SECOND DIVISION

G.R. No. 150284 : November 22, 2010

SPOUSES ELISEO SEVILLA and ERNA SEVILLA, Petitioners, v. HON. COURT OF APPEALS and PATRICIA VILLAREAL, for herself and in behalf of her children, TRICIA and CLAIRE HOPE VILLAREAL, Respondents.

D E C I S I O N

MENDOZA, J.:

For review in this petition is the May 22, 2001 Decisioncralaw¹ of the Court of Appeals (CA), in CA-G.R. CV No. 63518, which affirmed the Decisioncralaw² of the Regional Trial Court, Branch 132, Makati City (RTC), finding the petitioners, spouses Eliseo and Erna Sevilla, jointly and severally, liable for damages to the private respondents.

From the records, it appears that on March 2, 1987, Patricia Villareal, for herself and in behalf of her children, Tricia and Claire Hope Villareal (the Villareals), filed an action for damages against spouses Eliseo and Erna Sevilla (the Sevillas), on account of the killing of her (Patricia's) husband, Jose K. Villareal (Jose). It was alleged that Eliseo, said to be a very jealous husband, discovered that his wife, Erna was having an illicit affair with Jose. On the early morning of June 6, 1986, Erna and Jose were caught red-handed having a rendezvous in a parking lot by Eliseo who was just waiting in ambush together with some companions. There, Jose was mauled and shot to death. Because of this incident, the Sevillas started disposing their properties and eventually left for the United States of America with their children. Thereafter, a criminal case for murder was filed against them before the RTC of Makati, but it was archived because they had already left the country. On March 2, 1987, the Villareals filed a civil case for damages against the Sevillas arising from the murder case.

Summons could not be personally served on the Sevillas as they had been residing abroad so service was made by publication in a newspaper of general circulation. The Sevillas failed to file their answer to the complaint and so the trial court declared them in default and allowed the Villareals to present evidence ex parte. Also, the trial court allowed the Villareals to litigate as pauper litigants.

After presenting their evidence ex-parte, the Villareals filed a Motion for Leave to Admit an Amended Complaint and for Extraterritorial Service