Source: http://lawlibrary.chanrobles.com/index.php?option=com_content&amp;view=article&amp;id=51645:gr-157592-2008&amp;catid=1510&amp;Itemid=566
Timestamp: 2019-04-21 12:42:31+00:00

Document:
PRESIDENTIAL COMMISSION ON GOOD GOVERNMENT, Petitioners, v. SANDIGANBAYAN (Second Division) and RODOLFO ARAMBULO (deceased), substituted by Ronald L. Arambulo, Respondents.
This is a Petition for Review on Certiorari1 under Rule 45 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure assailing the Resolutions2 dated October 4, 2002 and March 13, 2003 rendered by the Sandiganbayan in Civil Case No. 0188 dismissing the Complaint3 filed by the Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) against Rodolfo Arambulo for recovery of ill-gotten wealth.
On July 23, 1987, the PCGG sequestered all the stockholdings, rights and interests of the seven directors and subscribers in Piedras.5 Later, this became the subject of controversy in Civil Case No. 0034 against Roberto S. Benedicto, Ferdinand Marcos and Imelda Marcos as principal defendants and 32 other defendants,6 among them Nestor Mata, Dominador Pangilinan and Rodolfo Arambulo, incorporators and directors of Piedras, alleged to be dummies of the principal defendants. Subsequently, the PCGG amended its complaint for "reconveyance," "reversion" or "restitution" of alleged ill-gotten wealth amassed by the Marcoses and Benedicto; Piedras was not included in the list7 of alleged ill-gotten wealth sought to be recovered by the PCGG. However, the complaint mentions "Frozen Bank Accounts and other assets of Rodolfo Arambulo" and contains a catch-all clause: "And all other assets of all the defendants sequestered and/or frozen by the Commission pursuant to Executive Order Nos. 1 and 2."
On November 3, 1990, the Republic through the PCGG, and principal defendant Benedicto entered into a Compromise Agreement8 which was approved by the Sandiganbayan on October 2, 1992. Later, the PCGG, represented by then Chairman David M. Castro, sought the annulment of the Compromise Agreement, but this Court, in Republic v. Sandiganbayan9 upheld its validity and ordered the parties to strictly comply with the terms thereof.
On September 5, 1994, a General information Sheet was submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for Piedras Petroleum Company, Inc. listing the Republic of the Philippines as owner of 6/7 of the shares, amounting to P8,574,999.05 of which P4,287,000.00 is paid-up. Arambulo is listed as owner of the remaining 1/7 of the shares, amounting to P1,424,999.00 of which P712,499.00 is paid-up.
2. To cease from interfering with/and or obstructing the peaceful exercise of his rights of ownership over the Piedras shares, including the right to vote and to be voted for.
Upon examination of the pleadings filed by the parties, the Court finds the instant petition to be not prima faciemeritorious. Petitioner's arguments for the annulment of the assailed Sandiganbayan Resolutions revolve around the alleged absence of factual and legal basis for declaring respondent Arambulo as the subscriber-owner of 145,000,000 Piedras shares of stock. But as heretofore discussed, the assailed Resolutions fully explained the reasons why affirmative relief should be granted to private respondent Arambulo.
Petitioner having failed to present sufficient grounds for this Court to give due course to the instant petition, the same should be dismissed.
On February 15, 2002, a new Complaint12 for recovery of ill-gotten wealth was filed by the PCGG against Rodolfo Arambulo at the Sandiganbayan. The complaint sought the recovery of the 145,000,000 Piedras shares of stock earlier declared as the Arambulo shares.
The PCGG alleged that the defendant is likewise a nominee of former Ambassador Roberto S. Benedicto, the principal defendant in Civil Case No. 0034; that when Benedicto entered into a Compromise Agreement with the Republic of the Philippines, all the stockholders of Piedras, except Arambulo, assigned all their shareholdings to the government; and that per investigation and verification by the PCGG; the paid-up capital of Piedras amounting to P5,000,000.00 was actually paid by Imelda Marcos, including the questioned shares of Arambulo; and that, therefore, the Arambulo shares were ill-gotten.
On April 1, 2002, respondent Rodolfo Arambulo, through counsel, filed a Motion to Dismiss with prayer for Direct/Indirect Contempt,13 alleging that the issue of ownership of the shares of stock registered in the name of Rodolfo Arambulo in Piedras Petroleum Company, Inc. had already been settled in Civil Case No. 0034, wherein the Sandiganbayan, Second Division, ordered the PCGG to cease and desist from interfering with the rights of Rodolfo Arambulo as stockholder of Piedras Petroleum Company, Inc. Thus, by filing the new complaint, the PCGG, through its Legal Director Manuel P. Paras and PCGG counsel Edgardo L. Kilayko, engaged in deliberate "forum shopping," which is punishable as direct/indirect contempt.
On June 5, 2002, the PCGG filed an Opposition14 contending that though respondent Arambulo was also a defendant in Civil Case No. 0034, the issue of whether his shares of stocks in Piedras Petroleum Company, Inc. was ill-gotten was never raised.
Accordingly, this case is hereby ordered DISMISSED. The Presidential Commission on Good Government (PCGG) officials, Director of Legal Department Manuel P. Parras and PCGG counsel Edgardo L. Kilayko are hereby adjudged to have indulged in forum shopping, and, consequently, guilty of contempt of court. They are ordered to pay the fine of P1,000.00 each with subsidiary imprisonment in case of insolvency, and to refrain from further disrupting the peaceful ownership and possession of defendant Arambulo regarding his shares in the Piedras Petroleum Company, Inc.
The PCGG filed a motion for reconsideration,16 which was denied by the Sandiganbayan on March 13, 2003.
III. RESPONDENT SANDIGANBAYAN, SECOND DIVISION, ERRED IN HOLDING THAT THE PCGG OFFICIALS, DIRECTOR OF LEGAL DEPARTMENT MANUEL P. PARRAS AND PCGG COUNSEL EDGARDO L. KILAYKO HAVE INDULGED IN FORUM SHOPPING AND CONSEQUENTLY GUILTY OF CONTEMPT.
Under the rule of res judicata, a final judgment or order on the merits, rendered by a court having jurisdiction of the subject matter and of the parties, is conclusive in a subsequent case between the same parties and their successor-in-interest by title subsequent to the commencement of the action or special proceeding, litigating for the same thing and under the same title and in the same capacity. The requisites for the application of the principle are: (1) there must be a final judgment or order; (2) said judgment or order must be on the merits; (3) the court rendering the same must have jurisdiction over the subject matter and the parties; and (4) there must be, between the two cases, identity of parties, identity of subject matter, and identity of causes of action.
Of these four elements, the PCGG questions only the presence of the fourth, contending that there was "no identity of subject matter" between Civil Case No. 0188 and Civil Case No. 0034 inasmuch as the Sandiganbayan never acquired jurisdiction over the alleged Piedras Shares of Arambulo in the latter case. It argues that the Amended Complaint in Civil Case No. 0034 does not allege or mention the shares of stock of respondent Arambulo in Piedras Petroleum Company, Inc. and, therefore, they are not included in the subject matter of that case.
In addition, the PCGG insists that there was "no identity of causes of action" because in Civil Case No. 0034, the cause of action was the conspiracy between Roberto S. Benedicto and Miguel Gonzales in establishing the California Overseas Bank, while in Civil Case No. 0188, it is the ill-gotten wealth of Arambulo in the form of 145,000,000 shares of stock in Piedras Petroleum Company, Inc.
This Court finds the petitioner's contention untenable.
First, a perusal of the records of this case and that of G.R. No. 14061517 reveals that the shares of stock of Piedras Petroleum Company Inc. were part of the subject matter of Civil Case No. 0034, as the case involved the recovery of the entire Piedras shares, including the 1/7 registered in the name of Arambulo. Although Annex "A" of the Amended Complaint in Civil Case No. 0034, listing the claimed ill-gotten wealth amassed by Benedicto and his co-defendants, does not mention Piedras Petroleum Company, Inc., it, however, mentioned "Frozen Bank Accounts and other assets of Rodolfo Arambulo" and "And all other assets of all the defendants sequestered and/or frozen by the Commission pursuant to Executive Order Nos. 1 and 2." The Piedras shares, including those of Arambulo were among those sequestered by the PCGG on July 23, 1987, thus making them a matter subject of the said case against Benedicto.
Thus, the PCGG cannot now claim that there is a variance of subject matter in Civil Case No. 0034 and in Civil Case No. 0188, since both actions seek to tag the Piedras shares as ill-gotten and to recover the same in favor of the Republic.
Second, despite the PCGG's unwavering stand that there is no identity of causes of action, it is precluded from litigating facts and issues already resolved in Civil Case No. 0034. A Compromise Agreement judicially approved has the force of res judicata between the parties. Petitioner is barred to bring anew a similar action involving the same facts and issues subject of the Compromise Agreement.
In G.R. No. 140615 and G.R. NOS. 108292, 108386, 108548-49 and 108550,21 this Court upheld the validity of the PCGG-Benedicto Compromise Agreement. The PCGG cannot be allowed to question repeatedly the provisions of the Compromise Agreement even if it now appears that it was short-changed in the settlement. It is a long-established doctrine that the law does not relieve a party from the effects of an unwise, foolish, or disastrous contract, entered into with all the required formalities and with full awareness of what he was doing.22 Courts have no power to relieve parties from obligations voluntarily assumed, simply because their contracts turned out to be disastrous deals or unwise investments.23 Therefore, no questions of facts and substance can be invoked in a second case that will disturb what had been adjudicated in Civil Case No. 0034, as they would unavoidably violate the principle of res judicata.
Even assuming arguendo that the cause of action in Civil Case No. 0034 is not identical to that in Civil Case No. 0188, petitioner cannot escape the clutches of res judicata. While it appears that the Sandiganbayan dismissed this case on the first aspect of res judicata, we hold that second aspect, which is conclusiveness of judgment, is applicable.
In cases wherein the doctrine of "conclusiveness of judgment" applies, there is, as in Civil Case No. 0034 and Civil Case No. 0188 identity of issues not necessarily identity of causes of action. The prior adjudication of the Sandiganbayan affirmed by this Court in G.R. No. 140615, as to the ownership of the 1/7 Piedras shares of Arambulo, is conclusive in the second case, as it has been judicially resolved.
The PCGG also charges the Sandiganbayan, Second Division, with grave abuse of discretion in dismissing Civil Case No. 0188 without receiving evidence. PCGG alleges that when the court dismissed the case, it abandoned its duty to try and decide ill-gotten wealth cases.
Moreover, the PCGG asserts that there is no forum shopping as it was Commissioner Ruben C. Carranza, Jr. who signed the Verification and Certification of the Complaint in Civil Case No. 0188 and not Manuel P. Parras, Director, PCGG Legal Department and Edgardo L. Kilayko, legal counsel of the PCGG, for they only complied with their duty of filing cases for the recovery of ill-gotten wealth as mandated by the organic law creating the PCGG.
As previously discussed by this Court, Civil Case No. 0034 and Civil Case No. 0188 have substantially the same cause of action. Unfortunately, in Civil Case No. 0034, plaintiff PCGG's goal to reconvey Arambulo's Piedras shares to the Republic of the Philippines through PCGG was unsuccessful as the said shares were adjudicated with finality in favor of Rodolfo Arambulo x x x.
WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED and the assailed Resolutions of the Sandiganbayan are AFFIRMED.
2 Annexes "A" and "B" of the Petition, id. at 21-29, 30-31.
3 Annex "C" of the Petition, id. at 32-38.
4 Articles of Incorporation of the Piedras Petroleum Company, Inc., id. at 39-44.
5 Rollo (G.R. No. 140615), p. 97.
6 SB Civil Case No. 0034 - Hector T. Rivera, Julieta C. Benedicto, Lourdes V. Rivera, Miguel V. Gonzalez, Pagasa San Agustin, Rocio B. Torres, Mariano Benedicto, Romulo Benedicto, Zacarias Amante, Francisco S. Benedicto, Jose Montalvo, Jesus Martinez, Nestor Mata, Alberto Velez, Richard de Leon, Zapiro Tampinco, Dominador Pangilinan and Rodolfo Arambulo.
7 Annex "A" of the Amended Complaint, Civil Case No. 0034.
9 G.R. NOS. 108292, 108368, 108548-49, 108550, September 10, 1993, 226 SCRA 314 (1993).
11 G.R. No. 140615, February 19, 2001, 352 SCRA 235, 250-251.
17 Republic v. Sandiganbayan, supra note 11.
19 Benedicto v. Board of Administrators of Television Stations RPN, BBC, and IBC, G.R. No. 87710, March 31, 1992, 207 SCRA 659.
20 Page 1-2 of the Compromise Agreement, rollo, pp. 45-54.
21 Republic v. Sandiganbayan, September 10, 1993, 226 SCRA 314.
22 Rivera v. Solidbank Corporation, G.R. No. 163269, April 19, 2006, 487 SCRA 512.
23 Republic v. Sandiganbayan, supra note 21.
24 Rasdas v. Estenor, G.R. No. 157605, December 13, 2005, 477 SCRA 538.
25 Rasdas v. Estenor, id.; Intestate Estate of the Late Don Mariano San Pedro y Esteban v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 103727, December 18, 1996, 265 SCRA 733; Calalang v. Register of Deeds of Quezon City, G.R. No. 76265, March 11, 1994, 231 SCRA 88, 100.
26 Cruz v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 164797, February 13, 2006, 482 SCRA 379.
27 San Pedro v. Binalay, G.R. No. 126207, August 25, 2005, 468 SCRA 47.
28 Rule 129 - SECTION 1. Judicial Notice, when mandatory. - A court shall take judicial notice, without the introduction of evidence, of the existence and territorial extent of states, their political history, forms of government and symbols of nationality, the law of nations, the admiralty and maritime courts of the world and their seals, the political constitution and history of the Philippines, the official acts of the legislative, executive and judicial departments of the Philippines, the laws of nature, the measure of time, and the geographical divisions.
29 Buan v. Lopez, G.R. No. L-75349, October 13, 1986, 145 SCRA 34. See also First Philippine National Bank v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 115849, January 24, 1996, 252 SCRA 259.
30 Resolution of the Sandiganbayan, Civil Case No. 0188, pp. 6-7; rollo, pp. 26-27.

References: v. 
 v. 
 V. 
 V. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v. 
 v.