Thus, the cause of action in the second case was not yet in existence
at the time of filing of the first ejectment case.
In response to the petitioner’s contention that the similarity of
Civil Case Nos. 8084 and 9210 rests on the reiteration in the second
case of the cause of action in the first case, we rule that the
restatement does not result in substantial identity between the two
cases. Even if the respondent alleged violations of the lease contract
as a ground for ejectment in the second complaint, the main basis for
ejecting the petitioner in the second case was the expiration of the
lease contract. If not for this subsequent development, the
respondent could no longer file a second complaint for unlawful
detainer because an ejectment complaint may only be filed within
one year after the accrual of the cause of action,27 which, in the
second case, was the expiration of the lease contract.
Also, contrary to petitioner’s assertion, there can be no conflict
between the decisions rendered in Civil Case Nos. 8084 and 9210
because the MTC-Branch 71 decided the latter case on the sole issue
of whether the lease contract between the parties had expired.
Although alleged by the respondent in its complaint, the MTC-
Branch 71 did not rule on the alleged violations of the lease contract
committed by the petitioner. We note that the damages awarded by
the MTC-Branch 71 in Civil Case No. 9210 were for those incurred
after the expiration of the lease contract,28 not for those incurred
prior thereto.
Similarly, we do not find the respondent guilty of forum shopping
in filing Civil Case No. 9210, the second civil case. To determine
whether a party violated the rule against forum shopping, the test
applied is whether the elements of litis
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29 Solid Homes, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, 337 Phil. 605, 615; 271 SCRA 157, 166
(1997).
30 Rollo, pp. 343-344.
** Designated as Acting Member of the Second Division per Special Order No.
1006 dated June 10, 2011.
*** Designated as Acting Member of the Second Division per Special Order No.
1040 dated July 6, 2011 vice Associate Justice Maria Lourdes P. A. Sereno, on official
leave.
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