Bert Osmena V CA

G.R. No.
L-56545 January 28, 1983

BERT OSMEA & ASSOCIATES, petitioners,
vs.
THE COURT OF APPEALS and SPOUSES PEDRO QUIMBO and LEONADIZA
QUIMBO, respondents.
Siguion Reyna, Montecillo & Ongsiako for petitioners.
Hilario Davide, Jr., for private respondents.
RESOLUTION
Facts:
Petitioner Company and Siguenza executed a "Contract of Sale" over parcels of land was
executed in favor of the Quimbo spouses.
Helena proposed to exchange another lot with the same area for the lots purchased by the
spouses to which the latter hesitating agreed. Until 1973, however, no title could be given
the Quimbo spouses.
It turned out prior to the sale in the spouses' favor, said lots were sold to Dr. Francisco
Maningo.
Quimbo spouses instituted suit for damages against petitioner company and the Siguenzas.
The court held the petitioner and Siguenzas jointly and severally liable to Quimbo spouses.
Petitioner contends that they cannot be held liable as they are merely agents of Siguenza.
Issue: Whether Petitioner is an agent or co-seller.
Held:
The contract of sale describes petitioner as seller together with the Siguenzas. In fact,
petitioner was the lone signatory for the sellers in said contract. Appellant never asserted in
its answer that it is a mere agent of its co-defendant Helena.
MELENCIO-HERRERA, J.:
Sought to be reversed in this Petition for Review on certiorari is the Decision of respondent
Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. No. 62601-R, entitled "Pedro Quimbo and Leonadiza Quimbo
vs. Carmen Siguenza and Helena Siguenza, Bert Osmea & Associates, Inc." sentencing
defendants, jointly and severally, to pay damages to the plaintiffs, who are the private
respondents herein.
Upon a review of the evidence, we find as established:
(1) that on June 3, 1971, a "Contract of Sale" over Lots 1 and 2, Block I, Phase II of the
Clarita Subdivision, Cebu City, for the total price of P15,200.00, was executed in favor of
the Quimbo spouses. The sellers were petitioner company, developer of the
subdivision, and Carmen and Helena Siguenza, owners of the property, represented by
petitioner. Antonio V. Osmea signed the contract on behalf of the company. Signing
as witness was one C. Siguenza.
(2) The spouses had intended to construct a house thereon inasmuch as their rented
abode, for which they were paying P170.00 monthly, had become inconvenient for their
family. Plans for the house were drawn. The spouses were ready to pay the purchase
price in full even before the due date of the first installment and advised Helena
Siguenza accordingly so that title in their names could be delivered to them. On the
pretext that a road would traverse the lots purchased, Helena proposed to exchange
another lot (Lot 409) with the same area for the lots purchased by the spouses to
which the latter hesitating agreed. Until 1973, however, no title could be given the
Quimbo spouses.
(3) It turned out that on December 15, 1969, or approximately a year and a half prior
to the sale in the spouses' favor, Lots Nos. 1 and 2 had already been sold to Dr.
Francisco Maningo (Exhs. "G " and "G-1 "), and that Transfer Certificates of Title Nos.
48546 and 48547 were issued in favor of Irenea Maningo on September 21, 1970
(Exhs. "H" and "H-1 "), or about nine months before. the sale. Annotated on said titles
were mortgages in favor of petitioner.
(4) Discovering this fact only in 1973, respondent spouses instituted this suit for Damages
against petitioner company and the Siguenzas on March 25, 1974.
In its judgment, the lower Court ordered petitioner company and the Siguenzas to pay
damages to respondent spouses as follows:
WHEREFORE, based on all the foregoing considerations, judgment is hereby
rendered in favor of the plaintiffs and against the defendants ordering the
latter:
To pay, jointly and severally, the plaintiffs P3,040.00, with interest at the legal
rate from June 2, 1971 until the same shall have been fully paid; P100,000.00
as compensation for the pecuniary loss plaintiffs suffered for failure to
construct their residential house; P5,610.00 as reimbursement for the rentals
plaintiffs paid from January 1972 to September 6, 1974; P50,000.00 as moral

damages, P25,000.00 as exemplary damages, P5,000.00 as attorney's fees;
and the cost. 1
The Appellate Court affirmed the judgment of the Trial Court in toto. Hence, this recourse by
petitioner company, advancing tile following arguments:
1) The Honorable Court of Appeals seriously erred in not having considered
the contract as having been novated by virtue of the change in the subject
matter or object of the contract;
2) The courts below seriously erred for having found petitioner to have acted
fraudulently where there is no evidence to support such a finding;
3) The Court of Appeals committed serious error in law when it held petitioner
jointly and severally liable to pay P100,000.00 as compensation for the
pecuniary loss suffered by Mrs. Quimbo;
4) The Court seriously erred in holding petitioner jointly and severally liable
with the Siguenzas to pay moral damages to Quimbo, there being no
evidence showing fraud or bad faith perpetrated by petitioner;
5) The lower court seriously erred in holding petitioner liable to pay the sum of
P5,610.00 as reimbursement for rentals because Quimbo was no longer
interested in the lots on which her house was supposed to have been
constructed but sought only for reimbursement of the downpayment;
6) The Court below erred in holding petitioner liable jointly and severally for
exemplary damages, attorneys fees and costs;
7) The court seriously erred in fact and in law in holding petitioner jointly and
severally with the Siguenzas to return the downpayment.
Except for some items of damages awarded, we affirm.
1) Petitioner's contention that in. as much as respondent spouses had agreed to exchange
Lot 409 for Lots 1 and 2, the contract of sale had been novated and its liability extinguished,
in untenable. No new contract was ever executed between. petitioner and respondent
spouses, notwithstanding Helena Siguenza's assurances to that effect. As held by
respondent Court:
This stand taken by appellant only reveals its misconception of novation.
Novation is a contract containing two stipulations: one to extinguish an
existing obligation, the other to substitute a new one in its place. It requires
the creation of a new contractual relation as well as the extinguishment of the
old. There must be a consent of all the parties to the substitution, resulting in
the extinction of the old obligation and the creation of a new valid one (Tiu
Suico vs. Habana, 45 Phil. 707). 2
2) Fraud has been established. As the trial Court had concluded:
There is no question that the defendants have conveyed and disposed of Lots
1 and 2, Block I, Phase II of the Clarita Village Subdivision to the plaintiffs at a
time when they were no longer the owners thereof. At the time of the
execution of the contract of sale, their only interest thereon was a mortgage
lien in the amount of P13,440.00. As mortgagee they did not have the right to
sell the same. Helena and Carmen Siguenza did not reveal this fact to the
plaintiffs and the latter relied on their assurances that the same belong to
them. Bert Osmea and Associates, Inc. as developer and at the same time
attorney-in-fact for Carmen and Helena Siguenza similarly concealed this
fact. Their efforts to cover up this fraud make the acts more detestable and
obnoxious. Defendants demonstrated palpable malice, bad faith, wantonness
and incurable dishonesty. 3
1wph1.t
The finding of fraud in this case was a finding of fact and there are no factors which can
justify a reversal thereof.
3) The award in the amount of P100,000.00 representing pecuniary loss for not having been
able to build a P100,000.00 house should be eliminated. Respondent spouses did not lose
that amount. It was only the estimated cost of the house they were unable to construct. It
was an expense item, not expected income.
4) The amount of P5,610.00 awarded representing rentals the spouses could have saved,
from the time when the house was to be finished to the date when respondent Leonadiza
testified in Court (January 1972 to September 6, 1974), should also be eliminated for being
speculative. If they had built their P100,000.00 house, thus avoiding the payment of rentals,
they would, on the other hand, be losing interest or income from that amount. Evidence that
the plaintiff could have bettered his position had it not been for the defendant's wrongful act
cannot serve as basis for an award of damages. 4
5) Fraud and bad faith by petitioner company and the Siguenzas having been established,
the award of moral damages is in order. Moral damages should be reduced, however, from
P50,000.00 to P10,000.00.
6) Moral damages having been awarded, exemplary damages were also properly
awarded. 5 They should be reduced, however, from P25,000.00 to P5,000.00.
7) The award of P5,000.00 as attorney's fees is affirmed inasmuch as respondent spouses

were compelled to litigate for the protection of their interests. 6
8) The portion of the Decision requiring petitioners and the Siguenzas to return the
downpayment of P3,040.00 is also justified. The Quimbo spouses are entitled to the return
of their downpayment, with interest at the legal rate from March 25, 1974 when the instant,
suit was commenced. 7
9) Petitioner's plea for exception from liability for damages on the ground that it was a mere
agent of the Siguenzas is untenable. The contract of sale describes petitioner as seller
together with the Siguenzas. In fact, petitioner was the lone signatory for the sellers in said
contract. As held by respondent Court:
The contract ... is clear that appellant is one of the Seller-of the lots in
question. We will not allow a variation of the terms of the written contract by
parole evidence, for there is never an allegation in the appellant's answer that
Exhibit 6-Osmea does not express the true intent of the parties or that it is
suffering from a vice or mistake or imperfection. Further, appellant never
asserted in its answer that it is a mere agent of its co-defendant Helena.
Indeed, the tenor of its Answer is one which shows its admission that it is a
co-seller of all lots in subdivision which it is developing. We take particular
attention to appellant's admission in its answer to the allegations in par. 4, 8
and 9 of appellees' complaint, which show that appellant was not an agent
but a co-seller of the lots. 8
ACCORDINGLY, the judgment appealed from is hereby modified in that petitioner is hereby
ordered to pay private respondents the following sums: P3,040.00 with interest at the legal
rate from March 25, 1974 until fully paid; P10,000.00 as moral damages; P5,000.00 as
exemplary damages; and P5,000.00 as attorney's fees. Costs against petitioner company.
SO ORDERED.
Vasquez, Relova

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G.R. No.

L-56545 January 28, 1983

plaintiffs paid from January 1972 to September 6, 1974; P50,000.00 as moral

7) The award of P5,000.00 as attorney's fees is affirmed inasmuch as respondent spouses

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