G.R. No.

141524 September 14, 2005

DOMINGO NEYPES, LUZ FAUSTINO, ROGELIO FAUSTINO, LOLITO
VICTORIANO, JACOB OBANIA AND DOMINGO CABACUNGAN, Petitioners, vs.
HON. COURT OF APPEALS, HEIRS OF BERNARDO DEL MUNDO, namely: FE,
CORAZON, JOSEFA, SALVADOR and CARMEN, all surnamed DEL MUNDO,
LAND BANK OF THE PHILIPPINES AND HON. ANTONIO N. ROSALES,
Presiding Judge, Branch 43, Regional Trial Court, Roxas, Oriental
Mindoro, Respondent.
TOPIC: If motion for new trial or reconsideration is denied, fresh period to appeal.
DOCTRINE: The running of the 15-day reglementary period to file an appeal
starts from the time the notice of the final order of denial of motion for new trial
or motion for reconsideration is received. A fresh 15 day period is given to file an
appeal after the receipt of the notice of judgment or final order.
FACTS: The petitioners file an action for nullification of titles/recovenyance/
reversion before RTC agains the respondents.
February 12 - RTC dismissed the petitioners complaints on the ground of
prescription.
March 3 Petitioners received the copy of the judgment.
March 18 Petitioners filed a motion for reconsideration.
July 1 RTC dismissed the motion for reconsideration.
July 22 Petitioners received the final order dismissing their motion for
reconsideration.
July 27 Petitioners filed notice of appeal.
On August 4, the court denied the notice of appeal holding that it was filed late.
The petitioners file a petitioner for certiorari assailing the dismissal of the notice
to appeal.
The Court of Appeals dismissed the petition ruling that the reckoning date for the
start of the 15-day reglamentary period was on March 3, the day petitioners
received the February 12 order dismissing their complaint.
ISSUES: (1) What should be deemed as the final order, receipt of which
triggers the start of the 15-day reglementary period to appeal, February 12 or July
1?
(2) Since the rule says that the filing of motions for new trial or reconsideration
only interrupts the reglementary period to appeal, did the petitioners, by filing a

motion which was denied, gain a fresh 15 day period or had only the remaining
period to file and appeal?
HELD:
(1) July 1, when the RTC issued an order dismissing the motion for
reconsideration.
Section 3, 1997 Rules of Procedure states that the appeal shall be taken within 15
days from the notice of judgment or final order appealed from.
The court, reiterating the pronouncement in previous cases, declared that it was
the denial of the motion for reconsideration of an order of dismissal of complaint
which constituted the final order since it was what ended the issues raised there.
The motion for consideration is the final order which finally disposed of the issues.
(2) The petitioners gain a fresh 15 day period to file for an appeal.
The court had been consistent in its previous ruling that the petitioners had only
the remaining time of the 15-day period to file notice of appeal, premising on a
long settled doctrine which states that the perfection of an appeal in the manner
and within the period permitted by law is not only mandatory but also
jurisdictional.
If this ruling would be applied in this case, the petitioner may have only 1 day
after the receipt of the order of dismissal, to file an appeal.
But in this case, the Court ruled that a delay in filing the appeal may be excused
on the grounds of substantial justice. Our judicial system and the courts have
always tried to maintain a healthy balance between a strict enforcement of the
procedural laws and the guarantee that every litigant be given full opportunity for
the just and proper disposition of his cause.
The Supreme Court may promulgate procedural rules in all courts. It has a sole
prerogative to amend, repeal, or even establish new rules for a more simplified
and inexpensive process and speedy disposition of cases.
To standardize the appeal period provided in the rules and to afford litigants fair
opportunity to appeal their cases, the Court deems it practical to allow a fresh 15
day period with which to file notice of appeal.
Thus, the petitioners seasonably filed their notice of appeal within the fresh period
of 15 days counted from July 22, the date of receipt of notice denying their motion
for reconsideration.
DISPOSITIVE: Petition is GRANTED. Decision of the Court of Appeals is
REVERSED and SET ASIDE.