Alfonso v. Henry

QUISUMBING, J.:

On appeal are two resolutions of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 7450-UDK. The first, dated March 17, 1999,1 dismissed petitioners' appeal for their failure to pay docket and other lawful fees, while the second, dated August 9, 1999,2 denied petitioners' motion for reconsideration. As gleaned from the records, the following are the antecedent facts: The original case involved a complaint for accion publiciana with a claim for damages, entitled "Sps.

Henry Andres and Natividad Liwanag-Andres vs. Noli Alfonso and Erlinda Fundialan," docketed as Civil Case No. 1182, filed with the Regional Trial Court of San Mateo, Rizal. It was decided against herein petitioners in favor of the spouses Andres, now the respondents herein.

On July 15, 1997, a copy of the decision3 was served upon petitioners. On July 17, 1997, petitioners filed a Notice of Appeal, without the assistance of counsel and without payment of the docket and other lawful fees. On July 21, 1997, the RTC granted the notice of appeal.

On August 25, 1997, respondents herein, through counsel, filed a motion to dismiss petitioners' appeal, citing Section 1(c), Rule 50 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure. On October 9, 1997, the trial court dismissed the motion and directed petitioners to pay the proper fees to cure the technical defect, stating thus: The Motion to Dismiss Appeal dated August 25, 1997, filed by the plaintiffs, through counsel is hereby DENIED. Defendants are directed to pay the corresponding docket fees and other required fees, within five (5) days from receipt of this Order, considering that the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure which took effect on July 1, 1997, must at least in the meantime, be construed liberally.

SO ORDERED.4 On the same date, petitioners paid the subject fees, as evidenced by official receipts5 issued by the RTC of San Mateo to petitioner Erlinda Fundialan. The receipts, all dated October 9, 1997, showed payments for appeal and legal research fees in Civil Case No. 1182, in compliance with the trial court's order of even date, the details of which are as follows: PARTICULARS O.R. No. AMOUNT Appeal fee 7403333 P 48.00 Appeal fee 7402555 352.00 Legal Research 1880282 20.00 TOTAL