G.R. No. 234660 - SPOUSES MAGDALINO GABUN AND CAROL GABUN, NORA A. LOPEZ, AND MARCELINO ALFONSO, VS. WINSTON CLARK STOLK, SR..D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

Accordingly, pursuant to the foregoing procedural mandates, the Notice of Appeal and the full payment of the amount of the docket and other lawful fees must be made within the 15-day appeal period, failing in which may warrant the dismissal of the appeal under Section 13 of Rule 41: SECTION 13. Dismissal of appeal . Prior to the transmittal of the original record or the record on appeal to the appellate court, the trial court may motu propio or on motion dismiss the appeal for having been taken out of time or for nonpayment of the docket and other lawful fees within the reglementary period . (Emphasis and underscoring supplied) Case law explains that a party's appeal by Notice of Appeal is perfected as to them upon the filing of the same in due time, together with the payment of docket and other lawful fees, which should likewise be paid within the prescribed period. [71] Both requirements are mandatory and jurisdictional and a party's failure to perfect the appeal in the manner and within the period fixed by law render the judgment final and executory. [72] This notwithstanding, it must be recognized that there is nothing in the Rules that require the payment of the docket and other lawful fees at the same time of the filing of the notice of appeal. In fact, the filing of the notice of appeal and the payment of the docket and other lawful fees are covered by separate provisions, each of which only require compliance thereof within the appeal period. Moreover, the Court finds it relevant to highlight the use of the conjunctive word " or " in Rule 41, Section 13 of the Rules of Court. To the Court's mind, this use of the word " or " not only demonstrates the intent to provide for alternative grounds for dismissing an appeal. More pertinently, it reveals the intent to treat the filing of the appeal and payment of docket fees as separate and distinct requirements for perfecting an appeal, which must be complied with within the appeal period. Accordingly, regardless of whether the filing and payment occurred concurrently or successively, the appeal is perfected so long as both requirements are duly complied with within the appeal period. In this case, as earlier noted copy of the RTC's November 4, 2014 Order (which denied petitioners' motion for reconsideration from the April 22, 2014 Decision) was served on one of the petitioners on November 14, 2014 . Assuming such service was valid, petitioners had until November 29, 2014 within which to file the Notice of Appeal and pay the full amount of the docket and other lawful fees pursuant to Section 19 of the Rule on Custody of Minors and Rule 41, Section 3 of the Rules of Court. Since petitioners filed their Notice of Appeal on November 24, 2014 and paid the full amount of the appellate court docket and other lawful fees on November 27, 2014 , or well within the 15-day reglementary period, petitioners clearly perfected their appeal in the manner and within the period fixed by the foregoing Rules. Accor