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[G.R. No. 122544. July 23, 2003]

DIZON vs. CA

Gentlemen:

Quoted hereunder for your information is a resolution of this Court dated JUL 23 2003.

G.R. No. 122544(Regina Dizon vs. Court of Appeals.)

G.R. No. 124741(Regina Dizon vs. Court of Appeals.)

Before the Court is respondent's "Urgent Motion for Clarification with prayer for stay/recall of entry of judgment" ^[1] cralaw seeking to clarify the legal status and effect of' the Court's Resolution dated January 28, 2003 which denied with finality respondent's motion to suspend the procedural rules, the dispositive portion of which reads:

ACCORDINGLY, the Motion to Suspend Procedural Rules in the Higher Interest of Substantial Justice filed by private respondent is DENIED WITH FINALITY. No further pleadings will be entertained in these cases.

SO ORDERED. [2] cralaw

It is respondent's submission that the aforesaid Resolution failed to comply with Section 4(3), Art. VIII of' the Constitution, which states:

Cases or matters heard by a division shall be decided or resolved with the concurrence of a majority of the Members who actually took part in the deliberations on the issues in the case and voted thereon, and in no case, without the concurrence of at least three of such Members. When the required number is not obtained, the case shall be decided en banc; Provided, that no doctrine or principle of law laid down by the court in a decision rendered en banc or in division may be modified or reversed except by the court sitting en banc.

Respondent argues that since the Resolution denying its Motion to Suspend the Rules of Procedure and to admit Motion for Reconsideration was not concurred in by the required three votes, as only two of Members of the Court voted to deny the motion and one voted to grant the same, the assailed Resolution is void. Hence, it sought clarification on the legal status and effect thereof.

The Motion for Clarification lacks merit.

We need not belabor ourselves further as the constitutional issue raised by respondent had already been laid to rest in the case of Fortich v. Corona, ^[3] cralaw wherein we held:

A careful reading of the above constitutional provision, however, reveals the intention of the framers to draw a distinction between cases, on the one hand, and matters, on the other hand, such that cases are "decided" while matters, which include motions, are "resolved". Otherwise put, the word "decided" must refer to "cases"; while the word "resolved" must refer to "matters", applying the rule of reddendo singula singulis. This is true not only in the interpretation of the above-quoted Article VIII, Section 4(3), but also of the other provisions of the Constitution where these words appear.

With the aforesaid rule of construction in mind, it is clear that only cases are referred to the Court en banc for decision whenever the required number of votes is not obtained. Conversely, the rule does not apply where, as in this case, the required three votes is not obtained in the resolution of a motion for reconsideration. Hence, the second sentence of the aforequoted provision speaks only of "case" and not "matter". The reason is simple. The above-quoted Article VIII, Section 4(3) pertains to the disposition of cases by a division. If there is a tie in the voting, there is no decision. The only way to dispose of the case then is to refer it to the Court en banc. On the other hand, if a case has already been decided by the division and the losing party files a motion for reconsideration, the failure of the division to resolve the motion because of a tie in the voting does not leave the case undecided. There is still the decision which must stand in view of the failure of the members of the division to muster the necessary vote for its reconsideration. Quite plainly, if the voting results in a tie, the motion for reconsideration is lost. The assailed decision is not reconsidered and must therefore be deemed affirmed.

Conformably, the failure of the Members of the Division of the Court to muster the necessary vote to resolve the Motion to Suspend the Rules of Procedure and to admit respondent's Motion for Reconsideration means the same is denied and the decision sought to he reconsidered stands.

The decision of this case is already final and executory and respondent's Motion for Reconsideration, Second Motion for Reconsideration and Motion to Suspend the Rules of Procedure were all denied with finality by this Court. Once a decision is final and executory, it can no longer be attacked by any party or be modified directly or indirectly, even by the Court. ^[4] cralaw

IN VIEW OF THE FOREGOING, the instant Urgent Motion for clarification with prayer for stay/recall of entry of judgment is DENIED for lack of merit.

Very truly yours,

(Sgd.)VIRGINIA ANCHETA-SORIANO
Clerk of Court

Endnotes:

^[1] cralaw Rollo, pp.589-592.

^[2] cralaw Rollo, p. 586.

^[3] cralaw G.R. No. 131457, 19 August 1999, 312 SCRA 751,757-758.

^[4] cralaw PCI Bank v. CA, G.R. No. 120739, 20 July 2000.

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