Nicos Industrial Corporation v CA (Constitution)

Nicos Industrial Corporation v CA

GR No. 88709 February 11, 1992

Section 14. No decision shall be rendered by any court without expressing therein clearly and distinctly the facts and the law on which it is based.cralaw

No petition for review or motion for reconsideration of a decision of the court shall be refused due course or denied without stating the legal basis therefor.c

FACTS:

 

(1)  The order is assailed by  the petitioners  on the principal  ground that it violates  the aforementioned constitutional  requirement of Article 8 Section 14 of the Constitution.  The  petitioners  claim  that  it  is  not  a  reasoned  decision  and  does  not  clearly  and distinctly  explain  how  it  was  reached  by  the  trial  court.  Petitioners  complain that  there was no analysis  of their testimonial evidence or  of their 21 exhibits, the trial court merely  confining itself to the pronouncement that the sheriff's  sale was valid  and that it had  no jurisdiction over the derivative suit. There was therefore no adequate factual or legal basis for the decision that could justify its review and affirmance by the Court of Appeals.

(2)  January 24, 1980, NICOS Industrial Corporation obtained a loan of P2,000,000.00 from private respondent United Coconut Planters Bank and to secure payment thereof executed a real estate mortgage on two parcels of land located at Marilao, Bulacan. The mortgage was foreclosed for the supposed non-payment of the loan, and the sheriff's sale was held on July 11, 1983, without re-publication of the required notices after the original date for the auction was changed  without  the  knowledge  or  consent  of  the  mortgagor.

(3)  CA decision: We hold that the order appealed from as framed by the court a quo while leaving much to be desired, substantially complies with the rules.

ISSUE:

Whether or not the trial court’s decision is unconstitutional

HELD:

WHEREFORE,  the  challenged  decision  of  the Court  of  Appeals  is  SET  ASIDE  for  lack  of  basis.  This  case  is REMANDED  to the  Regional  Trial  Court  of  Bulacan, Branch  10, for  revision,  within  30  days  from  notice,  of  the Order of June  6, 1986, conformably to the requirements of  Article VIII, Section 14, of the Constitution, subject to the appeal thereof, if desired, in accordance with law.

RATIO:

(1)  The questioned  order  is an  over-simplification  of  the  issues,  and violates  both  the letter and spirit of Article VIII, Section 14, of the Constitution.

(2)  It  is  a  requirement  of  due  process  that  the  parties  to  a  litigation  be  informed  of  how  it  was  decided,  with  an explanation of the factual and legal reasons that led to the conclusions of the court. The court cannot simply say that judgment is rendered in favor of X and against Y and just leave it at that without any justification whatsoever for its action.  The losing  party is  entitled to  know why he lost,  so he  may appeal  to a higher court, if permitted, should he believe that  the decision should be reversed. A  decision that  does not clearly  and distinctly  state the facts and  the law  on which it is based  leaves the  parties in  the dark  as to how  it was  reached and  is especially prejudicial  to  the losing party,  who is  unable  to  pinpoint  the possible  errors  of  the court  for review by  a  higher tribunal.

(3)  Brevity is doubtless an admirable trait, but it should not and cannot be substituted for substance. As the ruling on this second ground was unquestionably a judgment on the merits, the failure to state the factual and legal basis thereof was fatal to the order.

(4)  Kilometric decisions  without much substance  must be avoided,  to  be  sure,  but  the  other  extreme,  where  substance  is  also  lost  in  the  wish  to  be  brief,  is  no  less unacceptable  either.  The  ideal  decision  is  that  which,  with  welcome  economy  of  words,  arrives  at  the  factual findings  reaches the legal conclusions  renders its ruling and  having done so  ends.