G.R. No. 167403 ; August 6, 2008
MAKATI INSURANCE CO., INC., petitioner, vs. HON. WILFREDO D. REYES, as Presiding Judge of the Regional Trial Court of Manila, Branch 36, RUBILLS INTERNATIONAL, INC., TONG WOON SHIPPING PTE LTD, and ASIAN TERMINALS, INC., respondents.

FACTS

Petitioner Makati Insurance Co., Inc., as subrogee, filed a complaint for damages against private respondents for breach of contract of carriage and arrastre services concerning a damaged shipment. The Regional Trial Court (RTC) dismissed the case without prejudice due to petitioner’s counsel’s repeated failure to appear at scheduled pre-trial conferences. Petitioner received the dismissal order on November 29, 2001, and filed a motion for reconsideration on December 4, 2001. The RTC denied this motion via an order dated June 17, 2002, which petitioner received on July 3, 2002. Petitioner then filed a notice of appeal on July 18, 2002. The RTC dismissed the notice of appeal as filed out of time, ruling that the 15-day reglementary period to appeal commenced from petitioner’s receipt of the June 17, 2002 order denying reconsideration, making the filing three days late. The Court of Appeals affirmed this dismissal.

ISSUE

Whether the Court of Appeals erred in affirming the RTC’s dismissal of the notice of appeal for having been filed beyond the reglementary period.

RULING

The Supreme Court denied the petition and affirmed the lower courts’ rulings. The legal logic centers on the proper computation of the appeal period following a motion for reconsideration of an order dismissing a case without prejudice. The Court held that the period to appeal from an order dismissing a case without prejudice is governed by Section 3, Rule 41 of the Rules of Court. A party has 15 days from notice of the order to file a notice of appeal. If a motion for reconsideration is filed, the period is interrupted. Upon denial of the motion, the remaining period resumes. However, the fresh period rule established in Neypes v. Court of Appeals does not apply. The Neypes rule grants a fresh 15-day period to appeal counted from notice of the denial of a motion for new trial or motion for reconsideration, but it explicitly applies only to judgments or final orders that dispose of the case on the merits. An order of dismissal without prejudice is not a final order that disposes of the case on the merits; it does not constitute an adjudication on the merits and does not bar the refiling of the action. Consequently, the ordinary rule on interrupted periods applies. Petitioner received the denial of its motion for reconsideration on July 3, 2002. It only had the remainder of the original 15-day period from November 29, 2001, within which to appeal. Its filing on July 18, 2002, was therefore untimely. The reglementary period for filing an appeal is jurisdictional, and failure to comply renders the trial court’s decision final and executory.