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[G.R. No. 130184. November 19, 2001]

TALA REALTY SERVICES CORP., et al. vs. BANCO FILIPINO SAVINGS AND MORTGAGE BANK

THIRD DIVISION

Gentlemen:

Quoted hereunder, for your information, is a resolution of this Court dated NOV 19 2001.

G.R. No. 130184(Tala Realty Services Corporation, et al. vs. Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank) and G.R. No. 139166(Nancy L. Ty vs. Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank)

I. G. R. 130184

On August 23, 1995, Banco Filipino Savings and Mortgage Bank. (Banco Filipino), respondent, filed with the Regional Trial Court, Branch 91, Quezon City, Civil Case No. Q-95-24830 for reconveyance of two (2) lots located in Cubao, Quezon City, covered by TCT Nos. 288850 and 288914 of the Registry of Deeds, same city. Impleaded as defendants were Tala Realty Services Corporation (Tala Realty), Add International Services, Inc., Pedro Aguirre, Remedios Dupasquier, Elizabeth Palma, Pilar Ongking, Dolly Lim and Rubenito del Mundo, petitioners, and Nancy Ty.

On March 1, 1996, the trial court, upon petitioners' motion, dismissed the complaint against them except Tala Realty. Both Tala Realty and Banco Filipino filed their respective motions for reconsideration. On September 19, 1996, the trial court granted Tala Realty's motion and likewise dismissed the complaint against it on the ground that Banco Filipino violated Section 5, Rule 7 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, as amended, on forum shopping The court held that the certification submitted by Banco Filipino is spurious considering that there is a pending case before the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) involving the same parties and the same issues.

Forthwith, Banco Filipino filed with the Court of Appeals a petition for certiorari and mandamus assailing the orders of dismissal by the trial court.

On June 27, 1997, the Court of Appeals rendered its questioned Decision granting Banco Filipino's petition, thus:

"WHEREFORE, the petition is GRANTED; the assailed orders dated March 1, 1996 and September 19, 1996 respectively are NULLIFIED and SET ASIDE; and respondent judge, or whoever is presiding over the court a quo or has succeeded respondent Judge, is ordered to include all the herein private respondents as party defendants in Civil Case No. 95-24830 and to immediately proceed with the trial thereof without delay.

SO ORDERED."

Petitioners filed a motion for reconsideration, but was denied.

Hence this petition for review on certiorari.

II. G. R. 139166

On August 16, 1995, Banco Filipino filed with the Regional Trial Court, Branch 85, Malolos, Bulacan, Civil Case No. 545-M-95 for reconveyance of two (2) lots located at Malolos, Bulacan, covered by TCT Nos. RT-39962 (T-261375) and RT-39663 (T-261736) of the Registry of Deeds, same province. The defendants were Tala Realty, Pedro B. Aguirre, Remedios A. Dupasquier, Nancy L. Ty, Antonio Tiu, Rubencito M. del Mundo, Pilar D. Ongking, Elizabeth H. Palma, Dolly W. Lim and Cynthia F. Mesina.

On November 2, 1995, Nancy Ty, petitioner, filed a motion to dismiss alleging forum shopping, lack of jurisdiction and lack of cause of action. On January 12, 1998, the trial court denied her motion for lack of merit. Her motion for reconsideration was also denied.

Aggrieved, petitioner filed a petition for certiorari with the Court of Appeals, docketed as CA GR-SP No. 48266. On February 2, 1999, the Court of Appeals dismissed the petition on the ground, among others, that Banco Filipino did not resort to forum shopping. She filed a motion for reconsideration but to no avail.

Thus, the instant petition for review on certiorari.

In our Resolution dated September 13, 1999, we ordered the consolidation of these two cases.

The fundamental issue in these twin petitions is whether or not respondent Banco Filipino is guilty of forum-shopping in filing two suits against petitioners for the recovery of two (2) lots in Quezon City and two (2) lots in Malolos, Bulacan which it allegedly conveyed to Tala Realty pursuant to a trust agreement between them.

Forum shopping is present not only when a final judgment in one case will amount to res judicata in another, but also where the elements of litis pendentia are present. 1 Quinsay vs. Court of Appeals, 339 SCRA 429, 431 (2000). The elements of litis pendentia are:

1. Identity of parties, or at least such parties as those representing the same interests in both actions;

2. Identity of rights asserted and reliefs prayed for, the reliefs being founded on the same facts; and

3. Identity with respect to the two preceding particulars in the two cases, such that any judgment that may be rendered in the pending case, regardless of which party is successful, would amount to res judicata in the other case. 2 Heirs of Victorina Penaverde vs. Heirs of Mariano Penaverde, G. R. 131141, October 20, 2000.

Here, while there is identity of parties and reliefs prayed for, however, the elements of litis pendentia are not present. The two (2) complaints for reconveyance involve parcels of land in two different places-- Quezon City and Malolos, Bulacan. Records show that the subject lots were conveyed by Banco Filipino to Tala Realty in separate deeds of sale. Thus, the breach of these contracts gave rise to different causes of action. In Ayala Land, Inc. vs. Valisno, 3 G.R. 135899, February 2, 2000. we held that a party who filed several actions for quieting of separate certificates of title cannot be held guilty of forum shopping since the actions involved different subject matters and constituted different causes of action. Clearly, petitioners' allegation of forum shopping against Banco Filipino must fail.

In fine, the Court of Appeals did not commit any reversible error in rendering the assailed Decisions in CA GR-SP No. 48266 and CA-GR SP No. 42248.

WHEREFORE, the instant petitions are hereby DENIED.

SO ORDERED. (Panganiban, J. - No part.)

Very truly yours,

(Sgd.) JULIETA Y. CARREON

Clerk of Court


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