Monday, August 3, 2015

Whether or not the final and executory judgment in the case for quieting of title wherein respondents were adjudged to be the owners of the subject property is a supervening event that justifies the suspension or non-enforcement of the final judgment in the previous case for forcible entry




In the analogous case of Roman Catholic Archbishop of Caceres vs. Heirs of Manuel Abella, represented by MERCEDES N. ABELLA, G.R. No. 143510 November 23, 2005, the sole issue was “whether or not the final and executory judgment in the case for quieting of title wherein respondents were adjudged to be the owners of the subject property is a supervening event that justifies the suspension or non-enforcement of the final judgment in the previous case for forcible entry”.

In that case the Petitioner insisted “that the judgment in the quieting of title case should not be considered as a supervening event that bars the enforcement of the decision in the forcible entry case because even if respondents had indeed been finally adjudged to be the absolute owners of the disputed land, an owner of a property is not necessarily entitled to possession thereof, such as when the owner leased out the property to another”.  The Supreme Court found the petition unmeritorious. It stated:

“X x x.
Hence, there can be no other conclusion but that the finality of the decision in the quieting of title case constitutes a supervening event that justifies the non-enforcement of the judgment in the forcible entry case. In Natalia Xxxty, Inc. vs. Court of Appeals,11 the Court explained thus:

... The jurisdiction of the court to amend, modify or alter its judgment terminates when the judgment becomes final. This is the principle of immutability of final judgment that is subject to only few exceptions, none of which is present in this case. On the other hand, the jurisdiction of the court to execute its judgment continues even after the judgment has become final for the purpose of enforcement of judgment.
. . .

One of the exceptions to the principle of immutability of final judgments is the existence of supervening events. Supervening events refer to facts which transpire after judgment has become final and executory or to new circumstances which developed after the judgment has acquired finality, including matters which the parties were not aware of prior to or during the trial as they were not yet in existence at that time.12

In the case at bar, the new circumstance which developed after the finality of the judgment in the forcible entry is the fact that the decision in the case for quieting of title had also attained finality and conclusively resolved the issue of ownership over the subject land, and the concomitant right of possession thereof. Verily, to grant execution of the judgment in the forcible entry case would work injustice on respondents who had been conclusively declared the owners and rightful possessors of the disputed land.

X x x.”