Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence


Philippine Supreme Court Jurisprudence > Year 1960 > March 1960 Decisions > G.R. No. L-11310 March 29, 1960 - PHIL. NATIONAL BANK v. PHIL. RECORDING SYSTEM, INC., ET AL.

107 Phil 441:




PHILIPPINE SUPREME COURT DECISIONS

EN BANC

[G.R. No. L-11310. March 29, 1960.]

THE PHILIPPINE NATIONAL BANK, plaintiff and appellant, v. PHILIPPINE RECORDING SYSTEM, INC., ET AL., defendants and appellees.

Ramon B. de los Reyes and Antonio P. Ruiz for Appellant.

Tolentino, Garcia & D. R. Cruz for Appellee.

Ramon T. Oben for Phil. Recording System.


SYLLABUS


PLEADING AND PRACTICE; DISMISSAL; TARDINESS OF WITNESSES; REASONABLE USE OF JUDICIAL DISCRETION. — Where the plaintiff’s witnesses were only about twelve minutes late in arriving in court, it was an abuse of discretion on the part of the trial court to dismiss the case, especially when there was no other case calendared for the same day.


D E C I S I O N


PARAS, C.J., p:clubjuris

This is an appeal from an order of the Court of First Instance of Manila, dismissing plaintiff’s complaint for failure of its witnesses to appear when the case was called for trial.

On November 13, 1954, the plaintiff-appellant filed against the defendants-appellees a complaint for recovery of money. After answer and joinder of issues, the court below, on August 27, 1956, issued a notice setting the trial for August 27, 1956. On the latter date, the witnesses for the plaintiff were not present at 8:00 o’clock in the morning; and when they still failed to show up within the extension requested by plaintiff’s counsel, the court issued the following order of dismissal, now the subject of plaintiff’s appeal:ClubJuris

"When the case was called at eight o’clock this morning, the attorney for the plaintiff asked for ten minutes to give him time to present his witnesses who were not then present. The case was again called for hearing after the lapse of ten minutes, at 8:13 a.m., and still the witnesses for the plaintiff have not appeared. This Court cannot sanction this indolence on the part of government witnesses. They should be more prompt in their duties then of private persons or private companies.

"In view of the foregoing, the Court hereby dismisses this case, without pronouncement as to costs." clubjuris

Once more we are confronted with a question which could have been avoided had the trial judge been more human and tolerant. As the records show, barely two minutes had passed after the entry of the order of dismissal when plaintiff’s witnesses arrived in court. There was a display on the part of the court of incorrect use of discretion. It was impatience personified.

The affidavit executed by witness Villanos explained the cause of his tardiness, which was neither intentional and deliberate nor calculated to have the court wait. Plaintiff’s witnesses could not accordingly be considered indolent in the performance of their duty. It is a daily occurrence in Manila for traffic to be at its heaviest between 7:30 and 8:00 o’clock in the morning; and though strictly this may not be an acceptable excuse, the fact remains that said witnesses had to pass by the Philippine National Bank to get the needed documentary evidence and were late by only some twelve minutes.

We have always counseled judges to be more reasonable in the exercise of their discretion in dismissing cases due to tardiness of party litigants, their witnesses or attorneys. In Agustin Gil v. Rose S. Talaña, Et Al., 95 Phil., 78, We said:ClubJuris

"In view of the fact that the plaintiff and his counsel were only about fifteen minutes late in arriving at the court, we believe that it constituted an abuse of discretion of the trial court to dismiss the case definitely. Sometimes a delay of a few minutes is unavoidable in trips such as that taken by the plaintiff in going to the court and it would be too drastic to make him suffer for such short tardiness." clubjuris

Furthermore, there was no reason for the excessive haste shown by the judge a quo, since no other case had been calendared for the same day. And a perusal of the records reveal that plaintiff’s claim is meritorious and the appellees are deemed to have admitted the genuineness and due execution of the letter of credit, draft and trust receipt in question. The amount claimed is substantial and should have deserved serious consideration by the trial court.

Wherefore, the order appealed from is hereby set aside and the case remanded to the trial court for further proceeding. So ordered without pronouncement as to costs.

Bengzon, Montemayor, Bautista Angelo, Labrador, Concepción, Reyes, J. B. L., Barrera and Gutiérrez David, JJ., concur.




Back to Home | Back to Main


ClubJuris.Com



March-1960 Jurisprudence                 

  • Adm. Case No. 228 March 9, 1960 - PANFILO ROYO v. CELSO T. OLIVA

    107 Phil 313

  • G.R. No. L-14436 March 21, 1960 - HORACIO GUANZON v. FRANCISCO ARAGON, ET AL.,

    107 Phil 315

  • Adm. Case No. 341 March 23, 1960 - DELIA MURILLO v. NICOLAS SUPERABLE JR.

    107 Phil 322

  • G.R. No. L-12776 March 23, 1960 - MARTIN AGLIPAY, ET AL. v. ISABELO DE LOS REYES, JR., ETC.

    107 Phil 331

  • G.R. No. L-13403 March 23, 1960 - RAMON E. SAURA v. ESTELA P. SINDICO

    107 Phil 336

  • G.R. No. L-14304 March 23, 1960 - ANTONIANTONIA A. CABARROGUIS, ET AL. v. TELESFORO B. VICENTE

    107 Phil 340

  • G.R. No. L-8587 March 24, 1960 - BENITO E. LIM, ETC. v. HERBERT BROWNELL, JR., ETC., AND KAGAWA

    107 Phil 344

  • G.R. No. L-11747 March 24, 1960 - PEOPLE OF THE PHIL. v. FELISA TE, ET AL.

    107 Phil 355

  • G.R. No. L-11954 March 24, 1960 - PEOPLE OF THE PHIL. v. APOLINAR ACOSTA and CONSOLACION BRAVO

    107 Phil 360

  • G.R. Nos. L-13270-71 March 24, 1960 - JESUS T. PINEDA v. MOISES G. CARANDANG

    107 Phil 369

  • G.R. No. L-13476 March 24, 1960 - REMEDIOS L. VILLANUEVA v. COURT OF AGRARIAN RELATIONS, ET AL.

    107 Phil 373

  • G.R. No. L-14058 March 24, 1960 - William Gue v. REPUBLIC OF THE PHIL.

    107 Phil 381

  • G.R. No. L-14303 March 24, 1960 - REHABILITATION FINANCE CORPORATION v. ALTO SURETY & INSURANCE CO., INC.

    107 Phil 386

  • G.R. No. L-11059 March 25, 1960 - ADRIAN FONG v. EMILIO M. JAVIER

    107 Phil 392

  • G.R. No. L-12603 March 25, 1960 - MUNICIPALITY OF HINABAÑGAN AND RUFINA NABUAL v. MUN. OF WRIGHT AND JULIAN ABEGONIA

    107 Phil 394

  • G.R. No. L-12870 March 25, 1960 - MARTIR ET AL. v. AMADO P. JALANDONI and PAZ RAMOS

    107 Phil 398

  • G.R. No. L-13663 March 25, 1960 - ESPERIDION ADORABLE, ET AL. v. DIRECTOR OF FORESTRY

    107 Phil 401

  • G.R. No. L-14439 March 25, 1960 - NARIC WORKER’S UNION, ET AL. v. HON. CARMELINO G. ALVENDIA, ET AL.

    107 Phil 404

  • G.R. No. L-10313 March 28, 1960 - ISIDORA S. VDA. DE JESUS, ET AL. v. LUCIANO DE LA CRUZ, ET AL.

    107 Phil 411

  • G.R. No. L-12253 March 28, 1960 - OLIMPIO GUTIERREZ v. MIGUEL SANTOS, ET AL.

    107 Phil 419

  • G.R. No. L-13387 March 28, 1960 - SY CHIUCO v. COLLECTOR OF INTERNAL REVENUE

    107 Phil 428

  • G.R. No. L-13683 March 28, 1960 - PAZ SAMANILLA v. CENEN A. CAJUCOM, ET AL.

    107 Phil 432

  • G.R. Nos. L-13688-91 March 28, 1960 - CATALINO GUITARTE v. LUCIA SABACO, ET AL.

    107 Phil 437

  • G.R. No. L-11310 March 29, 1960 - PHIL. NATIONAL BANK v. PHIL. RECORDING SYSTEM, INC., ET AL.

    107 Phil 441

  • G.R. No. L-13465 March 29, 1960 - SELPH v. GLICERIA M. VDA. DE AGUILAR

    107 Phil 443

  • G.R. No. L-13832 March 29, 1960 - GERONIMO DE LOS REYES v. FROILAN BAYONA, ETC., ET AL.

    107 Phil 449

  • G.R. No. L-14710 March 29, 1960 - ROMAN CATHOLIC ARCHBISHOP OF MANILA v. ENCARNACION AGUSTINES, ET AL.

    107 Phil 455

  • G.R. No. L-7969 March 30, 1960 - JAI-ALAI CORP. OF THE PHILS. v. LUIS CHING KIAT BIEK, ET AL.

    107 Phil 463

  • G.R. No. L-9740 March 30, 1960 - EL HOGAR FILIPINO MUTUAL BLDG. LOAN ASS. ET AL. v. BUILDING EMPLOYEES INC., ET AL.

    107 Phil 473

  • G.R. No. L-9940 March 30, 1960 - AVELINO REVILLA and ELENA FAJARDO v. GODOFREDO GALINDEZ

    107 Phil 481

  • G.R. No. L-10393 March 30, 1960 - BAY VIEW HOTEL EMPLOYEES’ UNION v. BAY VIEW HOTEL, INC., ET AL.

    107 Phil 489

  • G.R. No. L-10471 March 30, 1960 - INOCENCIA INGARAN, ET AL. v. FEDERICO RAMELO, ET AL.

    107 Phil 498

  • G.R. No. L-1053 March 30, 1960 - SILVERIO BLAQUERA, ETC., v. ESTEFANIA VDA. DE ALDABA and COURT OF APPEALS

    107 Phil 504

  • G.R. No. L-10705 March 30, 1960 - LUIS ATIENZA BIJIS v. FRANCISCO LEGASPI, ET AL.,

    107 Phil 512

  • G.R. No. L-10915 March 30, 1960 - SOLEDAD BACALZO, ET AL. v. MARTINA PACADA

    107 Phil 520

  • G.R. No. L-12541 March 30, 1960 - ROSARIO U. YULO v. YANG CHIAO SENG

    107 Phil 527

  • G.R. No. L-12795 March 30, 1960 - ACSAY MANDIH v. GREGORIO TABLANTIN

    107 Phil 530

  • G.R. No. L-12956 March 30, 1960 - ENRIQUE S. CASTRO v. ESPERANZA B. MONTES, ET AL.

    107 Phil 533

  • G.R. No. L-13026 March 30, 1960 - NG HIN v. COMMISSIONER OF IMMIGRATION

    107 Phil 537

  • G.R. No. L-13072 March 30, 1960 - HACIENDA LUISITA v. NATIONAL LABOR UNION and COURT OF INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS

    107 Phil 542

  • G.R. No. L-13246 March 30, 1960 - FEDERICO CALERO v. EMILIA CARION Y SANTA MARINA, ET AL.

    107 Phil 549

  • G.R. No. L-13505 March 30, 1960 - BACOLOD MURCIA MILLING CO., INC. v. FIDEL HENARES

    107 Phil 560

  • G.R. No. L-13791 March 30, 1960 - ALFRED EDWARD FAWCETT v. EULOGIO BALAO

    107 Phil 570

  • G.R. No. L-13852 March 30, 1960 - PEDRO AVENTURA and ANACLETA GALAN v. HON. PANTALEON A. PELAYO, ETC. AT AL.

    107 Phil 578

  • G.R. No. L-14541 March 30, 1960 - CONSUELO VELAYO v. COURT OF APPEALS and RODOLFO VELAYO

    107 Phil 587

  • G.R. No. L-14718 March 30, 1960 - VICENTE JIMENEZ, ET AL. v. CARMELO S. CAMARA, ET AL.

    107 Phil 590

  • G.R. No. L-14794 March 30, 1960 - PEOPLE OF THE PHIL. v. BATUNDO MINURAY and BALICUAT GUBAT

    107 Phil 598

  • G.R. No. L-16132 March 30, 1960 - RICARDO CANCERAN, ET AL. v. COMMISSION ON ELECTIONS

    107 Phil 607

  • G.R. No. L-16731 March 30, 1960 - FELIPE ECO v. JUAN DE G. RODRIGUEZ, ET AL.

    107 Phil 612