Banco Espaol Filipino vs Vicente
Palanca | Case Digest | Abalos
Facts:
- Engracio Palanca was indebted
to El Banco and he had his
parcel of land as security to his
debt
- Due to the failure of Engracio to
make his payments, El Banco
executed an instrument to
mortgage Engracios property.
Engracio however left for
China and he never returned
until he died.
- Since Engracio is a non-resident,
El Banco had to notify Engracio
about their intent to sue him by
means of publication using a
newspaper. The lower court
further ordered the clerk of
court to furnish Engracio a
copy and that itd be sent to
Amoy, China Engracios last
known location.
- The court eventually granted El
Banco petition to execute
Engracios property. 7 years
thereafter, Vicente surfaced on
behalf of Engracio as his
administrator to petition for the
annulment of the ruling. Vicente
averred that there had been no
due process, as Engracio
never received the summons,
therefore the court did not
acquire jurisdiction over him.
Issue:
- WON the Court acquired
jurisdiction over the defendant,
Engracio, to enable it to proceed
with the foreclosure of mortgage.
Held:
- Yes.
- The requirement of due process
is satisfied if the following
conditions are present, namely;
(1) There must be a court or
tribunal clothed with judicial
power to hear and determine the
matter before it; (2) jurisdiction
must be lawfully acquired over
the person of the defendant or
over the property which is the
subject of the proceeding; (3)
the defendant must be given
an opportunity to be heard;
and (4) judgment must be
rendered upon lawful hearing.
- The Court ruled that (1) the
failure of the clerk to send the
notice to the defendant did not
destroy the jurisdiction of the
court and (2) such irregularity
did not infringe the requirement
of due process of law.
- It passes the rational bounds of
human credulity to suppose that
a man who had placed a
mortgage upon property worth
nearly P300,000 and had then
gone away from the scene of his
life activities to end his days in
the city of Amoy, China, should
have long remained in ignorance
of the fact that the mortgage had
been foreclosed and the property
sold, even supposing that he had
no knowledge of those
proceedings while they were
being conducted.
o It is permissible to
consider the probability
that Engracio received
actual notice but chose to
abandon all thought of
saving his property.
- There is a legal presumption
that the clerk performed his
duty, under subsection 14 of
section 334 of the Code of
Civil Procedure
o "that official duty has
been regularly
performed;" and in
subsection 18 it is
declared that there is a
presumption "that the
ordinary course of
business has been
followed.