GR L 223; (April, 1946) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-223; April 12, 1946
SUSANO AMOR, plaintiff-appellee, vs. FRANCISCO GONZALEZ, defendant-appellant.
FACTS
This is an ejectment case originally filed in the Municipal Court of Manila and appealed to the Court of First Instance of Manila. The defendants were Shiu Che Kong (alias Tiu Tiong Iu) and Francisco Gonzalez. The plaintiff, Susano Amor, is the owner of the house at No. 2248 (ground floor), Rizal Avenue, Manila. About March 1945, without the knowledge or consent of the owner, defendant Francisco Gonzalez entered into a contract with his co-defendant Shiu Che Kong, purporting to lease the house to Shiu Che Kong at a rate of P900 per month. Gonzalez collected “rents” from March to July 1945 without having any authority from the owner to let the house or collect rents. Despite the plaintiff’s demand for them to vacate and pay the back “rents,” the defendants refused. In the Court of First Instance, only Shiu Che Kong filed an answer; Francisco Gonzalez was declared in default. The court found the proven facts as stated but declared the P900 monthly rent excessive, appraising the reasonable value for use and occupation at P140 per month, considering the circumstances of time and place. Before the decision, Shiu Che Kong and the plaintiff informed the court of an amicable settlement, but the court proceeded to render judgment to avoid future litigation over the same questions.
ISSUE
Whether the municipal court and the Court of First Instance had jurisdiction over the ejectment case, given the defendant-appellant’s contention that the cause of action accrued more than one year prior to the suit’s commencement.
RULING
The Supreme Court affirmed the judgment of the Court of First Instance. The appellant’s contention that the courts lacked jurisdiction because the cause of action accrued more than one year before the suit was filed is untenable. The Court of First Instance found, based on the evidence (specifically the transcript on pages 6-7 of the record on appeal), that the cause of action accrued about March 1945. The original complaint was filed on April 23, 1945, only about one month after the accrual of the cause of action. Therefore, the courts had jurisdiction. The judgment, which ordered the defendants to restore the house to the plaintiff, condemned Francisco Gonzalez to pay the plaintiff the reasonable value of the use and occupation (P140 per month) for the rents he had already collected from Shiu Che Kong and to reimburse Shiu Che Kong for the excess, condemned Shiu Che Kong to pay the plaintiff at the same rate from July 1945 until restitution, ordered Gonzalez not to interfere with the house, and taxed costs against both defendants, was in accordance with the facts and the law. The decision was affirmed with costs in all three instances against the appellant.