Santos V Liwag

JOSE SANTOS, plaintiff-appellant, vs. LORENZO J. LIWAG, defendant-appellee.
G.R. No. L-24238 November 28, 1980; SECOND DIVISION; CONCEPCION, JR., J.:
Appeal from the order of the Court of First Instance of Manila, dated October 17, 1964, which dismissed the, complaint filed in Civil Case No. 57282, for
failure of the plaintiff to submit a bill of particulars within 10 days from notice thereof.
The record shows that on June 8, 1964 the appellant -Jose Santos filed a complaint against Lorenzo J. Liwag with the Court of First Instance of Manila,
docketed therein as Civil Case No. 57282, seeking the annulment of certain documents, attached to the complaint and marked as Annexes "A", "B", and
"C", as having been executed by means of misrepresentations, machination, false pretenses, threats, and other fraudulent means, as well as for damages
and costs. 1
Claiming that the allegations in the complaint are indefinite and uncertain, as well as conflicting, the defendant filed a motion tion on July 4, 1964, asking
the trial court that the plaintiff be ordered to submit a more definite statement or bill of particulars on certain allegations of the complaint, as well as the
facts constituting the misrepresentations, machinations, and frauds employed by the defendant in the execution of the documents in question in order that
he could be well informed of the charges filed against him, for him to prepare an intelligent and proper pleading necessary and appropriate in the
premises. 2
The plaintiff opposed the motion saying that the allegations in his complaint are sufficient and contain ultimate facts con- constituting his causes of action
and that the subject of the defendant's motion is evidentiary in nature. 3
The trial court, however, granted the motion and directed the plaintiff "to submit a bill of particulars with respect to the paragraphs specified in defendant's
motion", 4 and when the plaintiff failed to comply with the order, the court, acting upon previous motion of the defendant, 5 dismissed the complaint with costs
against the plaintiff. 6 Hence, the present appeal.
We find no merit in the appeal. The allowance of a motion for a more definite statement or bill of particulars rests within the sound judicial discretion of the
court and, as usual in matters of a discretionary nature, the ruling of the trial court in that regard will not be reversed unless there has been a palpable
abuse of discretion or a clearly erroneous order. In the instant case, the complaint is without doubt imperfectly drawn and suffers from vagueness and
generalization to enable the defendant properly to prepare a responsive pleading and to clarify issues and aid the court In an orderly and expeditious
disposition tion in the case.
The present action is one for the annulment of documents which have been allegedly executed by reason of deceit, machination, false pretenses,
misrepresentation, threats, and other fraudulent means. Deceit, machination, false pretenses, misrepresentation, and threats, however, are largely
conclusions of law and mere allegations thereof without a statement of the facts to which such terms have reference are not sufficient The allegations must
state the facts and circumstances from which the fraud, deceit, machination, false pretenses, misrepresentation, and threats may be inferred as a
conclusions In his complaint, the appellant merely averred that all the documents sought to be annulled were all executed through the use of deceits,
machination, false pretenses, misrepresentations, threats, and other fraudulent means without the particular-facts on which alleged fraud, deceit,
machination, or misrepresentations are predicated. Hence, it was proper for the trial court to grant the defendant's motion for a bill of particulars, and when
the plaintiff failed to comply with the order, the trial court correctly dismissed the complaint. 7
WHEREFORE, the judgment appealed from should be, as it is hereby, affirmed. Without pronouncement as to costs in this instance.
SO ORDERED.

Santos V Liwag

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JOSE SANTOS, plaintiff-appellant, vs. LORENZO J. LIWAG, defendant-appellee.

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