780 Phil. 85
DEL CASTILLO, J.:
The petition is meritorious.Petitioners filed a Motion for Reconsideration,[20] which the CA denied in its assailed November 19, 2012 Resolution. Hence, the present Petition.
Jurisdiction is defined as the authority to hear and determine a cause or the right to act in a case. In addition to being conferred by the Constitution and the law, the rule is settled that a court's jurisdiction over the subject matter is determined by the relevant allegations in the complaint, the law in effect when the action is filed, and the character of the relief sought irrespective of whether the plaintiff is entitled to all or some of the claims asserted.
Consistent with Section 1, Rule 141 of the Revised Rules of Court which provides that the prescribed fees shall be paid in full "upon the filing of the pleading or other application which initiates an action or proceeding", the well-entrenched rule is to the effect that a court acquires jurisdiction over a case only upon the payment of the prescribed filing and docket fees.
Rule 141 of the Rules of Court, as amended by A.M. No. 04-2-G4-SC and Supreme Court Amended Administrative Circular No. 35-2004, provides that:SEC. 7. Clerks of Regional Trial Courts. -If the action involves both a money claim and relief pertaining to property, then THE fees will be charged on both the amounts claimed and value of property based on the formula prescribed in this paragraph a.
(a) For filing an action or a permissive OR COMPULSORY counterclaim, CROSSCLAIM, or money claim against an estate not based on judgment, or for filing a third-party, fourth-party, etc. complaint, or a complaint-in-intervention, if the total sum claimed, INCLUSIVE OF INTERESTS, PENALTIES, SURCHARGES, DAMAGES OF WHATEVER KIND, AND ATTORNEY'S FEES, LITIGATION EXPENSES AND COSTS and/or in cases involving property, the FAIR MARKET value of the REAL property in litigation STATED IN THE CURRENT TAX DECLARATION OR CURRENT ZONAL VALUATION OF THE BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE, WHICHEVER IS HIGHER, OR IF THERE IS NONE, THE STATED VALUE OF THE PROPERTY IN LITIGATION OR THE VALUE OF THE PERSONAL PROPERTY IN LITIGATION X X X AS ALLEGED BY THE CLAIMANT, is:
[Table of fees omitted.]
(b) For filing:The docket fees under Section 7(a), Rule 141, in cases involving real property depend on the fair market value of the same: the higher the value of the real property, the higher the docket fees due. In contrast, Section 7(b)(1), Rule 141 imposes a fixed or flat rate of docket fees on actions incapable of pecuniary estimation.
- Actions where the value of the subject matter cannot be estimated
- Special civil actions, except judicial foreclosure of mortgage, EXPROPRIATION PROCEEDINGS, PARTITION AND QUIETING OF TITLE which will [sic]
- All other actions not involving property [Table of fees omitted.]
x x x x
As can be gleaned from the records, the Amended Complaint was styled as one for 'Specific Performance and Damages,' whereby private respondents[15] sought to compel petitioner Sejas to execute fee deed of sale over the subject land in their favor on the premise that they bought the said land from petitioner Sejas through a private document. They declared themselves to be the true and real owners of the subject land and had in fact taken possession over it to the exclusion of others including petitioner Sejas.
While it may appear that the suit filed is one for specific performance, hence an aption incapable of pecuniary estimation, a closer look at the allegations and reliefs prayed for in the Complaint, however, shows that private respondents were not merely seeking the execution of the deed of sale in their favor. They were also asking the lower court earnestly to cancel TCT No. T-46,627 which was allegedly issued to petitioner Paglinawan through fraudulent means and have the same reconveyed to them as the owners of the subject land, The ultimate purpose then of private respondents in filing the complaint before the RTC is to secure their vaunted ownership and title to the subject land which they claimed was purchased from petitioner Sejas. Their cause of action clearly springs from their right as purchaser of the subject land, Under these circumstances, the suit before the RTC is a real action, affecting as it did title to the real property sought to be reconveyed. A real action is one in which the plaintiff seeks the recovery of real property; or, as indicated in what is now Section 1, Rule 4 of the Rules of Court, a real action is an action affecting title to or recovery of possession of real property.
Section 7, Rule 141 of the Rules of Court, prior to its amendment by A.M. No. 04-2-04-SC, had a specific paragraph governing the assessment of the docket fees for real action, to wit:In a real action, the assessed value of the property, or if there is none, the estimated value thereof shall be alleged by the claimant and shall be the basis in computing the fees.But it is important to note that, with the amendments introduced by A.M. No. 04-2-04-SC, which became effective on 16 August 2004, the paragraph in Section 7, Rule 141 of the Rules of Court, pertaining specifically to the basis for the computation of docket fees for real actions was deleted. Instead, Section 7(1) of Rule 141, as amended, provides that 'in cases involving real property, the FAIR MARKET value of the REAL property in litigation STATED IN THE CURRENT TAX DECLARATION OR CURRENT ZONAL VALUATION OF THE BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE, WHICH [sic] IS HIGHER, OR IF THERE IS NONE, THE STATED VALUE OF THE PROPERTY IN LITIGATION x x x' shall be the basis for the computation of the docket fees.
Unfortunately, private respondents never alleged in their Amended Complaint, much less in the prayer portion thereof, the fair market value of the subject res as stated in the Tax Declaration or current zonal valuation of the Bureau of Internal Revenue, which [sic] is higher, or if there is none, the stated value thereof, to serve as basis for the receiving clerk in computing and arriving at the proper amount of filing fee due? thereon. In the absence of such allegation, it cannot be determined whether the RTC or the MTC has original and exclusive jurisdiction over the petitioners' action. There is therefore no showing on the face of the complaint that the RTC has exclusive jurisdiction over the action of the private respondents. Hence, the RTC erred in taking cognizance of the case despite private respondents' non-payment of the correct docket fees which must be computed in accordance with Section 7(1), Rule 141 of the Rules of Court, as amended.
The consistent rule is that 'a case is deemed filed only upon payment of the docket fee regardless of the actual date of filing in court,' and that jurisdiction over any case is acquired only upon the payment of the prescribed docket fee which is both mandatory and jurisdictional. x x x
x x x x
This case at bench bears similarity to Gochan v. Gochan,[16] where the Supreme Court held that although the caption of the complaint filed by therein respondents Mercedes Gochan, et al. with the RTC was denominated as one for 'specific performance and damages,' the relief sought was the conveyance or transfer of real property, or ultimately, the execution of deeds of conveyance in their favor of the real properties enumerated in the provisional memorandum of agreement. Under these circumstances, the case before the RTC was actually a real action, affecting as it did title to or possession of real property. Consequently, the basis for determining the correct docket fees shall be the assessed value of the property, or the estimated value thereof as alleged in the complaint. But since Mercedes Gochan failed to allege in their complaint the value of the real properties, the Court found that the RTC did not acquire jurisdiction over the same for non-payment of the correct docket fees.
More to the point is Huguete v. Embudo,[17] There, petitioners argued that a complaint for annulment of a deed of sale and partition is incapable of pecuniary estimation, and thus falls within the exclusive jurisdiction of the RTC. However, the Supreme Court ruled that 'the nature of an action is not determined by what is stated in the caption of the complaint but by the allegations of the complaint and the reliefs prayed for. Where the ultimate objective of the plaintiffs, like petitioners herein, is to obtain title to real property, it should be filed in the proper court having jurisdiction over the assessed value of the property subject thereof.'
Likewise, in Siapno v. Manalo,[18] the Supreme Court disregarded the title/denomination of therein plaintiff Manalo's amended petition as one for Mandamus with Revocation of Title and Damages; and adjudged the same to be a real action, the filing fees for which should have been computed based on the assessed value of the subject property or, if there was none, the estimated value thereof. x x x
x x x x
In fine, We rule and so hold that the RTC never acquired jurisdiction over Civil Case No. 4633-2K5, hence, its act of taking cognizance of the subject Complaint was tainted with grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction. Grave abuse of discretion is defined as capricious and whimsical exercise of judgment as is equivalent to lack of jurisdiction.
Given the foregoing, this Court finds it unnecessary to dwell on the issue of prescription raised by petitioners.
WHEREFORE, premises considered, the instant Petition is hereby GRANTED. The Orders dated 03 September 2007 and 21 February 2008, respectively, of the Regional Trial Court (RTC), 9th Judicial Region, Branch 18, Pagadian City, are DECLARED NULL and VOID for having been issued without jurisdiction, The Amended Complaint filed [sic] private respondents docketed as Civil Case No. 4633-2K5 is hereby DISMISSED.
SO ORDERED.[19]
1. Did the Court of Appeals ruled [sic] correctly when it dismissed the complaint by reason of Petitioner-Appellants' alleged non-payment of the correct dockets [sic] fees due to its [sic] failure to alleged [sic] the fair market value or the stated value of the subject property in the amended complaint?Petitioners' Arguments
2. Did the filing of the amended complaint sufficiently divested [sic] and ousted [sic] the trial court of its jurisdiction over the case that had initially validly attached by virtue of the Original complaint for specific performance?[22]
Jurisdiction of RTCs, as may be relevant to the instant petition, is provided in Sec. 19 of BP 129,[29] which reads;However, the CA failed to consider that in determining jurisdiction, it could rely on the declaration made in the Amended Complaint that the property is valued at P6,000.00. The handwritten document sued upon and the pleadings indicate that the property was purchased by petitioners for the price of P6,000.00. For purposes of filing the civil case against respondents, this amount should be the stated value of the property in the absence of a current tax declaration or zonal valuation of the BIR. Rule 141 of the Rules of Court, as amended by A.M. No. 04-2-04-SC and Supreme Court Amended Administrative Circular No. 35-2004, provides that -Sec. 19. Jurisdiction in civil cases. — Regional Trial Courts shall exercise exclusive original jurisdiction:On the other hand, jurisdiction of first level courts is prescribed in Sec. 33 of BP 129, which provides:
1) In all civil actions in which the subject of the litigation is incapable of pecuniary estimation;
2) In all civil actions which involve the title to, or possession of, real property, or any interest therein, where the assessed value of the property involved exceeds Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00) or, for civil actions in Metro Manila, where such value exceeds Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) except actions for forcible entry into and unlawful detainer of lands or buildings, original jurisdiction over which is conferred upon the Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts.Sec. 33. Jurisdiction of Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts in civil cases.—Metropolitan Trial Courts, Municipal Trial Courts, and Municipal Circuit Trial Courts shall exercise:
x x x x
3) Exclusive original jurisdiction in all civil actions which involve title to, or possession of, real property, or any interest therein where the assessed value of the property or interest therein does not exceed Twenty thousand pesos (P20,000.00) or, in civil actions in Metro Manila, where such assessed value does not exceed Fifty thousand pesos (P50,000.00) exclusive of interest, damages of whatever kind, attorney's fees, litigation expenses and costs: Provided, That in cases of land not declared for taxation purposes, the value of such property shall be determined by the assessed value of the adjacent lots.[30]
a) For filing an action or a permissive OR COMPULSORY counterclaim, CROSS-CLAIM, or money claim against an estate not based on judgment, or for filing a third-party, fourth-party, etc. complaint, or a complaint-in-intervention, if the total sum claimed, INCLUSIVE OF INTERESTS, PENALTIES, SURCHARGES, DAMAGES OF WHATEVER KIND, AND ATTORNEY'S FEES, LITIGATION EXPENSES AND COSTS and/or in cases involving property, the FAIR MARKET value of the REAL property in litigation STATED IN THE CURRENT TAX DECLARATION OR CURRENT ZONAL VALUATION OF THE BUREAU OF INTERNAL REVENUE, WHICHEVER IS HIGHER, OR IF THERE IS NONE, THE STATED VALUE OF THE PROPERTY IN LITIGATION OR THE VALUE OF THE PERSONAL PROPERTY IN LITIGATION AS ALLEGED BY THE CLAIMANT x x x (Emphasis supplied)shall be the basis for the computation of the docket fees to be paid. Since the value of the subject property as stated in the Amended Complaint is just P6,000.00, then the RTC did not have jurisdiction over petitioners' case in the first instance; it should have dismissed Civil Case No. 4633-2K5. But it did not. In continuing to take cognizance of the case, the trial court clearly committed grave abuse of discretion.