Heirs - of - Salas - Jr. - v. - Laperal - Realty - Corp PDF
Heirs - of - Salas - Jr. - v. - Laperal - Realty - Corp PDF
Heirs - of - Salas - Jr. - v. - Laperal - Realty - Corp PDF
SYNOPSIS
DECISION
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DE LEON , JR ., J : p
Salas, Jr. was the registered owner of a vast tract of land in Lipa City, Batangas
spanning 1,484,354 square meters.
On May 15, 1987, he entered into an Owner-Contractor Agreement 4 (hereinafter
referred to as the Agreement) with respondent Laperal Realty Corporation (hereinafter
referred to as Laperal Realty) to render and provide complete (horizontal) construction
services on his land.
On September 23, 1988, Salas, Jr. executed a Special Power of Attorney in favor of
respondent Laperal Realty to exercise general control, supervision and management of the
sale of his land, for cash or on installment basis.
On June 10, 1989, Salas, Jr. left his home in the morning for a business trip to Nueva
Ecija. He never returned. prcd
On August 6, 1996, Teresita Diaz Salas led with the Regional Trial Court of Makati
City a veri ed petition for the declaration of presumptive death of her husband, Salas, Jr.,
who had then been missing for more than seven (7) years. It was granted on December 12,
1996. 5
Meantime, respondent Laperal Realty subdivided the land of Salas, Jr. and sold
subdivided portions thereof to respondents Rockway Real Estate Corporation and South
Ridge Village, Inc. on February 22, 1990; to respondent spouses Abrajano and Lava and
Oscar Dacillo on June 27, 1991; and to respondents Eduardo Vacuna, Florante de la Cruz
and Jesus Vicente Capalan on June 4, 1996 (all of whom are hereinafter referred to as
respondent lot buyers).
On February 3, 1998, petitioners as heirs of Salas, Jr. led in the Regional Trial Court
of Lipa City a Complaint 6 for declaration of nullity of sale, reconveyance, cancellation of
contract, accounting and damages against herein respondents which was docketed as
Civil Case No. 98-0047. LLpr
On April 24, 1998, respondent Laperal Realty led a Motion to Dismiss 7 on the
ground that petitioners failed to submit their grievance to arbitration as required under
Article VI of the Agreement which provides:
"ARTICLE VI. ARBITRATION.
All cases of dispute between CONTRACTOR and OWNER'S representative
shall be referred to the committee represented by:
On May 5, 1998, respondent spouses Abrajano and Lava and respondent Dacillo
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led a Joint Answer with Counterclaim and Crossclaim 9 praying for dismissal of
petitioners' Complaint for the same reason.
On August 9, 1998, the trial court issued the herein assailed Order dismissing
petitioners' Complaint for non-compliance with the foregoing arbitration clause.
Hence this petition. prcd
Respondent Laperal Realty, as a contracting party to the Agreement, has the right to
compel petitioners to rst arbitrate before seeking judicial relief. However, to split the
proceedings into arbitration for respondent Laperal Realty and trial for the respondent lot
buyers, or to hold trial in abeyance pending arbitration between petitioners and respondent
Laperal Realty, would in effect result in multiplicity of suits, duplicitous procedure and
unnecessary delay. On the other hand, it would be in the interest of justice if the trial court
hears the complaint against all herein respondents and adjudicates petitioners' rights as
against theirs in a single and complete proceeding.
WHEREFORE, the instant petition is hereby GRANTED. The Order dated August 19,
1998 of Branch 85 of the Regional Trial Court of Lipa City is hereby NULLIFIED and SET
ASIDE. Said court is hereby ordered to proceed with the hearing of Civil Case No. 98-0047.
Costs against private respondents. prLL
SO ORDERED.
Bellosillo, Mendoza, Quisumbing and Buena, JJ., concur.
Footnotes
1. Annex "A" of the Petition, Rollo, pp. 19-20.
19. Complaint dated February 2, 1998 marked as Annex "D" of the Petition, Rollo, pp. 32-48.
20. Santiago v. Gonzalez, 79 SCRA 494, 500 (1977).