G.R. NO. 168943 - IGLESIA NI CRISTO, VS. HON. THELMA A. PONFERRADA, IN HER CAPACITY AS PRESIDING JUDGE, REGIONAL TRIAL COURT, BR. 104, QUEZON CITY, AND HEIRS OF ENRIQUE G. SANTOS.D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, it is respectfully prayed that, after due hearing, judgment be rendered quieting the title of plaintiffs over and/or recover possession of their said property in the name of deceased Enrique Santos, covered by said TCT No. RT-110323(57272) of the Register of Deeds at Quezon City and that: The title of defendant, TCT No. 321744 be ordered cancelled by the Register of Deeds of Quezon City; The defendant be ordered to pay plaintiffs' claims for actual damages in the sum of P100,000.00; The defendant be ordered to pay plaintiffs' claims for compensatory damages in the sum of at least P1,000,000.00; The defendant be ordered to pay plaintiffs' claims for reimbursement of the lawyer's professional fees consisting of the aforesaid P50,000.00 acceptance fee and reimbursement of the said success fee in par. 10 above; and lawyer's expenses of P2,000.00 for each hearing in this case; The defendant be ordered to pay expenses and costs of litigation in the sum of at least P200,000.00. Other reliefs that are just and equitable in the premises are, likewise, prayed for. [4] As gleaned from the caption of the complaint, plaintiffs appear to be the heirs of Enrique Santos, represented by Enrique G. Santos. The latter signed the Verification and Certificate of Non-Forum Shopping which reads: I, ENRIQUE G. SANTOS, of legal age, under oath, state that I am one of the children of the late Enrique Santos and I represent the heirs of said Enrique Santos who are my co-plaintiffs in the above-captioned case and that I directed the preparation of the instant complaint, the contents of which are true and correct to the best of my knowledge and the attachments are faithful reproductions of the official copies in my possession. I hereby certify that I have not commenced any other action or proceeding involving the same issues in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, or different Divisions thereof, or any other tribunal or agency, and to the best of my knowledge, no such action or proceeding is pending in the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeals, or different Divisions thereof, or any other tribunal or agency, and that I shall notify this Commission within three days from notice that a similar action or proceeding has been filed or is pending thereat. IN WITNESS WHEREOF, I hereby affix my signature this 23rd day of October 2001 at Pasig City, Metro Manila. (Sgd.) ENRIQUE G. SANTOS SUBSCRIBED AND SWORN to before me this 23rd day of October 2001 at Pasig City, affiant exhibiting to me his CTC No. 07303074 issued at Sta. Cruz, Laguna on April 16, 2001. (Sgd.) PETER FRANCIS G. ZAGALA Notary Public Until December 31, 2002 PTR No. 0287069 Issued on 1-10-01 At Pasig City [5] Defendant moved to dismiss plaintiffs' complaint on the following grounds: (1) plaintiffs failed to faithfully comply with the procedural requirements set forth in Section 5, Rule 7 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure; (2) the action (either Quieting of Title or Accion Reinvindicatoria ) had prescri