Source: http://lawlibrary.chanrobles.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=45887:151298&amp;catid=1459&amp;Itemid=566
Timestamp: 2019-04-24 22:07:51+00:00

Document:
G.R. No. 151298 - SPOUSES MINIANO and LETA DELA CRUZ v. HON. COURT OF APPEALS, ET AL.
SPOUSES MINIANO and LETA DELA CRUZ, Petitioners, v. HON. COURT OF APPEALS and SPOUSES ARCHIMEDES and MARLYN AGUILA, Respondents.
a) The price of the house and lot is P3.3 million payable by installments, the first of which is P1.5 million.
b) The P1.8 million shall then be payable in five years with an interest of 20% per annum, paid through a monthly amortization of P50,000.
c) There shall be an additional interest of 5% on the amount due if there is failure to pay any installment when it falls due.
d) When the contract price is fully paid, the parties shall execute the absolute deed of sale.
1. That Defendants, upon receipt of the Summons and copy of the Complaint, personally visited Plaintiffs in their residence and explained their financial problem and their inability to pay their obligation. During said visit, Defendants showed to Plaintiffs an incomplete and unsigned xerox copy of a supposed Free Patent being processed, xerox copy of which is herein attached as Annex A and made part hereof.
2. That Defendants promised Plaintiffs that they will surrender and apply the above Free Patent once completed, as partial payment to their obligation.
3. That Defendants admit the correctness of the allegations in the Complaint and they promised to update their obligation not later than April 30, 1999 and make monthly payment as stipulated in the Contract to Sell until the price is fully paid.
4. That Defendants promised and agreed, that once they fail to update their account on or before April 30, 1999, the Contract to Sell shall be considered cancelled and all past payments forfeited in favor of the Plaintiffs.
5. That Defendants also promised that once they shall have updated their account on or before April 30, 1999, but fail to pay succeeding amortization, the Contract to Sell shall likewise be cancelled. If such event happens, the Defendants shall have sixty (60) days from notice to vacate to surrender possession of the house and lot, subject matter of the Compromise Agreement, with same effect as stated in paragraph 4 thereof.
Finding the compromise agreement not to be contrary to law, good morals, good customs, public order or public policy, the Court with the terms and conditions of said agreement, enjoin[s] the parties to comply with the provisions thereof faithfully and in good faith. Without pronouncement as to costs.
On January 10, 2000, the petitioners filed a Motion for Execution.11 They alleged that from the time the Compromise Agreement was signed and approved by the court, the respondents had been grossly violating the terms of the Compromise Agreement. They had not paid the agreed amount nor delivered any acceptable property in satisfaction of the balance of the purchase price.
Under the Rules, a motion to dismiss may be filed within the time but before filing the answer to the complaint or pleading asserting the claim'. A motion to dismiss after the judgment has become final is highly inappropriate. The case has already been decided and disposed of and there is no more action to be dismissed. For this reason, the defendant's Motion to Dismiss is hereby DENIED.
The Compromise Agreement is plain and clear. It was voluntarily and knowingly signed by the parties stipulating that upon failure of the defendants to update their account on or before April 30, 1999 and to pay succeeding amortizations, the Contract to Sell shall be cancelled; the subject property shall be vacated, [and] possession thereof to be surrendered to the plaintiffs. This Court, sees no reason why, after the failure of the defendant to comply with it, a motion for execution should not be GRANTED.
WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED and the assailed Order dated June 19, 2000 and the Decision dated July 12, 1999 are NULLIFIED and SET ASIDE. No pronouncement as to costs.
i. THE COURT OF APPEALS COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION AND IGNORANCE OF LAW IN ENTERTAINING AND RESOLVING AN IMPERFECT APPEAL BY CERTIORARI UNDER RULE 65, REVISED RULES OF COURT AND ESTABLISHED JURISPRUDENCE.
ii. THE RESPONDENT COURT OF APPEALS, WITH DUE RESPECT, COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION AMOUNTING TO LACK OR - EXCESS OF ITS JURISDICTION, WHEN IT STRUCK DOWN THE JUDICIAL COMPROMISE AGREEMENT DESPITE THE ABSENCE OR LACK OF ANY OF THE GROUNDS FOR NULLITY ENUMERATED IN ART. 2038 OF THE CIVIL CODE.
iii. THE RESPONDENT COURT OF APPEALS, WITH DUE RESPECT, COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION AMOUNTING TO [LACK] OR - EXCESS OF ITS JURISDICTION WHEN IT SET ASIDE THE JUDICIAL COMPROMISE AGREEMENT DESPITE THE FACT THAT THE SAME HAS THE FORCE OF RES JUDICATA BETWEEN THE PARTIES AND IS FINAL AND IMMEDIATELY EXECUTORY.
iv. THE COURT OF APPEALS, COMMITTED GRAVE ABUSE OF DISCRETION TANTAMOUNT TO LACK OF JURISDICTION IN RESOLVING THAT THE HOUSING AND LAND USE REGULATORY BOARD HAD AUTHORITY TO DECLARE AS NULL AND VOID THE JUDICIAL COMPROMISE AGREEMENT WHICH HAS BECOME FINAL AND EXECUTORY.
Respondents stress that the petitioners own a huge parcel of land in TCHEV which they subdivided. Furthermore, the property sold to them is one of these subdivided lots on which a house was erected by the petitioners. Hence, petitioners are owners and developers of a subdivision property.
We find in favor of petitioners on the issue of jurisdiction. Respondents' contention on this point is erroneous and untenable.
[T]he mere relationship between the parties, i.e., that of being subdivision owner/developer and subdivision lot buyer, does not automatically vest jurisdiction in the HLURB. For an action to fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the HLURB, the decisive element is the nature of the action as enumerated in Section 1 of P.D. 1344. On this matter, we have consistently held that the concerned administrative agency, the National Housing Authority (NHA) before and now the HLURB, has jurisdiction over complaints aimed at compelling the subdivision developer to comply with its contractual and statutory obligations.
Moreover, the rule is well settled that the jurisdiction of the court or agency is determined by the allegations in the complaint. It cannot be made to depend on the defenses made by the defendant in his Answer or Motion to Dismiss. If such were the rule, the question of jurisdiction would depend almost entirely on the defendant.27 The complaint rests its cause of action on the failure of the respondents to pay the stipulated installments in the contract of the parties. As relief, the complaint sought the cancellation of the contract and the payment of interest, penalties and deficient installments. Clearly, the complaint is well within the jurisdiction of the trial court.
In Philippine Aluminum Wheels, Inc. v. FASGI Enterprises, Inc.,28 this Court ruled that a party should not, after its opportunity to enjoy the benefits of an agreement, be allowed to later disown the arrangement when the terms thereof ultimately would prove to operate against its hopeful expectations. It was error on the part of the Court of Appeals to rule that Rep. Act No. 6552 applied to the present case, because, according to petitioners, said law applies only when the buyer defaults in the payment of succeeding installments. Petitioners insist that the respondents did not pay any installments at all after the initial downpayment of P1.5 million,29 after respondents had taken possession and occupancy of the house and lot in question.
Respondents claim that the Compromise Agreement is null and void because it contains stipulations that are against Rep. Act No. 6552. These stipulations are the automatic cancellation of the contract without giving any grace period to the buyer and the forfeiture of all installments in favor of the seller.30 Pursuant to Article 1409,31 specifically paragraphs 1 and 7, of the Civil Code, the Compromise Agreement should have been declared void by the trial court,32 according to respondents.
Again, on this point, we rule in favor of the petitioners.
The contract between the parties is a contract to sell real property. As reflected in the records, the respondents as buyers paid to the petitioners as sellers one installment of P50,000 after the initial downpayment of P1.5 million.36 But it is not a contract involving a subdivision owner or developer but only between two couples i.e., the original house-owners (petitioners) and the subsequent buyers of the house and lot (respondents).
Nevertheless, even if we apply Rep. Act No. 6552 in this instance, still the Court of Appeals erred in ordering that the downpayment be considered 30 months worth of installment payments. The last paragraph of Section 3, Rep. Act No. 6552,37 states that downpayments, deposits or options on the contract shall be included in the computation of the total number of installment payments made. Section 3 applies when at least two years of installments have been paid by the buyer. However, in the instant case, only one installment was made, making Section 438 the applicable provision. Section 4 is distinct from Section 3 of Rep. Act No. 6552. Neither does Section 4 give to the buyer the right to a fifty percent refund of the payments made as in Section 339 of the law.
Under the contract, respondents were obliged to pay a monthly installment beginning January 7, 1998.40 They failed in that commitment. Petitioners repeatedly demanded for payment. Respondents then made a written promise to pay the entire deficiency within 60 days.41 But respondents paid only P50,000 on May 19, 199842 after which no other installment payments were made. The complaint by petitioners was filed before the trial court on January 13, 1999, or eight months after the cited installment payment was due, way beyond the 60-day grace period required by the law.
Here, we find that it was not necessary for the petitioners to demand the cancellation of the contract by a notarial act. In Olympia Housing, Inc. v. Panasiatic Travel Corporation,43 we ruled that a seller is not precluded from going to the court to demand judicial rescission in lieu of a notarial act of rescission. In the same vein, it would be superfluous for the petitioners to have demanded the cancellation of the contract via a notarial act, when they have already judicially sought for its cancellation thru the institution of the complaint.
WHEREFORE, the Decision dated September 28, 2001 and the Resolution dated December 11, 2001 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP No. 59505, are REVERSED and SET ASIDE. The Compromise Agreement between the parties is valid and binding. The Decision dated July 12, 1999 and Order dated June 19, 2000 of the Regional Trial Court of Antipolo City, Branch 73, are hereby REINSTATED. Costs against respondents.
1 Rollo, pp. 22-34. Penned by Associate Justice Salvador J. Valdez, Jr., with Associate Justices Wenceslao I. Agnir, Jr., and Mariano C. del Castillo concurring.
6 CA Rollo, p. 27.
12 P.D. No. 957. - Regulating The Sale of Subdivision Lots And Condominiums, Providing Penalties For Violations Thereof.
13 CA Rollo, pp. 82-83.
16 Rep. Act No. 6552, An Act to Provide Protection to Buyers of Real Estate on Installment Payments.
18 Id. at 29-30, 32.
23 Empowering the National Housing Authority to Issue Writ of Execution in the Enforcement of its Decision Under Presidential Decree No. 957.
25 P.D. No. 957, Sec. 2 (i & j).
27 Atuel v. Valdez, G.R. No. 139561, 10 June 2003, 403 SCRA 517, 528; Supra, note 26 at 361.
28 G.R. No. 137378, 12 October 2000, 342 SCRA 722, 736.
7. Those expressly prohibited or declared void by law.
33 Genova v. De Castro, G.R. NOS. 132076 & 140989, 22 July 2003, 407 SCRA 165, 173.
34 Civil Code of the Philippines, Article 2037.
35 De los Reyes v. De Ugarte, No. L-82, 1 December 1945, 75 Phil 505, 507.
36 See Rollo, p. 38, Complaint; Rollo, p. 177, Annex '5'.
Down payments, deposits or options on the contract shall be included in the computation of the total number of installments made.
38 Rep. Act No. 6552, SEC. 4. In case where less than two years of installments were paid, the seller shall give the buyer a grace period of not less than sixty days from the date the installment became due. If the buyer fails to pay the installments due at the expiration of the grace period, the seller may cancel the contract after thirty days from receipt by the buyer of the notice of cancellation or the demand for rescission of the contract by a notarial act.
39 See Rillo v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 125347, 19 June 1997, 274 SCRA 461, 468.
40 See Rollo, p. 175, Contract to Sell.
41 See CA Rollo, p. 32, Annexes 4 & 5; CA Rollo, pp. 119-120.
43 G.R. No. 140468, 16 January 2003, 395 SCRA 298, 308.

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