GR 136478; (March, 2000) (Digest)
G.R. No. 136478 ; March 27, 2000
ARSEMIO P. REYES, JR., petitioner, vs. COURT OF APPEALS, Special Fourteenth Division, ARSENIO R. REYES, SR., and Judge EUDOXIA T. GUALBERTO, Presiding Judge, RTC, Br. 26, Manila, respondents.
FACTS
Arsenio P. Reyes, Jr. (petitioner) is a legitimate child of Arsenio R. Reyes, Sr. (respondent). A dispute arose when petitioner discovered his father had conveyed properties to his illegitimate children. Respondent filed a civil complaint for recovery of stolen titles. The Regional Trial Court (RTC) granted respondent’s motion for summary judgment, ordering the Registers of Deeds to issue second owner’s duplicate copies of several Transfer Certificates of Title, and later allowed execution pending appeal.
Petitioner appealed to the Court of Appeals (CA) and also filed a petition for certiorari to challenge the execution order. The CA dismissed the certiorari petition on a technical ground, finding that the attached copy of the challenged RTC order was an unsigned duplicate, not a clearly legible duplicate original or a certified true copy as required by the Rules of Civil Procedure. The CA denied petitioner’s motion for reconsideration.
ISSUE
Did the Court of Appeals commit grave abuse of discretion in dismissing the petition for certiorari based solely on a technicality?
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court granted the petition, setting aside the CA resolutions. The Court ruled that the CA acted with grave abuse of discretion in dismissing the petition based purely on a technical procedural lapse. The policy is to hear appeals on their merits, and rules of procedure should not be applied in a rigid, technical sense to override substantial justice. Dismissal on technical grounds is frowned upon.
The Supreme Court also addressed the substantive issue to guide the lower court. It held that the RTC, in its general jurisdiction, had no authority to order the issuance of new owner’s duplicate certificates of title in an ordinary civil action for recovery of stolen titles. The proper remedy under Section 109 of Presidential Decree No. 1529 is for the registered owner to file a verified petition in the RTC acting as a land registration court, after notice and hearing, to direct the issuance of a new duplicate. The RTC’s orders were therefore nullified for having been issued without jurisdiction.