https://www.lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2020/jan2020/gr_201812_2020.html
THIRD THELMA B. SIAN REPRESENTED BY ROMUALDO A. SIAN, PETITIONER, VS. SPOUSES CAESAR A. SOMOSO AND ANITA B.
SOMOSO, THE FORMER BEING SUBSTITUTED BY HIS SURVIVING SON, ANTHONY VOLTAIRE B.
SOMOSO, MACARIO M. DE GUZMAN, JR., IN HIS CAPACITY AS SHERIFF III OF THE
REGIONAL COURT OF PANABO, DAVAO, BRANCH 4, RESPONDENTS. G.R. No. 201812, January
22, 2020
“x x x.
The award of attorney's fees
should be deleted as well. The general rule is that attorney's fees cannot be
recovered as part of damages because of the policy that no premium should be
placed on the right to litigate. They are not to be awarded every time a party
wins a suit. The power of the court to award attorney's fees under Article 2208
demands factual, legal, and equitable justification. Even when a claimant is
compelled to litigate with third persons or to incur expenses to protect his
rights, still attorney's fees may not be awarded where no sufficient showing of
bad faith could be reflected in a party's persistence in a case other than an
erroneous conviction of the righteousness of his cause. (Spouses Timado v. Rural Bank of San Jose, Inc.,
789 Phil. 453, 460 [2016]).
X x x.”
