Petitioners Respondents: First Division
Petitioners Respondents: First Division
Petitioners Respondents: First Division
SYNOPSIS
SYLLABUS
DECISION
MARTINEZ, J : p
Two consolidated petitions were filed before us seeking to set aside and
annul the decisions and resolutions of respondent Court of Appeals. What
seemed to be a simple ejectment suit was juxtaposed with procedural
intricacies which finally found its way to this Court.
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The two cases were thereafter consolidated before the RTC of Quezon
City, Branch 77. On April 28, 1989, a decision 7 was rendered dismissing private
respondent's complaint in Civil Case No. Q-45541 (specific performance case)
and denying its motion for reconsideration in Civil Case No. 46487 (annulment
of the ejectment case). The motion for reconsideration of said decision was
likewise denied.
On appeal, 8 respondent Court of Appeals rendered a decision 9 upholding
the jurisdiction of the City Court of Quezon City in the ejectment case. It also
concluded that there was a perfected contract of sale between the parties on
the leased premises and that pursuant to the option to buy agreement, private
respondent had acquired the rights of a vendee in a contract of sale. It opined
that the payment by private respondent of P300,000.00 on June 20, 1975 as
partial payment for the leased property, which petitioners accepted (through
Alice A. Dizon) and for which an official receipt was issued, was the operative
act that gave rise to a perfected contract of sale, and that for failure of
petitioners to deny receipt thereof, private respondent can therefore assume
that Alice A. Dizon, acting as agent of petitioners, was authorized by them to
receive the money in their behalf. The Court of Appeals went further by stating
that in fact, what was entered into was a "conditional contract of sale" wherein
ownership over the leased property shall not pass to the private respondent
until it has fully paid the purchase price. Since private respondent did not
consign to the court the balance of the purchase price and continued to occupy
the subject premises, it had the obligation to pay the amount of P1,700.00 in
monthly rentals until full payment of the purchase price. The dispositive portion
of said decision reads:
"WHEREFORE, the appealed decision in Case No. 46487 is
AFFIRMED. The appealed decision in Case No. 45541 is, on the other
hand, ANNULLED and SET ASIDE. The defendants-appellees are
ordered to execute the deed of absolute sale of the property in
question, free from any lien or encumbrance whatsoever, in favor of
the plaintiff-appellant, and to deliver to the latter the said deed of sale,
as well as the owner's duplicate of the certificate of title to said
property upon payment of the balance of the purchase price by the
plaintiff-appellant. The plaintiff-appellant is ordered to pay P1,700.00
per month from June 1976, plus 6% interest per annum , until payment
of the balance of the purchase price, as previously agreed upon by the
parties.
SO ORDERED."
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Upon denial of the motion for partial reconsideration (Civil Case No. Q-
45541) by respondent Court of Appeals, 10 petitioners elevated the case via
petition for certiorari questioning the authority of Alice A. Dizon as agent of
petitioners in receiving private respondent's partial payment amounting to
P300,000.00 pursuant to the Contract of Lease with Option to Buy. Petitioners also
assail the propriety of private respondent's exercise of the option when it tendered
the said amount on June 20, 1975 which purportedly resulted in a perfected contract
of sale.
On December 22, 1993, private respondent filed with the Regional Trial
Court (RTC) of Quezon City, Branch 104 a petition for certiorari and prohibition
with preliminary injunction/restraining order (SP. PROC. No. 93-18722)
challenging the enforceability and validity of the MTC judgment as well as the
order for its execution.
On January 11, 1994, RTC of Quezon City, Branch 104 issued an order 12
granting the issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction upon private
respondent's posting of an injunction bond of P50,000.00.
Assailing the aforequoted order after denial of their motion for partial
reconsideration, petitioners filed a petition 13 for certiorari and prohibition with
a prayer for a temporary restraining order and/or preliminary injunction with
the Court of Appeals. In its decision, 14 the Court of Appeals dismissed the
petition and ruled that:
"The avowed purpose of this petition is to enjoin the public
respondent from restraining the ejectment of the private respondent.
To grant the petition would be to allow the ejectment of the private
respondent. We cannot do that now in view of the decision of this Court
in CA-G.R. CV Nos. 25153-54. Petitioners' alleged right to eject private
respondent has been demonstrated to be without basis in the said civil
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case. The petitioners have been shown, after all, to have no right to
eject private respondents.
WHEREFORE, the petition is DENIED due course and is
accordingly DISMISSED.
SO ORDERED." 15
Under Article 1475 of the New Civil Code, "the contract of sale is
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perfected at the moment there is a meeting of minds upon the thing which is
the object of the contract and upon the price. From that moment, the parties
may reciprocally demand performance, subject to the provisions of the law
governing the form of contracts." Thus, the elements of a contract of sale are
consent, object, and price in money or its equivalent. It bears stressing that the
absence of any of these essential elements negates the existence of a
perfected contract of sale. Sale is a consensual contract and he who alleges it
must show its existence by competent proof. 25
In an attempt to resurrect the lapsed option, private respondent gave
P300,000.00 to petitioners (thru Alice A. Dizon) on the erroneous presumption
that the said amount tendered would constitute a perfected contract of sale
pursuant to the contract of lease with option to buy. There was no valid consent
by the petitioners (as co-owners of the leased premises) on the supposed sale
entered into by Alice A. Dizon, as petitioners' alleged agent, and private
respondent. The basis for agency is representation and a person dealing with
an agent is put upon inquiry and must discover upon his peril the authority of
the agent. 26 As provided in Article 1868 of the New Civil Code, 27 there was no
showing that petitioners consented to the act of Alice A. Dizon nor authorized
her to act on their behalf with regard to her transaction with private
respondent. The most prudent thing private respondent should have done was
to ascertain the extent of the authority of Alice A. Dizon. Being negligent in this
regard, private respondent cannot seek relief on the basis of a supposed
agency.
I n Bacaltos Coal Mines vs. Court of Appeals, 28 we explained the rule in
dealing with an agent:
"Every person dealing with an agent is put upon inquiry and must
discover upon his peril the authority of the agent. If he does not make
such inquiry, he is chargeable with knowledge of the agent's authority,
and his ignorance of that authority will not be any excuse. Persons
dealing with an assumed agent, whether the assumed agency be a
general or special one, are bound at their peril, if they would hold the
principal, to ascertain not only the fact of the agency but also the
nature and extent of the authority, and in case either is converted, the
burden of proof upon them to establish it."
For the long years that private respondent was able to thwart the
execution of the ejectment suit rendered in favor of petitioners, we now write
finis to this controversy and shun further delay so as to ensure that this case
would really attain finality.
WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, both petitions are GRANTED. The
decision dated March 29, 1994 and the resolution dated October 19, 1995 in
CA-G.R. CV No. 25153-54, as well as the decision dated December 11, 1995 and
the resolution dated April 23, 1997 in CA-G.R. SP No. 33113 of the Court of
Appeals are hereby REVERSED and SET ASIDE.
Let the records of this case be remanded to the trial court for immediate
execution of the judgment dated November 22, 1982 in Civil Case No. VIII-
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29155 of the then City Court (now Metropolitan Trial Court) of Quezon City,
Branch VIII as affirmed in the decision dated September 26, 1984 of the then
Intermediate Appellate Court (now Court of Appeals) and in the resolution dated
June 19, 1985 of this Court.
However, petitioners are ordered to REFUND to private respondent the
amount of P300,000.00 which they received through Alice A. Dizon on June 20,
1975. cdrep
SO ORDERED.
Footnotes
1. The original petitioners were Fidela P. Dizon, Regina Dizon, Amparo D.
Bartolome, Ester A. Dizon, Alice A Dizon and Fidelina D. Balza.
2. Per Judge Fernando Gorospe, Jr.
3. The Intermediate Appellate Court took cognizance over the case after it was
referred by the Supreme Court.
4. Penned by Justice Simeon M. Gopengco and concurred in by Justices Lino M.
Patajo, Jose F. Racela, Jr. and Fidel P. Purisima; Annex "A" of Petition; Rollo , p.
60.
5. "Whatever claims petitioner (private respondent herein) may have as to what
it allegedly paid to and received by private respondent Fidela Dizon, under
the receipt issued by Mrs. Alicia Dizon, or with regard to the enforceability or
non-enforceability of its stated option to buy, against the private
respondents (petitioners herein), which were matters merely raised as
defenses of the petitioner in the unlawful detainer suit filed against it may be
better presented for ultimate resolution in a separate suit and before the
proper forum"; Annex "A" of Petition in G.R. No. 124741; Rollo , p. 48.
6. Per Judge Wilhelmo C. Fortun.
7. Per Judge Ignacio L. Salvador.
9. CA Decision (Eight Division) dated March 29, 1994, penned by Justice Eubulo
G. Verzola, and concurred in by Justice Ricardo J. Francisco, Chairman and
Justice Serafin V.C. Guingona; Annex "A" of Petition; Rollo , pp. 57-72.
10. CA Resolution (Thirteenth Division) dated October 19, 1995, penned by
Justice Eubulo G. Verzola, and concurred in by Justice Justo P. Torres, Jr.,
Chairman and Justice Oswaldo D. Agcaoili; Annex "B" of Petition; Rollo , pp.
74-78.
19. Heirs of Manuel T. Suico vs. Court of Appeals, 266 SCRA 444, 456 [1997];
citing Rantael vs. Court of Appeals, 97 SCRA 453, 460 [1980]; Cruz vs. Puno,
120 SCRA 497, 502 [1983]; Lesaca vs. Cuevas, 125 SCRA 384, 388 [1983];
Baens vs. Court of Appeals, 125 SCRA 634, 644 [1983]; Zablan vs. Court of
Appeals, 154 SCRA 487, 493 [1987].
(1) When the period agreed upon, or that which is fixed for the
duration of lease under Articles 1682 and 1687, has expired; . . . ."
20. Ibid., citing Racaza vs. Susan Realty, Inc ., 18 SCRA 1172, 1176-1177
[1966].
21. "Article 1144. The following actions must be brought within ten years from
the time the right of action accrues:
27. "Article 1868. By the contract of agency, a person binds himself to render
some service or to do something in representation or on behalf of another,
with the consent or authority of the latter."
28. 245 SCRA 460, 467 citing the cases of Pineda vs. Court of Appeals, 226
SCRA 754 [1993], Veloso vs. La Urbana, 58 Phil. 681 [1933], Harry E. Keeler
Electric Co. vs. Rodriguez, 44 Phil. 19 [1922], Deen vs. Pacific Commercial
Co., 42 Phil. 738 [1922], and Strong vs. Repide, 6 Phil. 680 [1906].