Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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** Designated acting member per Special Order No. 1006 dated 10 June
2011.
*** Designated acting member per Special Order No. 1040 dated 6 July
2011.
* THIRD DIVISION.
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appeal but raised in the trial court and are matters of record having
some bearing on the issue submitted which the parties failed to
raise or which the lower court ignored; (e) Matters not assigned as
errors on appeal but closely related to an error assigned; (f) Matters
not assigned as errors on appeal but upon which the determination
of a question properly assigned, is dependent. Paragraph (c) above
applies to the instant case, for there would be a just and complete
resolution of the appeal if there is a ruling on whether the Spouses
Ramos were actually in default of their obligation to GMC.
Actions; Default; Requisites.There are three requisites
necessary for a finding of default. First, the obligation is
demandable and liquidated; second, the debtor delays performance;
and third, the creditor judicially or extrajudicially requires the
debtors performance.
Same; Same; Foreclosure of Mortgage; Foreclosure is valid only
when the debtor is in default in the payment of his obligation.As
the contract in the instant case carries no such provision on demand
not being necessary for delay to exist, We agree with the appellate
court that GMC should have first made a demand on the spouses
before proceeding to foreclose the real estate mortgage.
Development Bank of the Philippines v. Licuanan, 516 SCRA 644
(2007), finds application to the instant case: The issue of whether
demand was made before the foreclosure was effected is essential. If
demand was made and duly received by the respondents and the
latter still did not pay, then they were already in default and
foreclosure was proper. However, if demand was not made, then the
loans had not yet become due and demandable. This meant that
respondents had not defaulted in their payments and the
foreclosure by petitioner was premature. Foreclosure is valid
only when the debtor is in default in the payment of his
obligation.
Appeals; Questions of Law; Questions of Fact; For a question to
be one of law, it must not involve an examination of the probative
value of the evidence presented by the litigants or any of themonce
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VELASCO, JR.,J.:
The Case
The Facts
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1 Rollo, p. 37.
2 Id., at p. 13.
3 Id., at p. 113.
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4 Id., at p. 37.
5 Id.
6 Id., at p. 117.
7 Id., at p. 114.
8 Id., at pp. 37-38.
9 Id., at p. 117.
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10 Id., at p. 115.
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11 Id., at p. 38.
12 Id., at p. 123. (Citation omitted.)
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On appeal, GMC argued that the trial court erred in: (1)
declaring the extrajudicial foreclosure proceedings null and
void; (2) ordering GMC to pay Spouses Ramos attorneys
fees; and (3) not awarding damages in favor of GMC.
The CA sustained the decision of the trial court but
anchored its ruling on a different ground. Contrary to the
findings of the trial court, the CA ruled that the
requirements of posting and publication of notices under
Act No. 3135 were complied with. The CA, however, still
found that GMCs action against Spouses Ramos was
premature, as they were not in default when the action was
filed on May 7, 1997.14
The CA ruled:
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The Issues
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15 Id., at p. 41.
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raised in the trial court and are matters of record having some bear-
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17 Id., at p. 18.
18 Id., at p. 19.
19 Id., at pp. 194-199.
20 G.R. No. 108951, March 7, 2000, 327 SCRA 283, 288-289. See also Kulas
Ideas & Creations v. Alcoseba, G.R. No. 180123, February 18, 2010, 613 SCRA
217, 231.
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ing on the issue submitted which the parties failed to raise or which
the lower court ignored;
(e)Matters not assigned as errors on appeal but closely related
to an error assigned;
(f)Matters not assigned as errors on appeal but upon which the
determination of a question properly assigned, is dependent.
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22 G.R. No. 150097, February 26, 2007, 516 SCRA 644, 650.
(Emphasis supplied.)
23 Id.
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24 Tirazona v. Court of Appeals, G.R. No. 169712, March 14, 2008,
548 SCRA 560, 581.
25 Heirs of Completo & Abiad v. Sgt. Albayda, G.R. No. 172200, July
6, 2010, 624 SCRA 97, 110.
** Additional member per Special Order No. 1042 dated July 6, 2011.
*** Additional member per raffle dated July 13, 2011.
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