"To adjudge damages, paragraph (d) of Section 3 of Rule 9 of the Rules of Court provides that a judgment against a party in default "shall not exceed the amount or be different in kind from that prayed for nor award unliquidated damages." The proscription against the award of unliquidated damages is significant, because it means that the damages to be awarded must be proved convincingly, in accordance with the quantum of evidence required in civil cases.
Unfortunately for petitioners, the grant of damages was not sufficiently supported by the evidence for the following reasons.
First, petitioners were not deprived of their property without cause. As correctly pointed out by the CA, Act No. 3135, as amended, does not require personal notice to the mortgagor.53 In the present case, there has been no allegation -- much less, proof -- of noncompliance with the requirement of publication and public posting of the notice of sale, as required by Áct No. 3135. Neither has there been competent evidence to show that the price paid at the foreclosure sale was inadequate.54 To be sure, there was no ground to invalidate the sale.
Second, as previously stated, petitioners have not convincingly established their right to damages on the basis of the purported agreement to repurchase. Without reiterating our prior discussion on this point, we stress that entitlement to actual and compensatory damages must be proved even under Section 3 of Rule 9 of the Rules of Court. The same is true with regard to awards for moral damages and attorney’s fees, which were also granted by the trial court.
In sum, petitioners have failed to convince this Court of the cogency of their position, notwithstanding the advantage they enjoyed in presenting their evidence ex parte. Not in every case of default by the defendant is the complainant entitled to win automatically.
WHEREFORE, this Petition is hereby DENIED and the assailed Decision and Resolution AFFIRMED. Costs against petitioners.
SO ORDERED."
ERLINDA GAJUDO, FERNANDO GAJUDO, JR., ESTELITA GAJUDO, BALTAZAR GAJUDO and DANILO ARAHAN CHUA, Petitioners, vs. TRADERS ROYAL BANK,1Respondent. G.R. No. 151098, March 21, 2006.
https://lawphil.net/judjuris/juri2006/mar2006/gr_151098_2006.html
