GR 124250; (October, 2004) (Digest)
G.R. No. 124250; October 18, 2004
UNIVERSITY OF SANTO TOMAS, petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS AND PRISCILLA TIONGCO CANICOSA, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner University of Santo Tomas (UST) filed an ejectment complaint against Dr. Librado Canicosa for violating a clause in their clinic lease agreement, which prohibited lessee-physicians from maintaining ancillary services offered by the hospital. The violation pertained to Dr. Canicosa’s operation of an uptake machine in his leased room after UST acquired a similar diagnostic instrument. In his Answer, Dr. Canicosa filed a counterclaim for damages, citing three causes of action: (1) damages arising from his earlier illegal dismissal as a hospital personnel health officer, a matter already adjudicated by the NLRC and affirmed by the Supreme Court; (2) damages from a dismissed criminal complaint for falsification filed by UST; and (3) moral damages and attorney’s fees, alleging the ejectment suit was malicious and filed in revenge for his opposition to a hospital administrator.
The trial court dismissed UST’s complaint and granted parts of the counterclaim, awarding damages for the first and third causes of action. The Court of Appeals affirmed this decision. Dr. Canicosa died during the pendency of the case and was substituted by his wife, respondent Priscilla Tiongco Canicosa. UST elevated the case, arguing the trial court had no jurisdiction over the damages claim from the illegal dismissal and that the award of moral damages and attorney’s fees was erroneous.
ISSUE
The primary issues were: (1) whether the trial court had jurisdiction over the counterclaim for damages arising from the illegal dismissal; and (2) whether the awards of moral damages and attorney’s fees were proper.
RULING
The Supreme Court granted the petition and reversed the Court of Appeals. On jurisdiction, the Court held that the trial court validly acquired jurisdiction over the counterclaim for damages arising from the illegal dismissal. The ejectment complaint and the counterclaim were filed in 1979 under PD 1367, which then vested jurisdiction over such money claims in regular courts. The subsequent enactment of PD 1691, which transferred jurisdiction over such claims to the NLRC, could not divest the trial court of jurisdiction already acquired. Jurisdiction, once attached, continues until the final disposition of the case.
However, the Court deleted the awards for moral damages and attorney’s fees. Moral damages are personal and require proof of suffering, such as mental anguish. Due to Dr. Canicosa’s death and subsequent substitution, no evidence was presented to substantiate the claim for moral damages from the ejectment suit. The claim therefore remained unproven. Similarly, attorney’s fees could not be awarded as there was no evidence that UST filed the suit in bad faith or with a deliberate intent to cause harm; UST was merely asserting its contractual rights under the lease agreement. The right to litigate should not be penalized absent proof of malice.