Español vs Formoso (Remedial Law)

JUDGE DOLORES L. ESPAÑOL (Judge RTC Dasmariñas, Cavite)
vs.
ATTY. BENJAMIN S. FORMOSO and SPOUSES BENITO SEE and MARLY SEE

G.R. No. 150949;  June 21, 2007; SANDOVAL-GUTIERREZ, J.:

FACTS:

On April 15, 1994, Sharcons Builders Philippines, Inc. (Sharcons) bought from Evanswinda Morales a piece of land consisting of 33,130 sq.m. in Paliparan, Dasmariñas. A new TCT was issued in the name of Sharcons. However, when the latter’s workers tried to fence and take possession of the lot, they were prevented by the caretaker of spouses Joseph and Enriqueta Mapua. The caretaker claimed that spouses Mapua are the owners of the land. Sharcons verified the status of the title and found that it was indeed registered in the names of spouses Mapua as early as July 13, 1979.

On January 2000, Sharcons filed with RTC Dasmariñas a complaint for quieting of title, impleading as defendants were spouses Mapua, Evanswinda Morales, and the Register of Deeds of Trece Martires City. In their answer, spouses Mapua alleged, among others, that all the documents relied upon by Sharcons are spurious and falsified.

In the course of the proceedings, in July 2001, Judge Español, petitioner, issued an Order stating that Benito See and Marly See, president and treasurer, respectively, of Sharcons, and its counsel, Atty. Benjamin Formoso, respondents, have used a spurious certificate of title and tax declaration when it (Sharcons) filed with the RTC its complaint for quieting of title. Consequently, petitioner declared respondents guilty of direct contempt of court and ordered their confinement for ten (10) days in the municipal jail of Dasmariñas, Cavite.

Petitioner’s Order is partly reproduced as follows:

Using the presumption that whoever is in possession and user of falsified document is the forger thereof (Gamido v. Court of Appeals, 25 SCRA 101 [1995]), let the appropriate falsification charges be filed against Benito See and Marly See together with Evanswinda C. Morales. Thus, let a copy of this Order be forwarded to the National Bureau of Investigation and the Department of Justice for their appropriate action. As regards Atty. Benjamin S. Formoso, let a copy of this Order be forwarded to the Bar Confidant’s Office, Supreme Court. Manila.

Further, (respondents) until March 13, 2001, are declared and held in contempt x x x Likewise, the title issued to Sharcons Builders Philippines, Inc. x x x, being spurious, is hereby cancelled, it having been derived from another spurious title with TCT No. T-278479 allegedly issued to Evanswinda C. Morales on December 29, 1989. The Declaration of Real Property No. 4736 is likewise hereby cancelled for being spurious.

x x x

WHEREFORE, in view of the foregoing, the instant case is DISMISSED WITH PREJUDICE x x x. However, the said private defendants are not precluded from pursuing their rightful course(s) of action in the interest of justice.

Petitioner stated that in determining the merits of Sharcons' complaint for quieting of title, she "stumbled" upon Civil Case No. 623-92 for cancellation of title and damages filed with the RTC Imus, presided by then Judge Lucenito N. Tagle. Petitioner then took judicial notice of the judge’s Decision declaring that Sharcons' TCT and other supporting documents are falsified and that respondents are responsible therefor.

On July 12, 2001, petitioner issued warrants of arrest against respondents, and thus the latter were confined in the municipal jail. That same day, respondents filed a motion for bail and a motion to lift the order of arrest, but were denied outright by petitioner.

Respondents then filed with the CA a petition for a writ of habeas corpus, which said court granted. The CA ruled that petitioner judge erred in taking judicial cognizance of the Decision in the other civil case for cancellation of title, since it was not offered in evidence in the case for quieting of title. Furthermore, direct contempt of court is criminal in nature and the defendants should have been accorded a hearing. Thus, petitioner judge’s Order of contempt and the issued Warrants of Arrest were nullified.

ISSUES:

1) WON petitioner judge erred in taking judicial notice of the Decision in the civil case for cancellation of title declaring Sharcons’ TCT and documents as falsified

2) WON respondents should be held guilty of direct contempt

HELD:

1) YES. In Gener v. De Leon, we held that courts are not authorized to take judicial notice of the contents of records of other cases even when such cases have been tried or pending in the same court. Such does not fall under Sec. 1, Rule 129 of the Rules of Court on mandatory judicial notice.

2) NO. Use of falsified and forged documents constitutes indirect (not direct) contempt.

Contempt of court is despising of the authority, justice, or dignity of the court. In Narcida v. Bowen, this Court characterized direct contempt as one done "in the presence of or so near the court or judge as to obstruct the administration of justice." It is a contumacious act done facie curiae and may be punished summarily without hearing. In other words, one may be summarily adjudged in direct contempt at the very moment or at the very instance of the commission of the act of contumely.

Indirect or constructive contempt, in turn, is one perpetrated outside of the sitting of the court and may include misbehavior of an officer of a court in the performance of his official duties or in his official transactions, disobedience of or resistance to a lawful writ, process, order, judgment, or command of a court, or injunction granted by a court or a judge, any abuse or any unlawful interference with the process or proceedings of a court not constituting direct contempt, or any improper conduct tending directly or indirectly to impede, obstruct or degrade the administration of justice.

We agree with petitioner that the use of falsified and forged documents is a contumacious act. However, it constitutes indirect contempt not direct contempt. Pursuant to Sec. 3 Rule 71, such act is an improper conduct which degrades the administration of justice. In Santos v. Court of First Instance of Cebu, Branch VI, we ruled that the imputed use of a falsified document, more so where the falsity of the document is not apparent on its face, merely constitutes indirect contempt, and as such is subject to such defenses as the accused may raise in the proper proceedings. Thus, following Section 3, Rule 71, a contemner may be punished only after a charge in writing has been filed, and an opportunity has been given to the accused to be heard by himself and counsel.

Moreover, settled is the rule that a contempt proceeding is not a civil action, but a separate proceeding of a criminal nature in which the court exercises limited jurisdiction. Thus, the modes of procedure and the rules of evidence in contempt proceedings are assimilated as far as practicable to those adapted to criminal prosecutions. Perforce, petitioner judge erred in declaring summarily that respondents are guilty of direct contempt and ordering their incarceration. She should have conducted a hearing with notice to respondents.