431 Phil. 438
YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:
WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendant, ordering the defendant and all persons claiming right under him to pay the plaintiff as follows:On appeal, the Regional Trial Court reversed the assailed decision, disposing as follows:SO ORDERED.[16]
- P12,000.00 per month representing reasonable monthly rental from January 1, 1994 and months thereafter until defendants shall vacate the subject premises;
- P10,000.00 representing attorney’s fee;
- To pay the cost of suit.
WHEREFORE, in view of all the foregoing, the assailed decision of the Metropolitan Trial Court, Branch 53, this City, rendered on July 28, 1995, is hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE, with costs de officio.Aggrieved, petitioner filed a petition for review with the Court of Appeals, which dismissed the petition. Likewise, the motion for reconsideration was denied on August 29, 1997. Hence, the instant petition anchored upon the following grounds:
SO ORDERED.[17]
The petition is impressed with merit.ITHE COURT OF APPEALS AND RTC, CALOOCAN CITY, BRANCH 131, ERRED IN DECLARING THAT PETITIONER IS GUILTY OF ESTOPPEL IN FILING AN EJECTMENT CASE AGAINST RESPONDENT CO.IITHE COURT OF APPEALS AND RTC, CALOOCAN CITY, BRANCH 131, ERRED IN FINDING THAT AN INJUNCTIVE SUIT WILL BAR THE FILING OF EJECTMENT CASE AGAINST RESPONDENT CO.IIITHE RTC, CALOOCAN CITY, BRANCH 131, ERRED IN DECLARING THAT THERE WAS A PERFECTED CONTRACT OF SALE BETWEEN THE PARTIES OVER THE LEASED PROPERTY.[18]
The foregoing agreement to maintain the status quo pending negotiations was noted by the trial court in its January 21, 1994 Order postponing the hearing to enable the parties to arrive at an amicable settlement, to wit:x x x x x x x x x
CourtBefore we go into the prayer for preliminary injunction and of the merit of the case I want to see if I can make the parties settle their differences.
Atty. SiapanWe will in the meantime maintain the status quo on the matter pending further negotiation.
CourtAs a matter of injunction, are you willing to maintain a status quo muna [?]
Atty. MendezYes, your Honor.
CourtHow about Atty. Uy are you willing?
Atty. UyYes, your Honor.
CourtI will not issue any injunction but there will be a status quo and we will concentrate our efforts on letting the parties to (sic) negotiate and enter into an agreement.[19]x x x x x x x x x
I will give you the same facts of the case. I want to settle this and not go into trial because in due time I will not finish the case, my stay here is only Acting Presiding Judge and there are other judges nominated for this sala and once the judge will be (sic) appointed then I go, let us get advantage of settling the matter. I will have your gentleman’s agreement that there will be no adversarial attitude among you will (sic) never arrive at any agreement.
Atty. SiapanIn the meantime, we will move for a resetting of this case your Honor.
CourtAnyway, this is a gentleman’s agreement that there will be no new movement but the status quo will be maintained.
Atty. Siapan, Atty. Mendez & Atty. Uy.Yes, your Honor. (simultaneously (sic) in saying)[20]
Upon agreement of the parties herein for postponement of today’s schedule as there might be some possibility of settling the claims herein, let the hearing today be cancelled.It is beyond cavil therefore that the preservation of the status quo agreed upon by the parties applied only during the period of negotiations for an amicable settlement and cannot be construed to be effective for the duration of the pendency of the specific performance case. It is a settled rule that injunction suits and specific performance cases, inter alia, will not preclude the filing of, or abate, an ejectment case. Unlawful detainer and forcible entry suits under Rule 70 are designed to summarily restore physical possession of a piece of land or building to one who has been illegally or forcibly deprived thereof, without prejudice to the settlement of the parties' opposing claims of juridical possession in appropriate proceedings. It has been held that these actions “are intended to avoid disruption of public order by those who would take the law in their hands purportedly to enforce their claimed right of possession.” In these cases, the issue is pure physical or de facto possession, and pronouncements made on questions of ownership are provisional in nature.[22]
In the meantime this case is set for hearing on February 28, 1994 at 8:30 a.m., should the parties not arrive at any amicable settlement.[21]
Only in rare instances is suspension allowed to await the outcome of the pending civil action. In Wilmon, the Court recognized that Vda. De Legaspi v. Avendaño[24] was an exception to the general rule against suspension of an ejectment proceeding.[25] Thus:The underlying reasons for the above ruling were that the actions in the Regional Trial Court did not involve physical or de facto possession, and, on not a few occasions, that the case in the Regional Trial Court was merely a ploy to delay disposition of the ejectment proceeding, or that the issues presented in the former could quite as easily be set up as defenses in the ejectment action and there resolved.
- Injunction suits instituted in the RTC by defendants in ejectment actions in the municipal trial courts or other courts of the first level (Nacorda v. Yatco, 17 SCRA 920 [1966]) do not abate the latter; and neither do proceedings on consignation of rentals (Lim Si v. Lim, 98 Phil. 868 [1956], citing Pue, et al. v. Gonzales, 87 Phil. 81 [1950]).
- An "accion publiciana" does not suspend an ejectment suit against the plaintiff in the former (Ramirez v. Bleza, 106 SCRA 187 [1981]).
- A "writ of possession case" where ownership is concededly the principal issue before the Regional Trial Court does not preclude nor bar the execution of the judgment in an unlawful detainer suit where the only issue involved is the material possession or possession de facto of the premises (Heirs of F. Guballa, Sr. v. C.A., et al.; etc., 168 SCRA 518 [1988]).
- An action for quieting of title to property is not a bar to an ejectment suit involving the same property (Quimpo v. de la Victoria, 46 SCRA 139 [1972]).
- Suits for specific performance with damages do not affect ejectment actions (e.g., to compel renewal of a lease contract) (Desamito v. Cuyegkeng, 18 SCRA 1184 [1966]; Rosales v. CFI, 154 SCRA 153 [1987]; Commander Realty, Inc. v. C.A., 161 SCRA 264 [1988]).
- An action for reformation of instrument (e.g., from deed of absolute sale to one of sale with pacto de retro) does not suspend an ejectment suit between the same parties (Judith v. Abragan, 66 SCRA 600 [1975]).
- An action for reconveyance of property or "accion reivindicatoria" also has no effect on ejectment suits regarding the same property (Del Rosario v. Jimenez, 8 SCRA 549 [1963]; Salinas v. Navarro, 126 SCRA 167; De la Cruz v. C.A., 133 SCRA 520 [1984]); Drilon v. Gaurana, 149 SCRA 352 [1987]; Ching v. Malaya, 153 SCRA 412 [1987]; Philippine Feeds Milling Co., Inc. v. C.A., 174 SCRA 108; Dante v. Sison, 174 SCRA 517 [1989]; Guzman v. C.A. [annulment of sale and reconveyance], 177 SCRA 604 [1989]; Demamay v. C.A., 186 SCRA 608 [1990]; Leopoldo Sy v. C.A., et al., [annulment of sale and reconveyance], G.R. No. 95818, Aug. 2, 1991).
- Neither do suits for annulment of sale, or title, or document affecting property operate to abate ejectment actions respecting the same property (Salinas v. Navarro [annulment of deed of sale with assumption of mortgage and/or to declare the same an equitable mortgage], 126 SCRA 167 [1983]; Ang Ping v. RTC [annulment of sale and title], 154 SCRA 153 [1987]; Caparros v. C.A. [annulment of title], 170 SCRA 758 [1989]; Dante v. Sison [annulment of sale with damages], 174 SCRA 517; Galgala v. Benguet Consolidated, Inc. [annulment of document], 177 SCRA 288 [1989]).
x x x [A]s regards the seemingly contrary ruling in Vda. de Legaspi v. Avendano, 89 SCRA 135 (1977), this Court observed in Salinas v. Navarro, 126 SCRA 167, 172-173 (1983), that ‘the exception to the rule in this case of Vda. de Legaspi is based on strong reasons of equity not found in the present petition. The right of the petitioner is not so seriously placed in issue in the annulment case as to warrant a deviation, on equitable grounds, from the imperative nature of the rule. In the Vda. de Legaspi case, execution of the decision in the ejectment case would also have meant demolition of the premises, a factor not present in this petition.In the case at bar, the continued occupation by private respondent of the leased premises is conditioned upon his right to acquire ownership over said property. The factual milieu obtaining here, however, hardly falls within the aforecited exception as the resolution of the ejectment suit will not result in the demolition of the leased premises, as in the case of Vda. De Legaspi v. Avendaño. Verily, private respondent failed to show “strong reasons of equity” to sustain the suspension or dismissal of the ejectment case. Argumentum a simili valet in lege. Precedents are helpful in deciding cases when they are on all fours or at least substantially identical with previous litigations.[26] Faced with the same scenario on which the general rule is founded, and finding no reason to deviate therefrom, the Court adheres to the settled jurisprudence that suits involving ownership may not be successfully pleaded in abatement of an action for ejectment.
I would like to inform you that I shall definitely exercise my option as embodied in Provision “F” (First Option) of our Contract of Lease dated December 21, 1990. As per agreement, my first option covers the 490 square meters site which I am currently leasing from you at 101 Caimito Road, Caloocan City. Specifically, your Transfer Certificate of Title #247536 delineates the property sizes as 492 square meters.Likewise, in his November 7, 1993 reply-letter, private respondent stated that:
Your offer, however, states only 413.28 square meters are for sale to me. I trust that this is merely an oversight on your part. Notwithstanding the rumors to the effect that part of the property have already been sold to other parties, I would like to believe that you still retain absolute ownership over the entire property covered by my Contract of Lease. Kindly enlighten me on this matter so that we can proceed with the negotiations for the sale of your property to me.[28]
While it is true that you first offered your property for sale to me last April 14, 1993, it is also equally true that you only correspond with me on this matter again on October 27, 1993. I answered your April 14 offer with a registered mail on April 15, 1993. In it, I stated that I am definitely exercising my first option to purchase your property in accordance with Provisions “F” of our Contract of Lease dated December 21, 1990. Likewise, I requested you to explain the discrepancy between the size of the property being offered for sale (413.28 square meters) as against the size stated in my option which is 492 square meters. However, I did not get any reply from you on this matter. Hence the negotiations got stalled. If anybody should be blamed for the prolonged negotiation, then surely it is not all mine alone.[29]The foregoing letters reveal that private respondent did not give his consent to buy only 413.28 square meters of the leased lot, as he desired to purchase the whole 490 square-meter-leased premises which, however, was not what was exactly proposed in petitioner’s offer. Clearly, therefore, private respondent’s acceptance of petitioner’s offer was not absolute, and will consequently not generate consent that would perfect a contract.