G.R. No. L-53880 March 17, 1994
ENRICO L. PACETE, CLARITA DE LA CONCEPCION, EMELDA C. PACETE, EVELINA C. PACETE and EDUARDO C. PACETE, petitioners, vs. HON. GLICERIO V. CARRIAGA, JR. and CONCEPCION (CONCHITA) ALANIS PACETE, respondents.

FACTS

On October 29, 1979, private respondent Concepcion Alanis Pacete filed a complaint with the Court of First Instance (now Regional Trial Court) of Cotabato for declaration of nullity of the marriage between her husband Enrico L. Pacete and Clarita de la Concepcion, legal separation, accounting, and separation of property. She alleged she married Enrico on April 30, 1938, and he contracted a second marriage with Clarita in 1948, which she discovered only on August 1, 1979. She further claimed Enrico acquired vast conjugal properties which he fraudulently registered in his name, Clarita’s name, or their children’s names. The defendants were served summons on November 15, 1979. They filed a motion for a 20-day extension to file an answer, which was granted. Through new counsel, they filed a second motion for a 30-day extension. The court granted only a 20-day extension, counted from December 20, 1979, until January 9, 1980. This order was mailed to counsel on January 11, 1980. Unaware of this order, the defendants filed a third motion for a 15-day extension on February 5, 1980. The court denied this motion on February 6, 1980, as it was filed after the expiration of the previously granted extension period. The plaintiff then moved to declare defendants in default, which the court granted. The plaintiff presented her evidence ex parte on February 15, 20, 21, and 22, 1980. On March 17, 1980, the court rendered a decision granting legal separation between Concepcion and Enrico, declaring specific properties as conjugal, ordering the cancellation and re-registration of certain titles in their joint names, declaring the marriage between Enrico and Clarita void ab initio, and ordering Enrico to pay monetary amounts. Petitioners filed this special civil action for certiorari.

ISSUE

Whether or not the Court of First Instance (now Regional Trial Court) of Cotabato, Branch I, in Cotabato City, gravely abused its discretion in denying petitioners’ motion for extension of time to file their answer, in declaring petitioners in default, and in rendering its decision of March 17, 1980.

RULING

Yes, the court gravely abused its discretion. The petition for certiorari is GRANTED and the proceedings below, including the Decision of March 17, 1980, are NULLIFIED and SET ASIDE. The Supreme Court held that while the proper remedies from a judgment by default are ordinarily an appeal or a petition for relief from judgment, a petition for certiorari is allowed when the default order is improperly declared or when grave abuse of discretion attended such declaration. In this case, the default order was not legally sanctioned. The Civil Code (Article 101, now Article 60 of the Family Code) mandates that no decree of legal separation shall be based on a stipulation of facts or a confession of judgment, and the court must order the prosecuting attorney to investigate collusion. Furthermore, Article 103 of the Civil Code (now Article 58 of the Family Code) requires that an action for legal separation cannot be tried before six months have elapsed since the filing of the petition to provide a cooling-off period for possible reconciliation. Rule 18, Section 6 of the Rules of Court explicitly states that there shall be no defaults in actions for annulment of marriage or for legal separation; if the defendant fails to answer, the court must order the prosecuting attorney to investigate collusion and intervene. The complaint specifically prayed for legal separation. The trial court’s declaration of default and ex parte proceedings, conducted less than six months after the complaint was filed and without the mandated intervention of the prosecuting attorney, constituted a grave abuse of discretion, as these special statutory and procedural requirements designed to protect the integrity of marriage were completely disregarded.