G. R. No. 43589. July 30, 1937
AMANDO UY ET AL., PLAINTIFFS AND APPELLANTS, VS. MARIA VILLAFRANCA, DEFENDANT AND APPELLEE.
ABAD SANTOS, J.:
for the recovery of the sum of P167.44. A judgment was rendered for the
plaintiffs, from which an appeal was taken to the Court of First
Instance. When the case came on for hearing in the latter court, the
defendant filed an amended answer in which she set up a counterclaim
for the sum of P597.27. Plaintiffs objected to the allowance of the
amended answer, but their objection was overruled. Upon the evidence
presented by the parties in support of their respective pleadings, the
Court of First Instance rendered judgment absolving the defendant from
the complaint and condemning the plaintiffs to pay the defendant the
sum of P547.27. From this judgment the plaintiffs appealed, and one of
the errors urged in support of the appeal is that the court erred in
allowing the amended answer against the plaintiffs’ objection. The
other errors assigned involve both questions of law and of fact.
The question now presented for determination is whether this is
a case in which the jurisdiction of an inferior court is in issue
within the meaning of section 138 (3) of the Administrative Code, as
amended by Commonwealth Act No. 3, so as to sustain a direct appeal to
this court.
In People vs. Imas (p. 419, ante), this court
held that a mere claim in words is not enough to bring the case within
the provision of section 138 (3) of the Administrative Code, amended as
aforesaid; but the claim must be real and substantial. The point raised
by the objection to the allowance of the amended answer did not go to
the jurisdiction of the Court of First Instance which had already
acquired jurisdiction of the parties and, in respect of the amount of
the counterclaim, had concurrent jurisdiction with the justice court.
The error committed, if any, in allowing the amended answer, was merely
an error of law which did not put in issue the jurisdiction of the
Court of First Instance.
It results that this ease should be remanded to the Court of
Appeals for further proceedings in accordance with section 145-H of the
Administrative Code, as amended by Commonwealth Act No. 3. So ordered.
Avancena, C. J., Villa-Real, Imperial, Diaz, Laurel, and Concepcion, JJ., concur.