GR 74249; (January, 1989) (Digest)
G.R. No. 74249 , January 20, 1989
ATTY. CORNELIO T. RIVERA and AUGUSTO PALOMAR, petitioners, vs. THE HONORABLE INTERMEDIATE APPELLATE COURT and LA VISTA ASSOCIATION, INC., respondents.
FACTS
Petitioners Rivera and Palomar, owners of a parcel of land purchased from Maryknoll College, filed an amended complaint for damages and injunction with the Court of First Instance (CFI) of Rizal. They alleged that the private respondent, La Vista Association, Inc., wilfully closed and obstructed Mangyan Road, a 15-meter wide road within La Vista Subdivision. They claimed a right to use one-half of this road based on a deed of sale with Maryknoll College and invoked Quezon City Ordinance No. 7613-S-68, which prohibits the obstruction of subdivision streets. The CFI granted a writ of preliminary injunction, ordering La Vista Association to cease preventing the petitioners and the public from using the road.
La Vista Association filed a petition for certiorari and prohibition with the Supreme Court, which was remanded to the Intermediate Appellate Court (IAC) due to factual issues. The IAC granted the petition, annulling the CFI’s orders and making permanent its own preliminary injunction against the enforcement of the CFI’s writ. The petitioners’ motion for reconsideration was denied, prompting this petition for review.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of First Instance committed a grave abuse of discretion in issuing the writ of preliminary injunction against La Vista Association.
RULING
The Supreme Court dismissed the petition and affirmed the IAC decision, holding that the issuance of the writ of preliminary injunction was improper. For a writ of preliminary injunction to issue, the applicant must demonstrate a clear and unquestionable right that is being violated. The petitioners based their claim on a provision in their deed of sale with Maryknoll College, which granted them a “road right of way inside the Maryknoll College Campus” in the event La Vista Association refused access to the other half of Mangyan Road. The Court found this right was to be asserted against Maryknoll College, the grantor, not against La Vista Association, which was not a party to the contract. The petitioners failed to refute evidence that Maryknoll had provided alternative roads within its campus leading to a main avenue.
The existence of the city ordinance does not, by itself, confer an unquestionable right upon the petitioners to use the specific portion of the road owned by the subdivision association. Citing Ramos, Sr. v. Gatchalian Realty, Inc., the Court reiterated that mere convenience is insufficient to establish a right of way; there must be a real necessity. Since the petitioners failed to show a clear legal right over the one-half portion of Mangyan Road owned by La Vista Association, the essential prerequisite for injunctive relief was absent. Consequently, the CFI’s issuance of the writ constituted a grave abuse of discretion, correctible by certiorari as held in Maguan v. Court of Appeals. The IAC correctly annulled the orders.