TOWERS REALTY CORPORATION, RICARDO CONSUNJI, SR., FERNANDO M. ARANDA, RICARDO C. ARANDA, IGNACIO C. ARANDA AND CONCEPCION C. ARANDA, PETITIONERS, VS. THE HONORABLE FERNANDO CRUZ…

On August 6, 1981,
the parties, assisted by respective counsel, filed with this Court a pleading
entitled Stipulation of Facts and Compromise Agreement.  The Compromise Agreement reads as
follows:  “The Parties hereto have
agreed on the following Compromise Agreement: 
1.  That the National Housing
Authority shall be joined in the instant case as an Indispensable Party and the
proper motion will be filed with this Honorable Court; 2.  That, the instant Agreement shall be binding
and have full effect only on the lots described and listed in Annex ‘A’ hereof
consisting of One Hundred Six (106) lots with a total area of Fifty Two
Thousand Seven Hundred Ninety Nine (52,799) square meters or a total cost of
Five Million Two Hundred Seventy Nine Thousand Nine Hundred (P5,279,900.00)
Pesos, Philippine Currency; 3.  That upon
the approval of this Compromise Agreement by the Supreme Court, the Petitioners
herein will execute the corresponding Deeds of Sale of all the lots, subject of
this Compromise Agreement, in favor of the National Housing Authority.  All expenses in the preparation of the deeds
of sale, registration expenses, documentary stamps and all such expenses
necessary to transfer title in favor of the National Housing Authority shall be
for the sole account of the latter. 
4.  That within three (3) weeks
from the registration of the titles in favor of the National Housing Authority,
payment of the sum of Five Million Two Hundred Seventy Nine Thousand Nine
Hundred (P5,279,900.00) Pesos, Philippine Currency, plus 6% interest on the sum
of One Million Three Hundred Seventy Thousand Eight Hundred Thirty
(P1,370,830.00) Pesos, representing the deposit with Philippine National Bank, Caloocan Branch, computed from January 3, 1978, when actual
possession was made, up to and including the date of the signing of this
Compromise Agreement at the rate of 6% per annum; 5.  The National Housing Authority hereby agrees
and guarantees payment of the total sum of Five Million Two Hundred Seventy
Nine Thousand Nine Hundred (P5,279,900.00) Pesos, to petitioners as just
compensation for the 52,799 square meters of subdivision lots, subject to
government accounting and auditing rules and regulations within a period of
three (3) weeks after the Register of Deeds had issued to the National Housing
Authority the new Transfer Certificates of Titles over the condemned
subdivision lots and the sum equivalent to 6% interest on the P1,370,830.00
deposited with PNB, as mentioned above, from January 3, 1978 up to the signing
of this agreement; 6.  It is further
agreed and covenanted herein that all expenses in the preparation of the
documents involving the transfer and sale of the lots, together with the
notarization thereof, the payment of the transfer taxes, all expenses in the
registration of the documents to transfer ownership of the lots to National
Housing Authority shall be for the exclusive account of the National Housing
Authority; 7.  That Petitioner herein
hereby agrees and promises to execute any instrument or document in favor of
National Housing Authority as may be necessary and requisite to transfer and
perfect the title to the Subdivision Lots in its favor which are the subject of
this Compromise Agreement; 8.  That this
Compromise Agreement will be submitted to this Honorable Supreme Court for its
consideration and approval.”^[1]
The prayer is for the Compromise Agreement to be approved and a decision to be
rendered pursuant thereto.

The above pleading
suffers from a flaw in that prior to the approval of the motion for leave to
intervene, the National Housing Authority, through its General Manager, Major
General AFP (Retired) G. V. Tobias and presumably with the assistance of a
member of the Bar as its Legal Director, Antonio Claudio, was one of the
co-signers.  General Manager Tobias, not
being a member of the Bar, may be excused for his failure to realize that the
first paragraph of the Compromise Agreement may be misinterpreted.  As worded, it would appear that this Court is
without power to deny the motion to intervene and that a party may just intrude
into any suit at whatever stage on his own assumption that he is an
indispensable party.  There is no such
excuse for Attorney Claudio.  He is
hereby admonished to exercise more care and prudence in the future in the
discharge of his responsibilities as a member of the bar.

As the Compromise
Agreement appears to be the will of the parties to this case and the propriety
of the National Housing Authority being allowed to intervene quite apparent,
the above Compromise Agreement is hereby approved.  That would terminate the pending dispute
between the parties and thus amicably settle the matter, the decision under
review being limited to the dismissal by respondent Court of Appeals of a
prohibition and certiorari petition against an order of respondent Judge
Fernando Cruz granting and directing the issuance of the writ of possession in
favor of the other respondents.

WHEREFORE, the
Court renders a decision approving the terms of the above Compromise
Agreement and ordering the parties to observe strictly the terms thereof,
constituting as it does the judgment of this Court in this appeal by certiorari
from the decision of the Court of Appeals of July 28, 1978. 
Insofar as such appealed decision lifted the restraining order issued by
it and dismissed the petition for certiorari and prohibition, it is
affirmed.  No costs.

Aquino, Concepcion,
Jr., Guerrero, and De Castro, JJ., concur.

Barredo and Abad
Santos, JJ., are on official leave.

^[1]
Stipulation of Facts and Compromise Agreement, 5-7.