GR 152429; (March, 2005) (Digest)

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📌 CORE DOCTRINE

“it had become moot and academic due to the filing of the second amended complaint, which cured the defects of the earlier complaint.”

💡 PLAIN ENGLISH SUMMARY

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G.R. No. 152429. March 18, 2005
ELIZABETH ED. LIM, Petitioner, vs. EDILBERTO D. ANG, Respondent.

FACTS

Edilberto D. Ang filed a criminal complaint for violation of B.P. Blg. 22 against Elizabeth Lim before the MTCC. Lim moved to quash the complaint, arguing, among other grounds, that it failed to allege a notice of dishonor, an essential element of the offense. The public prosecutor opposed the motion and filed an amended complaint. The MTCC denied Lim’s motion to quash and for reconsideration.
Lim then filed a petition for certiorari with the RTC, assailing the MTCC’s orders. While this petition was pending, Ang filed a second amended criminal complaint with the MTCC, which this time included the requisite allegation of notice of dishonor. The RTC dismissed Lim’s certiorari petition, ruling it had become moot and academic due to the filing of the second amended complaint, which cured the defects of the earlier complaint. Lim’s motion for reconsideration was denied.

ISSUE

Whether the Regional Trial Court erred in dismissing the petition for certiorari as moot and academic due to the filing of a second amended criminal complaint.

RULING

The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the RTC. The core legal principle is that an amended complaint that supersedes the original complaint renders any challenge to the original pleading moot. Ang’s second amended complaint specifically alleged that notice of dishonor was given to Lim, thereby supplying the essential element missing from the initial filing. Consequently, the defect that Lim sought to correct via certiorari was cured.
The Court clarified that the pendency of a motion to quash does not bar the filing of an amended complaint before a responsive pleading is filed. Since the second amended complaint was properly admitted, it became the operative pleading. Therefore, the RTC correctly held that the petition for certiorari—which attacked the validity of the prior, superseded complaint—no longer presented a justiciable controversy. The proper recourse for Lim, if she believed the second amended complaint was still defective, was to file the appropriate motion to quash that new pleading in the MTCC, not to persist with a challenge to an obsolete accusation.

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