G.R. No. 133883 - SPOUSES ARTURO AND NICETA SERRANO, VS. COURT OF APPEALS AND HEIRS OF EMILIO S. GELI. D E C I S I O N - Supreme Court E-Library

Ruling

WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered: a) ordering the rescission of the Deed of Absolute Sale with Assumption of Mortgage, dated June 23, 1969; b) ordering defendant Emilio S. Geli and all persons claiming under him, including the other defendants Oswaldo, Eugenia, Marilyn, Cristopher and Ray, all surnamed Geli, to vacate the house and lot located at No. 110 A-1, Road 4, Project 6, Quezon City, and to turn over the peaceful possession of the premises to plaintiffs Arturo Serrano and Niceta M. Serrano; c) ordering defendant Emilio S. Geli to pay plaintiffs the amount of P1,000.00 a month representing reasonable compensation for the use and occupancy of the premises starting June 23, 1969 up to the time the defendant Geli and all other persons claiming under them including the other defendants, shall have completely vacated the property, deducting therefrom the sum of P38,000.00 paid by defendant Geli to plaintiffs as part of the aforesaid compensation; and, d) ordering defendant Emilio S. Geli to pay plaintiffs the sum of P10,000.00 representing exemplary damages. Costs against defendant Emilio S. Geli. [3] Emilio Geli and his children appealed the decision to the CA on October 19, 1984. During the pendency of the appeal, the GSIS foreclosed the real estate mortgage over the property for non-payment of the P50,000 loan secured by the said property. At the sale on public auction, the GSIS was the highest bidder. A certificate of sale over the property was thereby issued by the sheriff in its favor on August 30, 1986. On October 30, 1987 and November 3, 1987, Emilio Geli paid the redemption price of P67,701.84 [4] to the GSIS. Official Receipts Nos. 905401 and 901685 for the said amount with the notation "for the account of Arturo Serrano" were issued. Accordingly, on February 22, 1988, the GSIS executed a certificate of redemption [5] and turned over to Emilio Geli the owner's copy of TCT No. 80384 in the names of the Spouses Serrano. Emilio Geli did not inform the Spouses Serrano and the CA that he had paid the redemption price to the GSIS. On January 8, 1991, the CA dismissed the appeal of Emilio Geli and his children on the ground that the appellants failed to pay the requisite docket fees despite notices from the appellate court. No motion for the reconsideration of the resolution was filed. Thus, the said dismissal of the appeal became final and executory. The Court of Appeals forthwith issued an Entry of Judgment on February 27, 1991. After the remand of the records, the Spouses Serrano filed with the RTC on January 14, 1994 a motion for the execution of the trial court's September 6, 1984 Decision. On February 15, 1994, the trial court issued an order granting the motion and forthwith issued a writ of execution. The writ, however, was not implemented as the Spouses Serrano were then in the United States. On August 1, 1995, the trial court issued an alias writ of execution on motion of the plaintiffs. This, too, was not implemented, because