G.R. No. L-17624; June 30, 1962
AQUILINA LARGADO, petitioner-appellee, vs. JUDGE LUPO A. MASAGANDA, ETC., ET AL., respondents, ANGELO DE LOS REYES, respondent-appellant.

FACTS

On January 7, 1960, Angelo de los Reyes filed a petition in the Justice of the Peace Court of Unisan, Quezon, seeking his appointment as guardian of the persons and properties of certain minors. The court set the hearing for January 27, 1960. At that hearing, Aquilina Largado, the mother of the minors, was declared in default due to her counsel’s failure to appear. Her counsel appeared two hours later and moved for reconsideration, but the motion was denied. The court then issued an order appointing de los Reyes as guardian.
Subsequently, on February 17, 1960, Largado filed a motion to dismiss the guardianship proceedings, arguing that the justice of the peace court lacked jurisdiction to appoint a guardian under Republic Act No. 2613 , enacted on August 1, 1959. The court denied this motion. Largado then filed a petition for certiorari with preliminary injunction before the Court of First Instance of Quezon, seeking to nullify the orders of the justice of the peace court on the same jurisdictional grounds. The CFI granted the writ and, after joinder of issues, rendered a decision holding that the justice of the peace court indeed had no jurisdiction.

ISSUE

Whether the Justice of the Peace Court of Unisan had jurisdiction to appoint a guardian on January 7, 1960, when the petition was filed.

RULING

The Supreme Court affirmed the decision of the Court of First Instance, holding that the justice of the peace court lacked jurisdiction. The legal logic is anchored on the clear statutory language of Republic Act No. 2613 , which amended the Judiciary Act. Section 10 of RA 2613, effective August 1, 1959, explicitly provided that the jurisdiction of justice of the peace courts “shall not extend” to, among others, the appointment of guardians. The Court rejected the contention, supported by a 1959 opinion of the Secretary of Justice, that the inclusion of “guardian” in the prohibitory clause was a legislative oversight. It ruled that such a perceived mistake in the statute could not be corrected by an executive opinion but required legislative action. Congress subsequently rectified the oversight by enacting Republic Act No. 3090 on June 17, 1961, which restored the jurisdiction. However, since RA 3090 contained no saving clause, its provisions could not be applied retroactively to validate the January 1960 appointment. Consequently, the orders issued by the justice of the peace court were null and void for lack of jurisdiction at the time they were rendered.