sc.judiciary.gov.ph/jurisprudence/2012/august2012/179232.pdf
"x x x.
We further agree with the appellate court when it ruled that the dismissal of the complaint against the Dow/Occidental defendants does not carry with it the dismissal of the cross-claims against them. The ruling in Ruiz, Jr. v. Court of Appeals26 that the dismissal of the complaint divested
the cross-claimants of whatever appealable interest they might have had before, and made the cross-claim itself no longer viable, is not applicable in the instant case because in Ruiz, the dismissal of the complaint was based on
the ground that it lacked merit. In the case at bar, the dismissal of the complaint against the Dow/Occidental defendants resulted from the settlement with the plaintiffs, which is in effect an admission of liability on the part of the Dow/Occidental defendants. As held in Bañez v. Court of
Appeals:27
A third-party complaint is indeed similar to a cross-claim, except only with respect to the persons against whom they are directed. However, the ruling in Ruiz cannot be successfully invoked by petitioners. In Ruiz we declared that the dismissal of the main action rendered the cross-claim no longer viable only because the main action was categorically dismissed for lack of cause of action. Hence, since defendants could no longer be held liable under the main complaint, no reason existed for them anymore to sue their co-party under the crossclaim.
In sharp contrast thereto, the termination of the main action
between PESALA and PNB-RB was not due to any finding that it was bereft of any basis. On the contrary, further proceedings were rendered unnecessary only because defendant (third-party plaintiff) PNB-RB, to avoid a protracted litigation, voluntarily admitted liability in the amount
of P20,226,685.00. Hence, the termination of the main action between PESALA and PNB-RB could not have rendered lifeless the third-party complaint filed against petitioners, as it did the cross-claim in Ruiz, Jr. v. Court of Appeals, since it involved a finding of liability on the part of PNB-RB even if it be by compromise.
x x x."
