G.R. No. 83907 September 13, 1989
FACTS:
This case involves a small piece of land. The
decision was to cut it into two between the parties. But the parallel ends
there. The petitioner wants the whole lot. Private respondent is happy with his
half. This is the impasse that must be resolved. petitioner argues that it was
erroneous for the appellate court to hold that the case should be dismissed by
the lower court for failure to comply with a provision of Presidential Decree
No. 1508 before filing the complaint. He alleges that this rule is not applicable
in said case for one of the parties therein is the government or any
subdivision or instrumentality thereof which is excepted from this requirement
under Section 2 of said law.
RULING:
True
it is that the Board is a government instrumentality but the petitioner and
private respondent who are also contending parties in the case are residents of
the same barangay so Section 6 of Presidential Decree No. 1508 should apply to
them as it provides---
Section 6. Conciliation, pre-condition to filing of complaint. No complaint, petition, action or proceeding involving any matter within the authority of the Lupon as provided in Section 2 hereof shall be filed or instituted in court or any other government office for adjudication unless there has been a confrontation of the parties before the Lupon Chairman or the Pangkat and no conciliation or settlement has been reached as certified by the Lupon Secretary or the Pangkat Secretary attested by the Lupon or Pangkat Chairman, or unless the settlement has been repudiated.
The
purpose of this confrontation is to enable the parties to settle their
differences amicably. If the other only contending party is the government or
its instrumentality or subdivision the case falls within the exception but when
it is only one of the contending parties, a confrontation should still be
undertaken among the other parties.
No comments:
Post a Comment