10/22/2017 G.R. No.

167246

Today is Sunday, October 22, 2017

Custom Search

Republic of the Philippines

SECOND DIVISION

G.R. No. 167246 July 20, 2011

GEORGE LEONARD S. UMALE, Petitioner,

DECISION

BRION, J.:

Before us is a petition for review on certiorari1 filed by George Leonard S. Umale (petitioner), challenging the August
20, 2004 Decision2 of the Court of Appeals (CA) in CA-G.R. SP. No. 78836 and its subsequent February 23, 2005
Resolution3 that denied his motion for reconsideration. The CA reversed the Decision4 of the Regional Trial Court
(RTC)-Branch 68, Pasig City, that dismissed Canoga Park Development Corporation’s complaint for unlawful
detainer on the ground of litis pendentia.

ANTECEDENTS

On January 4, 2000, the parties entered into a Contract of Lease5 whereby the petitioner agreed to lease, for a
period of two (2) years starting from January 16, 2000, an eight hundred sixty (860)-square-meter prime lot located
in Ortigas Center, Pasig City owned by the respondent. The respondent acquired the subject lot from Ortigas & Co.
Ltd. Partnership through a Deed of Absolute Sale, subject to the following conditions: (1) that no shopping arcades
or retail stores, restaurants, etc. shall be allowed to be established on the property, except with the prior written
consent from Ortigas & Co. Ltd. Partnership and (2) that the respondent and/or its successors-in-interest shall
become member/s of the Ortigas Center Association, Inc. (Association), and shall abide by its rules and
regulations.6

On October 10, 2000, before the lease contract expired, the respondent filed an unlawful detainer case against the
petitioner before the Metropolitan Trial Court (MTC)-Branch 68, Pasig City, docketed as Civil Case No. 8084.7 The
respondent used as a ground for ejectment the petitioner’s violation of stipulations in the lease contract regarding
the use of the 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

During the pendency of the petition for review, the respondent filed on May 3, 2002 another case for unlawful
detainer against the petitioner before the MTC-Branch 71, Pasig City. The case was docketed as Civil Case No.
9210.14 This time, the respondent used as a ground for ejectment the expiration of the parties’ lease contract.

On December 4, 2002, the MTC-Branch 71 rendered a decision15 in favor of the respondent, the dispositive portion
of which read, as follows:

http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2011/jul2011/gr_167246_2011.html 1/5
10/22/2017 G.R. No. 167246

WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of the plaintiff [referring to the respondent] and against the
defendant and all persons claiming rights under him, as follows:

1. Defendant and all persons claiming rights under him are ordered to peacefully vacate the premises located
at Lot 9, Block 5, San Miguel Avenue, Ortigas Center, Pasig City, covered by Transfer Certificate of Title No.
488797 of the Registry of Deeds of Pasig City and to surrender the possession thereof to the plaintiff;

2. Defendant is ordered to pay unto plaintiff the following:

a. Damages for the use of the property after the expiration of the lease contract therefor in the amount
of One Hundred Fifty Thousand Pesos (₱150,000.00) a month, beginning 16 January 2002 until he and
all those claiming rights under him have vacated and peacefully turned over the subject premises to the
plaintiff; and

b. One Hundred Thousand Pesos (₱100,000.00) as and for attorney’s fees together with costs of suit.

3. With respect to the commercial units built by [the] defendant on the subject land, he is hereby ordered to
remove the same from the subject land and to restore the subject land in the same condition as it was
received unto the plaintiff, at his exclusive account, failing which the same shall be removed by the plaintiff,
with expenses therefor chargeable to the defendant.

On appeal, the RTC-Branch 68 reversed and set aside the decision of the MTC-Branch 71, and dismissed Civil
Case No. 9210 on the ground of litis pendentia.16 The petitioner, however, was still ordered to pay rent in the
amount of seventy-one thousand five hundred pesos (₱71,500.00) per month beginning January 16, 2002, which
amount is the monthly rent stipulated in the lease contract.

Aggrieved by the reversal, the respondent filed a Petition for Review under Rule 42 of the Rules of Court with the
CA. The respondent argued that there exists no litis pendentia between Civil Case Nos. 8084 and 9210 because the
two cases involved different grounds for ejectment, i.e., the first case was filed because of violations of the lease
contract, while the second case was filed due to the expiration of the lease contract. The respondent emphasized
that the second case was filed based on an event or a cause not yet in existence at the time of the filing of the first
case.17 The lease contract expired on January 15, 2002,18 while the first case was filed on October 10, 2000.

On August 20, 2004, the CA nullified and set aside the assailed decision of the RTC-Branch 68, and ruled that there
was no litis pendentia because the two civil cases have different causes of action. The decision of the MTC- Branch
71 was ordered reinstated. Subsequently, the petitioner’s motion for reconsideration was denied; hence, the filing of
the present petition for review on certiorari.

In presenting his case before this Court, the petitioner insists that litis pendentia exists between the two ejectment
cases filed against him because of their identity with one another and that any judgment on the first case will amount
to res judicata on the other. The petitioner argues that the respondent reiterated the ground of violations of the lease
contract, with the additional ground of the expiration of the lease contract in the second ejectment case. Also, the
petitioner alleges that all of the elements of litis pendentia are present in this case, thus, he prays for the reversal
and setting aside of the assailed CA decision and resolution, and for the dismissal of the complaint in Civil Case No.
9210 on the ground of litis pendentia and/or forum shopping.

THE COURT’S RULING

We disagree with the petitioner and find that there is no litis pendentia.

As a ground for the dismissal of a civil action, litis pendentia refers to a situation where two actions are pending
between the same parties for the same cause of action, so that one of them becomes unnecessary and vexatious.19

Litis pendentia exists when the following requisites are present: identity of the parties in the two actions; substantial
identity in the causes of action and in the reliefs sought by the parties; and the identity between the two actions
should be such that any judgment that may be rendered in one case, regardless of which party is successful, would
amount to res judicata in the other.20

In the present case, the parties’ bone of contention is whether Civil Case Nos. 8084 and 9210 involve the same
cause of action. The petitioner argues that the causes of action are similar, while the respondent argues otherwise.
If an identity, or substantial identity, of the causes of action in both cases exist, then the second complaint for
unlawful detainer may be dismissed on the ground of litis pendentia.

We rule that Civil Case Nos. 8084 and 9210 involve different causes of action.

Generally, a suit may only be instituted for a single cause of action.21 If two or more suits are instituted on the basis
of the same cause of action, the filing of one or a judgment on the merits in any one is ground for the dismissal of
http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2011/jul2011/gr_167246_2011.html 2/5
10/22/2017 G.R. No. 167246

the others.22

Several tests exist to ascertain whether two suits relate to a single or common cause of action, such as whether the
same evidence would support and sustain both the first and second causes of action23 (also known as the "same
evidence" test),24 or whether the defenses in one case may be used to substantiate the complaint in the other.25
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.26

Of the three tests cited, the third one is especially applicable to the present case, i.e., whether the cause of action in
the second case existed at the time of the filing of the first complaint – and to which we answer in the negative. The
facts clearly show that the filing of the first ejectment case was grounded on the petitioner’s violation of stipulations
in the lease contract, while the filing of the second case was based on the expiration of the lease contract. At the
time the respondent filed the first ejectment complaint on October 10, 2000, the lease contract between the parties
was still in effect. The lease was fixed for a period of two (2) years, from January 16, 2000, and in the absence of a
renewal agreed upon by the parties, the lease remained effective until January 15, 2002. 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. 1awphi1

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 pendentia are present or whether a final judgment in one case will amount to res judicata in another.29
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. Also, a close reading of the Verification and
Certification of Non-Forum Shopping30 (attached to the second ejectment complaint) shows that the respondent did
disclose that it had filed a former complaint for unlawful detainer against the petitioner. Thus, the respondent cannot
be said to have committed a willful and deliberate forum shopping.

WHEREFORE, the instant petition is DENIED. The assailed Decision dated August 20, 2004 and Resolution dated
February 23, 2005 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. SP. No. 78836 are AFFIRMED.

SO ORDERED.

ARTURO D. BRION
Associate Justice

WE CONCUR:

ANTONIO T. CARPIO
Associate Justice
Chairperson

TERESITA J. LEONARDO-DE CASTRO* DIOSDADO M. PERALTA**

JOSE PORTUGAL PEREZ

ATTESTATION

http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2011/jul2011/gr_167246_2011.html 3/5
10/22/2017 G.R. No. 167246

I attest that the conclusions in the above Decision had been reached in consultation before the case was assigned
to the writer of the opinion of the Court’s Division.

ANTONIO T. CARPIO
Associate Justice
Chairperson, Second Division

CERTIFICATION

Pursuant to Section 13, Article VIII of the Constitution, and the Division Chairperson's Attestation, I certify that the
conclusions in the above Decision had been reached in consultation before the case was assigned to the writer of
the opinion of the Court’s Division.

RENATO C. CORONA
Chief Justice

Footnotes
*
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.
1 Rollo, pp. 24-60.

2 Id. at 9-19.

3 Id. at 21.

4 Id. at 332-336.

5 Id. at 133-138.

6 Id. at 10.

7 Id. at 127-131.

8 Id. at 135-136.

9 Id. at 136.

10 Id. at 196-199.

11 Dated September 19, 2001.

12 Rollo, pp. 222-227.

13 Id. at 12.

14 Id. at 337-342.

15 Id. at 345-353.

16 Supra note 4.

17 Rollo, p. 323.

18 Id. at 649.

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 (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.

http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2011/jul2011/gr_167246_2011.html 4/5
10/22/2017 G.R. No. 167246

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.

21 1997 RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, Section 3, Rule 2.

22 1997 RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, Section 4, Rule 2.

23 Peñalosa v. Tuason, 22 Phil. 303, 322 (1912); Pagsisihan v. Court of Appeals, 184 Phil. 469, 479 (1980);
and Feliciano v. Court of Appeals, 350 Phil. 499, 506-507 (1998).

24 See Agustin v. Delos Santos, G.R. No. 168139, January 20, 2009, 576 SCRA 576.

25 Victronics Computers, Inc. v. RTC, Branch 63, Makati, G.R. No. 104019, January 25, 1993, 217 SCRA
517, 530.
26 Subic Telecommunications Company, Inc. v. Subic Bay Metropolitan Authority, G.R. No. 185159, October
12, 2009, 603 SCRA 470.

27 1997 RULES OF CIVIL PROCEDURE, Section 1, Rule 70.

28 Rollo, p. 352.

29 Solid Homes, Inc. v. Court of Appeals, 337 Phil. 605, 615 (1997).

30 Rollo, pp. 343-344.

The Lawphil Project - Arellano Law Foundation

http://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2011/jul2011/gr_167246_2011.html 5/5