Pre Trial Digest

G.R. No.
163280, February 2, 2010

DORIS U. SUNBANUN
vs
AURORA B. GO
CARPIO, J.
Facts of the Case:
The petitioners claimed that their family has long been known in
the community to be engaged in the water supply business; they operated
the Rovila Water Supply from their family residence and were engaged
in the distribution of water to customers in Cebu City. The petitioners
alleged that Lilia was a former trusted employee in the family business
and claimed ownership over the family business through a corporation
named Rovila Water Supply, Inc. (Rovila Inc.) Upon inquiry with the
Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the petitioners claimed that
Rovila Inc. was surreptitiously formed with the respondents as the
majority stockholders.The respondents filed a first motion to dismiss on
the ground that the RTC had no jurisdiction over an intracorporate
controversy however the RTC denied the motion. Petitioners amended
their complaint, with leave of court, when Lourdes and Luciano died.
The respondents filed their Answer and petitioners sister,
LagrimasPacaaGonzales, filed a motion for leave to intervene and her
answerinintervention was granted by the trial court. At the subsequent
pretrial, the respondents manifested to the RTC that a substitution of the
parties was necessary in light of the deaths of Lourdes and Luciano. The
RTC issued a pretrial order where one of the issues submitted was
whether the complaint should be dismissed.Respondents again filed a
motion to dismiss on the grounds, among others, that the petitioners are
not the real parties in interest to institute and prosecute the case and that
they have no valid cause of action against the respondents. The petitioners
filed the present petition.The respondents reiterated in their comment that
the petitioners are not the real parties in interest.
They likewise argued that they moved for the dismissal of the case
during the pretrial conference due to the petitioners procedural lapse in
refusing to comply with a condition precedent, which is, to substitute the
heirs as plaintiffs. The respondents also argued that the grounds invoked
in their motion to dismiss were timely raised, pursuant to Section 2,
paragraphs g and i, Rule 18 of the Rules of Court. Specifically, the nature
and purposes of the pretrial include, among others, the dismissal of the
action, should a valid ground therefor be found to exist; and such other
matters as may aid in the prompt disposition of the action.
Issue of the Case:

Whether or not the motion to dismiss filed by respondents during
the conclusion of pre-trial conference is valid and binding.
Ruling of the Court:
The RTC denied the respondents motion to dismiss. It ruled that,
save for the grounds for dismissal which may be raised at any stage of the
proceedings, a motion to dismiss based on the grounds invoked by the
respondents may only be filed within the time for, but before, the filing of
their answer to the amended complaint.
Thus, even granting that the defenses invoked by the respondents
are meritorious, their motion was filed out of time as it was filed only
after the conclusion of the pretrial conference. Furthermore, the rule on
substitution of parties only applies when the parties to the case die, which
is not what happened in the present case. The RTC likewise denied the
respondents motion for reconsideration. The CA granted the petition and
ruled that the RTC committed grave abuse of discretion as the petitioners
filed the complaint and the amended complaint as attorneysinfact of
their parents. As such, they are not the real parties in interest and cannot
bring an action in their own names; thus, the complaint should be
dismissed pursuant to the Courts ruling in Casimiro v. Roque and
Gonzales.
Both the RTC and the CA found that the motion to dismiss was
only filed after the filing of the answer and after the pretrial had been
concluded. Because there was no motion to dismiss before the filing of
the answer, the respondents should then have at least raised these grounds
as affirmative defenses in their answer. The RTCs assailed orders did not
touch on this particular issue but the CA ruled that the respondents did,
while the petitioners insist that the respondents did not. In the present
petition, the petitioners reiterate that there was a blatant nonobservance
of the rules when the respondents did not amend their answer to invoke
the grounds for dismissal which were raised only during the pretrial and,
subsequently, in the subject motion to dismiss.
Our examination of the records shows that the CA had no basis in
its finding that the respondents alleged the grounds as affirmative
defenses in their answer. The respondents merely stated in their petition
for certiorari that they alleged the subject grounds in their answer.
However, nowhere in the petition did they support this allegation; they did
not even attach a copy of their answer to the petition. It is basic that the
respondents had the duty to prove by substantial evidence their positive
assertions. Considering that the petition for certiorari is an original and
not an appellate action, the CA had no records of the RTCs proceedings
upon which the CA could refer to in order to validate the respondents
claim. Clearly, other than the respondents bare allegations, the CA had no
basis to rule, without proof, that the respondents alleged the grounds for
dismissal as affirmative defenses in the answer. The respondents, as the
parties with the burden of proving that they timely raised their grounds for
dismissal, could have at least attached a copy of their answer to the
petition. This simple task they failed to do.
WHEREFORE, the Court DENIES the petition. The Court
AFFIRMS the 30 September 2003 Decision and the 18 March 2004
Resolution of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R. CV No. 67836.

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G.R. No.

163280, February 2, 2010

Issue of the Case:

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