GR L 31856; (November, 1972) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-31856 November 24, 1972
ELPIDIO ARELLANO, ET AL., petitioners, vs. HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS, DELFINA G. ESTRADA, ET AL., respondents.
FACTS
The petitioners, tenants, filed CAR Case No. 1651-P’67 before the Court of Agrarian Relations (CAR) in Lingayen, Pangasinan, seeking the adoption of the leasehold system on their landholdings under Republic Act No. 3844 . The private respondents, landowners, intervened in opposition. The CAR rendered a judgment in favor of the petitioners on March 31, 1969. The respondents’ counsel received a copy of this decision on April 29, 1969.
On May 15, 1969, the respondents filed a motion for reconsideration with the CAR, which was denied on June 23, 1969. The order of denial was received by respondents on July 3, 1969, and on the same date, they filed a notice of appeal to the Court of Appeals. The appeal was docketed as CA- G.R. No. 43419 -R. The petitioners moved to dismiss the appeal in the appellate court, contending that the CAR judgment had already become final and executory when the motion for reconsideration was filed, thus depriving the Court of Appeals of jurisdiction. The Court of Appeals denied this motion to dismiss via a minute resolution.
ISSUE
Whether the Court of Appeals had jurisdiction to entertain the appeal from the CAR decision.
RULING
The Supreme Court reversed the resolution of the Court of Appeals and held that it had no jurisdiction. The Court applied Section 2 of Republic Act No. 5434 , which governed appeals from the CAR to the Court of Appeals. The law required an appeal to be filed within fifteen (15) days from notice of the decision. If a motion for reconsideration was filed within that fifteen-day period, an appeal could be taken within ten (10) days from notice of the denial of such motion.
The record conclusively showed that respondents’ counsel received notice of the CAR decision on April 29, 1969. The reglementary fifteen-day period to appeal or file a motion for reconsideration therefore expired on May 14, 1969. Since the respondents filed their motion for reconsideration only on May 15, 1969, it was filed one day after the judgment had already become final and executory. Consequently, the subsequent notice of appeal filed on July 3, 1969, was void. The ten-day period to appeal from a denial of a motion for reconsideration presupposes that the motion itself was timely filed within the initial fifteen-day period.
The Court rejected the argument that the petitioners were estopped from questioning jurisdiction due to the timing of their motion to dismiss. Citing Miranda v. Guanzon and subsequent cases, the Court reaffirmed that the perfection of an appeal within the reglementary period is both mandatory and jurisdictional. Failure to comply renders the judgment final, and the appellate court acquires no jurisdiction over the appeal. This jurisdictional defect can be raised at any stage. Since the CAR judgment was final, the Court of Appeals had no power to entertain the appeal. The Supreme Court granted the petition and set aside the appellate court’s resolution.