GR L 1431; (May, 1948) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-1431; May 27, 1948
PABLO INDICO, petitioner, vs. NATIVIDAD PARCON as Justice of the Peace of Janiuay, F. IMPERIAL REYES, Judge of the First Instance of Iloilo, and BASILISA TIRADOR, respondents.
FACTS
Petitioner Pablo Indico filed a petition for certiorari in the Court of First Instance of Iloilo, seeking to annul the decision and order of execution issued by the justice of the peace of Janiuay in a forcible entry and detainer case, alleging lack or excess of jurisdiction. The Court of First Instance denied his petition. Indico then filed a substantially similar petition for certiorari in the Supreme Court, this time including the Judge of First Instance as a respondent and seeking review of both the justice of the peace’s decision and the CFI’s decision.
ISSUE
Whether a petition for certiorari is the proper remedy to review the decisions of the justice of the peace and the Court of First Instance under these circumstances.
RULING
No. The petition is dismissed.
1. The denial of the first certiorari petition in the CFI rendered the issue of reviewing the justice of the peace’s decision res judicata.
2. Certiorari is not the proper remedy to review the CFI’s decision. The appropriate remedy against the CFI’s decision denying certiorari was an ordinary appeal, not a second certiorari petition. Certiorari is not a substitute for appeal unless appeal is inadequate.
3. Allowing such a procedure would create an anomaly where a certiorari petition could be repeated at each higher court level, which is untenable. The petitioner cannot invoke a court’s jurisdiction and then later claim it lacked jurisdiction after an unfavorable ruling.
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