GR L 5432; (July, 1953) (Digest)
G.R. No. L-5432 July 31, 1953
JOSE P. DANS, ETC., petitioner, vs. HONORABLE COURT OF APPEALS, ET AL., respondents.
FACTS
In CA- G.R. No. 2098 -R, the Court of Appeals rendered a final decision on January 10, 1949, ordering the cancellation of Original Patent No. 44987 in the name of Paz Pangilinan and Transfer Certificate of Title No. 21372 in the name of Alejandro de la Fuente, and directing the issuance of a new homestead patent in the name of plaintiff Pedro Diamonon. Pursuant to this final decision, the Court of First Instance of Nueva Ecija issued a writ of execution on March 13, 1951, commanding the City Sheriff to have the Director of Lands cancel the mentioned patent and title and issue a new patent to Diamonon. The Director of Lands received a copy of this writ but was not a party in the original case decided by the Court of Appeals. Consequently, the Director of Lands filed an original action for certiorari in the Supreme Court on January 21, 1952, seeking to annul the Court of Appeals’ decision and the writ of execution. The respondents pointed out that prior to this petition, on October 19, 1951, the Director of Lands had already instituted a separate civil action (Special Proceeding No. 840) in the same Court of First Instance of Nueva Ecija, seeking the cancellation of the title, a declaration that the homestead patent is null and void, and the reversion of the land to the public domain.
ISSUE
Whether the petition for certiorari filed by the Director of Lands is the proper remedy, considering the pendency of a separate special proceeding (Special Proceeding No. 840) he previously instituted in the Court of First Instance of Nueva Ecija involving the same essential issues regarding the effectiveness of the final decision of the Court of Appeals.
RULING
The Supreme Court dismissed the petition for certiorari. The Court held that the present petition essentially concerns the effectiveness, as against the Director of Lands, of the final decision of the Court of Appeals, an issue which is necessarily involved in the separate special proceeding (No. 840) previously instituted by the Director of Lands in the Court of First Instance of Nueva Ecija. The Court found it more expedient for the petitioner to ask the same Court of First Instance to suspend its own order of execution in view of the pending special proceeding. The Court noted that the petitioner himself considered his separate civil action as the proper remedy. Therefore, the petition was dismissed without costs.