"x x x.
A case becomes moot and academic when there is no more actual controversy between the parties or useful purpose that can be served in passing upon the merits.[35]
There remains no actual controversy in the instant Petition because the First Complaint has already been dismissed by the trial court. Upon its dismissal, the question of the non-issuance of a writ of preliminary injunction necessarily died with it.
A writ of preliminary injunction is a provisional remedy. It is auxiliary to, an adjunct of, and subject to the outcome of the main case.[36] Thus, a writ of preliminary injunction is deemed lifted upon dismissal of the main case, any appeal therefrom notwithstanding,[37] as this Court emphasized in Buyco v. Baraquia[38] from which we quote:
The writ is provisional because it constitutes a temporary measure availed of during the pendency of the action and it is ancillary because it is a mere incident in and is dependent upon the result of the main action.
It is well-settled that the sole object of a preliminary injunction, whether prohibitory or mandatory, is to preserve the status quo until the merits of the case can be heard. It is usually granted when it is made to appear that there is a substantial controversy between the parties and one of them is committing an act or threatening the immediate commission of an act that will cause irreparable injury or destroy the status quo of the controversy before a full hearing can be had on the merits of the case.
x x x x x x x x x
The present case having been heard and found dismissible as it was in fact dismissed, the writ of preliminary injunction is deemed lifted, its purpose as a provisional remedy having been served, the appeal therefrom notwithstanding.
Unionbank v. Court of Appeals enlightens:
xxx a dismissal, discontinuance or non-suit of an action in which a restraining order or temporary injunction has been granted operates as a dissolution of the restraining order or temporary injunction,” regardless of whether the period for filing a motion for reconsideration of the order dismissing the case or appeal therefrom has expired. The rationale therefor is that even in cases where an appeal is taken from a judgment dismissing an action on the merits, the appeal does not suspend the judgment, hence the general rule applies that a temporary injunction terminates automatically on the dismissal of the action. (Emphases supplied.)[39]
There will be no practical value in resolving the question of the non-issuance of an injunctive writ in this case. Setting aside the assailed Orders is manifestly pointless, considering that the First Complaint itself has already been dismissed, and there is nothing left to enjoin. The reversal of the assailed Orders would have a practical effect only if the dismissal were set aside and the First Complaint reinstated.[40] In this case, however, petitioner Spouses Arevalo admitted to the impossibility of the reinstatement of the First Complaint when they filed their Second Complaint.[41]
Even petitioners’ plea that this Court give due course to the Petition for a ruling on the proper application of the Procedure on Foreclosure[42] cannot compel us to resolve this issue.
The Constitution provides that judicial power “includes the duty of the courts of justice to settle actual controversies involving rights which are legally demandable and enforceable.”[43] The exercise of judicial power requires an actual case calling for it. The courts have no authority to pass upon issues through advisory opinions, or to resolve hypothetical or feigned problems or friendly suits collusively arranged between parties without real adverse interests.[44] Furthermore, courts do not sit to adjudicate mere academic questions to satisfy scholarly interest, however intellectually challenging.[45] As a condition precedent to the exercise of judicial power, an actual controversy between litigants must first exist.[46] An actual case or controversy involves a conflict of legal rights, an assertion of opposite legal claims susceptible of judicial resolution, as distinguished from a hypothetical or abstract difference or dispute.[47]There must be a contrariety of legal rights that can be interpreted and enforced on the basis of existing law and jurisprudence.[48]
This Court cannot issue a mere advisory opinion in relation to the applicability of the provisions of the Procedure on Foreclosure.
x x x."
