MEMORANDUM

I.

EJECTMENT Ejectment is a form of action by which possessory tittles to corporeal hereditaments may be tried and possession obtained which lies to regain the possession of real property, with damages for the illegal detention (Bouviers Law Dictionary, cited in Serving vs. Plazo, 166 SCRA 84).

III.

ISSUE

1. Whether or not the decision of the court in an ejectment suit binding on a person who is not a party to a case.

IV.

DISCUSSION OF ISSUES

JUDGEMENT BINDS ONLY PARTIES TO THE ACTION

1.1 A decision of a court will not operate to divest the rights of a person who has not and has never been a party to a litigation, either as a plaintiff or as a defendant (Granados vs. Wolfson, 86 Phil. 42); 1.2 The rule holds true in actions for unlawful detainer or to recover possession where, as in other actions in personam, the judgment binds only the parties to the suit and those claiming under through them since the commencement of the action and cannot be validly executed against others in good faith possession (Galang vs. Uytiepo, L-5011, December 22, 1952, 48 O.G. 5266); The respondent was not a party to any of the 12 ejectment cases wherein the writs of demolition had been issued; she did not make her appearance in and during the pendency of these ejectment cases. Respondent only went to a court

to protect her property from demolition after the judgment in the ejectment cases had become final and executor. Hence, with respect to the judgment in said ejectment cases, respondent remains a third person to such judgment, which does not bind her; nor can its writ of execution be enforced against her since she was not afforded her day in court in said ejectment cases. The respondent did not derive her right or interest from the defendants-tenants nor from the plaintiff-landlord but from the Bureau of Lands from which she had leased the property. She is neither a party nor successor in interest to any of the litigants in the ejectment cases (Lorenzana vs. Cayetano, 78 SCRA 485);

JUDGMENT BINDS SUBLESSEE 2.1 A judgment of eviction against a lessee affects his sublessees, even if the latter are not sued in the ejectment case. This is so because a sublessee can invoke no right superior to that of his sublessor, and the moment that latter is duly ousted from the premises, the former has no leg to stand on. The sublessees right, if any, is to demand reparation for damages from his sublessor, should the latter be at fault. The sublessees can only assert such right of possession as could have been granted them by their sublessor, the right of possession depending entirely upon that of the latter. (Ng Siu Tan vs. Amparo, 80 Phil 92)

JUDGMENT BINDS A PERSON WHO IS NOT A PARTY IN A LAND REGISTRATION PROCEEDING Another exception is in land registration proceedings where a writ of possession may be issued against anyone adversely occupying the land or any portion thereof during the land registration proceeding even if he is not a party to the case. (Lucero vs. Loot, L-16995, Oct. 28, 1968, 25 SCRA 687).

JUDGMENT BINDS PARTIES

AND THEIR SUCCESSOR-ININTEREST 4.1 A judgment in anejectment case is conclusive between the parties and their successors in the interest by title subsequent to the commencement of action (Ariem vs. De los Angeles, 49 SCRA 343); Section 47, Revised Rules of Civil Procedure provides: The effect of a judgment or final order rendered by a court of the Philippines, having jurisdiction to pronounce the judgment of final order, may be as follows: x xx (b) In other cases, the judgment or final order, is with respect to the matter directly adjudged or as to any other matter that could have been raised in relation thereto, conclusive between the parties and their successors in interest by title subsequent to the commencement of the action or special proceeding, litigating for the same thing and under the same title and in the same capacity. (Section 47 (b), Rule 39, 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure);

A judgment in an ejectment case suit is binding not only upon the defendants in the suit but also against those not made parties thereto, if they are: a) trespassers, squatters or agents of the defendant fraudulently occupying the property to frustrate the judgment; b) guests or other occupants of the premises with the persmission of the defendant; c) d) e) transferees pendent lite; sublessee; co-lessee; or

f) members of the family, relatives and other privies of the defendant. (Florendo, Jr. vs. Coloma 129 SCRA 304-305).