G.R. No. 31342, August 3, 1929
VICENTE ONG CHIONGCHI, petitioner, vs. THE JUDGE OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF ORIENTAL NEGROS and LEON PASTOR, respondents.

FACTS

Vicente Ong Chiongchi filed a complaint for breach of contract and damages against Leon Pastor in the Court of First Instance (CFI) of Oriental Negros (Civil Case No. 321). After trial, Judge A.M. Rector rendered judgment in favor of Ong Chiongchi on July 20, 1927. Pastor filed a motion for new trial on October 20, 1927. Judge Nicolas Capistrano, acting on the motion, granted a new trial and set aside Judge Rector’s judgment on October 24, 1927. After conducting the new trial, Judge Capistrano rendered a new judgment on March 3, 1928, absolving Pastor from the complaint. Ong Chiongchi challenged Judge Capistrano’s order granting a new trial via a petition for certiorari (G.R. No. 29358). The Supreme Court, in a decision dated August 24, 1928, annulled Judge Capistrano’s order for lack of jurisdiction. Subsequently, Ong Chiongchi filed the present certiorari petition to nullify the March 3, 1928 judgment rendered after the new trial.

ISSUE

Whether the judgment rendered by Judge Capistrano on March 3, 1928, after conducting a new trial, is valid.

RULING

No. The Supreme Court declared the judgment of March 3, 1928 null and void. Since the Court had already ruled in G.R. No. 29358 that Judge Capistrano acted without jurisdiction in granting the new trial and setting aside the original judgment, all subsequent proceedings conducted pursuant to that void order, including the new trial and the resulting judgment, were likewise void for lack of jurisdiction. The Court affirmed that jurisdiction over the case was lost upon the issuance of the void order, and thus the later judgment had no legal effect. Costs were imposed on respondent Leon Pastor.