JOPRE BENDOL BANCOLO ASSISTED BY HIS PARENTS JERRY BANCOLO, JR. AND REMIA BENDOL BANCOLO, PLAINTIFF-APPELLEES, VS. CORSINO MANDADERO, DEFENDANT-APPELLEE,

Bancolo versus Mandadero

The Case

This is a civil case in which Jopre Bendol Bancolo, assisted by his parents Jerry Bancolo, Junior and Remia Bendol Bancolo, sued Corsino Mandadero. The action reached the Supreme Court on the narrow procedural question of what happens when an appellant, after judgment has been rendered against her and while her appeal is pending, asks to withdraw that appeal because she has already been paid the money awarded below. The case matters to a Bar candidate because it is a clean illustration of the rule on withdrawal of appeal under the Rules of Court — that an appeal may be withdrawn as of right only before the appellee files a brief, and thereafter only in the sound discretion of the court.

Procedural History

The Regional Trial Court rendered a decision dated May 16, 2005, containing a monetary judgment. The losing party, defendant-appellant Liecel Mondejar, appealed. In the appellate court, a Notice to file Brief was sent on July 14, 2014 to the defendant-appellant and her counsel of record, giving forty-five days from receipt of notice. On October 15, 2014, the defendant-appellant filed a Motion for Extension of Time to File Appellant's Brief, praying for an extension of forty-five days from September 29, 2014. On November 4, 2014, she instead filed a Motion to Withdraw or Dismiss Appeal. The Judicial Records Division of the appellate court reported on January 22, 2015 that no opposition had been filed by the plaintiffs-appellees, as shown by the civil docket entry. The appellate court then resolved the motion, and the case reached the Supreme Court by petition for review on certiorari.

Facts

The Regional Trial Court rendered its decision on May 16, 2005, and the defendant-appellant, Liecel Mondejar, brought the matter up on appeal. While the appeal was pending, the appellate court directed the parties to file their briefs, sending the Notice to file Brief to the defendant-appellant and her counsel on July 14, 2014.

Rather than file her appellant's brief, the defendant-appellant first asked for an extension of time. She then changed course entirely: on November 4, 2014, she filed a Motion to Withdraw or Dismiss Appeal. Her reason was that she had already been fully paid the monetary judgment rendered in the trial court's decision of May 16, 2005, as shown by a Release, Waiver and Quitclaim dated September 25, 2014.

The plaintiffs-appellees filed no opposition to the motion, as confirmed by the report of the Judicial Records Division based on the civil docket entry. With the motion unopposed, the appellate court granted it.

Issues

• Whether or not an appellant may withdraw her appeal as a matter of right at the time she filed her Motion to Withdraw or Dismiss Appeal.
• Whether or not the appellate court correctly granted the withdrawal and deemed the appeal closed and terminated under the Rules of Court.

Applicable Provisions

Section 3 of Rule 50 of the 1997 Rules of Civil Procedure, on withdrawal of appeal, provides:

Withdrawal of Appeal – An appeal may be withdrawn as of right at any time before the filing of the appellee's brief. Thereafter, the withdrawal may be allowed in the discretion of the court.

This provision fixes the dividing line between withdrawal as a matter of right and withdrawal subject to the court's discretion, and it is the rule the appellate court applied in granting the motion.

Ruling

On the first issue, the Court held that the withdrawal was governed by the rule that an appeal may be withdrawn as of right only before the appellee files a brief; after that point, withdrawal lies in the discretion of the court. Because the plaintiffs-appellees had filed no opposition, the motion was unopposed and the court was free to allow it.

On the second issue, the Court found the Motion to Withdraw or Dismiss Appeal to be in order, there being no opposition thereto, and resolved to grant it. Applying the rule, the Court held that the appeal was withdrawn and the case deemed closed and terminated, and it directed that the corresponding Entry of Judgment be issued and recorded in the Book of Entries of Judgment.

Doctrine

An appellant may withdraw an appeal as of right at any time before the appellee files a brief. Once the appellee's brief has been filed, withdrawal is no longer a matter of right but may be allowed only in the discretion of the court. Where the appellees file no opposition to the motion to withdraw, the appellate court may properly grant it, and the withdrawal operates to close and terminate the case, warranting the entry of judgment.

Disposition

The Court granted the Motion to Withdraw or Dismiss Appeal, considered the appeal withdrawn, deemed the case closed and terminated, and ordered the issuance and recording of the corresponding Entry of Judgment.

Remember This

Memorize the dividing line: withdrawal of appeal is a matter of right before the appellee's brief is filed, and discretionary thereafter. Examiners use this case to test the timing rule on withdrawal of appeal and the effect of an unopposed motion to withdraw in closing a case.