WHEREFORE, premises considered, judgment is hereby rendered:
1. DECLARING, as between plaintiff, intervenor Alice C. Chaves and defendants, the Special Power of Attorney (Exh. 1-Go and Exh. "A") allegedly executed by plaintiff and intervenor Alice C. Chaves as well as the second mortgage (Exh. 2-Go) as INEFFECTIVE, INVALID, AND UNENFORCEABLE as against plaintiff and intervenor ALICE CHAVES as they did not sign said special power of attorney and second mortgage. Consequently, the adverse claim, notice of lis pendens and the annotation of the second mortgage on TCT No. T-114415, TCT No. T-114416 and TCT No. T-114417 must be cancelled and or removed they being clouds to said titles. For said purpose, the Register of Deeds of the City of Cagayan de Oro is hereby ordered to cancel them;
2. DECLARING plaintiff and intervenor Alice C. Chaves as not bound by the effects of the second mortgage they having not signed the Special Power of Attorney and said second mortgage. What defendants should do is to demand the amount mentioned in the second mortgage from Paquito S. Yap and Evelyn Nellie Chaves Yap;
3. ORDERING defendant TRINIDAD GO to surrender to MEGA INTERGRATED AGRO-LIVESTOCK INDUSTRIAL FARMS, INC. the owner's copy of TCT No. T-114415 and to intervenor ALICE C. CHAVES the owner's copy of TCT No. T-114416 and T-114417;
4. Ordering MEGA INTEGRATED AGRO-LIVESTOCK INDUSTRIAL FARMS, INC. thru [sic] See Hong to pay intervenor Alice C. Chaves the balance of P15,074,000.00 as her share in the conjugal partnership but only after the land sold consisting of Lot Nos. 1 and 2 covered by TCT No. 114414 and TCT No. 114415 shall have been cleared of squatters by intervenor Alice Chaves.
5. DENYING the prayer for attorney's fees and moral damages there being no proof shown that in annotating the second mortgage on TCT No. T-114415, TCT No. T-114416, and TCT No. T-114417, all of the Registry of Deeds of Cagayan de Oro City, defendants were motivated by evident bad faith;
6. DENYING defendants' counterclaim for lack of merit it not being shown that in filing the case, plaintiff was motivated by malice and evident bad faith.13
In the case at bench, appellants [Go spouses] even admitted that they failed to serve a copy of their brief to Mega Farms as well as to Alice Chaves on the same day they filed the brief with this Court. Belated compliance with this requirement does not suffice. Proper procedure dictates that a copy of the pleading be first furnished the opposing party so that proof of such service may be duly indicated on the original of the pleading to be filed shortly afterward in court, such indication being either a handwritten acknowledgment by the adverse party or the registry receipt of the copy mailed to the adverse party. Service precedes filing; both within the time allowed by the Rules.
Second. It is a matter of fact that the appellants' brief does not contain a subject index nor does it have as an appendix the copy of the assailed decision. x x x
The first requirement of an appellant's brief is a subject index. The index is intended to facilitate the review of appeals by providing ready reference, functioning much like a table of contents. This jurisdiction prescribes no limit on the length of appeal briefs or appeal memoranda filed before appellate courts. The downside of this liberal rule is, of course, the very real possibility that the reviewing tribunal will be swamped with voluminous documents. This occurs even though the rules consistently urge the parties to be "brief" or "concise" in the drafting of pleadings, briefs, and other papers to be filed in court. Herein lies the reason and the need for a subject index. The subject index makes readily available at one's fingertips the subject of the contents of the brief so that the need to thumb through the brief page after page to locate a party's arguments, or a particular citation, or whatever else needs to be found and considered, is obviated.x x x x
Although appellants may have subsequently rectified those deficiencies, the belated compliance, however, is not by itself sufficient to warrant suspension of the strict requirements of the rules, absent any showing that the initial non-compliance was not in any way attributable to negligence, or that there are highly justifying equitable reasons for this Court to make an extraordinary disposition in the interest of justice.
It has long been recognized that strict compliance with the rules is indispensable for the prevention of needless delays and for the orderly and expeditious dispatch of judicial business. Utter disregard of the rules cannot just be rationalized by harking on the policy of liberal construction. While courts should, in all cases, endeavor to do substantial justice without undue subservience to technicalities, the mere invocation by the parties of liberality and substantial justice does not automatically do away with the rules laid down for the orderly administration of justice.24
Courts have the prerogative to relax procedural rules of even the most mandatory character, mindful of the duty to reconcile both the need to speedily put an end to litigation and the parties' right to due process. In numerous cases, this Court has allowed liberal construction of the rules when to do so would serve the demands of substantial justice and equity.
x x x the purpose of the brief is to present the court in coherent and concise form the point and questions in controversy, and by fair argument on the facts and law of the case, to assist the court in arriving at a just and proper conclusion. A haphazard and pellmell presentation will not do for the brief should be so prepared as to minimize the labor of the court in examination of the record upon which the appeal is heard and determined. It is certainly, 'the vehicle of counsel to convey to the court the essential facts of his client's case, a statement of the questions of law involved, the law he should have applied, and the application he desires of it by the court'. There should be an honest compliance with the requirements regarding contents of appellant's brief, and among which is that it should contain "a subject index of the matter in the brief with a digest of the argument and page references."
We do not disagree with the appellate court's above exposition. The requirements laid down in Section 13, Rule 43 are intended to aid the appellate court in arriving at a just and proper conclusion of the case. However, we are of the opinion that despite its deficiencies petitioner's appellant's brief is sufficient in form and substance as to apprise the appellate court of the essential facts and nature of the case as well as the issues raised and the laws necessary for the disposition of the same.
Every party litigant must be afforded the amplest opportunity for the proper and just determination of his cause, free from the unacceptable plea of technicalities. Thus, dismissal of appeals purely on technical grounds is frowned upon where the policy of the court is to encourage hearings of appeals on their merits and the rules of procedure ought not to be applied in a very rigid, technical sense; rules of procedure are used only to help secure, not override substantial justice. It is a far better and more prudent course of action for the court to excuse a technical lapse and afford the parties a review of the case on appeal to attain the ends of justice rather than dispose of the case on technicality and cause a grave injustice to the parties, giving a false impression of speedy disposal of cases while actually resulting in more delay, if not a miscarriage of justice.
Endnotes:
* Substituted by Ronaldo Chaves, Lino Chaves, Carlos Chaves and Tessie C. Aldana, per Order dated January 18, 2000 of the Regional Trial Court of Cagayan de Oro City, Branch 24, records, p. 563.
1 Rollo, pp. 204-209, penned by Associate Justice Edgardo A. Camello and concurred in by Associate Justices Jane Aurora C. Lantion and Elihu A. Ybañez.
2 Id. at 226-228.
3 Id. at 62-75.
4 Id. at 112.
5 Id. at 113-114. The mortgage to Trinidad Go is a 2nd mortgage by the Yaps over the subject properties, the first one being with Metrobank, which was subsequently released. Vicente is only assailing this mortgage with Trinidad Go.
6 Id. at 115-116.
7 Id. at 117-118.
8 Id. at 119-120.
9 Id. at 116, 118 and 120.
10 Id. at 296-298.
11 Id. at 100-105.
12 Id. at 129-143; penned by Presiding Judge Leonardo N. Demecillo.
13 Id. at 142-143.
14 Id. at 164-167.
15 Id. at 168-171.
16 Id. at 172.
17 Id. at 178-188.
18 CA rollo, pp. 112-113.
19 Id. at 118.
20 Id. at 114-117.
21 Id. at 119-122; dated February 28, 2006, June 20, 2006, March 7, 2007, and March 16, 2007.
22 Rule 44, Sec. 7. Appellant's brief. - It shall be the duty of the appellant to file with the court, within forty-five (45) days from receipt of the notice of the clerk that all the evidence, oral and documentary, are attached to the record, seven (7) copies of his legibly typewritten, mimeographed or printed brief, with proof of service of two (2) copies thereof upon the appellee.
23 Rule 44, Sec. 13. Contents of appellant's brief. - The appellant's brief shall contain, in the order herein indicated, the following:
(a) A subject index of the matter in the brief with a digest of the arguments and page references, and a table of cases alphabetically arranged, textbooks and statutes cited with references to the pages where they are cited;
x x x x
(h) In cases not brought up by record on appeal, the appellant's brief shall contain, as an appendix, a copy of the judgment or final order appealed from.
Rule 50, Sec. 1. Grounds for dismissal of appeal. - An appeal may be dismissed by the Court of Appeals, on its own motion or on that of the appellee, on the following grounds:
x x x x
(f) Absence of specific assignment of errors in the appellant's brief, or of page references to the record as required in section 13, paragraphs (a), (c), (d) and (f) of Rule 44;
24 CA rollo, pp. 206-208.
25 Friend v. Unionbank, G.R. No. 165767, November 29, 2005, 476 SCRA 453, 457-458.
26 Sps. Del Rosario v. Court of Appeals, 311 Phil. 630, 636 (1995).
27 Bigornia v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 173017, March 17, 2009.
28 Sangalang v. Barangay Maguihan, G.R. No. 159792, December 23, 2009; Acme Shoe, Rubber & Plastic Corp. v. Court of Appeals, 329 Phi. 531, 538 (1996).
29 G.R. No. 168115, June 8, 2007, 524 SCRA 333, 343.
30 Aguam v. Court of Appeals, 388 Phil. 587, 593 (2000).
31 Sunrise Manning Agency, Inc. v. National Labor Relations Commission, 485 Phil. 426, 430-431 (2004); Carnation Philippines Employees Labor Union-FFW v. National Labor Relations Commission, 210 Phil. 30, 31 (1983).
32 Perez v. Court of Appeals, 374 Phil. 388, 408 (1999), citing Precision Electronics Corporation v. National Labor Relations Commission, G.R. No. 86657, October 23, 1989, 178 SCRA 667, 670.
33 De Liano v. Court of Appeals, 421 Phil. 1033, 1042 (2001).
34 395 Phil. 742, 750 (2000). Citations omitted.
35 United States v. Allied Stevedoring Corp., 241 F.2d 925, 934 (2 Cir.), cert. denied, 353 U.S. 984, 77 S.Ct. 1282, 1 L.Ed.2d 1143 (1957).
36 388 Phil. 587, 594 (2000). See also American Express International, Inc. v. Intermediate Appellate Court, G.R. No. L-70766, November 9, 1988, 167 SCRA 209, 221; Tan Boon Bee & Co., Inc. v. Judge Jarencio, G.R. No. L-413337, June 30, 1988, 163 SCRA 205, 213; De las Alas v. Court of Appeals, 172 Phil. 559, 575 (1978); Nerves v. Civil Service Commission, 342 Phil. 578, 585 (1997).