Lim vs. People, 133 SCRA 333 , No. L-34338, November 21, 1984 G.R. No.

L-34338 November 21, 1984 LOURDES VALERIO LIM, petitioner, vs. PEOPLE OF THE PHILIPPINES, respondent. RELOVA, J.: Petitioner Lourdes Valerio Lim was found guilty of the crime of estafa and was sentenced "to suffer an imprisonment of four (4) months and one (1) day as minimum to two (2) years and four (4) months as maximum, to indemnify the offended party in the amount of P559.50, with subsidize imprisonment in case of insolvency, and to pay the costs." (p. 14, Rollo) From this judgment, appeal was taken to the then Court of Appeals which affirmed the decision of the lower court but modified the penalty imposed by sentencing her "to suffer an indeterminate penalty of one (1) month and one (1) day of arresto mayor as minimum to one (1) year and one (1) day of prision correccional as maximum, to indemnify the complainant in the amount of P550.50 without subsidiary imprisonment, and to pay the costs of suit." (p. 24, Rollo) The question involved in this case is whether the receipt, Exhibit "A", is a contract of agency to sell or a contract of sale of the subject tobacco between petitioner and the complainant, Maria de Guzman Vda. de Ayroso, thereby precluding criminal liability of petitioner for the crime charged. The findings of facts of the appellate court are as follows: ... The appellant is a businesswoman. On January 10, 1966, the appellant went to the house of Maria Ayroso and proposed to sell Ayroso's tobacco. Ayroso agreed to the proposition of the appellant to sell her tobacco consisting of 615 kilos at P1.30 a kilo. The appellant was to receive the overprice for which she could sell the tobacco. This agreement was made in the presence of plaintiff's sister, Salud G. Bantug. Salvador Bantug drew the document, Exh. A, dated January 10, 1966, which reads: To Whom It May Concern: This is to certify that I have received from Mrs. Maria de Guzman Vda. de Ayroso. of Gapan, Nueva Ecija, six hundred fifteen kilos of leaf tobacco to be sold at Pl.30 per kilo. The proceed in the amount of Seven Hundred Ninety Nine Pesos and 50/100 (P 799.50) will be given to her as soon as it was sold. This was signed by the appellant and witnessed by the complainant's sister, Salud Bantug, and the latter's maid, Genoveva Ruiz. The appellant at that time was bringing a jeep, and the tobacco was loaded in the jeep and brought by the appellant. Of the total value of P799.50, the appellant had paid to Ayroso only P240.00, and this was paid on three different times. Demands for the payment of the balance of the value of the tobacco were made upon the appellant by Ayroso, and particularly by her sister, Salud Bantug. Salud Bantug further testified that she had gone to the house of the appellant several times, but the appellant often eluded her; and that the "camarin" the appellant was empty. Although the appellant denied that

demands for payment were made upon her, it is a fact that on October 19, 1966, she wrote a letter to Salud Bantug which reads as follows: Dear Salud, Hindi ako nakapunta dian noon a 17 nitong nakaraan, dahil kokonte pa ang nasisingil kong pera, magintay ka hanggang dito sa linggo ito at tiak na ako ay magdadala sa iyo. Gosto ko Salud ay makapagbigay man lang ako ng marami para hindi masiadong kahiyahiya sa iyo. Ngayon kung gosto mo ay kahit konte muna ay bibigyan kita. Pupunta lang kami ni Mina sa Maynila ngayon. Salud kung talagang kailangan mo ay bukas ay dadalhan kita ng pera. Medio mahirap ang maningil sa palengke ng Cabanatuan dahil nagsisilipat ang mga suki ko ng puesto. Huwag kang mabahala at tiyak na babayaran kita. Patnubayan tayo ng mahal na panginoon Dios. (Exh. B). Ludy Pursuant to this letter, the appellant sent a money order for P100.00 on October 24, 1967, Exh. 4, and another for P50.00 on March 8, 1967; and she paid P90.00 on April 18, 1967 as evidenced by the receipt Exh. 2, dated April 18, 1967, or a total of P240.00. As no further amount was paid, the complainant filed a complaint against the appellant for estafa. (pp. 14, 15, 16, Rollo) In this petition for review by certiorari, Lourdes Valerio Lim poses the following questions of law, to wit: 1. Whether or not the Honorable Court of Appeals was legally right in holding that the foregoing document (Exhibit "A") "fixed a period" and "the obligation was therefore, immediately demandable as soon as the tobacco was sold" (Decision, p. 6) as against the theory of the petitioner that the obligation does not fix a period, but from its nature and the circumstances it can be inferred that a period was intended in which case the only action that can be maintained is a petition to ask the court to fix the duration thereof; 2. Whether or not the Honorable Court of Appeals was legally right in holding that "Art. 1197 of the New Civil Code does not apply" as against the alternative theory of the petitioner that the fore. going receipt (Exhibit "A") gives rise to an obligation wherein the duration of the period depends upon the will of the debtor in which case the only action that can be maintained is a petition to ask the court to fix the duration of the period; and 3. Whether or not the honorable Court of Appeals was legally right in holding that the foregoing receipt is a contract of agency to sell as against the theory of the petitioner that it is a contract of sale. (pp. 3-4, Rollo) It is clear in the agreement, Exhibit "A", that the proceeds of the sale of the tobacco should be turned over to the complainant as soon as the same was sold, or, that the obligation was immediately demandable as soon as the tobacco was disposed of. Hence, Article 1197 of the New Civil Code, which provides that the courts may fix the duration of the obligation if it does not fix a period, does not apply.

Anent the argument that petitioner was not an agent because Exhibit "A" does not say that she would be paid the commission if the goods were sold, the Court of Appeals correctly resolved the matter as follows: ... Aside from the fact that Maria Ayroso testified that the appellant asked her to be her agent in selling Ayroso's tobacco, the appellant herself admitted that there was an agreement that upon the sale of the tobacco she would be given something. The appellant is a businesswoman, and it is unbelievable that she would go to the extent of going to Ayroso's house and take the tobacco with a jeep which she had brought if she did not intend to make a profit out of the transaction. Certainly, if she was doing a favor to Maria Ayroso and it was Ayroso who had requested her to sell her tobacco, it would not have been the appellant who would have gone to the house of Ayroso, but it would have been Ayroso who would have gone to the house of the appellant and deliver the tobacco to the appellant. (p. 19, Rollo) The fact that appellant received the tobacco to be sold at P1.30 per kilo and the proceeds to be given to complainant as soon as it was sold, strongly negates transfer of ownership of the goods to the petitioner. The agreement (Exhibit "A') constituted her as an agent with the obligation to return the tobacco if the same was not sold. ACCORDINGLY, the petition for review on certiorari is dismissed for lack of merit. With costs. SO ORDERED. Teehankee (Chairman), Melencio-Herrera, Plana, Gutierrez, Jr. and De la Fuente, JJ., concur. . [G.R. No. L-22558. May 31, 1967.]

GREGORIO ARANETA, INC., Petitioner, v. THE PHILIPPINE SUGAR ESTATES DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD., Respondent. Araneta, & Araneta for Petitioner.

Rosauro Alvarez and Ernani Cruz Pao for Respondent. SYLLABUS 1. ACTION TO COMPEL PERFORMANCE UNDER CONTRACT; COURT HAS NO AUTHORITY TO FIX PERIOD WHERE CONTRACT ESTABLISHES "REASONABLE TIME." If the contract provided a "reasonable time", then there was a period fixed, and all that the court should have done was to determine if that reasonable time had already elapsed when suit was filed. If it had passed, then the court should declare that petitioner had breached the contract, as

averred in the complaint, and fix the resulting damages. On the other hand, if reasonable time had not yet elapsed, the court perforce was bound to dismiss the action for being premature. But in no case can it be logically held that under the facts above quoted the intervention of the court to fix the period for performance was warranted, for Article 1197 is precisely predicated on the absence of any period fixed by the parties. 2. PLEADING AND PRACTICE; ABSENCE OF PRAYER IN COMPLAINT FOR COURT TO FIX PERIOD; EFFECT. The complaint not having sought that the Court should set a period the court could not proceed to do so unless the complaint was first amended; for the original decision is clear that the complaint proceeded on the theory that the period for performance had already elapsed, that the contract had been breached and defendant was already answerable in damages. 3. ACTION TO COMPEL PERFORMANCE; POWER OF COURT TO FIX DATE ART. 1197, CONSTRUED. Granting, however, that it lay within the Courts power to fix the period of performance, still the amended decision is defective in that no basis is stated to support the conclusion that the period should be set at two years after finality of the judgment. The last paragraph of Article 1197 is clear that the period cannot be set arbitrarily. All the trial courts amended decision (Rec. on Appeal, p. 124) says in this respect is that "the proven facts precisely warrant the fixing of such a period", a statement manifestly insufficient to explain how the two-year period given herein was derived at. DECISION REYES, J.B.L., J.: Petition for certiorari to review a judgment of the Court of Appeals, in its CAG. R. No. 28249-R, affirming with modification, an amendatory decision of the Court of First Instance of Manila, in its Civil Case No. 36303, entitled "Philippine Sugar Estates Development Co., Ltd., plaintiff, versus J. M. Tuason & Co., Inc. and Gregorio Araneta, Inc. defendants." As found by the Court of Appeals, the facts of this case are:chanrob1es virtual 1aw library J. M. Tuason & Co., Inc. is the owner of a big tract of land situated in Quezon

City, otherwise known as the Sta. Mesa Heights Subdivision, and covered by a Torrens title in its name. On July 28, 1950, through Gregorio Araneta, Inc., it (Tuason & Co.) sold a portion thereof with an area of 43,034.4 square meters, more or less, for the sum of P430,514.00, to Philippine Sugar Estates Development Co., Ltd. The parties stipulated, among others, in the contract of purchase and sale with mortgage, that the buyer will "Build on the parcel of land the Sto. Domingo church and convent;" while the seller for its part will "Construct streets on the NE and NW and SW sides of the land herein sold so that the latter will be a block surrounded by streets on all four sides; and the street on the NE side shall be named Sto. Domingo Avenue;" The buyer, Philippine Sugar Estates Development Co., Ltd., finished the construction of Sto. Domingo Church and Convent, but the seller, Gregorio Araneta, Inc., which began constructing the streets, is unable to finish the construction of the street in the Northeast side (named Sto. Domingo Avenue) because a certain third party, by the name of Manuel Abundo, who has been physically occupying a middle part thereof, refused to vacate the same; hence, on May 7, 1958, Philippine Sugar Estates Development Co., Ltd., filed its complaint against J. M. Tuason & Co., Inc., and Gregorio Araneta, Inc. in the above Court of First Instance, seeking to compel the latter to comply with their obligation, as stipulated in the above-mentioned deed of sale, and/or to pay damages in the event they failed or refused to perform said obligation. Both defendants J. M. Tuason and Co. and Gregorio Araneta, Inc. answered the complaint, the latter particularly setting up the principal defense that the action was premature since its obligation to construct the streets in question was without a definite period which needs to be fixed first by the court in a proper suit for that purpose before a complaint for specific performance will prosper. The issues having been joined, the lower court proceeded with the trial, and upon its termination, it dismissed plaintiffs complaint (in a decision dated May 31, 1960), upholding the defenses interposed by defendant Gregorio Araneta, Inc. Plaintiff moved to reconsider and modify the above decision, praying that the court fix a period within which defendants will comply with their obligation to construct the streets in question.

Defendant Gregorio Araneta, Inc. opposed said motion, maintaining that plaintiffs complaint did not expressly or impliedly allege and pray for the fixing of a period to comply with its obligation and that the evidence presented at the trial was insufficient to warrant the fixing of such a period. On July 16, 1960, the lower court, after finding that "the proven facts precisely warrants the fixing of such a period", issued an order granting plaintiffs motion for reconsideration and amending the dispositive portion of the decision of May 31, 1960, to read as follows:jgc:chanrobles.com.ph "WHEREFORE, judgment is hereby rendered giving defendant Gregorio Araneta, Inc., a period of Two (2) Years from notice hereof, within which to comply with its obligation under the contract, Annex A" Defendant Gregorio Araneta, Inc. presented a motion to reconsider the above quoted order, which motion, plaintiff opposed. On August 16, 1960, the lower court denied defendant Gregorio Araneta, Inc.s motion; and the latter perfected its appeal to the Court of Appeals. In said appellate court, Defendant-Appellant Gregorio Araneta, Inc. contended mainly that the relief granted, i.e. fixing of a period, under the amendatory decision of July 16, 1960, was not justified by the pleadings and not supported by the facts submitted at the trial of the case in the court below and that the relief granted in effect allowed a change of theory after the submission of the case for decision. Ruling on the above contention, the appellate court declared that the fixing of a period was within the pleadings and that there was no true change of theory after the submission of the case for decision since defendantappellant Gregorio Araneta, Inc. itself squarely placed said issue by alleging in paragraph 7 of the affirmative defenses contained in its answer which reads "7. Under the Deed of Sale with Mortgage of July 28, 1950, herein defendant has a reasonable time within which to comply with its obligations to construct and complete the streets on the NE, NW and SW sides of the lot in question; that under the circumstances, said reasonable time has not elapsed; Disposing of the other issues raised by appellant which were ruled as not meritorious and which are not decisive in the resolution of the legal issues posed in the instant appeal before us, said appellate court rendered its

decision dated December 27, 1963, the dispositive part of which reads "IN VIEW WHEREOF, judgment affirmed and modified; as a consequence, defendant is given Two (2) years from the date of finality of this decision to comply with the obligation to construct streets on the NE, NW and SW sides of the land sold to plaintiff so that the same would be a block surrounded by streets on all four sides."cralaw virtua1aw library Unsuccessful in having the above decision reconsidered defendant- appellant Gregorio Araneta, Inc. resorted to a petition for review by certiorari to this Court. We gave it due course. We agree with the petitioner that the decision of the Court of Appeals, affirming that of the Court of First Instance is legally untenable. The fixing of a period by the courts under Article 1197 of the Civil Code of the Philippines is sought to be justified on the basis that petitioner (defendant below) placed the absence of a period in issue by pleading in its answer that the contract with respondent Philippine Sugar Estates Development Co., Ltd., gave petitioner Gregorio Araneta, Inc. "reasonable time within which to comply with its obligation to construct and complete the streets." Neither of the courts below seems to have noticed that, on the hypothesis stated, what the answer put in issue was not whether the court should fix the time of performance, but whether or not the parties agreed that the petitioner should have reasonable time to perform its part of the bargain. If the contract so provided, then there was a period fixed, a "reasonable time" ; and all that the court should have done was to determine if that reasonable time had already elapsed when suit was filed. If it had passed, then the court should declare that petitioner had breached the contract, as averred in the complaint, and fix the resulting damages. On the other hand, if the reasonable time had not yet elapsed, the court perforce was bound to dismiss the action for being premature. But in no case can it be logically held that under the plea above quoted, the intervention of the court to fix the period for performance was warranted, for Article 1197 is precisely predicated on the absence of any period fixed by the parties. Even on the assumption that the court should have found that no reasonable time or no period at all had been fixed (and the trial courts amended decision nowhere declared any such fact) still, the complaint not having sought that the Court should set a period, the court could not proceed to do so unless the complaint was first amended; for the original decision is clear that the complaint proceeded on the theory that the period for performance had elapsed already, that the contract had been breached and defendant was already answerable in damages.

Granting, however, that it lay within the Courts power to fix the period of performance, still the amended decision is defective in that no basis is stated to support the conclusion that the period should be set at two years after finality of the judgment. The last paragraph of Article 1197 is clear that the period can not be set arbitrarily. The law expressly prescribes that "the courts shall determine such period as may under the circumstance have been probably contemplated by the parties."cralaw virtua1aw library All that the trial courts amended decision (Rec. on Appeal, p. 124) says in this respect is that "the proven facts precisely warrant the fixing of such a period", a statement manifestly insufficient to explain how the two-year period given to petitioner herein was arrived at. It must be recalled that Article 1197 of the Civil Code involves a two-step process. The Court must first determine that "the obligation does not fix a period" (or that the period is made to depend upon the will of the debtor), "but from the nature and the circumstances it can be inferred that a period was intended" (Art. 1197, pars. 1 and 2). This preliminary point settled, the Court must then proceed to the second step, and decide what period was "probably contemplated by the parties" (Do., par.3). So that, ultimately, the Court can not fix a period merely because in its opinion it is or should be reasonable, but must set the time that the parties are shown to have intended. As the record stands, the trial Court appears to have pulled the two-year period set in its decision out of thin air, since no circumstances are mentioned to support it. Plainly, this is not warranted by the Civil Code. In this connection, it is to be borne in mind that the contract shows that the parties were fully aware that the land described therein was occupied by squatters, because the fact is expressly mentioned therein (Rec. on Appeal, Petitioners Appendix B, pp. 12- 13). As the parties must have known that they could not take the law into their own hands, but must resort to legal processes in evicting the squatters, they must have realized that the duration of the suits to be brought would not be under their control nor could the same be determined in advance. The conclusion is thus forced that the parties must have intended to defer the performance of the obligations under the contract until the squatters were duly evicted, as contended by the petitioner Gregorio Araneta, Inc. The Court of Appeals objected to this conclusion that it would render the date of performance indefinite. Yet, the circumstances admit no other reasonable view; and this very indefiniteness is what explains why the

agreement did not specify any exact periods or dates of performance. It follows that there is no justification in law for the setting of the date of performance at any other time than that of the eviction of the squatters occupying the land in question; and in not so holding, both the trial Court and the Court of Appeals committed reversible error. It is not denied that the case against one of the squatters, Abundo, was still pending in the Court of Appeals when its decision in this case was rendered. In view of the foregoing, the decision appealed from is reversed, and the time for the performance of the obligations of petitioner Gregorio Araneta, Inc. is hereby fixed at the date that all the squatters on affected areas are finally evicted therefrom. Costs against respondent Philippine Sugar Estates Development, Co., Ltd. So ordered. Concepcion, C.J., Dizon, Regala, Makalintal, Bengzon, J.P., Zaldivar, Sanchez and Castro, JJ., concur.

G.R. No. L-55480 June 30, 1987 PACIFICA MILLARE, petitioner, vs. HON. HAROLD M. HERNANDO, In his capacity as Presiding Judge, Court of Instance of Abra, Second Judicial District, Branch I, ANTONIO CO and ELSA CO, respondents.

FELICIANO, J.: On 17 June 1975, a five-year Contract of Lease 1 was executed between petitioner Pacifica Millare as lessor and private respondent Elsa Co, married to Antonio Co, as lessee. Under the written agreement, which was scheduled to expire on 31 May 1980, the lessor-petitioner agreed to rent out to thelessee at a monthly rate of P350.00 the "People's Restaurant", a commercial establishment located at the corner of McKinley and Pratt Streets in Bangued, Abra. The present dispute arose from events which transpired during the months of May and July in 1980. According to the Co spouses, sometime during the last week of May 1980, the lessor informed them that they could continue

leasing the People's Restaurant so long as they were amenable to paying creased rentals of P1,200.00 a month. In response, a counteroffer of P700.00 a month was made by the Co spouses. At this point, the lessor allegedly stated that the amount of monthly rentals could be resolved at a later time since "the matter is simple among us", which alleged remark was supposedly taken by the spouses Co to mean that the Contract of Lease had been renewed, prompting them to continue occupying the subject premises and to forego their search for a substitute place to rent. 2 In contrast, the lessor flatly denied ever having considered, much less offered, a renewal of the Contract of Lease. The variance in versions notwithstanding, the record shows that on 22 July 1980, Mrs. Millare wrote the Co spouses requesting them to vacate the leased premises as she had no intention of renewing the Contract of Lease which had, in the meantime, already expirecl. 3 In reply, the Co spouses reiterated their unwillingness to pay the Pl,200.00 monthly rentals supposedly sought bv Mrs. Millare which they considered "highly excessive, oppressive and contrary to existing laws". They also signified their intention to deposit the amount of rentals in court, in view of Mrs. Millare's refusal to accept their counter-offer. 4 Another letter of demand from Mrs. Millare was received on 28 July 1980 by the Co spouses, who responded by depositing the rentals for June and July (at 700.00 a month) in court. On 30 August 1980, a Saturday, the Co spouses jumped the gun, as it were, and filed a Complaint 5 (docketed as Civil Case No. 1434) with the then Court of First Instance of Abra against Mrs. Millare and seeking judgment (a) ordering the renewal of the Contract of Lease at a rental rate of P700.00 a nionth and for a period of ten years, (b) ordering the defendant to collect the sum of P1,400.00 deposited by plaintiffs with the court, and (c) ordering the defendant to pay damages in the amount of P50,000.00. The following Monday, on 1 September 1980, Mrs. Millare filed an ejectment case against the Co spouses in the Municipal Court of Bangued, Abra, docketed as Civil Case No. 661. The spouses Co, defendants therein, sut)sequently set up lis pendens as a Civil Case No. 661. The spouses Co, defendants therein, subsequently set up lis pendens as a defense against the complaint for ejectment. Mrs. Millare, defendant in Civil Case No. 1434, countered with an Omnibus Motion to Dismiss 6 rounded on (a) lack of cause of action due to plaintiffs' failure to establish a valid renewal of the Contract of Lease, and (b) lack of jurisdiction by the trial court over the complaint for failure of plaintiffs to secure a certification from the Lupong Tagapayapa of the barangay wherein both disputants reside attesting that no amicable settlement between them had been reached despite efforts to arrive at one, as required by Section 6 of Presidential Decree No. 1508. The Co spouses opposed the motion to dismiss. 7

In an Order dated 15 October 1980, respondent judge denied the motion to dismiss and ordered the renewal of the Contract of Lease. Furthermore plaintiffs were allowed to deposit all accruing monthly rentals in court, while defendant Millare was directed to submit her answer to the complaint. 8 A motion for reconsideration 9 was subsequently filed which, however, was likewise denied. 10 Hence, on 13 November 1980, Mrs. Millare filed the instant Petition for Certiorari, Prohibition and Mandamus, seeking injunctive relief from the abovementioned orders. This Court issued a temporary restraining order on 21 November 1980 enjoining respondent, judge from conducting further proceedings in Civil Case No. 1434. 11 Apparently, before the temporary restraining order could be served on the respondent judge, he rendered a "Judgment by Default" dated 26 November 1980 ordering the renewal of the lease contract for a term of 5 years counted from the expiration date of the original lease contract, and fixing monthly rentals thereunder at P700.00 a month, payable in arrears. On18 March 1981, this Court gave due course to the Petition for Certiorari, Prohibition and Mandamus. 12 Two issues are presented for resolution: (1) whether or not the trial court acquired jurisdiction over Civil Case No. 1434; and (2) whether or not private respondents have a valid cause of action against petitioner. Turning to the first issue, petitioner's attack on the jurisdiction of the trial court must fail, though for reasons different from those cited by the respondent judge. 13 We would note firstly that the conciliation procedure required under P.D. 1508 is not a jurisdictional requirement in the sense that failure to have prior recourse to such procedure would not deprive a court of its jurisdiction either over the subject matter or over the person of the defendant.14 Secondly, the acord shows that two complaints were submitted to the barangay authorities for conciliation one by petitioner for ejectment and the other by private respondents for renewal of the Contract of Lease. It appears further that both complaints were, in fact, heard by the Lupong Tagapayapa in the afternoon of 30 August 1980. After attempts at conciliation had proven fruitless, Certifications to File Action authorizing the parties to pursue their respective claims in court were then issued at 5:20 p.m. of that same aftemoon, as attested to by the Barangay Captain in a Certification presented in evidence by petitioner herself. 15 Petitioner would, nonetheless, assail the proceedings in the trial court on a technicaety, i.e., private respondents allegedly filed their complaint at 4:00 p.m. of 30 August 1980, or one hour and twenty minutes before the issuance of the requisite certification by the Lupng Tagapayapa. The defect in procedure admittedly initially present at that particular moment when private respondents first filed the complaint in the trial court, was cured by the subsequent issuance of the Certifications to File Action by the

barangay Lupong Tagapayapa Such certifications in any event constituted substantial comphance with the requirement of P.D. 1508. We turn to the second issue, that is, whether or not the complaint in Civil Case No. 1434 filed by the respondent Co spouses claiming renewal of the contract of lease stated a valid cause of action. Paragraph 13 of the Contract of Lease reads as follows: 13. This contract of lease is subject to the laws and regulations ofthe goverrunent; and that this contract of lease may be renewed after a period of five (5) years under the terms and conditions as will be mutually agreed upon by the parties at the time of renewal; ... (Emphasis supplied.) The respondent judge, in his Answer and Comment to the Petition, urges that under paragraph 13 quoted above. there was already a consummated and finished mutual agreement of the parties to renew the contract of lease after five years; what is only left unsettled between the parties to the contract of lease is the amount of the monthly rental; the lessor insists Pl,200 a month, while the lessee is begging P700 a month which doubled the P350 monthly rental under the original contract .... In short, the lease contract has never expired because paragraph 13 thereof had expressly mandated that it is renewable. ... 16 In the "Judgment by Default" he rendered, the respondent Judge elaborated his views obviously highly emotional in character in the following extraordinary tatements: However, it is now the negative posture of the defendant-lessor to block, reject and refuse to renew said lease contract. It is the defendant-lessor's assertion and position that she can at the mere click of her fingers, just throw-out the plaintiffs-lessees from the leased premises and any time after the original term of the lease contract had already expired; This negative position of the defendantlessor, to the mind of this Court does not conform to the principles and correct application of the philosophy underlying the law of lease; for indeed, the law of lease is impressed with public interest, social justice and equity; reason for which, this Court cannot sanction lot owner's business and commercial speculations by allowing them with "unbridled discretion" to raise rentals even to the extent of "extraordinary gargantuan proportions, and calculated to unreasonably and unjustly eject the helpless lessee because he cannot afford said

inflated monthly rental and thereby said lessee is placed without any alternative, except to surrender and vacate the premises mediately,-" Many business establishments would be closed and the public would directly suffer the direct consequences; Nonetheless, this is not the correct concept or perspective the law of lease, that is, to place the lessee always at the mercy of the lessor's "Merchant of Venice" and to agit the latter's personal whims and caprices; the defendant-lessor's hostile attitude by imposing upon the lessee herein an "unreasonable and extraordinary gargantuan monthly rental of P1,200.00" , to the mind of this Court, is "fly-by night unjust enrichment" at the expense of said lessees; but, no Man should unjustly enrich himself at the expense of another; under these facts and circumstances surrounding this case, the action therefore to renew the lease contract! is "tenable" because it falls squarely within the coverage and command of Articles 1197 and 1670 of the New Civil Code, to wit: xxx xxx xxx The term "to be renewed" as expressly stipulated by the herein parties in the original contract of lease means that the lease may be renewed for another term of five (5) years; its equivalent to a promise made by the lessor to the lessee, and as a unilateral stipulation, obliges the lessor to fulfill her promise; of course the lessor is free to comply and honor her commitment or back-out from her promise to renew the lease contract; but, once expressly stipulated, the lessor shall not be allowed to evade or violate the obligation to renew the lease because, certainly, the lessor may be held hable for damages caused to the lessee as a consequence of the unjustifiable termination of the lease or renewal of the same; In other words, the lessor is guilty of breach of contract: Since the original lease was fixed for five (5) years, it follows, therefore, that the lease contract is renewable for another five (5) years and the lessee is not required before hand to give express notice of this fact to the lessor because it was expressly stipulated in the original lease contract to be renewed; Wherefore, the bare refusal of the lessor to renew the lease contract unless the monthly rental is P1,200.00 is contrary to law, morals, good customs, public policy, justice and equity because no one should unjustly enrich herself at the expense of another. Article 1197 and 1670 of the New Civil Code must therefore govern the case at bar and whereby this Court is authorized to fix the period thereof by ordering the renewal of the lease contract to another fixed term of five (5) years. 17

Clearly, the respondent judge's grasp of both the law and the Enghsh language is tenuous at best. We are otherwise unable to comprehend how he arrived at the reading set forth above. Paragraph 13 of the Contract of Lease can only mean that the lessor and lessee may agree to renew the contract upon their reaching agreement on the terms and conditions to be embodied in such renewal contract. Failure to reach agreement on the terms and conditions of the renewal contract will of course prevent the contract from being renewed at all. In the instant case, the lessor and the lessee conspicuously failed to reach agreement both on the amount of the rental to be payable during the renewal term, and on the term of the renewed contract. The respondent judge cited Articles 1197 and 1670 of the Civil Code to sustain the "Judgment by Default" by which he ordered the renewal of the lease for another term of five years and fixed monthly rentals thereunder at P700.00 a month. Article 1197 of the Civil Code provides as follows: If the obligation does not fix a period, but from its nature and the circumstances it can be inferred that a period was intended, the courts may fix the duration thereof. The courts shall also fix the duration of the period when it depends upon the will of the debtor. In every case, the courts shall determine such period as may, under the circumstances, have been probably contemplated by the parties. Once fixed by the courts, the period cannot be changed by them. (Emphasis supplied.) The first paragraph of Article 1197 is clearly inapplicable, since the Contract of Lease did in fact fix an original period of five years, which had expired. It is also clear from paragraph 13 of the Contract of Lease that the parties reserved to themselves the faculty of agreeing upon the period of the renewal contract. The second paragraph of Article 1197 is equally clearly inapplicable since the duration of the renewal period was not left to the wiu of the lessee alone, but rather to the will of both the lessor and the lessee. Most importantly, Article 1197 applies only where a contract of lease clearly exists. Here, the contract was not renewed at all, there was in fact no contract at all the period of which could have been fixed. Article 1670 of the Civil Code reads thus: If at the end of the contract the lessee should continue enjoying the thing left for 15 days with the acquiescence of the lessor and unless a notice to the contrary by either party has previously been given. It is understood that there is an implied new lease,

not for the period of the original contract but for the time established in Articles 1682 and 1687. The ther terms of the original contract shall be revived. (Emphasis suplied.) The respondents themselves, public and private, do not pretend that the continued occupancy of the leased premises after 31 May 1980, the date of expiration of the contract, was with the acquiescence of the lessor. Even if it be assumed that tacite reconduccion had occurred, the implied new lease could not possibly have a period of five years, but rather would have been a month-to-month lease since the rentals (under the original contract) were payable on a monthly basis. At the latest, an implied new lease (had one arisen) would have expired as of the end of July 1980 in view of the written demands served by the petitioner upon the private respondents to vacate the previously leased premises. It follows that the respondent judge's decision requiring renewal of the lease has no basis in law or in fact. Save in the limited and exceptional situations envisaged inArticles ll97 and 1670 of the Civil Code, which do not obtain here, courts have no authority to prescribe the terms and conditions of a contract for the parties. As pointed out by Mr. Justice J.B.L. Reyes in Republic vs. Philippine Long Distance Telephone,Co., 18 [P]arties cannot be coerced to enter into a contract where no agreement is had between them as to the principal terms and conditions of the contract. Freedom to stipulate such terms and conditions is of the essence of our contractual system, and by express provision of the statute, a contract may be annulled if tainted by violence, intimidation or undue influence (Article 1306, 1336, 1337, Civil Code of the Philippines). Contractual terms and conditions created by a court for two parties are a contradiction in terms. If they are imposed by a judge who draws upon his own private notions of what morals, good customs, justice, equity and public policy" demand, the resulting "agreement" cannot, by definition, be consensual or contractual in nature. It would also follow that such coerced terms and conditions cannot be the law as between the parties themselves. Contracts spring from the volition of the parties. That volition cannot be supplied by a judge and a judge who pretends to do so, acts tyrannically, arbitrarily and in excess of his jurisdiction. 19 WHEREFORE, the Petition for Certiorari, Prohibition and mandamus is granted. The Orders of the respondent judge in Civil Case No. 1434 dated 26 September 1980 (denying petitioner's motion to dismiss) and 4 November 1980 (denying petitioner's motion for reconsideration), and the "Judgment by Default" rendered by the respondent judge dated 26 November 1980, are hereby annulled and set aside and Civil Case No. 1434 is hereby dismissed.

The temporary restraining order dated 21 November 1980 issued by this ourt, is hereby made permanent. No pronouncement as to costs. SO ORDERED.