GR 126584; (November, 2001) (Digest)
G.R. No. 126584 November 15, 2001
Valley Land Resources, Inc., Galicano C. Capatria, Jr., and Nolasco M. Bondoc, petitioners, vs. Valley Golf Club, Inc., respondent.
FACTS
The dispute involves ownership of road lots comprising Victoria Valley Boulevard. Respondent Valley Golf Club, Inc. owned half of the boulevard. It entered into an agreement with Hacienda Benito for joint ownership and maintenance of the entire roadway. Hacienda Benito later transferred its rights to petitioner Valley Land Resources, Inc. (VLR). Consequently, Valley Golf shared with VLR the proceeds from a right-of-way grant to a realty developer, under the mistaken belief that VLR was a legitimate co-owner.
Valley Golf later discovered that the other half of the boulevard was not owned by Hacienda Benito or VLR but was already registered under different entities. It then demanded that VLR return the shared proceeds, amounting to P1,585,962.96. VLR refused and instead sought the cancellation of Valley Golf’s titles over its road lots. The cases were consolidated in the Regional Trial Court (RTC).
ISSUE
The primary issue is whether the petition has been rendered moot and academic by a final and executory related decision.
RULING
The Supreme Court dismissed the petition as moot and academic. The legal logic is grounded in the conclusive resolution of the core ownership issue in a separate, final interpleader case. In that case, J.C. Enterprises filed an interpleader to determine who between Valley Golf and VLR was entitled to the remaining half of the right-of-way payment. The RTC ruled that Valley Golf was the sole owner of the road lots and thus entitled to all proceeds. VLR appealed this decision to the Court of Appeals, but its appeal was dismissed for failure to file an appellant’s brief. That dismissal became final and executory.
Consequently, the central question of ownership and the right to the proceeds, which is the foundation of the present petition for certiorari, has already been conclusively adjudicated. Following the precedent in Avedana v. Court of Appeals, a case becomes moot and academic when a related case has resolved all the substantive issues between the parties. Since the interpleader decision, which declared Valley Golf as the sole owner, has attained finality, there is no longer any justiciable controversy for the Court to resolve. The petition was therefore dismissed.