G.R. No. L-48671; April 19, 1949
EUSEBIO BELVIZ, petitioner, vs. CATALINO BUENAVENTURA, ETC., ET AL., respondents.

FACTS

In Civil Case No. 2055 of the Court of First Instance of Capiz, an order dated April 8, 1941, approved a counter-project of partition. A motion for reconsideration filed on April 14, 1941, was denied on May 3, 1941. A second motion for reconsideration was filed on May 26, 1941, which the respondent Judge granted on July 21, 1941, setting aside the April 8 order. The petitioner contends that the July 21 order was issued in excess of jurisdiction because the April 8 order had become final, arguing that the second motion for reconsideration did not suspend the period for appeal.

ISSUE

Whether the second motion for reconsideration suspended the running of the period for appeal, thereby preventing the April 8, 1941, order from becoming final.

RULING

Yes. The Supreme Court dismissed the petition for certiorari. The second motion for reconsideration, filed within the allowable period (29 days from April 8, after deducting the time the first motion was pending), is presumed regular and based on an allowed ground, as confirmed by the respondent Judge granting it. Under the Rules of Court, such a motion suspends the running of the period for appeal from its filing on May 26, 1941, until it was acted upon on July 21, 1941. Therefore, the April 8 order had not become final when the respondent Judge issued the July 21 order.

AI Generated by Armztrong.