NER J. LOPEZ, VS. LUCIA Y. MATIAS VDA. DE TINIO AND THE HON. JUDGE GUILLERMO R. CABRERA, OF THE MUNICIPAL COURT OF MANILA, BRANCH III.

In
a detainer action Lucia Y. Matias Vda. de Tinio sought to dispossess
Ner J. Lopez of a lot located on Evangelista street, Manila, for
failure to pay the stipulated rentals. A motion to dismiss the
complaint on the ground that it states no cause of action was denied.
Whereupon, the defendant in the detainer case filed in the Court of
First Instance a petition for a writ of certiorari with preliminary
injunction. The Court denied the petition and from the order denying it
he has appealed.

That the Municipal Court of Manila has
jurisdiction to try and decide the action for detainer brought by the
appellee Lucia Y. Matias Vda. de Tinio against the appellant cannot be
disputed. It does not appear that the appellee attached to her
complaint the contract of lease, upon which the appellant relies to ask
for the dismissal of the complaint. Jurisdiction is conferred by law
and whether a court has jurisdiction over an action brought to it is
ascertained from and determined upon the ultimate material facts
pleaded in the complaint. Matters of defense such as the one raised by
the appellant may be pleaded in his answer. After issues have been
joined the court must proceed to hear the evidence of both parties and
render judgment. It is well-settled in this jurisdiction that a denial
of a motion to dismiss a complaint is an interlocutory order and not
appealable. As heretofore stated, there is no question that the
municipal court of Manila has jurisdiction over an action for detainer,
and if the denial of a motion to dismiss cannot be appealed because it
is interlocutory, much less would a petition for writ of certiorari
lie. After an adverse judgment by the municipal court the defendant may
appeal. That is his remedy and not the extraordinary one for a writ of
certiorari.

The judgment appealed from is affirmed, with costs against the appellant.

Paras, C. J., Pablo, Bengzon, Tuason, Reyes, Jugo, Bautista Angelo and Labrador, JJ., concur.