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ManilaSECOND
DIVISION
AMALIO
RONDAEL
and AMALIA SALARO RONDAEL,
Complainants,
A. M. No. 1946-CTJ
March 30, 1981
-versus-
CITY
JUDGE LEONARDO E. LOZANO of Iloilo
City,
Respondent.
D
E C I S I O N
AQUINO, J.:
The Spouses
Pilar G. Hedriana and Jose Hedriana
filed in the City Court of Iloilo City a complaint for ejectment dated
August 31, 1977 against the Spouses Amalio Rondael and Amalia
Salaño-Rondael
on the ground of non-payment of rentals from January, 1976. The
premises
involved were a portion of a building used for residential purposes and
leased on a month-to-month basis to the Rondael spouses since November,
1972 at a monthly rental of P200 [Civil Case No. 12028, pp. 5-7, Rollo].
The Rondael
spouses, in their Answer, alleged
that they would pay the back rentals in October, 1977 when their palay
would be harvested. They did not invoke Presidential Decree No.
20.
On October 17, 1977, they manifested that they deposited the sum of
P3,200
as the net back rentals from January, 1976 to October, 1977 [P4,400
less
P1,200 which the Hedriana spouses owed the Rondael spouses as expenses
incurred for the release of the Hedrianas' rifle from Camp Crame].cralaw:red
On October 7,
1977, the Hedriana spouses filed
a motion for judgment on the pleadings because the Rondaels' Answer did
not tender any triable issue. The Rondael spouses did not oppose that
motion
nor did their counsel appear in court on October 14, 1977 when it was
set
for hearing.cralaw:red
On October 19,
1977, the day of the trial, of
which the counsel of the Rondael spouses was duly notified, they and
their
counsel did not appear.cralaw:red
Respondent City
Judge, in his Decision of November
25, 1977, ordered the Rondael spouses to vacate the premises and to pay
the net back rentals of P3,200 plus P500 as attorney's fees [p. 18,
Rollo].
The City Court ignored the deposit of P3,200 made by the Rondael
spouses.
A copy of that Decision was served upon the counsel of the Rondael
spouses
on December 9, 1977. It became final and executory after December
24, the last day of the 15-day reglementary period for appeal.cralaw:red
On December 22,
1977, the Hedriana spouses filed
an ex-parte motion for execution of the judgment. The City
Court
granted it in its Order of January 17, 1978. On that same
day,
a writ of execution was issued.cralaw:red
On January 9,
1978, the Rondael spouses filed
a motion for reconsideration. The City Court denied it in its Order of
January 13, 1978.cralaw:red
Through another
lawyer, the Rondael spouses filed
in the Court of First Instance of Iloilo a Petition for Prohibition
dated
June 2, 1978 against respondent judge, the sheriff and the Hedriana
spouses
to stop the enforcement of the writ of execution which was allegedly
issued
with grave abuse of discretion [Civil Case No. 12246]. The petition
was
dismissed. [p. 51, Rollo].cralaw:red
The Rondael
spouses, in a verified petition dated
May 30, 1978 charged respondent city judge in this Court with gross
ignorance
of the law and grave abuse of discretion. They prayed that he be
investigated,
suspended and "disbarred." They later alleged in their reply that
respondent judge is the "compadre" of the Hedriana spouses and
that
their ejectment from the leased premises was a violation of
Presidential
Decree No. 20 [pp. 50-52, Rollo].cralaw:red
We find that
there is no ground for taking disciplinary
action against respondent judge. He acted within his jurisdiction in
rendering
the judgment against the herein complainants who were duly heard and
were
not deprived of due process. They did not present any evidence during
the
trial.cralaw:red
They did not
seasonably file any motion for reconsideration
nor interpose an appeal and they did not point out the errors committed
by respondent judge. The complainants allowed the judgment to become
final.cralaw:red
WHEREFORE, the
complaint is dismissed for lack
of merit. A copy of this resolution should be attached to the personal
file of the respondent.cralaw:red
SO ORDERED.cralaw:red
Barredo,
Concepcion Jr., Fernandez, and De Castro,
JJ., concur.
Justice Abad Santos is on leave.
Justice Fernandez was designated to sit in
the
Second Division. | 
