NATIONAL POWER CORPORATION, PLAINTIFF-APPELLANT, VS. EQUITABLE PCI BANK, AS TRUSTEE FOR CEAP RETIREMENT FUND, REPRESENTED HEREIN BY ITS PRESIDENT, MR. DEGRACIAS VISTAN, DEFENDAN…

National Power Corporation versus Equitable PCI Bank

The Case

This is a civil case for eminent domain, the power of the State to take private property for public use upon payment of just compensation. The National Power Corporation, a government-owned corporation with the authority to expropriate, sued Equitable PCI Bank, acting as trustee for the CEAP Retirement Fund, to take a parcel of land. The case matters to a Bar candidate not because of the law on expropriation, but because of a single, unforgiving procedural rule: the perfection of an appeal within the period fixed by the Rules of Court is mandatory and jurisdictional. The Supreme Court never reached the merits of the taking. It dismissed the appeal because the appellant filed its record on appeal far too late, and in doing so it teaches a lesson every litigator must carry into the examination room.

Procedural History

The National Power Corporation filed a complaint for eminent domain before the Regional Trial Court of Bacolod City, Branch 49. On the last day of October 2006, that court rendered a decision against the corporation. The corporation received a copy of the decision on the nineteenth of December 2006. It filed a notice of appeal on the twenty-second of December 2006, which was within the fifteen-day period. But the record on appeal, in its amended form, was submitted only on the twenty-third of February 2007, more than sixty days after receipt of the decision. The case went up to the Supreme Court by appeal by record on appeal, and the Supreme Court resolved it on the threshold question of timeliness rather than on the merits.

Facts

The National Power Corporation brought an action for eminent domain against Equitable PCI Bank, as trustee for the CEAP Retirement Fund, before the Regional Trial Court of Bacolod City. After proceedings, the trial court rendered its decision on the thirty-first of October 2006, and the corporation received notice of that decision on the nineteenth of December 2006.

Within fifteen days, on the twenty-second of December 2006, the corporation filed its notice of appeal. That step was timely. But because this was a case requiring a record on appeal, the corporation also had to file its record on appeal within thirty days from notice. It did not. The amended record on appeal was filed only on the twenty-third of February 2007, more than sixty days after notice of the decision.

When the appeal reached the Supreme Court, the Court examined the records and found that the appeal was filed out of time and suffered from other infirmities. The amended record on appeal did not show on its face that the appeal had been perfected on time, and copies of relevant court documents were not attached to it.

Issues

• Whether or not the appeal was perfected within the reglementary period, considering that the record on appeal was filed beyond thirty days from notice of the decision.
• Whether or not the failure to perfect the appeal on time deprived the appellate court of jurisdiction to review the decision.
• Whether or not the appeal should be dismissed for failure of the record on appeal to show on its face that the appeal was taken within the period fixed by the Rules, and for non-compliance with the required form and contents of a record on appeal.

Applicable Provisions

Rule 41, Section 3 of the Rules of Court provides:

Sec. 3. Period of ordinary appeal. The appeal shall be taken within fifteen (15) days from notice of the judgment or final order appealed from. Where a record on appeal is required, the appellant shall file a notice of appeal and a record on appeal within thirty (30) days from notice of the judgment or final order.

This is the provision that fixes the thirty-day period the corporation failed to meet, and it is the measure against which the timeliness of the appeal is judged.

Rule 50, Section 1, paragraph (a) of the Rules of Court provides:

Sec. 1. Grounds for dismissal of appeal. - An appeal may be dismissed by the Court of Appeals, on its own motion or that of the appellee, on the following grounds: (a) Failure of the record on appeal to show on its face that the appeal was taken within the period fixed by these Rules.

This ground applies because the amended record on appeal does not show on its face that the appeal was perfected on time.

Rule 41, Section 6 of the Rules of Court provides:

Sec. 6. Record on appeal; form and contents thereof. The full names of all the parties to the proceedings shall be stated in the caption of the record on appeal and it shall include the judgment or final order from which the appeal is taken and, in chronological order, copies of only such pleadings, petitions, motions and all interlocutory orders as are related to the appealed judgment or final order for the proper understanding of the issue involved, together with such data as will show that the appeal was perfected on time. If an issue of fact is to be raised on appeal, the record on appeal shall include by reference all the evidence, testimonial and documentary, taken upon the issue involved. The reference shall specify the documentary evidence by the exhibit numbers or letters by which it was identified when admitted or offered at the hearing, and the testimonial evidence by the names of the corresponding witnesses. If the whole testimonial and documentary evidence in the case is to be included, a statement to that effect will be sufficient without mentioning the names of the witnesses or the numbers or letters of exhibits. Every record on appeal exceeding twenty (20) pages must contain a subject index.

This provision is violated because copies of relevant court documents were not attached to the record on appeal.

Ruling

On the first issue, the Court held that the appeal was not perfected. The corporation received the decision on the nineteenth of December 2006. Although it filed its notice of appeal on the twenty-second of December 2006, within the fifteen-day period, it submitted the amended record on appeal only on the twenty-third of February 2007, more than sixty days after notice. The Rules require both the notice of appeal and the record on appeal within thirty days from notice. Filing the record on appeal beyond that period means the appeal was not perfected.

On the second issue, the Court held that the perfection of an appeal within the period laid down by law is mandatory and jurisdictional. The failure to perfect the appeal within the prescribed time causes the judgment or final order to become final, and it precludes the appellate court from acquiring jurisdiction to review it. Because the corporation and its counsel failed to file the record on appeal on time, the orders of the trial court became final and unappealable, and the Supreme Court lost the jurisdiction to review the assailed decision.

On the third issue, the Court noted that what was filed on the twenty-third of February 2007 was the amended record on appeal, but there was no showing that the original record on appeal was likewise filed on time. The amended record on appeal does not show on its face that the appeal was perfected on time, and so it is dismissible on that ground alone. The Court added that copies of relevant court documents were not attached to the record on appeal, in violation of the rule on the form and contents of a record on appeal.

Doctrine

The perfection of an appeal within the period fixed by the Rules of Court is mandatory and jurisdictional. Failure to perfect the appeal on time causes the judgment or final order to become final, and it precludes the appellate court from acquiring jurisdiction to review it. Where a record on appeal is required, the appellant must file both the notice of appeal and the record on appeal within thirty days from notice of the judgment or final order, as Rule 41, Section 3 commands. An appeal may be dismissed when the record on appeal fails to show on its face that the appeal was taken within the period fixed by the Rules, under Rule 50, Section 1, paragraph (a). And the record on appeal must comply with Rule 41, Section 6, which requires it to include the judgment or final order appealed from and the related pleadings and orders, together with such data as will show that the appeal was perfected on time.

Disposition

The Supreme Court dismissed the appeal, leaving the decision of the trial court final and unappealable.

Remember This

The one line to memorize is that the perfection of an appeal within the period fixed by law is mandatory and jurisdictional, so a late record on appeal makes the judgment final and strips the appellate court of power to review it. Examiners use this case to test whether a candidate knows that a timely notice of appeal is not enough when the Rules also require a record on appeal within thirty days.