G.R. No. 155758 - HEIRS OF JOSE ESPLANA, NAMELY: YOLANDA BOTIN VDA. DE ESPLANA, TERESA B. ESPLANA, LIZA B. ESPLANA, SHIRLEY B. ESPLANA, ALMA B. ESPLANA, JACK B. ESPLANA, AND LINA B. ESPLANA, VS. THE COURT OF APPEALS AND HEIRS OF PEDRO DE LIMA, REPRESENTED BY JAIME DE LIMA.DECISION - Supreme Court E-

Ruling

WHEREFORE, for failure of the plaintiff to establish a valid cause of action, the complaint is, as it is, hereby dismissed. Plaintiff's exhibit "A" being a spurious and/or falsified document, the same is declared null and void ab initio; consequently, all deeds or transactions executed by the plaintiff subsequent to its execution covering or affecting the land bought by the defendant from the Esplana sisters is/are likewise declared null and void and of no legal effect whatsoever. Particularly, the tax declaration/s generated by the Assessor's Office in the name of the plaintiff by virtue or pursuant to exhibit "A" is/are declared without legal basis and are hereby ordered cancelled also. As regards defendant's counter-claim, the plaintiff is directed to pay the defendant, attorney's fees and expenses of litigation in the amount of P20,000.00 and to pay the costs of suit. Defendant's title to the land in question is quieted and for lack of legal and factual basis, the Third-Party Complaint is, as it is hereby dismissed. [1] Jose Esplana appealed the MTC decision to the RTC. A certification from the Office of the Civil Registrar shows that Jose Esplana died on December 12, 2001. In a Decision dated February 6, 2002, the RTC of Iriga City, Branch 34, stated that the issues raised before it were factual in character. Since the factual finding of the MTC was supported by evidence on record, the RTC affirmed the decision of the MTC in toto and dismissed the appeal. Jose Esplana's counsel received a copy of the RTC decision on February 21, 2002. On March 7, 2002, Jose Esplana's counsel filed before the Court of Appeals a motion for extension of 30 days within which to file a petition for review reckoned from March 8, 2002. He stated that he could not submit the petition on the deadline, March 8, 2002, due to Jose Esplana's untimely death, his day to day court appearance and the voluminous paper work in his office. On May 16, 2002, the Court of Appeals issued a Resolution granting petitioners only 15 days, reckoned from March 8, 2002 or until March 23, 2002, within which to file the petition for review subject to the caveat that a petition filed after March 23, 2002 shall be expunged from the records of the case. Petitioners' counsel received a copy of the Court of Appeals' Resolution on May 29, 2002. However, he already filed the petition for review on April 5, 2002, which was within the 30-day extension requested for. In a Resolution promulgated on June 27, 2002, [2] the Court of Appeals dismissed the petition for review and expunged it from the records of the case for having been filed out of time on April 5, 2002, instead of the deadline, March 23, 2002. Petitioners' counsel received a copy of the Resolution on July 29, 2002. Petitioners, through counsel, filed a Manifestation with Motion for Reconsideration alleging that they filed the motion for extension to file the petition for review within 30 days from March 8, 2002 considering that the origin