GR L 2898; (November, 1950) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-2898 December 23, 1950
LUCILA ORNEDO, petitioner, vs. EUSEBIO F. RAMOS, Judge of the Court of First Instance of Marinduque, JACINTA ORNEDO, LEON, DELFIN, ARTURO, LIBERATO, ANDRES, EUSTAQUIO, all surnamed MABUTE, and MAGNA LABAGUIS, respondents.
FACTS
Two applications for letters of administration were filed concerning the estates of spouses Juan Ornedo and Severina Mistal. Lucila Ornedo, Juan’s illegitimate daughter (whose mother he later married), opposed both applications, claiming ownership of the properties via donation from her father. The cases were consolidated and heard twice due to lost stenographic notes and changes in presiding judges. Judge Enriquez dismissed the applications and a related complaint in intervention, ruling that all properties passed to Juan as surviving spouse and were validly donated to Lucila. The applicants and intervenors moved for reconsideration. Judge Ramos, the successor judge, set aside Judge Enriquez’s order, holding that the court lacked jurisdiction because the required publication of the application was not properly shown. He ordered republication and rehearing for one case (No. 659) and dismissed the other (No. 656) and the intervention. Lucila filed a certiorari petition, arguing publication was duly made and the probate court could adjudicate ownership issues.
ISSUE
Whether a writ of certiorari is the proper remedy to challenge Judge Ramos’s order setting aside the previous decision and requiring republication and rehearing.
RULING
No, certiorari does not lie. The Supreme Court held that Judge Ramos’s order was within his jurisdiction as a successor judge to reconsider and set aside the prior order. Any error in his finding regarding lack of publication or refusal to rule on the ownership issue was an error of judgment, not jurisdiction. Certiorari requires a positive, injurious action exceeding jurisdiction; here, the order was essentially a refusal to affirm the previous ruling without republication, which is not actionable via certiorari. The proper remedy is appeal, not a special civil action. The petition was dismissed.
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