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116
THIRD DIVISION
DECISION
GARCIA, J.:
Thru this appeal via a petition for review on certiorari under Rule 45 of the
Rules of Court, petitioner Insular Savings Bank seeks to set aside the
decision[1] dated October 9, 1995 of the Court of Appeals in CA-G.R.
SP No. 34876 and its resolution dated January 24, 1996,[2] denying
petitioner’s motion for reconsideration.
The assailed decision of October 9, 1995 cleared the Regional Trial Court
(RTC) at Makati, Branch 135, of committing, as petitioner alleged, grave
abuse of discretion in denying petitioner’s motion to discharge attachment
by counter-bond in Civil Case No. 92-145, while the equally assailed
resolution of January 24, 1996 denied petitioner’s motion for
reconsideration.
While acknowledging that “[R]espondent Judge may have erred in his Order of
June 13, 1994 that the counter-bond should be in the amount of P27,237,700.00”, in
that he erroneously factored in, in arriving at such amount, unliquidated
claim items, such as actual and exemplary damages, legal interest,
attorney’s fees and expenses of litigation, the CA, in the herein assailed
decision dated October 9, 1995, nonetheless denied due course to and
dismissed the petition. For, according to the appellate court, the RTC’s
order may be defended by, among others, the provision of Section 12 of
Rule 57 of the Rules of Court, infra. The CA added that, assuming that the
RTC erred on the matter of computing the amount of the discharging
counter-bond, its error does not amount to grave abuse of discretion.
The order of attachment dated January 22, 1992 fixed the bond to be
posted by respondent, as applicant, at P6,000,000.00. The writ of
attachment issued on January 27, 1992, in turn, expressly indicated that
petitioner is justly indebted to respondent in the amount of
P25,200,000.00.[8] On February 11, 1992, before the Arbitration
Committee of the Philippine Clearing House Corporation, petitioner and
respondent, however, agreed to equally divide between themselves, albeit
on a temporary basis, the disputed amount of P25,200,000.00, subject to
the outcome of the arbitration proceedings. Thus, the release by petitioner
of the amount of P12,600,000.00 to respondent. On March 7, 1994,
petitioner filed a motion to discharge attachment by counter-bond in the
amount of P12,600,000.00[9] which, to petitioner, is the extent that
respondent may actually be prejudiced in the event its basic complaint for
recovery of money against petitioner prospers.
With the view we take of this case, the trial court, in requiring petitioner
to post a counter-bond in the amount of P27,237,700.00, obviously
glossed over one certain fundamental. We refer to the fact that the
attachment respondent applied for and the corresponding writ issued was
only for the amount of P25.2 Million. Respondent, it bears to stress, did
not pray for attachment on its other claims, contingent and unliquidated as
they were. Then, too, the attaching writ rightly excluded such claims. While
the records do not indicate, let alone provide a clear answer as to the actual
value of the property levied upon, it may reasonably be assumed that it is
equal to respondent’s principal claim. Be that as it may, it was simply
unjust for the trial court to base the amount of the counter-bond on a
figure beyond the P25,200,000.00 threshold, as later reduced to
P12,600,200.00.
This disposition should be taken in the light of then Section 12, Rule 57 of
the Rules of Court.
SO ORDERED.
[1]
Penned by Associate Justice (now retired) Eduardo G. Montenegro and
concurred in by then (now deceased) Associate Justice Jorge S. Imperial
and Associate Justice (now retired) Jose C. De La Rama.
[2]
Rollo, p. 136.
[3]
Rollo, pp. 114-119
[4]
As amended Section 12, Rule 57 of the Rules of Court now reads as
follows