Republic v. Granada (G.R. No. 187512; July 13, 2012)

CASE DIGEST: REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES v. YOLANDA CADACIO GRANADA

FACTS: Yolanda Granada and Cyrus Granada got married in 1991. In 1994, Cyrus went to Taiwan to seek employment but since then, he never communicated with Yolanda. After nine (9) years of waiting, she filed a Petition to have Cyrus declared presumptively dead which the RTC granted. The Republic of the Philippines appealed from the decision contending that Yolanda failed to prove earnest efforts to locate Cyrus and thus, failed to prove well-founded belief that he was already dead. Yolanda moved to dismiss the appeal contending that the Petition for Declaration of Presumptive Death based under Art. 41, Family Code was a summary judicial proceedings in which the judgment is immediately final and executory and, thus, not appealable. The CA granted the motion.

ISSUE: Is the dismissal of the appeal correct, considering that the Family Code provides for summary procedure?

HELD: Judgment declaring a spouse presumptively dead is immediately final and executory; remedy is Rule 65, not Rule 45. The RTC decision is immediately final and executory and not subject to ordinary appeal.

Since a petition for declaration of presumptive death is a summary proceeding, the judgment of the court therein shall be immediately final and executory. The appropriate remedy is a special civil action for certiorari if there is a showing of grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack or excess of jurisdiction.
By express provision of law, the judgment of the court in a summary proceeding shall be immediately final and executory. As a matter of course, it follows that no appeal can be had of the trial court's judgment in a summary proceeding for the declaration of presumptive death of an absent spouse under Article 41 of the Family Code. It goes without saying, however, that an aggrieved party may file a petition for certiorari to question abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction. Such petition should be filed in the Court of Appeals in accordance with the Doctrine of Hierarchy of Courts. To be sure, even if the Court's original jurisdiction to issue a writ of certiorari is concurrent with the RTCs and the Court of Appeals in certain cases, such concurrence does not sanction an unrestricted freedom of choice of court forum. From the decision of the Court of Appeals, the losing party may then file a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court with the Supreme Court. This is because the errors which the court may commit in the exercise of jurisdiction are merely errors of judgment which are the proper subject of an appeal.

In sum, under Article 41 of the Family Code, the losing party in a summary proceeding for the declaration of presumptive death may file a petition for certiorari with the CA on the ground that, in rendering judgment thereon, the trial court committed grave abuse of discretion amounting to lack of jurisdiction. From the decision of the CA, the aggrieved party may elevate the matter to this Court via a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the Rules of Court.

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