GR 154034; (February, 2007) (Digest)
G.R. No. 154034 ; February 5, 2007
FIRST AQUA SUGAR TRADERS, INC. and CBN INTERNATIONAL (HK) CORPORATION, Petitioners, vs. BANK OF THE PHILIPPINE ISLANDS, Respondent.
FACTS
Petitioners filed a complaint against respondent Bank of the Philippine Islands. The Regional Trial Court rendered a summary judgment dismissing the complaint on October 16, 2000. Petitioners received the judgment on October 27, 2000, and instead of filing a notice of appeal within the 15-day period, they filed a motion for reconsideration on November 6, 2000. This motion was denied in an order dated January 30, 2001.
A dispute arose regarding the timeliness of petitioners’ subsequent notice of appeal, filed on February 16, 2001. Respondent bank contended that the January 30, 2001 order was received at the address of petitioners’ counsel by a certain Lenie Quilatan on February 9, 2001, leaving petitioners only until February 14, 2001, to file their appeal. Petitioners, however, claimed they only actually received the order on February 16, 2001. The trial court and the Court of Appeals sided with the respondent, finding that receipt occurred on February 9, 2001, and thus the February 16 notice of appeal was filed out of time.
ISSUE
Whether the notice of appeal was filed on time.
RULING
Yes, the notice of appeal was timely filed. The Supreme Court affirmed the factual finding of the lower courts that petitioners’ counsel constructively received the order denying their motion for reconsideration on February 9, 2001. However, the Court applied the new procedural rule established in Neypes v. Court of Appeals. The Neypes doctrine grants a fresh 15-day period to file a notice of appeal, counted from the receipt of the order denying a motion for new trial or motion for reconsideration.
This fresh period rule is procedural and was given retroactive application to cases still pending and undetermined at the time of its effectivity. Consequently, petitioners’ notice of appeal filed on February 16, 2001, was well within the fresh 15-day period that commenced on February 9, 2001. The petition was granted, and the case was remanded to the Court of Appeals for further proceedings.