G.R. No. L-27802. January 31, 1969
REPUBLIC OF THE PHILIPPINES, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEE, VS. CENTRAL SURETY & INSURANCE COMPANY, ET AL., DEFENDANTS-APPELLANTS. CENTRAL SURETY & INSURANCE COMPANY, THIRD-PARTY PLAINTIFF…
CASTRO, J.:
The Central Surety & Insurance Company filed on November 13, 1968 a “motion to
modify judgment” – referring to this Court’s decision of October 26, 1968 – praying that
1. The date October 23, 1959
stated in the first line of par. 1, page 1 of the statement of the case in the
decision be changed to June 20, 1963, the date when the plaintiff-appellee actually filed the complaint against the
defendant-appellant;
2. Go Siu
Eng and Jao Yan
alias Go Liao Lian be
specifically mentioned as third-party defendants in addition to the
third-party defendants Po Kee Kam
and Tony Go whose names appear on page 2 of the decision; and
3. The clause, “plus
interest at the rate of 12% per annum, compounded quarterly from the filing of
the complaint, until the whole obligation is fully paid, and attorney’s fees of
15% of the total amount due as prayed for in the third-party complaint,”
be added to the first sentence of the dispositive
portion of the decision.
By resolution dated November
20, 1968, this Court required the plaintiff-appellee
to comment, within 10 days from notice, on the said “motion to modify
judgment.” The plaintiff-appellee filed on December
5, 1968 its “Comment” wherein it manifested that it
“offers no objection to the motion to modify judgment it appearing that
the reasons stated in said motion are borne out by the records.”
The counsel for the third-party defendants-appellees
was likewise required, by resolution of this Court of December 11, 1968, to
comment within 10 days from notice on the same “motion to modify
judgment.” Up to the date of this
resolution, no comment whatsoever has been filed by the said counsel nor by any of the third-party defendants-appellees.
ACCORDINGLY, finding the grounds of the “motion to modify
judgment” meritorious because sustained by the record, the decision of
this Court is hereby modified so that:
(a) the
first sentence of the decision will read as follows: “On June 20, 1963 the Republic of the Philippines
(hereinafter referred to as the Republic) filed suit against the Central
Surety & Insurance Company (hereinafter referred to as the Surety) and the
latter’s manager of the bond department, Casimiro Mangoba;”
(b) the fourth paragraph of the decision will read as
follows: “On July 30, 1963 the
Surety filed a third-party complaint, with leave of court, against Po Kee Kam, Tony Go, Go Siu Eng, Jao Yan
alias Go Liao Lian
(hereinafter referred to as the third-party defendants) …;” and
(c) the dispositive portion of the
decision will read as follows:
“ACCORDINGLY, the order dated December 2, 1963 dismissing the
third-party complaint is set aside; the decision dated December 3, 1963 is
modified in the sense that the third-party defendants are hereby ordered to
pay to the Surety whatever sums the latter will pay to the Republic by virtue
of the judgment appealed from, plus interest at the rate of 12% per annum,
compounded quarterly from the filing of the complaint, until the whole obligation
is paid, and attorney’s fees of 15% of the total amount as prayed for in the
third-party complaint. Costs are
assessed against the Surety in favor of the Republic, and against the
third-party defendants in favor of the Surety.”
Concepcion, C.J., Reyes, J.B.L., Dizon, Makalintal, Zaldivar, Sanchez, Fernando, and
Capistrano, JJ., concur.