Spouses Catalino Manguiob and Andrea Pansaon were the original owners of the subject parcel of coconut land, consisting of 15,903 square meters, particularly known as Lot No. 1 covered by Original Certificate of Title No. 1020 of the Register of Deeds of Davao.
On 02 September 1962, Andrea Pansaon who survived her husband Catalino Manguiob, together with some other heirs, sold to Macedonio Monje Seven Thousand Five Hundred (7,500) square meters only of the aforesaid property. The said deed of absolute sale was duly notarized by Notary Public Ricardo Reyes and entered in his notarial book as Doc. No. 48; page 10; Book No. 5; Series of 1962.
Macedonio Monje immediately took possession thereof and constructed a house worth P30,000.00.
On 16 January 1967, the heirs of spouses Catalino Manguiob and Andrea Pansaon who also died, sold the subject property which was already sold to Macedonio Monje in 1962, in favor of Nicanor Manguiob and Carolina V. Manguiob.
Immediately thereafter, spouses Nicanor Manguiob and Carolina V. Manguiob had executed an absolute deed of sale in favor of the former's sister-in-law, Avelyn B. Antonio, the entire Lot No. 1 consisting of 15,903 square meters. The sale was entered in the notarial book of Notary Public Juanito T. Hernandez as Doc. No. 645; Page 31; Book 5, Series of 1967.
Macedonio Monje knew it only on 11 August 1967 when he received a letter from Avelyn B. Antonio, informing him that she is now the registered owner of the subject property under a new Transfer Certificate of Title No. TCT No. T-9643.
Aggrieved, Macedonio Monje filed on 12 October 1967 before the CFI of Baganga, Davao Oriental, a complaint for the annulment of the deed of sale between the heirs of Catalino Manguiob and Carolina Balanay/Nicanor Manguiob, as well as the subsequent deed of absolute sale by the latter in favor [of] Avelyn Antonio and the cancellation of TCT No. T-9643, docketed as Civil Case No. 007-125.
On 27 August 1981, the aforesaid court rendered a decision the decretal portion thereof reads as follows:WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered, declaring the 2nd and 3rd deeds of sale of the property in question null and void and transfer certificate of title No. 9643 likewise null and void; ordering the defendants jointly and solidarily to pay the plaintiff moral damages of P30,000.00 and actual damages of P20,000.00, with legal interest until the amount is fully paid; and to pay the costs.
Let a copy of this decision be served on the Register of Deeds at Mati, Davao Oriental, for appropriate action.
SO ORDERED.
Plaintiff-appellants, Spouses Antonio appealed the above-mentioned decision all the way to the Supreme Court. On 07 December 1992, the Supreme Court in G.R. No. 69696, rendered a decision, the pertinent portion of which states as follows:We find that while the principle of res judicata is better disregarded if its application would involve the sacrifice of justice to technicality; to so disregard it now and reopen the case would further delay its disposition. However, the lower court should take note of its erroneous order to deliver to Monje an area larger than what he bought from the heirs of Manguiob and claimed in the action he had filed, in the eventual execution of its decision. In the same way that the power of the court in the execution of its judgment extends only over properties belonging to the judgment debtor, the court below may not, in the execution of its decision of August 27, 1981, deliver to Monje the entire area covered by TCT No. T-9643 as it is more than double that of the property he had bought. (pp. 15-16, rollo).
Prescinding from the decision of the Supreme Court, plaintiff-appellants [herein petitioners] filed a case for a sum of money, accounting of the proceeds of the copra, damages and attorney's fees against herein defendant-appellees, docketed as Civil Case No. 506 before the Regional Trial Court of Baganga, Davao Oriental, Branch 7.
In the aforesaid complaint, plaintiffs-appellants alleged, among others that:8. That the late Macedonio Monje has been in possession of this 15,903 square meters coconut land covered by TCT No. T-9643 since 1967 which possession and enjoyment thereof has been continued by the herein defendants when Monje died;
9. That as earlier pointed out, Monje is only entitled to 7,500 square meters of this subject property, hence, plaintiffs were deprived of the possession and proceeds of the copra of their property consisting of 8,403 square meters since 1967 (the year plaintiffs became the owner of this property) continuously up to the present.
10. That the possession by Macedonio Monje and the defendants of the whole 15,903 square meters of the aforesaid land and their appropriation of the proceeds of the copra was made in bad faith for they know very well that they are only entitled to 7,500 square meters portion of the land which is the only area they bought from the heirs of Catalino Manguiob. (Please refer to Annex 'B')
x x x x
12. That since 1967 up to the present or a period of 27 years, Monje and the defendants appropriated unto themselves the proceeds of the copra of the land belonging to the plaintiffs (8,403 square meters area) in the estimated net amount of P420,714.00);
x x x x
Defendants-appellees [herein respondents], instead of filing an answer to the aforesaid complaint had opted to file a motion to dismiss on the grounds of res judicata and violation of Supreme Court Circular No. 04-94 on non-forum shopping. x x x3
There is "bar by prior judgment" when, as between the first case where the judgment was rendered and the second case that is sought to be barred, there is identity of parties, subject matter, and causes of action. In this instance, the judgment in the first case constitutes an absolute bar to the second action. Otherwise put, the judgment or decree of the court of competent jurisdiction on the merits concludes the litigation between the parties, as well as their privies, and constitutes a bar to a new action or suit involving the same cause of action before the same or other tribunal.
But where there is identity of parties in the first and second cases, but no identity of causes of action, the first judgment is conclusive only as to those matters actually and directly controverted and determined and not as to matters merely involved therein. This is the concept of res judicata known as "conclusiveness of judgment." Stated differently, any right, fact or matter in issue directly adjudicated or necessarily involved in the determination of an action before a competent court in which judgment is rendered on the merits is conclusively settled by the judgment therein and cannot again be litigated between the parties and their privies whether or not the claim, demand, purpose, or subject matter of the two actions is the same.9
A compulsory is any claim for money or any relief, which a defending party may have against an opposing party, which at the time of suit arises out of, or is necessarily connected with, the same transaction r occurrence that is the subject matter of the plaintiff's complaint. It is compulsory in the sense that it is within the jurisdiction of the court, does not require for its adjudication the presence of third parties over whom the court cannot acquire jurisdiction, and will be barred in the future if not set up in the answer to the complaint in the same case. Any other counterclaim is permissive.
The Court has ruled that the compelling test of compulsoriness characterizes as counterclaim as compulsory if there should exist a logical relationship between the main claim and the counterclaim. The Court further ruled that there exists such a relationship when conducting separate trials of the respective claims of the parties would entail substantial duplication of the time and effort by the parties and the court; when the multiple claims involve the same factual and legal issues; or when the claims are offshoots of the same basic controversy between the parties.
The criteria to determine whether the counterclaim is compulsory or permissive are as follows:(a) Are issues of the fact and law raised by the claim and by the counterclaim largely the same?
(b) Would res judicata bar a subsequent suit on defendant's claim, absent the compulsory rule?
(c) Will substantially the same evidence support or refute plaintiff's claim as well as defendant's counterclaim?
(d) Is there any logical relations between the claim and the counterclaim?
A positive answer to all four questions would indicate that the counterclaim is compulsory.
Endnotes:
1 Penned by Associate Justice Bienvenido L. Reyes, with Associate Justices Eubulo G. Verzola and Marina L. Buzon, concurring; rollo, pp. 70-79.
2 Id. at 30-31.
3 Rollo, pp. 71-75.
4 Id. at 121-123.
5 Id. at 29.
6 Spouses Fernando Torres and Irma Torres v. Amparo Medina and Ex-Officio Sheriff of the RTC of Quezon City, G.R. No. 166730, March 10, 2010.
7 Id.
8 Agustin v. Delos Santos, G.R. No. 168139, January 20, 2009, 576 SCRA 576, 585.
9 Id at 585-586. (Emphasis supplied.)
10 Hacienda Bigaa, Inc. v. Epifanio V. Chavez, G.R. No. 174160, April 20, 2010; Chris Garments Corporation v. Sto. Tomas, G.R. No. 167426, January 12, 2009, 576 SCRA 13, 21-22; Heirs of Rolando N. Abadilla v. Galarosa, G.R. No. 149041, July 12, 2006, 494 SCRA 675, 688-689.
11 Id.
12 Id.
13 Spouses Torres v. Medina, supra note 6.
14 Agustin v. Delos Santos, supra note 8, at 588-589.
15 Id. at 590.
16 Id. at 591.
17 Id. at 587.
18 Entitled, Antonio v. Intermediate Appellate Court.