G.R. No. 116895 - ARAMIS B. AGUILAR, VS. COURT OF APPEALS, AURELIO T. JUGUILON AND PATRIA F. JUGUILON. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, the said amount is being applied as monthly rental corresponding to the area which I am presently occupying with a dimension of 28 meters frontage along Libertad St. and 28 meters deep, minus the required set back, in accordance with the rental rate contained in the aforementioned Contract of Lease, as follows: P7,560.00 monthly rental fee for the period October 1, 1983 up to September 30, 1984 or a total of P90,720.00 for the said period; P10,200.00 as monthly rental fee for the period October 1, 1984 up to September 1, 1985 or a total of P122,400.00 for the said period. The above agreement is however without prejudice to my contractual rights in so far as the undelivered area is concerned. The lease is deemed suspended until the same is actually delivered and accepted. Unless we hear from you within five (5) days from receipt hereof, it is deemed understood that the foregoing is in order. [3] On July 1, 1985, the petitioner informed the private respondents that he was assigning all his rights over the leased premises to Liberty Builders & Development Corporation. It reads: Dear Mr. & Mrs. Juguilon: You are hereby notified that the Liberty Builders & Development Corporation shall immediately occupy and start a building construction on the leased premises covered by T.C.T. No. 16099 and T.C.T. No. 16100 subject of our formal contract of lease and amendment thereto dated July 6, 1982 and April 14, 1983, respectively. This serves likewise as authority for the Liberty Builders & Development Corporation to enter the premises and start construction accordingly. [4] In reply to the aforesaid letters, the private respondents sent a Letter dated July 11, 1985 to the petitioner which states: Dear Sir: This will acknowledge receipt of your letters dated June 18, 1985 and July 1, 1985 respectively, and with reference to the first letter please be informed that we had a written Contract of Lease which you personally prepared and which we executed on July 6, 1982. There was no verbal agreement between us although there was an agreement which was also prepared by you entitled `AMENDMENT OF CONTRACT OF LEASE' dated April 14, 1983 which deferred the beginning of the lease which now reads: "The term of the lease shall be for a period of twenty-five (25) years, commencing on October 1, 1983, and terminating at midnight of September 30, 2008." And the rentals as provided in the Contract of Lease remains to be in paragraph no. 4 (a): "The LESSEE or its assigns shall pay to the LESSOR by way of rental for the leased property as follows: 1st Year - P10.00 per sq.m. 2nd Year to 5th Year - P13.50 per sq.m. plus the subsequent years." And, the subsequent paragraph no. 5 reads as follows: "That in case of an official devaluation of the peso in relation to the U.S. dollar, a corresponding adjustment on the rental of the land is automatically made. As a point of reference, it is hereby agreed that the present value of the peso vis-à-vis the U.S. dollar is P8.50