G.R. NO. 150739 - SPOUSES BENIGNO QUE AND ERLINDA QUE, AND ADELA URIAN, VS. COURT OF APPEALS, HON. FLORENCIO A. RUIZ, JR., PRESIDING JUDGE, RTC BR. 24, CABUGAO, ILOCOS SUR, AND ISABEL COSTALES.

Ruling

accordingly, and the case was submitted for judgment. The Trial Court's Ruling On 6 September 2000, the trial court rendered judgment in respondent's favor, the dispositive portion of which provides: WHEREFORE, decision is hereby rendered in favor of the plaintiff and against the defendants, as follows: Adjudging the plaintiff as the true and absolute owner of Lot 6023, located at Brgy. Sta. Monica, Magsingal, Ilocos Sur and entitled to the exclusive possession thereof; Declaring the Deed of Quitclaim and the Acknowledgment Letter/Receipt of no legal force and effect whatsoever and ordering the de[f]endant [s]pouses Benigno and Erlinda Que to vacate the land and restore the peaceful possession thereof to the plaintiff; Ordering the Municipal Assessor of Magsingal, Ilocos Sur to recall/[cancel] the Tax Declaration in the name of [s]pouses Benigno and Erlinda Que and to restore the tax declaration in the name of plaintiff Isabel Costales; and Ordering the defendants, jointly and severally to pay plaintiff, P10,000.00 as and for [a]ttorney's fees, P50,000.00 as moral damages, P5,000.00 as exemplary damages and the costs of this suit. [6] Urian received a copy of the trial court's Decision on 15 September 2000. The records do not show when the spouses Que received theirs. On 10 October 2000, petitioners, through a new counsel, Atty. Benjamin Bateria ("Atty. Bateria"), sought reconsideration or new trial. Petitioners blamed their previous counsel for the non-filing of their Answer. Petitioners attached to their motion a Deed of Adjudication With Sale in which Urian, as alleged sole heir of Gonzalo, adjudicated to herself Lot No. 6023 and sold it to the spouses Que. Petitioners claimed that in his last will and testament, Lorenzo devised Lot No. 6023 to Gonzalo. The trial court denied petitioners' motion in its Order of 17 November 2000. The trial court held that as to Urian, its Decision had become final because although she received a copy of its Decision on 15 September 2000, the motion for reconsideration or new trial was filed only on 10 October 2000. As to the spouses Que, the trial court held that the motion was pro forma since no affidavit of merit accompanied the motion. Nor did the trial court find merit in the Deed of Adjudication With Sale. The trial court noted that during the conciliation proceedings at the Office of the Municipal Mayor of Magsingal, Ilocos Sur, the spouses Que relied solely on the Acknowledgment and Deed of Quitclaim as basis for their claim of ownership of Lot No. 6023. [7] On 18 December 2000, petitioners, represented this time by one Atty. Oliver Cachapero ("Atty. Cachapero"), filed with the trial court a petition for relief from judgment under Rule 38 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure ("Rules"). Petitioners claimed that their failure to file an Answer and to seek reconsideration or new trial on time was due to the excusable negligence of their previous counsels. Petitioners also invoked "mistake and fraud" as they