G.R. No. L-27801. November 17, 1977.
IN THE MATTER OF THE TESTATE ESTATE OF CONRADO D. SANTOS. RAUL D. SANTOS and HOSPICIO C. SANTOS, joint executors and administrators-appellees, vs. VALERIANO C. BUENO, movant-appellant.

FACTS

This case originated from a probate proceeding for the estate of Conrado D. Santos. The Court of First Instance of Rizal, in an order dated December 4, 1965, required appellant Valeriano C. Bueno to deposit in court the sum of P82,257.60. This amount represented a debt due to the decedent’s estate under a deed of sale and mortgage. Bueno appealed this order to the Court of Appeals.
The Court of Appeals, after briefs were filed, certified the case to the Supreme Court in a resolution dated May 8, 1967. The certification was based on the ground that the appeal raised only questions of law. Subsequently, the Supreme Court, in a resolution dated June 22, 1977, required the parties to manifest whether the appeal had become moot and academic.

ISSUE

Whether the appeal filed by Valeriano C. Bueno from the lower court’s order requiring him to deposit P82,257.60 had been rendered moot and academic.

RULING

Yes, the appeal was dismissed for being moot. The Supreme Court’s ruling was based on the principle that courts will not determine a question that no longer presents a justiciable controversy because the issues involved have been resolved or have ceased to exist. Appellant Bueno, in his manifestation dated October 21, 1977, stated that he had already paid the estate the amount of P82,257.60 by depositing a check for that sum dated December 9, 1968, with the Court of First Instance of Rizal in Caloocan City. This deposit was made in connection with two related civil cases.
The Caloocan court, in its order of December 14, 1968, directed the estate’s executor to accept the check and execute the necessary cancellation of the mortgage. Furthermore, the counsel for the estate, in a letter dated July 28, 1977, confirmed to the Supreme Court that the amount had been fully paid to the estate and that Bueno’s appeal had therefore become moot. Since the very subject of the appeal—the enforcement of the payment order—had been extinguished by voluntary compliance, there remained no live controversy for the Court to adjudicate. Consequently, the Supreme Court dismissed the appeal.