Professional Documents
Culture Documents
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G.R. No. 126334. November 23, 2001.
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paragraph of Section 16, Rule 141 of the Rules of Court states that:
The legal fees shall be a lien on the monetary or property judgment
in favor of the pauper-litigant. Respondents cannot invoke the
above provision in their favor because it specifically applies to
pauper-litigants.
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* FIRST DIVISION.
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fee in the proper amount should be adhered to, there are certain
exceptions which must be strictly construed. In recent rulings, this
Court has relaxed the strict adherence to the Manchester doctrine,
allowing the plaintiff to pay the proper docket fees within a
reasonable time before the expiration of the applicable prescriptive
or reglementary period.
Same; Venue; Partnerships; An action for accounting, payment
of partnership shares, division of assets and damages is a personal
action which, under the Rules, may be commenced and tried where
the defendant resides or may be found, or where the plaintiffs reside,
at the election of the latter.·On the matter of improper venue, we
find no error on the part of the trial court and the Court of Appeals
in holding that the case below is a personal action which, under the
Rules, may be commenced and tried where the defendant resides or
may be found, or where the plaintiffs reside, at the election of the
latter.
Same; Same; Same; If an action is against a partner, on the
basis of his personal liability, it is an action in personam, and the
fact that two of the assets of the partnership are parcels of land does
not materially change the nature of the action.·Petitioner, however,
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SUPREME COURT REPORTS ANNOTATED VOLUME 370 8/19/18, 8:30 AM
insists that venue was improperly laid since the action is a real
action involving a parcel of land that is located outside the
territorial jurisdiction of the court a quo. This contention is not
well-taken. The records indubitably show that respondents are
asking that the assets of the partnership be accounted for, sold and
distributed according to the agreement of the partners. The fact
that two of the assets of the partnership are parcels of land does not
materially change the nature of the action. It is an action in
personam because it is an action against a person, namely,
petitioner, on the basis of his personal liability. It is not an action in
rem where the action is against the thing itself instead of against
the person.Furthermore, there is no showing that the parcels of
land involved in this case are being disputed. In fact, it is only
incidental that part of the assets of the partnership under
liquidation happen to be parcels of land.
Same; Same; Same; A complaint seeking the liquidation and
partition of the assets of the partnership with damages is a personal
action which may be filed in the proper court where any of the
parties reside.·The action filed by respondents not only seeks
redress against petitioner. It also seeks the enforcement of, and
petitionerÊs compliance with, the contract that the partners
executed to formalize the partnershipÊs dissolution, as well as to
implement the liquidation and partition of the partnershipÊs assets.
Clearly, it is a personal action that, in effect, claims a debt from
petitioner and seeks the performance of a personal duty on his part.
In
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YNARES-SANTIAGO, J.:
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Petitioner
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filed a petition for certiorari before the Court of
Appeals, raising the following issues:
On August 8, 1996,12
the Court of Appeals rendered the
assailed decision, dismissing the petition for certiorari,
upon a finding that no grave abuse of discretion amounting
to lack or excess of jurisdiction was committed by the trial
court in issuing the questioned orders denying petitionerÊs
motions to dismiss.
Not satisfied, petitioner filed the instant petition for
review, raising the same issues resolved by the Court of
Appeals, namely:
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In case the value of the property or estate or the sum claimed is less
or more in accordance with the appraisal of the court, the difference
of fee shall be refunded or paid as the case may be. (Italics ours)
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In Pilipinas
19
Shell Petroleum Corporation v. Court of
Appeals, this Court pronounced that the above-quoted
provision „clearly contemplates an initial payment of the
filing fees corresponding to the estimated amount of the
claim subject
20
to adjustment as to what later may be
proved.‰ Moreover, we reiterated therein the principle
that the payment of filing fees cannot be made contingent
or dependent on the result of the case. Thus, an initial
payment of the docket fees based on an estimated amount
must be paid simultaneous with the filing of the complaint.
Otherwise, the court would stand to lose the filing fees
should the judgment later turn out to be adverse to any
claim of the respondent heirs.
The matter of payment of docket fees is not a mere
triviality. These fees are necessary to defray court expenses
in the handling of cases. Consequently, in order to avoid
tremendous losses to the judiciary, and to the government
as well, the payment of docket fees cannot be made
dependent on the outcome of the case, except when the
claimant is a pauper-litigant.
Applied to the instant case, respondents have a specific
claim·1/3 of the value of all the partnership assets·but
they did not allege a specific amount. They did, however,
estimate the partnershipÊs total assets to be 21
worth Thirty
Million Pesos (P30,000,000.00), in a letter addressed to
petitioner. Respondents cannot now say that they are
unable to make an estimate, for the said letter and the
admissions therein form part of the records of this case.
They cannot avoid paying the initial docket fees by
conveniently omitting the said amount in their amended
complaint. This estimate can be made the basis for the
initial docket fees that respondents should pay. Even if it
were later established that the amount proved was less or
more than the amount alleged or estimated, Rule 141,
Section 5 (a) of the Rules of Court specifically provides that
the court may refund the excess or exact additional fees
should the initial payment be insufficient. It is clear that it
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19 Supra.
20 Ibid., p. 680.
21 Record, p. 32.
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The court acquires jurisdiction over the action if the filing of the
initiatory pleading is accompanied by the payment of the requisite
fees, or, if the fees are not paid at the time of the filing of the
pleading, as of the time
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of full payment of the fees within such reasonable time as the court
may grant, unless, of course, prescription has set in the meantime.
It does not follow, however, that the trial court should have
dismissed the complaint for failure of private respondent to pay the
correct amount of docket fees. Although the payment of the proper
docket fees is a jurisdictional requirement, the trial court may allow
the plaintiff in an action to pay the same within a reasonable time
before the expiration of the applicable prescriptive or reglementary
period. If the plaintiff fails to comply within this requirement, the
defendant should timely raise the issue of jurisdiction or else he
would be considered in estoppel. In the latter case, the balance
between the appropriate docket fees and the amount actually paid
by the plaintiff will be considered a lien on any award he may
obtain in his favor. (Italics ours)
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The fact that plaintiff prays for the sale of the assets of the
partnership, including the fishpond in question, did not change the
nature or character of the action, such sale being merely a
necessary incident of the liquidation of the partnership, which
should precede and/or is part of its process of dissolution.
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