LEONOR VILLAGRACIA, PETITIONER, VS. HONORABLE FERNANDO SALAS, JUDGE OF THE COURT OF FIRST INSTANCE OF CAPIZ, JOSE M. CONTRERAS, JUSTICE OF THE PEACE OF CAPIZ, ANA PERALTA, ADMIN…

OSTRAND, J.:



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}This is a petition for a writ of prohibition commanding the justice of the
peace of the provincial capital of Capiz to desist from further proceedings in
civil case No. 1631 of the Court of First Instance of that province, in which
the herein petitioner is the plaintiff and the respondents herein Panfilo
Mendoza, Gregoria Azarraga, and Juan Vi- llagracia are the defendants.

It appears from the record that in the complaint filed in said case No. 1631,
the plaintiff asks that he be declared the owner of a certain tract of land and
that he be given possession thereof; that a certain deed executed by the
defendant Gregoria Azarraga in favor of the defendant Panfilo Mendoza be
declared null and void; that the aaid Gregoria Azarraga and Panfilo Mendoza be
ordered to pay the plaintiff the sum of P2,000 by way of damages; and that the
defendant Juan Villagracia be ordered to return to the plaintiff the sum of
P1,600, with interest. The defendant Juan Villagracia, in his answer, sets up a
counterclaim for P1,000 against his codefendants Gregoria Azarraga and Panfilo
Mendoza. The defendant Panfilo Mendoza in his answer asks, among other things,
that the defendant Juan Villagracia be ordered to pay him the sum of P3,000 in
damages for “malicious acts;” and the defendant Gregoria Azarraga asks damages
in the sum of P2,000 from the plaintiff and in the sum of P2,000 from her
codefendant Juan Villagracia.

The Court of First Instance of Capiz being at that time overburdened with
work, the Judge of the Court, in reliance on the proviso in section 68 of Act
No. 136, as amended by Act No. 2041, assigned the case to the justice of the
peace of the provincial capital, Jose M. Contreras, for trial. To this
arrangement counsel for plaintiff strenuously objected, but the objections were
overruled and the present action was thereupon instituted in this court.

The proviso above referred to reads as follows:

“Provided, however, That justices of the peace in provincial
capitals, except in the City of Manila, may by assignment of the respective
Judge of the Court of First Instance in each case have like jurisdiction within
the province as the Court of First Instance to hear and determine cases
originally cognizable by the Court of First Instance in which the subject of
litigation is capable of pecuniary estimation and the value of the
subject-matter or amount of the demand does not exceed two thousand pesos
exclusive of interest and costs, except cases involving the legality of any tax,
impost or assessment, or actions involving admiralty or maritime
jurisdiction.”

It will readily be seen that the amount demanded in the aforesaid case No.
1631, greatly exceeds the limit of P2,000 fixed by the proviso quoted: The
plaintiff in the case asked a money judgment for the total sum of ?3,600; the
total claim against the defendants Panfilo Mendoza and Gregoria Azarraga is
P3,000 in addition to the value of the land; and even after reducing the claim
of Panfilo Mendoza against Juan Villagracia to P2,000, the total amount demanded
from the latter would still be P4,000. It follows that in assigning the case to
the justice of the peace for trial the Court of First Instance went beyond its
powers and that the assignment conferred no jurisdiction.

The petition is therefore granted and the respondent justice of the peace is
hereby ordered to desist from further proceedings in civil case No. 1631 of the
Court of First Instance of Capiz, in which case Leonor Villagracia is the
plaintiff and Juan Villagracia, Panfilo Mendoza, and Gregoria Azarraga are the
defendants, and, in the event that the record of the case is in his possession,
to return the same to the clerk of the Court of First Instance for further
proceedings in accordance with the law. Without costs. So ordered.

Araullo, C. J., Johnson, Street, Malcolm, Avanceña, Johns, and
Romualdez, JJ., concur.