G.R. No. L-29223 August 30, 1968
BACOLOD-MURCIA MILLING CO., INC., petitioner, vs. HON. JOSE R. QUERUBIN, as Judge of the Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental, JULIO & JULIANA DE LA RAMA and NAPOLEON GONZAGA, respondents.

FACTS

On December 29, 1967, respondents Julio and Juliana dela Rama Gonzaga and Napoleon Gonzaga (Landowners) filed a complaint for injunction with preliminary injunction against petitioner Bacolod-Murcia Milling Co., Inc. (Central) in the Court of First Instance of Negros Occidental. They alleged they owned parcels of land over which the Central’s railway tracks passed for hauling sugar cane, constructed by virtue of 1920 and 1936 milling contracts that granted a right of way to the Central for the period of the contracts, expiring on September 30, 1965. They claimed the Central continued to use the tracks, causing grave and irreparable injury. The court issued an ex parte preliminary injunction on the same date. The Central filed an urgent motion to lift the injunction on January 2, 1968, citing public interest and potential massive losses. The respondent judge denied the motion on January 4, 1968, noting the contracts had expired and a presidential conference was pending. After a conference, the parties agreed to allow passage until April 1, 1968. The Central filed its answer and an amended answer. On May 10, 1968, the Central filed a petition for certiorari with the Supreme Court (G.R. L-29001) challenging the injunction orders, but it was dismissed on May 15, 1968. The Central then filed a motion to lift injunction with the respondent court on June 4, 1968, which was denied on July 1, 1968. Hence, the present petition for certiorari.

ISSUE

Whether the respondent court committed excess of jurisdiction or grave abuse of discretion in issuing the preliminary injunction and refusing to lift it.

RULING

The Supreme Court dismissed the petition. The Court held that the six issues raised by the petitioner were substantially the same as those raised and resolved in the earlier case of Angela Estate, et al. vs. CFI of Negros Occidental, et al., G.R. No. L-27084, July 31, 1968. In that decision, the Court resolved all issues against the Bacolod-Murcia Milling Co., denying it passage through the lands in the absence of a showing that the statutory requisites for a legal easement under Articles 649 and 650 of the New Civil Code had been established. The Court found no such showing in the present case. Therefore, the respondent court acted correctly in issuing the injunction and refusing to lift it.