GR 172574; (July, 2009) (Digest)
G.R. No. 172574; July 31, 2009
NOLI LIM, Petitioner, vs. ANGELITO DELOS SANTOS (deceased) now his Heirs, represented by BELEN DELOS SANTOS, Respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Noli Lim filed a protest with the DENR against the free patent application of Angelito delos Santos over a parcel of land in Oriental Mindoro. Lim claimed he and others were the actual occupants and had introduced improvements. The DENR Regional Executive Director dismissed the protest, ruling that the preferential right of delos Santos and his predecessor-in-interest had been recognized in a prior Regional Trial Court (RTC) decision. That RTC decision had nullified the title of Florencia Carl, from whom Lim derived his claim, on grounds of misrepresentation, finding that Carl never occupied or cultivated the land. The DENR Secretary and, subsequently, the Office of the President affirmed this dismissal.
Lim appealed to the Office of the President but failed to pay the required appeal fee of Five Hundred Pesos (P500.00) within the granted extension period. He filed his appeal memorandum but paid the fee only on January 7, 2004. The Office of the President, verifying the non-payment, dismissed his appeal on December 22, 2003, stating the payment of the appeal fee is a jurisdictional requirement.
ISSUE
Whether the Office of the President correctly dismissed Lim’s appeal for failure to pay the appeal fee on time.
RULING
Yes. The Supreme Court affirmed the dismissal. The payment of the prescribed appeal fee to the Office of the President is a mandatory and jurisdictional requirement. Administrative Order No. 18, which governs such appeals, explicitly requires it. Jurisdiction over the appeal is conferred only upon compliance with this condition precedent.
The Court rejected Lim’s argument that his filing of the appeal memorandum constituted substantial compliance. Jurisdictional rules must be strictly construed. The period for payment is not a mere technicality but a condition sine qua non for the perfection of an appeal. By failing to pay the fee within the extended period granted, Lim lost his right to appeal. The Office of the President acted within its authority in dismissing the appeal for lack of jurisdiction. Consequently, the Court of Appeals correctly upheld the dismissal, rendering a review of the substantive merits of the land dispute unnecessary. The appeal was denied for failure to adhere to procedural rules that are fundamental to the orderly administration of justice.